I was interviewing people in Helsinki last Tuesday. It's a part-time job alongside of studies.
People do not think highly of such job, and I can see why. Bothering people with dozens of questions on their spare time in a chaotic shopping mall, just as they have got out from work to do their grocery purchases.
That Tuesday was the worst slump so far. Recalling the event makes my blood still boil, but I can only blame my self.
The idea was to interview anyone who came out of the store, and basically figure out why one chooses to shop in this store and not the other.
The day was almost ending, and I was just checking my phone for messages. On the same moment one quite chubby man who had packed his week's food made an eye contact. He was about to walk away so quickly I put the phone into my pocket, and asked him "How are you doing?" He turned his face away saying, "Why do you ask? You're not interested anyway how am I doing."
Nice start. This guy wasn't obviously in a mood to answer, but I went on replying "I thought asking that would be a nice way to begin a conversation." The guy frowned at me and said, "Well, I'm not interested to have a conversation with you." That made two of us, but as my duty is to get the questionnaire forms filled, I asked him whether he'd be interested to participate anyway.
This man abruptly refused and was about to turn away, but then suddenly he bent down to pick up something from the floor. After a brief moment he got up holding up a 5 euro bill in his hand. "Look at this!" he yelled squeezing the note firmly. "Maybe I can answer your questionnaire after all."
Half of the form was complete, but then he started to get hostile. He was criticizing almost every question. "What is this question, 'is the store socially responsible'? Isn't every store in a way contributing to the welfare?" Who the hell has invented these god damn questions? You? I think this questionnaire is ridiculous!"
All I could do was to explain, "I'm only interviewing, and that's my poor job. If you help me out on this I'd be very pleased." He softened a little and continued to answer. Then as I turned to next page his fury exploded at once. "With how many questions you dare to bother me? I need much more than 5 euro to answer your foolish questionnaire! I've done a marketing research once, and I know how they should be. The hell with it! This is enough!"
His shouts echoed in the mall as he was marching away. You can imagine I felt down, and the fact that interviewer's wage is counted per completed form made the situation even more annoying. Half an hour wasted only to get irritated. Splendid.
I put my hands into my pockets and gathered my wits. A 5 euro note had been in my pocket, but where was it now? Oh dear, it had dropped...
November 13, 2010
November 4, 2010
Find your story and tell it
What is a common feature among people with reputation? They all have a story to tell.
Think of someone who left an unforgettable impression to you? How do you remember the person still after years? I claim that an ingredient for deep impact is to have a story to tell - something that the listener will remember you of. Do you have a story? Want to share it?
Storytelling is one of the best ways to remember things. That's why people with great memory rely on narrative rather than repetition.
This all may be self-explanatory, but still I indulge you with an example that happened four years back: Timo Rännäli, an artist whom I met in New Zealand, told me a story how he had ended up to be a painter.
Before coming actually face to face with him, I had seen of his works printed in post cards and as posters around the coastal town of Mt. Maunganui, the place we both resides at the time. His vibrant paintings were sure to catch anyone's eye.
One day on my way home I found out where his studio was. My curiosity rose as I saw the signature "Timo Rannali" in the bottom right corner. It's a quite obvious name for a Finn, though without the dots over the letter 'a'. As I had not met a single Finnish person for about 11 months, I resolved to open the door and walk the stairs up to his neat workroom.
Timo was sitting on a small revolving stool. He was holding a color palette under his thumb, and finishing a large paintwork with a brush that seemed too tiny for the purpose. His back was bent towards the three-stem frame as he was finishing a detailed part of the painting.
Soon he placed the pencil and the palette aside, turned on the stool and stood up. I thought I'd surprise him by opening the conversation in Finnish; so I said "Hei Timo! Mitä kuuluu?" Probably not the best idea, because It made his head flush, and for a moment he seemed totally unsure of what to do. Then in an infallible Kiwi accent he explained that his Finnish is not quite enough to make a conversation.
It takes a while to forget your mother tongue, so how long had he been in New Zealand already? "I immigrated to New Zealand when I was still a young boy," he clarified. "My father lives now in Finland, and several years ago I visited him, and Finland. Now I'm mostly spending my time painting and surfing. If you want to catch some waves, I'll borrow my surfing board to you..." Then Timo changed the discussion to art.
He told that the influence to his work comes from children. "Before becoming a full time artist I was an elementary school teacher. At the art classes I would ask the children to tell about their creations, and always they came up with stories." Timo took the idea and started to illustrate stories on to canvas. The problem was that a long story made him run out of space. To overcome the obstacle, Timo figured to draw through a fish-eye perspective so that the landscapes would curve around, and fit to the original area.
The story about how Timo had ended up as an artist, and how his work was influenced by children was a story peculiar enough to stick in my memory.
Did you already make a story of your own?
(See more of Timo Rännäli's work here)
Think of someone who left an unforgettable impression to you? How do you remember the person still after years? I claim that an ingredient for deep impact is to have a story to tell - something that the listener will remember you of. Do you have a story? Want to share it?
Storytelling is one of the best ways to remember things. That's why people with great memory rely on narrative rather than repetition.
This all may be self-explanatory, but still I indulge you with an example that happened four years back: Timo Rännäli, an artist whom I met in New Zealand, told me a story how he had ended up to be a painter.
Before coming actually face to face with him, I had seen of his works printed in post cards and as posters around the coastal town of Mt. Maunganui, the place we both resides at the time. His vibrant paintings were sure to catch anyone's eye.
One day on my way home I found out where his studio was. My curiosity rose as I saw the signature "Timo Rannali" in the bottom right corner. It's a quite obvious name for a Finn, though without the dots over the letter 'a'. As I had not met a single Finnish person for about 11 months, I resolved to open the door and walk the stairs up to his neat workroom.
Timo was sitting on a small revolving stool. He was holding a color palette under his thumb, and finishing a large paintwork with a brush that seemed too tiny for the purpose. His back was bent towards the three-stem frame as he was finishing a detailed part of the painting.
Soon he placed the pencil and the palette aside, turned on the stool and stood up. I thought I'd surprise him by opening the conversation in Finnish; so I said "Hei Timo! Mitä kuuluu?" Probably not the best idea, because It made his head flush, and for a moment he seemed totally unsure of what to do. Then in an infallible Kiwi accent he explained that his Finnish is not quite enough to make a conversation.
It takes a while to forget your mother tongue, so how long had he been in New Zealand already? "I immigrated to New Zealand when I was still a young boy," he clarified. "My father lives now in Finland, and several years ago I visited him, and Finland. Now I'm mostly spending my time painting and surfing. If you want to catch some waves, I'll borrow my surfing board to you..." Then Timo changed the discussion to art.
He told that the influence to his work comes from children. "Before becoming a full time artist I was an elementary school teacher. At the art classes I would ask the children to tell about their creations, and always they came up with stories." Timo took the idea and started to illustrate stories on to canvas. The problem was that a long story made him run out of space. To overcome the obstacle, Timo figured to draw through a fish-eye perspective so that the landscapes would curve around, and fit to the original area.
The story about how Timo had ended up as an artist, and how his work was influenced by children was a story peculiar enough to stick in my memory.
Did you already make a story of your own?
(See more of Timo Rännäli's work here)
October 28, 2010
A parody of the short history of teaching
In the beginning there was a teacher, the students and a class room.
Technology advanced, and one day the class room had to give way for web-based learning or e-learning.
There was puzzlement among mentors: was this new form of transferring knowledge a friend of a foe?
For everyone's relief, e-learning found its place in the realm of education by time. And though it required lots of training and patience, at the end, even the most conservative intellectuals complied to use web as a complement teaching.
Years passed and there was a harmony of multiform teaching. But just as people had became familiar with e-learning they were confronted with a new rebellion. It came with such a speed that nobody even realized it had already arrived.
Educators were filled with a new kind of loathing that was labelled as Social Media and user created content! The wild, untamed nature of this newcomer was most feared among teachers. A word was going around that it could dispense a central part of the teaching: the teachers.
Such rivalry was too much to comprehend, and the members of scholar world joined forces to prepare for battle. It was an unjust combat. The enemy possessed some mystical powers, yet unheard of. In an instant, after casting the secret magic, the pupils got enchanted and grew an addition to Social Media. Educators fled beaten. They had lost the war.
In the end, all that was left of original setting were the students. They lived happily ever after, reading comments and making status updates on their doctrine that was also known as the book of faces or curtly Facebook.
The end.
__
This text was a by-product of thesis writing.
Technology advanced, and one day the class room had to give way for web-based learning or e-learning.
There was puzzlement among mentors: was this new form of transferring knowledge a friend of a foe?
For everyone's relief, e-learning found its place in the realm of education by time. And though it required lots of training and patience, at the end, even the most conservative intellectuals complied to use web as a complement teaching.
Years passed and there was a harmony of multiform teaching. But just as people had became familiar with e-learning they were confronted with a new rebellion. It came with such a speed that nobody even realized it had already arrived.
Educators were filled with a new kind of loathing that was labelled as Social Media and user created content! The wild, untamed nature of this newcomer was most feared among teachers. A word was going around that it could dispense a central part of the teaching: the teachers.
Such rivalry was too much to comprehend, and the members of scholar world joined forces to prepare for battle. It was an unjust combat. The enemy possessed some mystical powers, yet unheard of. In an instant, after casting the secret magic, the pupils got enchanted and grew an addition to Social Media. Educators fled beaten. They had lost the war.
In the end, all that was left of original setting were the students. They lived happily ever after, reading comments and making status updates on their doctrine that was also known as the book of faces or curtly Facebook.
The end.
__
This text was a by-product of thesis writing.
October 26, 2010
夏の登山の思い出 －アルプス編 ３日目ー
朝食を食べて早速出発！！
今日は山を下りるだけです！！
１時間ほどで山をおりて、バスが出ている小屋まで歩いている途中、やぎの群れが前からやって来ました☆アルプスの景色にぴったり！！
小屋に着いて、ここからマイヤーホーフェンの駐車場までは楽をしてバスで帰っちゃいました。
帰りの車の中。
時と場合によっては、無制限の所もあるみたい！！
October 25, 2010
夏の登山の思い出 －アルプス編 ２日目ー
５時半起床。天気は微妙だけど、出発しました！！
最初は、この山小屋のすぐ傍の山を越えます！
岩の斜面を登り、３０分ぐらいで頂上へ！
素晴らしいアルプスの景色に感動！！！！！
…したのですが、今登ってきた山小屋の方を見ると、雲がどんどん出てきてこんな感じ…。
しかも雲はこっちに流れてきています…
おまけに雨まで降り出した！！！
迷った挙句、１０時間コースを悪天候の中歩くのは危険だということで、引きかえすことにしました。
再び山小屋に戻って来て、さてこれからどうしようか…と相談していると、小屋の中から山登りをする格好をした一人のおじさんが出てきました。今から私たちが断念したコースに行くとのこと。天気はこれから回復して、登山に最適になるらしい…だって！？
それを聞いて、再び行くことに決定！！
２回もキツイ山を登って、朝からいい運動だわ。
山の頂上には、今度はこんな景色が広がっていました☆☆
山のふもとの雲がなくなって、全然違って見える☆
この景色を２回楽しめただけでも、２回登った価値はアリかな♪
しばらく歩いていると、虹が☆☆
天気もいいし、戻って来てよかった～！！
ところがところが、やっぱり山の天気をなめてはいけませんね…。
ガスって来ました…。
おまけに、岩だらけのゴツゴツ道で、滑りやすいのなんのって！！
かなり慎重に歩かないと、滑って転ぶ危険性大！！
こんな道がひたすら続きます…。
ゴツゴツ道を越したと思ったら、あら、こんな所に羊の群れが☆
ちょうどお腹もすいたので、羊の群れを通り過ぎてからランチ休憩しようとしていると…
羊達が私達のランチ目がけてすごい勢いでやってくるじゃありませんか！！
ソーセージ片手に追い払うLauri。
それでも懲りずにまたやって来る羊達…。
何度も追い返して、やっと諦めたみたいです…。ランチが全然食べれなかった～！！
さてさて、このコース、７つぐらいの山越えをして進むコースなのですが、その中で一番難しいらしい山にやって来ました！
横に見える景色は、こんな感じ！晴れてきた☆
慎重に登って…
着いたあ☆☆
ここから先は、天気も回復して、周りの雄大なアルプスの景色に圧倒されっぱなし！
遠くのほうに、湖が見えたり☆
更に歩くと、ついに今夜泊まる小屋（Kasseler Hutte)が見えました！
すごいロケーション！！
すでにたくさん歩いていたので、かなり疲れきっており、ここから小屋まで歩くのがとても辛かったですけど、景色は最高でした☆アルプスのイメージそのまんま！！
やっと着きました…！！
もう疲れ果てて、何もやる気が起こらない…。
とりあえず、ビールを飲みたい気分だったので、ドイツ産ビールを注文！グイッと飲みました☆
おいし～♪♪
さあ、今度はシャワーを浴びてすっきりしたかったのですが…なんとこの日に限って、シャワーの給湯器が壊れていて、水しか出ないとのこと！８月とは言え、アルプスの山の中！気温はかなり低いのに、冷たいシャワーって…。はい、諦めました…私。
でも、Lauriや一緒に行った友達はみんな冷たいシャワー浴びてました！エライ！
シャワーは、氷水のように冷たくて、３分耐えるのも大変だったとか…。おまけにLauriがシャワーを浴びて、体や髪の毛を急いで洗って、流そうとしたらもうシャワーは出てこなかったって…。そう、このシャワー、コイン式なのです。余分にコインを持っていなかったので、追加で入れることもできず、外の洗面所の水で体と髪を流したとか…。
ここの小屋の中、結構広いのですが、レストラン用の厨房があります。でも、厨房に通じる所にドアがないし、ドイツ語が読めないので、うっかり厨房に足を踏み入れてしまいました。そこへすがさず来た小屋の人。名前を聞かれて、厨房の横に貼ってあった「ボランティアで仕事をする人」リストに名前を書き加えられてしまいました。えっ？？どういうこと？？よく見ると、Lauriの名前も。いつの間に…。
夕食後、知らずに厨房に足を踏み入れた人達が、皆が集うダイニングルームに呼び集められました。合計５人。４人外国人で、ドイツ語が読めるハズのドイツ人もなぜか一人。
夕食で使った大量のフォークやナイフ類の拭き物をさせらました。でも５人でやればあっという間☆
そして、オーナーがお礼に、と手伝いをした証明書と、ショットを一杯配ってくれました。
なんだか面白い経験ができた♪
１０時間登山の後は、ぐっすりと眠りたいところですが、私達が泊まったのは、なんと男女混合の１８人部屋！！みなさん、同じような長時間登山をした後なので、部屋が臭うの何のって！！！窓開けると寒いし、臭すぎて全然ぐっすり眠れなかった…。
…したのですが、今登ってきた山小屋の方を見ると、雲がどんどん出てきてこんな感じ…。
しかも雲はこっちに流れてきています…
おまけに雨まで降り出した！！！
迷った挙句、１０時間コースを悪天候の中歩くのは危険だということで、引きかえすことにしました。
再び山小屋に戻って来て、さてこれからどうしようか…と相談していると、小屋の中から山登りをする格好をした一人のおじさんが出てきました。今から私たちが断念したコースに行くとのこと。天気はこれから回復して、登山に最適になるらしい…だって！？
それを聞いて、再び行くことに決定！！
２回もキツイ山を登って、朝からいい運動だわ。
山の頂上には、今度はこんな景色が広がっていました☆☆
この景色を２回楽しめただけでも、２回登った価値はアリかな♪
天気もいいし、戻って来てよかった～！！
ところがところが、やっぱり山の天気をなめてはいけませんね…。
おまけに、岩だらけのゴツゴツ道で、滑りやすいのなんのって！！
かなり慎重に歩かないと、滑って転ぶ危険性大！！
ゴツゴツ道を越したと思ったら、あら、こんな所に羊の群れが☆
ちょうどお腹もすいたので、羊の群れを通り過ぎてからランチ休憩しようとしていると…
さてさて、このコース、７つぐらいの山越えをして進むコースなのですが、その中で一番難しいらしい山にやって来ました！
着いたあ☆☆
ここから先は、天気も回復して、周りの雄大なアルプスの景色に圧倒されっぱなし！
遠くのほうに、湖が見えたり☆
更に歩くと、ついに今夜泊まる小屋（Kasseler Hutte)が見えました！
すでにたくさん歩いていたので、かなり疲れきっており、ここから小屋まで歩くのがとても辛かったですけど、景色は最高でした☆アルプスのイメージそのまんま！！
やっと着きました…！！
とりあえず、ビールを飲みたい気分だったので、ドイツ産ビールを注文！グイッと飲みました☆
おいし～♪♪
さあ、今度はシャワーを浴びてすっきりしたかったのですが…なんとこの日に限って、シャワーの給湯器が壊れていて、水しか出ないとのこと！８月とは言え、アルプスの山の中！気温はかなり低いのに、冷たいシャワーって…。はい、諦めました…私。
でも、Lauriや一緒に行った友達はみんな冷たいシャワー浴びてました！エライ！
シャワーは、氷水のように冷たくて、３分耐えるのも大変だったとか…。おまけにLauriがシャワーを浴びて、体や髪の毛を急いで洗って、流そうとしたらもうシャワーは出てこなかったって…。そう、このシャワー、コイン式なのです。余分にコインを持っていなかったので、追加で入れることもできず、外の洗面所の水で体と髪を流したとか…。
ここの小屋の中、結構広いのですが、レストラン用の厨房があります。でも、厨房に通じる所にドアがないし、ドイツ語が読めないので、うっかり厨房に足を踏み入れてしまいました。そこへすがさず来た小屋の人。名前を聞かれて、厨房の横に貼ってあった「ボランティアで仕事をする人」リストに名前を書き加えられてしまいました。えっ？？どういうこと？？よく見ると、Lauriの名前も。いつの間に…。
夕食後、知らずに厨房に足を踏み入れた人達が、皆が集うダイニングルームに呼び集められました。合計５人。４人外国人で、ドイツ語が読めるハズのドイツ人もなぜか一人。
夕食で使った大量のフォークやナイフ類の拭き物をさせらました。でも５人でやればあっという間☆
そして、オーナーがお礼に、と手伝いをした証明書と、ショットを一杯配ってくれました。
なんだか面白い経験ができた♪
１０時間登山の後は、ぐっすりと眠りたいところですが、私達が泊まったのは、なんと男女混合の１８人部屋！！みなさん、同じような長時間登山をした後なので、部屋が臭うの何のって！！！窓開けると寒いし、臭すぎて全然ぐっすり眠れなかった…。
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