I Just Voted for Helsinki in 2017

I just cast my vote via e-mail in favor of Helsinki’s bid for the 2017 World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon). WorldCon is the granddaddy of all scifi and fantasy conventions each year and has been in existence since 1939. This year it’s being held in Spokane, Washington. Next year it’s in Kansas City, Missouri. But you know where it’s never been? Finland. And it’s time for that to change.

As an American, it’s certainly convenient for WorldCon to be in the United States nearly every year, but the fact that WorldCon defaults to the United States doesn’t make it very worldly. In fact, counting next year’s convention in Kansas City, 55 of the 74 WorldCons will have been held in the United States—nearly three quarters of them. Add Canada to that total, and it’s 60 out of the 74 that have been held in North America—81%.

Though they have a whole host of separate problems, one of the things I always liked about international sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup is that you really do get to see different parts of the world every time an event is held. For example, of the 33 summer Olympic games (including the next two in Brazil and Japan), 4 have been held in the US. Add the games in Mexico City and Montreal, and that’s a grand total of 6 games held in North America—18%. In fact, there have been more summer Olympic competitions in Helsinki (2) than Canada (1). Without a doubt, the summer Olympics are fraught with controversy and have their own issues (e.g. there’s never been a summer Olympics in Africa, the first games in South America will be next year and they’re fraught with controversy, etc.), but if one were forced to say, “Which event is more international: the summer Olympics or the World Science Fiction Convention?”, one would be forced to say the Olympics. That, to me, is a shame.

But it need not always be that way! This year, for example, we have the ability to vote on not one, but three non-American bids for the 2017 convention: Montreal, Shizuoka and Helsinki. We have the opportunity to continue to move WorldCon in the direction of becoming a truly international convention and I think we should. Regarding the bid itself, I of course support helsinkiin2017 for a number of reasons. First, of course, I’ve always wanted to visit Finland, and this will be as good an excuse as any, but in addition, the committee for helsinkiin2017 was ready to host this WorldCon more than two years ago. They actually put together a truly impressive bid for the 2015 WorldCon, but lost to Spokane. Since then, they’ve put all their time and energy into 2017. They were already the most professional and best-prepared bid back then, and now they’ve only improved on that reputation. George R. R. Martin has shown his support for the bid—twice—and he’s experienced Finnish hospitality first hand at several different conventions. I think it’s time to bring the World Science Fiction Convention to the birthplace of Moomins, Linux, Kalakukko, and Angry Birds. It’s time to bring WorldCon to Helsinki!

Oh, and in case you’re wondering why I’m mentioning it today… As of the time of posting, there is about 11 hours left to vote for Helsinki in 2017 via e-mail. You may still vote in person if you plan to attend Sasquan in Spokane, of course, but if you want to make your voice heard and you can’t attend Sasquan, you may vote for Helsinki by doing the following:

And that’s it! I know it’s kind of a complex process, but it’s to ensure that everything is done fairly. Again, if you don’t make it in in the next 11 hours, there are still ways to vote! You can vote in person at Sasquan, or you can send a signed paper ballot with a friend who’s attending Sasquan and can hand deliver it. Since there’s still time to do it online, though, I wanted to be sure to pass this info on. Hopefully two years from now we’ll be celebrating together in Helsinki, where the sun never sets! (During the summer, anyway.)

~:D

Language: Finnish Translation: Päästää sammakko suusta Meaning: To say the wrong thing

Some love-related words in Finnish

Because I’m feeling a bit romantic, that’s why.

Pusu - A tiny, swift kiss Suukko - A little kiss, little longer than ‘pusu’ Suudelma - A proper kiss Suudella - To make out Pitää kädestä - To hold one’s hand Hali/Halaus / Halata - Hug / To hug Treffit - A date Seurustella - To be in a relationship Suhde - A relationship Rakkaus - Love Rakastaa - To love Romanssi - Romance Tyttöystävä / Poikaystävä - A Girlfriend / Boyfriend Kumppani - A partner Kihlat / Mennä kihloihin - The engagement / To get engaged Häät - Wedding Mennä naimisiin - To get married Vihkiminen - To get married in a church, dedication Ero - Divorce, a break up And for a bonus. The most popular wedding waltz, häävalssi, in Finland. In Finnish wedding first dance is often a waltz and even if it wasn’t the first dance is still referred as a “wedding waltz”.

Lyrics summary: “I looked deep into your eyes for a long time thinking, maybe one day we can get married, maybe one day you’ll be on my side. We will share dearth, sorrow and happiness until we’re gone.”

Amazing Onomatopoeic Finnish

Finns have an astounding array of precise words for various sounds. Here are some examples: sirinä - the sound a cricket or a high pitched electronic device sorina - crowd talking busily surina - a buzz like an insect or a kitchen appliance särinä - a tingly or crackly “buzz” helinä - jingle of tiny bells hälinä - a loud hubbub of a crowd hulina - sort of wild commotion, for example the noise of rowdy crowd mulina - stupid sounding or stupid speech pirinä - sound of an old alarm clock or something fast, continuous and high pitched pärinä - sound of a drum roll or the snare drum, also used to describe drug effects, especially caffeine purina - a gruntle or discomforted animal sound porina - the sound of boiling water or food, also used for chatter lirinä - sound of trickle of thin stream of liquid lorina - a larger stream of liquid, sound of urination lärinä - a robust splish-splash lörinä - …something like a diarrhea sihinä - a hiss like a snake suhina - a whisper like sound of wind, grass or bed sheets sähinä - an exclaimed hissing, also a visual description of how fireworks or vivid, moving patterns look kahina - sound of brustling cloth or paper money kihinä - the imagined sound of someone very angry, like a boiling point kohina - the static sound of a tv or a rapid kuhina - the imagined sound of a busy anthill or a busy crowd of people kähinä - a hoarse voice köhinä - continuous coughing hurina - a stable hum, like that of a fan or a computer murina - an animal growl or very discomforted voice marina - annoying complaining murina - animal grunting or growling sound märinä - annoying or useless crying mörinä - a very low voice, like that of a troll ärinä - voice that dogs make when they’re agitated, but not barking or growling örinä - a guttural voice, used to describe voice of extreme metal vocalists …and that’s just some very common ones, you might have picked some logic there. If there is a need to describe some specific sounds, finns can easily make up new words, for example: tähinä, which would at least to me sound like exited, non-vocal anticipation. How marvelous!

– Fan submisson, thanks Sami N.!

Self-portrait, 1937 Tove Jansson