Hyvä Vappu

Hello from my home in Matinkyla! This is Nord Letter #6. Previous editions can be found here.

Every year, Finns celebrate April 30th and 1st May as Vappu in Finland. This is an occasion to celebrate everything from Labour Day, to the arrival of spring in Finland. It also has a bunch of Finnish student traditions as well, including putting a graduation cap on the head of Havis Amanda, a statute in Helsinki.

The first time I had witnessed Vappu was in 2022. I had gone out for my walk around Toolo lake, totally unaware of the festival. When I reached the lake I found almost a carnival like atmosphere. Finns were out in their white hats and customised overalls. They were out partying. Some were using a cut tree's trunk as a table. Most were drinking, eating, dancing and having fun. Which if you know Finns, is not how they are viewed (silent, introverted, etc.).

I knew there was some festival today. But I did not know what. Neither was I inclined, at that time, to find out what it was.

This Wednesday, we went out a little late. We had planned to go out earlier. But life happened. And so, by the time we reached the lake, there were hardly any people left. We saw a few, on their picnic blankets, drinking and eating. But that is par for the course during the summers here.

Here's some pictures.

I am thinking about

I saw this video this week and have been thinking about this a bit since then.

My earlier thoughts on this have been around how all that corporations are judged on is how much money they are making. What is the YoY growth, etc. No one cares about the people: neither the employees, nor the society at large.

I am reading

• Still Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick. 
• The walls of Apple’s garden are tumbling down. Maybe Apple should have made these changes earlier. They would have been more in control. Now it's upto the governments. I don't think adding additional app stores etc is an issue. Most people would not care for them. They would continue using the App Store. But the whole thing is nuanced, to say the least.
• They turned cattle ranches into tropical forest — then climate change hit. Maybe there's some hope left for us.

It will be a short one this week. Flu season seems to be in full swing.

See you next week.