This week went by far too quickly
Mar. 20th, 2009 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyrasantae
Dr. Riikka Rossi was here from the University of Helsinki this week to deliver a series of lectures on literature. I don't really know anything about her field in particular, but Scandalous Nordic Scandinavian Club organized the reception (free wine!) following the lecture on Tuesday and so I made it a bit of a point to go.
The lecture was actually quite interesting - it was on themes of Naturalism in Ibsen - and though I don't strictly prefer the rationalism (and banality?) of the Realist style, the ideas of chaos and lives-falling-apart in Naturalism seem appealing.
A number of (older) ladies and gentlemen of the local Finnish-Canadian community were there, and Dr. Rossi was very polite and very delighted to meet them.
I was offered to go to a bar with some of the (faculty/grad student) attendees after the reception, but since I assumed that it was just going to be St. Patrick's Day celebration, I initially turned it down. Later, after they had left already, I found out that it was for her, and I proposed going with a few of the late stragglers afterward. But some interpersonal drama stuff with the stragglers popped up suddenly, and in their upset, they ran off without me.
I helped clean up after the reception, then went home very upset that I had been abandoned, knowing that I would do anything to be with a Finn except put myself in danger by walking out to Whyte Ave., the center of nightlife, alone on a party night. In Finland, maybe (not that I would need to - Finns would be EVERYWHERE!). In Canada, absolutely not.
Yesterday at the usual Scandinavian Club bar/café hangout, my friends told me about poor Dr. Rossi being asked to speak about Finnish and Finnish people to the Comparative Scandinavian Grammar class (I can imagine: "this is why it's not Scandinavian."). It sounded like it was difficult for her (she seemed to be more comfortable speaking in French than in English - she spent considerable time studying in France). [Aside: I sort of wanted to be there, but I would have had to skip class. And why the Hell would I skip class to go to a review of stuff I already know all too well? :)]
I was told that she would come visit us at the bar eventually, and after what seemed like waiting forever (and getting super-anxious about it), she finally did, and had some wine with us. She wanted a photo with me after I sang "Pohjolan yö" for her, a moment slightly reminiscent of this one, but with a better photo:
(For some reason she wanted my NW-shirt to be in the picture, which is why my cloak isn't as visible.)
This withdrawal is freaking awful. I didn't have class today and I wanted to actually go shopping today, but I ended up not leaving my room at all (my door is still locked from last night) and sleeping all day :/
The lecture was actually quite interesting - it was on themes of Naturalism in Ibsen - and though I don't strictly prefer the rationalism (and banality?) of the Realist style, the ideas of chaos and lives-falling-apart in Naturalism seem appealing.
A number of (older) ladies and gentlemen of the local Finnish-Canadian community were there, and Dr. Rossi was very polite and very delighted to meet them.
I was offered to go to a bar with some of the (faculty/grad student) attendees after the reception, but since I assumed that it was just going to be St. Patrick's Day celebration, I initially turned it down. Later, after they had left already, I found out that it was for her, and I proposed going with a few of the late stragglers afterward. But some interpersonal drama stuff with the stragglers popped up suddenly, and in their upset, they ran off without me.
I helped clean up after the reception, then went home very upset that I had been abandoned, knowing that I would do anything to be with a Finn except put myself in danger by walking out to Whyte Ave., the center of nightlife, alone on a party night. In Finland, maybe (not that I would need to - Finns would be EVERYWHERE!). In Canada, absolutely not.
Yesterday at the usual Scandinavian Club bar/café hangout, my friends told me about poor Dr. Rossi being asked to speak about Finnish and Finnish people to the Comparative Scandinavian Grammar class (I can imagine: "this is why it's not Scandinavian."). It sounded like it was difficult for her (she seemed to be more comfortable speaking in French than in English - she spent considerable time studying in France). [Aside: I sort of wanted to be there, but I would have had to skip class. And why the Hell would I skip class to go to a review of stuff I already know all too well? :)]
I was told that she would come visit us at the bar eventually, and after what seemed like waiting forever (and getting super-anxious about it), she finally did, and had some wine with us. She wanted a photo with me after I sang "Pohjolan yö" for her, a moment slightly reminiscent of this one, but with a better photo:
(For some reason she wanted my NW-shirt to be in the picture, which is why my cloak isn't as visible.)
(23:35:59) kyrasantae: i feel... weird
(23:36:52) friend: too much F-Energy?
(23:36:59) kyrasantae: ei
(23:37:15) kyrasantae: it's not... working
(23:37:56) friend: hmmm...
(23:38:08) kyrasantae: i was afraid of this
(23:40:36) kyrasantae: that it's no longer just so easy to charge up f-energy
(23:40:52) friend: she seemed like a super cool lady
(23:41:00) kyrasantae: oh for sure
(23:41:18) kyrasantae: i think maybe now it requires... not just their presence but...
their love :s
(23:42:30) friend: ugh. yeah, i know the feeling. it's like, you can only have
little tastes of something for so long before you start wanting
the whole dish
(23:42:37) kyrasantae: yeah
(23:42:42) kyrasantae: it's like fricking crack :P
(23:43:57) friend: well, i didn't want to use the drugs reference but...yes. I
find I get addicted to people really quickly and that's not
good. when i'm not around them i feel like i'm just flailing
aimlessly, but when i'm near them i feel in control
(23:46:55) kyrasantae: and it's so difficult to remind myself that "no, you've just
met a couple of times, do not expect a friendship. you will
disappear from her life even if she does not disappear from
yours"
(23:49:30) friend: you're being real about it and that's good. because it really
hurts to be forgotten but that's what happens. haha, i know i
get super upset and worked up over similar stuff so just try
not to be too sad or anything
(23:49:58) kyrasantae: it's pretty hard when i know it's much more that way with finns
than it is with canadians
(23:51:07) kyrasantae: i guess it's super-easy for them to keep the 'professional
distance' thing when there's also so much personal distance :P
(23:52:02) friend: that's a good way of looking at it.This withdrawal is freaking awful. I didn't have class today and I wanted to actually go shopping today, but I ended up not leaving my room at all (my door is still locked from last night) and sleeping all day :/
