AFTER escaping the bun fight that is Helsinki’s rental market a couple of years ago, it was with great relief that my wife and I became owners of our first apartment together. Although the real estate agent muttered something about a putkiremontti occurring within three years, it was difficult to comprehend just what lay ahead.

Now, aside from an awkward smell that would emerge from our shower from time to time first thing in the morning, we didn’t encounter any major trouble with our plumbing. The Finnish media, however, suggested that pipes in residences around Helsinki from a similar era were either choked with rust and sludge, or leaking.

THERE was a time when director Peter Jackson was revered throughout horror circles for his obscure and inventive splatter movies such as Bad Taste and Brain Dead. Taking the energy and spirit of genre benchmark Evil Dead to a whole new level, these films were as outlandish as they were entertaining.

All memories of cartoon gore were swiftly extinguished, however, upon the arrival of Heavenly Creatures in 1994; its mesmerising tale of two schoolchildren conspiring to commit murder revealing an unexpectedly mature touch for the New Zealander. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that his latest film signals another complete left turn from the recent box office nirvana of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and his mighty King Kong.

Taking out the garbage

“PEOPLE who defile public places are social criminals. Culprits can be fined and arrested.” A loud splash suddenly shook my concentration away from the Mumbai street sign, as a man emptied his rubbish into the Arabian Sea – next to a bathing family, no less.

So where are these garbage police, exactly?

India is a beautiful country filled with astonishing contrasts, deep traditions and culture – and some of the filthiest living conditions known to man. For all of its sophisticated spirituality,...

LIFE IS characterised by an asymmetrical dualism. Love and hate, joy and pain, life and death – The Finn-Brit Players have been exploring this dualism and have translated their observations into the most beautiful form of the written word: poems.

Songs of Fire & Ice is a selection of over twenty poems written and performed by the FinnBrit Players’ members, directed by Zoë Chandler with John Millar on clarinet. Marietta Chela also performs a selection of poems by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.

Finland’s minister of foreign affairs proudly pronounced “going for gold” in the Blue Wings magazine published just prior to the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. As an occasional passenger on Finnair flights I browse through this magazine and each time I have this awkward feeling about the minister’s column. I ask myself whether I am the only one to have doubts about the appropriateness of him writing for a commercial magazine. It really was just a few years ago when the minister of culture modelled for some Finnish fashion label and this entailed a semi-huge debate in the media. The public attitude was clearly towards zero tolerance about the minister’s side job. But this is not the issue.

Finns are keeping up their strong attachment to cross-country skiing.

This winter, cross-country skiing has become more popular than ever thanks to the huge amount of snow that has covered the entire country.

The popularity of cross-country skiing is evident on the tracks, but also in the sports equipment factories and stores. Due to growing demand, factories are producing more skis than in previous winters.

Tour skating has grown in popularity over the past decade, with around 100,000 tour skaters in Finland currently. Tour skating takes place on natural ice, which is usually abundant even in Finnish winters with relatively little snow.

The sixteenth-century sport of Scottish and Dutch peasants comes to Helsinki.

A blustery, snowy Monday evening in the beginning of February saw six of us, treading warily over the ice in our blue, plastic over-slippers, trying to come to terms with the noble art of curling – on that little ice rink by the railway station. We soon found that, in common with many other activities we are used to watching on TV, what looks so simple when carried out by professionals is considerably more challenging in reality.

Never has anyone seen a more enthusiastic group of sweepers – an activity we were all fairly familiar...

Linnanmäki Amusement park opened its gates for the winter holidays in southern Finland. The Ice Pearl Winter Fest offers children and adults a chance to do all sorts of winter activities. Running until Sunday 28 February, the Winter Fest is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00.

There are 11 rides open at Linnanmäki, including kids’ favourites such as the chair swing (Ketjukaruselli) and Vekkula fun house. The entrance fee covers all rides and winter activities which include a tube hill, mini snowmobile track, skating rink, ski school, kick sledge track and even a snow dive rope slide.

Celebrating Finland’s love affair for all things vintage, fans of the burlesque, bouffant and swing have a treat in store this March. The already well-established Helsinki Vintage Festival will be held at its new, larger venue on 7 March at the Cable Factory. With over 2,000 visitors at the last gathering on 29 September 2009 organisers are pulling out all the stops with a programme that promises something for all lovers of the vintage lifestyle.

The State of Arizona draws in millions of tourists each year, largely due to its top attraction, the Grand Canyon. Taking in this Natural Wonder of the World is a good enough reason to visit the region but don’t stop there. Pulsating urban centers, legendary historic monuments and awesome natural beauty make the entire state a true traveler’s mecca.

The flags of four nations have flown over the territory that is now known as Arizona. Spain, Mexico, the Confederate States and the United States have all claimed the area at one point and, along with Native American tribes, have all left their mark. Arizona is a mosaic of these ...