April is here already and Springtime is upon us. The best is yet to arrive with this Summer being the busiest the House of Finland & Finnish Community will ever be.
Our House of Finland Annual Lawn Program will be held on June 19th, 2:00 at the Lawn Stage next to the House of Finland. We hope to have a full complement of Finnish entertainers, singers, dancers, and great Finnish food to provide to our guests on that day. This is our day to shine and present the best of Finland and the culture to the public on June 19.
Our traditional Midsummer Bonfire-Kokko will be held at Crown Point on June 25th. In the Years past we have had great turnouts and minimal turnouts. Please plan to make this a great start for your Summer of Finnish activities.
Tower after Hours at the Museum of Man on July 28th is sponsored by the House of Finland. This is in conjunction with FinnFest 2011 and the San Diego City Proclamation that August 2011 be proclaimed Month of Finland by the City of San Diego.
This is an opportunity to show San Diego and the public, our Finnish culture, arts and music along with our traditional cuisine. This is the first time that the House of Finland will participate in this event, and hopefully it will leave wonderful memories for all those who participate. FinnFest 2011 is right around the corner from The Tower After Hours event and will serve to advertise FinnFest 2011.
August 10-14th, at the Town & Country Resort in Mission Valley, will be the culmination of a few years of work by many dedicated volunteers. This is a group effort spearheaded by Annina Lukiini-Johnson, Henri Syvänen and company. The amount of time and hours spent on this project is phenomenal. Such dedication by volunteers I have never seen.
Please check out a few websites; FinnFest2011.com, balboapark.org, houseoffinland.org & enjoy what is going on in San Diego’s Crown Jewel, Balboa Park & Finnish Community.
Hannu Mikkonen
Earthquakes and revolutions—this has certainly been an unsettled time for Finland and the world! The Finnish Foreign Ministry has been very active in looking after Finnish citizens in the wake of the earthquakes in New Zealand in February and in Japan this last March 11. The Foreign Ministry was able to contact all Finnish citizens for which it had contact information in New Zealand (approximately 90) and in Japan (approximately 830) shortly after each earthquake. No deaths or serious injuries were reported. The Foreign Ministry requests that Finnish citizens leaving Japan notify the Ministry, and the Ministry is available to help with travel arrangements. At present, the Finnish Embassy in Tokyo estimates that approximately 300-400 Finnish citizens remain in Japan.
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb has continued to be a leading voice in formulating European Union policies in light of the “people power” revolutions in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Concerns about maintaining basic civil rights are high on the agenda, as are issues related to refugees and other matters affecting the southern European Union countries. Minister Stubb will be attending informal meetings with other European Union foreign ministers in Brussels and Gödöllö, Hungary.
United States Vice President Joseph Biden made a formal state visit to Finland at the beginning of March. The accompanying delegation held meetings with Finnish government representatives, focusing on bilateral relations, the situation in Northern Africa and Libya, the international operations in Afghanistan, as well as discussions related to Russia. Finland’s participation as an active member in NATO’s Partnership for Peace was recognized. Finland will be participating with Sweden in NATO’s 2011 Crisis Management Exercise, involving close coordination between the Finnish Foreign Ministry, the Finnish Defense Ministry, NATO Headquarters and NATO strategylevel military staff, among others.
Kathrin Mautino
Thank goodness for the members of the House of Finland’s hardworking, dedicated Sunday volunteers! Without them, there is no telling how many more days the house would be open each year. Visitors explore cottages constantly, looking for information and tasting different kinds of food from all the countries. All the cottages rely on volunteers and donations to keep their efforts going. Each volunteer has his/her own style to host and that is what makes it so alive and interesting for first-time visitors and for those who visit cottages regularly. All members have a few things in common. They are made up of extremely caring, passionate volunteers who work tirelessly to make Finland well known. Unfortunately, we still have Sunday volunteer positions open, and we would love to see those empty Sundays to be taken as soon as possible. New and old members join us! The House of Finland is open one day a week for public, on Sundays 12-4 p.m. When you volunteer, you are giving an empty house a heart.
Need volunteers: May 15 and 22; June 5 and 26; July 3, 10, 17 and 31. OPEN POSITION: Hosting coordinator for April, May and June. Position entails coordinating hosting volunteers for these 3 months. Currently April is taken care of with hosting volunteers and only four Sundays are open in May and June. PULLAA! We need bakers to fill the House of Finland’s freezer. Because we only offer pullaa to visitors, the amounts have risen suddenly and we need more help to fill the freezer and satisfy our hungry guests. You can bake at your home and bring the pulla to the house on Sundays, or if you want to schedule some other day contact me. All volunteers deserve our most sincere gratitude for making this work! Please call or send an email, how you want to help.
Kati Nupponen, 858-774-4186 or kati@nupponen.com
Vappurieha 2011
Lauantaina 30.4
klo 12.00 – 16.00
Tule viettämään perinteistä
vappuriehaa kauniiseen Balboa Parkiin!
Myytävänä herkullista lohikeittoa ruisleivän kera, karjalanpiirakoita, hodareita, simaa, munkkeja, kahvia ja muita herkkuja niin lapsille kuin aikuisillekin! Tule haastamaan viime vuoden hiihtokilpailun voittajajoukkue. Pienemmille lapsille askartelua, pelejä ja leikkejä sekä ongintaa. Arpajaisissa mahtavat palkinnot: Suunto, Nokia ja monet muut arvokkaat palkinnot. Mukaasi tarvitset iloisen mielen, viltin, rantatuolit ja jos tahdot kohottaa maljan Vapun kunniaksi, niin kuohujuomaa! Rennosta musiikista vastaa Kyytipojat
Tervetuloa!
Järjestäjänä San Diegon Suomi-Koulu
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