September 29
One of the last meetings that I attended at Joensuu before starting my African safari was quite upsetting.
Some people were seriously suspicious how patriotic it is to educate people from outside Finland at a university funded by Finnish taxpayers’ money.
This is of course a relevant question.
I have heard, though, that my uncle who died in the winter war – and should be regarded patriotic by definition – was himself considering moving out of the country, into ‘bigger circles’ from his childhood’s village of Koli.
Investing one’s money, talents, or even life to the common good of one’s nation is patriotic. It is close to a sacrifice.
A few days after the meeting, I am in Dar-es-Salaam, away from my home country. I have met with many former students of mine who had made a presumably unpatriotic decision when moving to Finland for a few years, far from their families and local responsibilities.
Now I can see them serving their home country, but also their second home country, the term that some of them use when talking of Finland.
I can see it from distance: It was very patriotic from my university to educate all these people from around the world. They make Finland known better than any Finn could do.
As academic ambassadors, they describe Finland in words so beautiful that we are too shy to use. They are proud of having been educated in Finland, as we should be. I am sure that in the future, being the leaders of their own countries, they will remember the country that made them proud of themselves, gave them self-confidence and competences that they did not know about.
One of them said today: In all respects, Finland is a great country. What would be a more patriotic lesson for us Finns to learn. But we need an outsider to teach us that very lesson.
[ Takaisin ]