Itinera mundi mentisque

I can hear Sir Humphrey’s words echoing in my ears: did yesterday mark the end of civilisation as we know it? Not only did the Italians do it again but also the present Finnish ADHD Government has come up with yet another splendid idea. This time, the Ministry of Education is preparing a programme that would cut the number of university students in Arts and Humanities by half in just five years.

The reasoning is all too familiar: job market requirements. Finnish people are proud of PISA studies results, top-rankings in global competitiveness surveys, innovation industries… to the extent that it sometimes makes me blush. Yet, these same people fail to give any credit to the existing education system in achieving all the glory. It should not even require an advanced university degree to be able to see a link between free thinking and creativity or innovativeness. That is what academic pursuit should be for, ultimately. University is an institution where able individuals learn to think out of box and expand their world view.

It is very considerate of the Ministry of Education to be concerned about the job market opportunities of future students. However, my anecdotic experience is that few students of humanities choose their field of study for the excellent labour market prospects it offers. On the contrary, they are fully aware about the insecurity associated with the choice. And yet, most find a job, eventually. Whilst there are certainly professions that require very specialised skills and knowledge, a fair share of jobs today call for ability to think, adapt and apply existing knowledge to new, sometimes surprising context. Humanities should be at least as good a ground for this as any other academic field (Sir Humphrey studied Classics in Oxford).

A deep-seated idea among the policymakers nowadays seems to be that the business life would be the most competent quarter to ask for the future needs of education. Whilst this kind of thinking may have some credit in terms of vocational labour, it is naïve and extremely short-sighted at best if applied to academic field. Why would the industry have the best idea about what kind of skills and knowledge is required in, say, 20 years from now? Nobody knows that with any significant level of certainty. However, we can be quite sure that ability to think and a comprehensive all-round education will always help to cope with whatever challenges tomorrow will present.

Labels: Education, English, Finland, Whining

Posted by Janne at 12:04 | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday, we had a dose of family culture. My father has a little exhibition of his wood sculptures at Haukkavuori Look-out Tower Café Saga, in Kotka, and while visiting my parents, we also went to see the sculptures and other exhibitions in the Tower. And the view from the top, too. The exhibition is still there, open until the end of the month (Tuesday to Sunday 11:00–18:00, Mondays closed.).

Labels: Art, English, Family, Finland, Kotka

Posted by Janne at 19:44 | Permalink | Comments

Summer has gone in a blissful otium.

Soon after my last post, I went to London for a week. This was the trip I was originally supposed to meet Karen first time – but that meeting got advanced by nearly four months, luckily… Anyway, we decided to stick to the London trip after all. We had plenty of nice time. The latter part of the trip was spent mostly reading – or almost exclusively, to be honest – as we got Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows at the midnight release. The ending of the book series was even better than I had expected. The important parts were very much as I had expected, though the frequency of killings first seemed surprisingly high.

We then came together to Finland and have enjoyed sunny Helsinki and occasional visits elsewhere, like my parents’ summer cottage at Ängvik island (in Pyhtää). Here’s a picture of me and Karen (or almost) over there:



Now it’s our last week together, and I’ve already started some work with several PhD courses, trying to write my research paper, and on top of that studying some Latin… And there’ll be wven more to do for the coming weeks.

Labels: Blogging, English, Finland, Harry Potter, Helsinki, London, Pyhtää, Work

Posted by Janne at 18:33 | Permalink | Comments

This is not to wish you happy Vappu, or 1st of May, since it wouldn't be timely, as the post is backdated. The title rather implies that this was very happy time indeed, as Karen (my wonderful girlfriend) was here for over a week around that time.

Here's a photo from Havis Amanda getting the Cap on 30th of April.

Labels: English, Finland, Helsinki

Posted by Janne at 22:57 | Permalink | Comments

This year the annual event, organised by the Finnish Society of Economic Research (Taloustieteellinen Seura) took place in Lappeenranta.

When coming back, the train was 20 minutes late. This is a photo from snow-covered Lappeenranta Railway Station.

Labels: English, Finland, Work

Posted by Janne at 20:38 | Permalink | Comments

So, the journey finally came to its end (accompagnied with yet another set of lost luggage...) It was sunny in Helsinki, but the temperature was freezing. Here's a picture taken when I came out of the airport bus, at Hakaniemi square next to my home.

Labels: English, Finland, Round-the-world, Travel

Posted by Janne at 23:58 | Permalink | Comments

I’ve been neglecting the blog and need to take corrective action immediately. Let’s have some weather talk first.

Those who’ve read Harry Potter know what a Dementor is. Even though I generally wasn’t very impressed by the Finnish Harry Potter translations, this is one where I must give credit to the translator's ingenious 'Ankeuttaja', which rather than 'Dementor' literally translates back to 'Gloomer' or 'Depressor'. At least it describes this current weather most accurately.

Quite seriously – and what else than serious could anyone be in these conditions? – what sort of winter is this supposed to be? It has been a grey sky, nasty rain and chilly weather for past few weeks. I really haven’t seen the Sun for a month! The few hours it’s supposed to be there during the day, i.e. from the sunrise at 9:00 and sunset at 15:00, the Sun is invisible behind a thick, depressing layer of dark clouds.

Labels: English, Finland, Harry Potter, Helsinki, Weather, Whining

Posted by Janne at 12:31 | Permalink | Comments

BBC NEWS | Europe | Finland makes Latin the King:

BBC News has turned its interst to Latin in Finalnd. Along from other phenomena such as Dr Ammonds Elvis in Latin recordings, the news article discusses the EU Precidency news service broadly. Here are some quotes.

The opening paragraph sets the tone:

Finland is one of the quieter members of the EU. But now its turn at the EU presidency has thrust it into the spotlight - and exposed an unusual passion.

After the precidency website editor has told the site is available in English and French:

But they have their secret language: Conspectus rerum Latinus, or "Latin News in Brief".

The British cannot help picking on the French, can they?

Lurking within the world of EU Latin, which is only marginally more difficult to comprehend than EU English, is one delightful statistic - more people subscribe to the newsletter in Latin than to the one in French.

The article then concludes:

Perhaps Finland wants to dominate the global news agenda in the same way Elvis once dominated the music scene.

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 19:12 | Permalink | Comments

The German language issue in the EU doesn't seem to be resolved; and Latin is brought into the battle again. German Member of European Parliament Ingeborg Gräßle has filed a written question (E-3647/06) to the Council regarding the Conspectus rerum Latinus. The text of the written question reads as follows:

The Finnish Presidency of the Council is publishing the latest news from the Presidency in Latin under the title 'Conspectus rerum Latinus'.

1. How many readers does this newsletter have?
2. What are the costs of translation?
3. Who is paying for the costs of translation?
4. How does the Finnish Presidency of the Council assess this measure in terms of a cost benefit analysis?

The Council's answer is expected in the September part-session.

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 22:18 | Permalink | Comments

As I warned yesterday, here comes the first part of the review of the commentaries that Finland's EU Precidency site's Latin language news report has received in international press and blogsphere. Let's see what the press reported in early July.

Guardian Special report: Finns turn jargon of Unio Europaea into poetry with weekly news bulletin - in Latin

The rather long report by Nicholas Watt on 4 July presents the news service as a dream-come-true for all hard-line classicists. Written in positive, humorous tone, the article gives examples that prove how much better the EU sounds in Latin and urges eurocrats to get their dictionaries ready. Due credit is given to the distinguished Finnish tradition of classical scholarship, and reference is also made to Nuntii Latinii weekly radio broadcast. Several people, including author Dr Reijo Pitkäranta and British a classics scholar Dr Bruce Gibson had been interviewed. The report suggests that this initiative can turn opinions more favourable towards the Union, as demonstrated through the example of British Conservative MP and ardent EU-critic Boris Johnson, also interviewed for the article, who was truly impressed and hopes everybody will read the Latin news report.

Reuters: Finland opts for Latin in EU communications

This is a short news item telling that New EU president Finland is having some fun and publishing news in Latin to remind Europeans of their roots stretching back to ancient times. The Reuters and Guardian reports spread to several publications all over the world, including Taipei Times, Sydney Morning Herald, Qatar-based Gulf Times, and Turkish Daily News.

Les Echos: Quand l'Europe renoue avec le latin

This is a fairly recent article by Karl de Meyer, published in the French business daily Les Echos on 11 August. The article 'When Europe revives Latin' presents Finland as a delight for all nostalgics of Gaffiot (French distinguished Latin scholar), Petronius fans, and opponents of the English linguistic hegemony. Flavoured with a number of Latin expressions, the news story makes reference to Nuntii Latinii, the previous conspectus in 1999 and the German language dispute. Subsequently, the continuing demands of Germans for they language are discussed in the more general setting of the EU working language policy and its complications.

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 19:56 | Permalink | Comments

As I was writing the opening post and trying to figure out what Timor-Leste would be in Latin, I got sidetracked in exploring the current state of blogging in dead languages in general. I noticed many have commented on the Latin language news report Conspectus rerum latinus on the Finnish EU Presidency site. I'm thinking of reviewing some of the comments on this subject in the press and other blogs, but first I think I should explain my interest a bit further.

The last time Finland held the EU presidency, i.e. 1999, a similar news report was also introduced and got quite a lot of attention in the international press. However, it was often erroneously associated with the dispute over the German language interpretations in the meetings (on this subject, see e.g. BBC News account 'Santer backs Finland in language war' on 2 July 1999). I then wrote a little press review to the Classics Students' quarterly magazine Rostra right after the Finnish Presidency had ended. I've just translated this old article into English, and you can find it in the previous post in this blog

To my surprise, the old language issue seems to still be alive. At least according to the AFP report 'Finnish EU presidency to snub German language' on 7 April this year. I haven't seen any connection made to the Latin news report this time, though, but many other interesting comments about the conspectus rerum has been made, and I'm going to review them here as I write it.

[Special thanks to Roz for proof-reading!]

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 21:39 | Permalink | Comments

[This post is a (slightly adapted) translation of my article 'Kun EU puhui latinaa', originally published in Finnish in Rostra issue 1/2000 (pp. 15-17 ; link points to a pdf file). I have added links to original articles that can still be found in internet. For explanation why the translation is here now, see the next post.]

When the EU Spoke Latin

Finland held the Presidency of the European Union during the latter half of 1999. On the Presidency Internet site a news report in Latin, 'Conspectus rerum latinus', edited by Dr Tuomo Pekkanen and Dr Reijo Pitkäranta, was published weekly. The news service drew quite some international attention, though many commentators mistakenly interpreted the use of Latin to be related to the dispute over the status of German language in the meetings. Reijo Pitkäranta tells that the production of the Latin news report was agreed long before the language dispute broke out. The initiative had came from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs: the father of the idea was Mr Yrjö Länsipuro, the Director General at the Department for Communication and Culture, who had requested Ms Liisa Ahtiluoto, the editor in chief of the Presidency site to contact Pitkäranta on Spring.

The press especially in Germany and Italy was eagerly reporting the issue. A German daily newspaper even published its editorial in Latin. The sympathies of the highly dramatised articles in Italian news papers were clearly on the Finnish side, though the stories did not always have too much to do with the reality. Moreover, the use of Latin in Finland was even made a domestic policy weapon in Italy.

Finns lost their minds irrevocably ­ assessments in German press

On 17 July 1999, Die Welt published its editorial 'Latinitas et ordinatrum portabile' entirely in Latin, though accompanied with a German translation. In the beginning of the article, the Latin news report is considered to some degree as an attack against Germany. In the end, the author Thomas Schmid notes, however, that the Finns have managed to demonstrate how a modern information society rests on dignified tradition.

In turn, Hamburger Morgenpost published on 17 July 1999 an article titled 'Die spinnen, die Finnen' (approximately: 'Crazy, the Finns '), according to which Finland stakes the new stage of the language dispute with the Latin language. To avoid diehard reputation, the Precidency is now offering news in classical Latin language on its internet site.

Berlin-based Der Tagesspiegel points out in an article published 20 July 1999 that this is the first time in th EU history that the Presidency regularly publishes news in Latin. The paper believes that Finland thereby responds to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's claim that it would not be doing enough for the linguistic plurality of the Union.

Finns chew Latin like chewing gum - Italy rapt

Rome-based La Repubblica tells on 9 July that the EU President Finland is sending 'messages in the language of antiquity as protest'. According to Repubblica, the internet service reveals to those understanding the language of Caesar and Virgil that Finland's six-month presidency has begun. The author Nello Ajello asks: why this, and other things too, must be told in Latin? He thinks the answer is obvious: for revenge, to strike back.

With reference to the Winter War, Ajello also notes that the Finns are by no means necessarily going to be smashed by the Germans renowned by they military tradition, in this 'new anti-imperialistic war'. The Finns are not launching their counter-attack from scratch, but 'armed to the teeth'. The author thinks that to us Finns, Latin is the second language, which we 'chew like gum' and not only study but also vigorously spread to the world.

It seems that not only the origins of the Latin language news service, but also the phonetics of the Finnish language remain obscure to the reporter; videlicet, he states along the lines 'We people of the third millennium, in our desire for comfort, easily tend to think that better Latin than Finnish - at least Latin has less consonants'.

Still in the same article, there is an anecdote from 1952 Helsinki Olympics, claiming that during the Games, Italian journalist Gianni Brera would have interviewed Paavo Nurmi in Latin, which would have been the only common language for the two.

In Italy, the position of Latin at schools has long been under dispute. The local school reformers have been complaining that the share of Latin in teaching is excessive. Milan-based Corriere della sera discussed the issue on 16 July 1999 under title 'Latino, per fortuna c'è la Finlandia' ('Latin, fortunately there is Finland'), smoothly transiting from the EU language dispute through the Finland's Presidency site's Latin news service to the Italian education policy. To conclude, reporter Luciano Canfora wonders if the Italians truly need to wait an external signal from Finland to appreciate the importance of Latin.

A week later, 21 July 1999, in Corriere Riccardo Chiaberge interviewed President Ahtisaari, the subduer of Milošević. 'Gutta cavat lapidem', Ahtisaari begun his reply. A moment later the President is thinking back the beginning of his secondary school Latin book: 'Italia est insula'. As the reporter is puzzled by the sudden change in the geography of his homeland, Ahtisaari perceives his error, it was of course 'Sikilia est insula' (orthography by Corriere). Then Latin is left a side for a while, though the reporter does know that Finland wants for annoyance of the Germans to make Latin the official language of the EU. Untill the end of the interview, where Chiaberge induces President and the Finnish people to declare: 'Cives finnici sumus. Semper ad maiora!'.

Labels: English, Finland, Latin, Lingua latina, Nuntii latini

Posted by Janne at 21:36 | Permalink | Comments

Welcome to my new blog, which is to continue and complement the flow of conciousness started in my Timor-Leste blogs earlier. Now that I am permanently in Finland, and as I intend to continue blogging, I thought it would be appropriate to write under a more wide-ranging title.

Is this blog in Latin?

Occasionally, yes, but I'm going use whatever language seems most appropriate for each post, depending on the subject, intended audience and my mood. Most posts are probably going to be in English.


Confused when this started?

The first post to this blog was made on July 31, 2006. However, I have since posted some stories about my past trips (in accordance with the blog title) backdated to where they actually occured. I may continue this practice as I get my photos organised.

Labels: Dili, East Timor, English, Finland, Helsinki, Latin, Lingua latina, Timor-Leste, Travel

Posted by Janne at 10:39 | Permalink | Comments