Santa looked a lot like daddy…
In the early 1960s, Santa Claus is wearing a gray coat. The world is black and white. In a small square-shaped photograph, the camera lens has captured the large man in the middle, who has […]
Kategoria: In English
Dancing in the Dark
The autumn exam season was over, and there were only withdrawals in my bank account. The situation was unbearable. While partying with Italian students, I had gotten to know Giancarlo, a true Italian, who did […]
On the Buses!
The superior mode of transportation in the 60s and 70s was the bicycle. With a bicycle, you could quickly and reliably get anywhere. Tapiola, the garden city, was not a maze-like stone city like Helsinki; […]
Tar, Sweat and Tears
– Mom! I can’t tighten these. Can you press here, so I can tie the knot? The new Pro Champ Kobobol ice hockey skates are black leather with brown reinforcements. On the bottom of the […]
Backyard Hockey and Ball Sports
Tapiola was teeming with kids of the junior league age. The soccer league between residential areas had started even before we moved to Tapiola in the summer of 1960. I played soccer too, but love […]
The Wizard of the Silver Ball
”Ever since I was a young boyI’ve played the silver ball.” In the 1960s, many a child was enthralled for good when a Fortuna game emerged from the large package plucked from beneath the Christmas […]
The youth center called Spittoon
The reason why the youth center of the Tapiola parish, officially named Olotila, started being called Räkälä – in English, it might have been Spittoon – is unclear. The name, however, perfectly suited the large […]
The Age of Aquarius
Räkälä, as the church’s youth club was called, had burnt to the ground and Heikintori’s disco didn’t even have a B-license. Teenagers on the verge of adulthood could smoke cigarettes publicly – if they dared. […]
On an Autumn Day at the Cabin
The start of the autumn day is translucently clear. As the mornings can still be in late September – at its best. The slow turning of the season towards a few-hour-long, sunless, gray days is […]
Summer Falls to Autumn
The door swishes closed behind me and the carriage jerks into motion. I managed to catch the earlier train after all. I sprinted the last hundred meters at full trot; it was worth it. Waiting […]