Sigurd Eriksen: Still exploring

I've been in Helsinki for some time now and start to realise that people here is not much different from people back in Norway. Except from the language, it's pretty easy being a Norwegian in Helsinki. Well, the part with the language isn't a big problem either, since most Finns speak excellent English.

There has been several exciting things happening the last few weeks. Tuomas and I went to the press house in Forssan, named Forssan Kirjapaino (FK), to quality-check the printing of the first issue of Evita. Everything went perfect, and the next day, the rest of the staff of Evita joined us for a guided tour of the press house. After the tour, FK was taking us to their company cabin in the woods outside of Forssan. On the way we stopped at a local brewery (Oluttupa Iso Piippu). There we got the chance to taste the different beer and siiderit, while (all in Finnish) we got one hour of information about (I guess) the brewers history.

Finally we got to the cabin and had some more beer and siiderit. Of course there was some competition. Miniature golf, dart, and a game called Mölky. I represented Norway the best I could, but I guess one small Norwegian guy can't win, when he's competing against the best Finnish people you can find. Luckily, I took a picture of the scoreboard, and as you can see, I got the second place (that is, if I don't mention that it's the scoreboard from the miniature golf competition, and the one with the lowest number wins). After the games, it was (of course) time for some Sauna and a skinny dip in the lake. It was actually refreshing.

At the office I've been working with different marketing projects, such as Divaani-Koit (Divaani Home), a seminar called Ravistettava / Omskakas, news letters templates for Olivia, Divaani and Evita, and some layout and photoshoot for the second issue of Evita.

Divaani-Koti is an unique event concept by Bonnier, done in cooperation with different media sales customers. Divaani-home is actually a city appartment on sale, that was turned on to a venue place for B2B customers. Divaani-home reflects Divaani lifestyle magazine concept. The apartment itself is a very exclusive, and everything (from tableware to sofas, barbeque qrills and hifi-systems) inside is provided by the Divaani partners, such as NCC, Skanno, Iittala, Hackman, Sony, Valio, Nespresso and more.

Omskakas is originally a book, written by wellknown creative Finnish people. It's about creative thinking and why it's so important to renew our thinking to maintain fresh ideas. The seminar is about the same issues, and the purpose of the seminar is to give marketing tools and inspiration to Bonnier media sales customers. The idea is to show that Bonnier is always in front of creative thinking, having exciting ideas and are willing to share that information with the customers, giving them more value for the money. Creative thinking is our game. We had to make a creative invitation, so it's made like a juice box (where you most often find the word Omskakas (Shake before opening).

So what am I doing when I'm not at work? Well, mostly I've been training, and getting the body control needed to understand Pilates. One of my first meeting with the Finnish people was at the "Night of Art". The city became a meeting place for art and public at large, with different venues taking place all over the city. This night I guess every Helsinki citizen was out in the city.

Thuomas and I went to Helsinki Design Week to see the NAPA x PEKKA exhibition. Helsinki Design Week is an annual city festival which purpose is to attune and introduce people to new design, and NAPA x PEKKA brings together work from the first two illustration agencies in Finland. That evening I was introduced to  Mr Siiderit (cider) and señor Lonkero (long drink). Well, they had a lot of stories for me, but after a while, I think it was just before midnight, I told them goodnight and went home (I was not drunk, but I was at the state of mind where there is no problems). When I got out of the cable factory (the place of the venue) I saw a tram, and being a bit tired I went on it (great — I don't have to walk). After 10-15 minutes I suddenly realised that the tram didn't necessarily go to the Rautatientori (Central Station, wich is just 400 meters from home). I looked out and I found myself on the way out to the suburbs on the other side of the city. I got of the tram, thinking I'll just have to take the next tram back again and start over. The problem was that the trams and buses stop going after twelve o'clock. But since I was in this happy state of mind, I decided to walk home and see the city by night. I took me about one hour.

During the Helsinki Film Festival (yes, there is a lot of festivals and event going on in this city) I saw The September Issue. It's a documentary about the making of the 2007 September issue of Vogue, which is the biggest ever made. Even if you're not into fashion, this is worth seeing, especially if you work in an editorial environment.

I also have had my family for a visit. That was great. We spend the weekend checking out the Zoo in Korkeasaari. Having two boys (1.5 and 3.5 years old), it's more or less obligated to find a inflatable playground, and luckily there is one (LeikkuLuola) next to the gym. I guess we had at least 6 hours in that place during the weekend. We had lunch at the Kauppatori square, witch means "market square". While we were eating (it was a mix of different Finnish specialities — don't ask me what) we realised that the place was packed with sea gulls flying above our heads, all over the market stands (and some of them really low), dropping their "bombs". Luckily we found a place to sit under at rooftop, so they missed us, but the kids to thought it was funny. Then we took a day trying to rate the Helsinki restaurants, and as much as the kids loved the sea gulls at Kauppatori, they (not surprisingly) voted McDonald the place to be. "Do not miss out on the nutritious and balanced happy meal from McDonalds, while being in Helsinki", they said.

Last weekend I had a visit from Norway. A couple of my best friend came to help me explore the city. I can't say we saw much of the city (daytime), but we did get to do some shopping, and had a couple of drinks. We checked out several nightclubs and had a great time dancing our way into the morning. It was great being a teenager again, spending every night at a nightclub, getting home early in the morning.