Fall 2014, a brief review

This autumn I have been too busy/lazy to write anything. So now when I have a little more time I’ll write some brief notes of the things I have done.

To make it very brief I’d say nothing special. Yet there have been wonderful moments among the nothing special.

One of the compulsory things was the Hauho meeting in the end of September. A friend of mine, Eveliina had made a poem where she stated that now it is time to put the end for closeting. 

It was very brief and yet very touching:

"Mua pelko kauan kahlitsi,
se kahlitsi monta vuotta.
Kun mursin kahleeni huomasin
olin pelännyt aivan suotta.
Minä kauan varjoissa lymyilin,
minä kauan valoa kaihdoin.
Mulle aurinko vihdoin hymyili
kun vaateparteni vaihdoin.

Olin vuosia kaapissa visusti.
Päätin viimein: nyt se riitti!
Nyt uskallan sanoa reilusti:

minä olen transvestiitti!"


"For a long time I was chained by fear 
it lasted so many years
When I at last broke my chains I noticed
I had feared totally without a reason.
For a long time had I hidden in the shade,
for a long time I escaped the light.
At last did the sun smile to me
when I changed my outfit.

I had lived in the closet for the years,
until I decided that would be enough!
Now I dare say clearly and loud:
I'm a transvestite. "


I decided to compose the text. I brought the tune with me to Hauho and let the audience learn it.  So after some rehearsal the tune had its collective premiere.

                                             Elsi and me performing the tune

                                                          With Eerika and Pinky at Hauho

The next thing to tell something was our trip to Pärnu Estonia. We took a hotel room at the seaside and walked nice long trips along the beach. And of course we did some shopping for the winter, too.

                                          The scene from our hotel window

                 
Signs fot the ladies beach. Unfortunately it was too cold for any nudity.

                                                        At a cafe in Pärnu

In November I was rather busy. One weekend we were invited to ballet performance in Turku. The dance theater was Eri and the piece Juliet and Juliet, modified version of Prokofjev ballet. Before the performance we went to dinner with our friends and after the ballet we were invited to the stage to meet the dancers.

                                              At the dinner with Kristiina

                                          At the stage with two Juliets after the performance

Next weekend I went to "Curvy Flea Market" arranged by local burlesque people. We crossdressers were invited to sell our things so I gathered a collection of my clothes or shoes that didn't match or didn't seem to be enough me. The flea market was at the Kaapelitehdat (Cable factory) art center in Helsinki. Friends of mine, Päivi and Patricia were there, too. They had four huge suitcases which was far more compared with my two not so huge ones. It seemed they had more interesting things and they sold much more than me. A common notion was people seemed to buy things we were not able to predict they would. Despite the rather bad business day it was really fun to meet different people and chat withe them almost about anything.  

                                            With Päivi and Patricia

                                                      My modest collection

And the next week was a TransHelsinki week. I took part in a seminar containing many issues about trans people and history of the Finnish LBGTIQ life. Minna-Maaria had very colorful performance about her ladies figure skating hobby which she started some years ago - without any skating skills before!! Eveliina also performed her poem there.

                                                       Minna-Maaria and Eveliina


After the seminar a group of us went for a supper to a fancy restaurant Kappeli. It is an old restaurant in the Esplanade park. This night the park and the building were especially nice looking covered with tight frozen snow which made the scene look like an old post card.


The next week was very important for the Finnish LBGTIQ people: The parliament decided to promote the equal marriage law in spite of very aggressive opposing by fundamentalists and a conservative party the True Finns. There were a big demonstration of about 12 000 people for the bill and a bit lesser against it –though they called themselves the silent majority.

                 The loud majority                                                The silent majority (????)

I hope the bills concerning the right to express one’s gender and right to determine one’s own gender will be promoted, too.

The end of the same week I was a representative of DreamWearClub at the assembly of Finnish LBGTIQ organization Seta. There was also the 40^th anniversary of Seta, so there was some celebration because of that. Of course, the other thing to celebrate was the marriage bill.

                                      At the assembly with Ariella and Minna-Maaria

6^th December was the Finnish day of independence when the celebrities and some ordinary citizens are invited to Presidential Palace. I was sure my invitation was lost in the post so I decided to celebrate the happening by watching it on TV with my spouse and some delicious food and wine. For me the independence is the right to be what you are, so there is something to celebrate –at least if the new bills will go pass the legislation process.

Two days after the day of independence we had  DreamWearClub “Pikkujoulu” (Little Christmas) with some traditional Finnish cookies and Christmas carols.

             The DreamWearClub Pikkujoulu hostesses Ariella, Hannamaria and Tuula Marika

And of course there has been some belly dance... We practiced two dances, Batwannnes Bak by Mezdeke....

...and a Nancy Ajram piece Yay, telling about the girl who’s sooo in love with sooo cool guy. To show such pink dreams we were dressed in pink, me almost totally. That one we danced at the Christmas show of the dance studio.

    This is my home rehearsal video of Yay,

Christmas was very busy because of so many relatives visiting us. Luckily we had our Christmas Eve evening for us two only so we had our candle nigh supper with our special Christmas courses. 

After Christmas I met my new friend Zarah from Eastern Europe. Zarah turned out to be an intelligent, warm-hearted and awesome-looking lady. We had our Helsinki city tour starting from the shoe store Kenkä-Marski and ending up to the same place. In between we walked in so nice winter scene of Helsinki old city, containing the Esplanade park, the Presidential Palace and

 the Senate Square. The temperature was 7 below the zero but surprisingly there was no wing so it didn't feel cold at all.

                                              At the Esplanade Park















In front of the Presidentia Palace with Zarah

                                                           Two aspects of the Senate Square

We had our coffee and tea at the park restaurant Kappeli where we had a long and nice chat about almost everything. Then  I decided to show her Ateneum, the Finnish national art museum with a current exhibition of Sibelius and his world. By doing that I had an opportunity to tell her about the golden era of Finnish art. She seemed to be impressed and very happy that I took her there. After the tour she still wanted to return the Kenkä-Marski to buy the pumps the had caught her eye in the first time we visited the shop.   

                                                 With Zarah at Kappeli