Writing this, the year 2021 started 1 month and 14 days ago (or according to the lunar calendar, just two days ago – happy year of the Ox everyone!), so 2020 is already long gone. I know I said I was going to do this thematically – similar to last year – but finally thought it would still make more sense to go for a chronological approach. So here we go!
So what is this “coronavirus”?
When 2019 turned into 2020, most people (also in China) were hopeful for the new year and blissfully unaware of the coming crisis. I spent my New Year’s Eve at a cool little party with cool people from the international entrepreneur & start-up scene (including someone who turned out to play quite a big role in my life in the coming year). The year was off to a nice start, and at that time, the “Wuhan virus” didn’t seem like something that would affect us far away in Shanghai. Well.
Needless to say, Covid-19 has affected all of our lives one way or another. In January, things started to escalate rather quickly. The first time we posted something about the coronavirus on the Consulate General Facebook page was on January 21, and reading about the “cases of pneumonia in Wuhan” and how the “probability of occurrence in Finland is very low” now, a little over a year later, feels quite haunting. It was only two days later, on January 23, that Wuhan went into lockdown, and from there on, everything happened very fast.
I was lucky to be able to visit Finland in early February for the annual “press training days” at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA). Back then, life in Finland was like normal, and no one was too afraid of the pandemic ever reaching Finland (perhaps beyond a few isolated cases). It was during my trip that Finnair canceled all their flights to Mainland China, so I had to find an alternative flight back (no big problem there though, since Juneyao was also flying direct). In any case, I’m immensely happy I was able to visit back then, because I haven’t been able to go back home ever since. Also, it made it possible for me to take part in one very important and meaningful project. I will get back to that later.
“Uncle Vellu” at the science center Heureka in Vantaa, Finland, with my brother Jussi, his wife Eeva and the lovely Anni and Aatos.
From Shanghai to Finland and back
I was back in Shanghai on February 14 (Valentine’s Day, coincidentally). After coming back, I shared my thoughts about the situation in Shanghai on the Finnish MFA’s “Chinese takeaway” blog, so you can check it out here (in Finnish, but Google translate does a decent work).
Before March, most of the world outside of East Asia wasn’t paying too much attention to the coronavirus. Then things changed rapidly. As Finn in China, I’ve obviously been looking at things from two perspectives, with two sets of eyes, if you will. In Shanghai, many things were getting back to something resembling “normalcy” already in March, while in Finland, things were going very much in the opposite direction.
It was also around that time that I heard the sad news from Finland – my grandfather and his wife were diagnosed with Covid-19 and it did not look good. They passed away soon after the diagnosis, only a few days apart. After just two months it will be a year since it happened, and I still haven’t been able to go back home.
Adjusting to the new normal (& time for some domestic traveling)
On March 28, 2020, due to the situation getting out of hand around the globe, China prevented most foreigners holding valid visas or residence permits from entering the country. This didn’t change until September, when the temporary restriction was lifted, but travel has remained exceedingly difficult, with several covid tests (including antibody tests) and very strict quarantines (and uncertainty about how the rules might change). Traveling to Finland for the summer was practically impossible and eventually I also gave up on going home from Christmas – for the first time since 2011, and only the second time in my life.
For the first half of the year, until May, my work was very covid-centric, since most activities and all offline events were canceled, and we all had to live in a very different kind of reality and adjust our routines – work and other – accordingly. However, I must say, I feel like I’m one of the very few people on the whole planet who missed out on the whole work-from-home experience, having done that for probably less than two weeks’ worth during the entire 2020. I was already back at the office before my trip to Finland in early February (as documented in this WeChat screenshot below, dated January 28) and only doing a number of WFH days during March.
Starting from April, I’ve been traveling quite a bit around China, and while definitely not as convenient as during normal times and occasionally downright frustrating, I have been quite free to do so (when the pandemic was in control in China while escalating in many parts of the world, we foreigners weren’t always the most welcome guests – very often subject to more strict scrutiny, and the most ridiculous example was not being allowed to use the toilet at a hotel lobby simple because I was a foreigner). Below are pictures of some of the places visited (Qiandaohu, Sanya and Haikou in Hainan, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Putuoshan).
Busy autumn
From June onwards, and especially during the autumn, events were getting back “offline” (well you know what I mean) and things were getting busy. September to mid-December was perhaps busier than ever before during these four years I’ve been in Shanghai, when a whole year’s worth of events were all happing within a few months. There was such a striking contrast between the first and second halves of the year.
Again, if you’re interested in diving a bit deeper into what was happening at work and in Shanghai during the autumn, you can read my blog text (again on the MFA’s “Chinese takeaway” blog, in Finnish), concentrating most of all on the exhibition Flow with Matter and a series of events at the Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, from the end of May until the end of November.
In pictures, some of the many events that took place between late May and mid December in Shanghai.
Chi le ma? aka let’s not forget the music
Ah yes, let’s go back to February first. During the previous year or so, I had been involved in writing a new Chinese language text book suitable for Finnish upper secondary schools, adult education centers and community colleges, called “Chi le ma?”. While otherwise my contribution was not comparable to that of the other two authors (the main authors, I should say), I was responsible for writing original songs for each of the 12 lessons in the book, based on the new vocabulary and aiming to help the students with their learning – that is, 12 songs, practically a whole album’s worth of music. Some of the songs I had to finish under a very tight schedule before flying to Finland, where we were to record all of them – which we did, in one studio session. Definitely something I’ve never done before.
I’m rather proud of the outcome, which I think is still quite innovative in its approach. You can learn more about the book and the audio recording (or if you’re curious enough even purchase it). Chi le ma? was awarded at the 2020 Best European Learning Materials Awards (BELMA) with a Silver Award in the category of Post-Secondary Education (see here and here).
Celebrating in style
We also had what was most likely the biggest Finnish Independence Day celebration in the world (!) in 2020 here in Shanghai, when some 180 Finns gathered at the Kempinski Hotel. In the absence of a band invited from Finland, I had the privilege to perform a few Finnish songs with our wonderful local band (“Pohjois-Karjala”, while not exactly a personal favorite, turned out especially popular).
And all that brings us here, in the year of the Ox, 2021. This is already my fifth year in Shanghai (well, damn, honestly didn’t think I’d still be here, but I’m glad I am), and I’ve been very happy to have had the opportunity to stay here and work at the Finnish Consulate. As for the future, I will give an update soon enough.
And finally, and most importantly, thank you to all the wonderful people who made 2020 special. You know who you are (but if you don’t, here’s a reminder to some of you):
Happy 2021 everyone!
Five AM Again 