Page 30 - SAFFER 03

THROUGH A DIFFERENT WINDOW

The morning is crisp and bright. I sit at my desk typing an academic text I have no interest in.
As I lift my head and look through the window, I see a dedicated man in front of my apartment
hoisting the national flag to honour another important day; the Kalevala Day.

Kalevala is a Finnish national epic based on Finnish oral folklore and mythology written by
Elias Lönnrot, in the 19th-century. I straighten my back and sit up because Kalevala has a sig-
nificant meaning to me too.

The very first Finnish book I ever read (besides text books as I was studying the language, at
the time) was the story of Kalevala from a children’s titled Korien Kalevala (The Canine Kale-
vala) by Mauri Kunnas. The book retells the story of Kalevala using canine characters, written
in an easy to understand language and includes beautiful cartoons.

The joy I experienced at the time was indescribable. I felt included, and as if I was let in on a
secret; an understanding of Finnish literature. That’s how far I’ve come with my Finnish lan-
guage skills; a difficult language to learn but imperative for everything here depends on it. That
is, one needs to master the language in order to survive socially and career-wise.

Besides my association of Kalevala with language, I’m also fascinated by oral traditions; my-
thology and folklore. And looking briefly at Finnish mythology, there are at least eleven mythi-
cal creatures that are believed to be lurking around forests and lakes. Many appear in Lönnrot’s
Kalevala. One of them is Otso; a brown bear deemed to be the king of the forests, and also a
creature that features prominently in Finnish folklore. That’s no surprise because a bear is one
of the seven iconic Finnish nature symbols.

Therefore, a sure sign of spring after a cold, dark and long Nordic winter is not only the return
of sun but a bear waking up from hibernation.

And so, here we are...it’s March, a month of expectation. A self-expectancy that nestles some-
where in between as spring presses against winter.

You can find Khaya on the web:
www.khayaronkainen.fi
Instagram: @ khaya. ronkainen

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