Somewhere Else

Chapter 1: Arrival (iv)

It is only slightly less awkward, I discover, when Aksel is around to introduce his friends to me. On Sunday, the day after we visit Sibelius Park – Lumi was right, it was beautiful, and the monument had been intriguing to look at – I meet the group of Aksel's closest friends.

Finns don't have very large social circles, Aksel has told me. Since it's not the norm to interact much with strangers in daily life, Finns tend to stick to the people they already know – from school, work, or friends of friends. And for Aksel, his main group of friends now are from his university days. He has told me that, ironically, they weren't very close when they had still been at uni. Aksel had known only Janne from his classes. After graduation, they had run into each other in Helsinki quite by chance and gotten around to talking. Janne had told Aksel about a couple of others who had also moved here from Oulu. They'd all met up for a drink, and that had been that.

My first impression of them is that they're all tall and very typically Finn. I'm even starting to wonder if there are any Finns around that are not blue-eyed. Even though Helsinki, being the capital city, has quite a diverse population, it still seems to me that most of the people here – those of Finnish heritage, at least – fit this light-haired, blue-eyed stereotype.

Though Aksel's friends may all look typically Finnish, they have greatly differing personalities. Other than Lumi and Janne, there are two others: Aliisa and Matias. While Matias falls more into the reserved category that Finns tend to be known for, Aliisa is the complete opposite of every stereotype I've heard about the Finns.

Her first question, upon laying eyes on me, is, "So are you German or are you Asian?"

"Aliisa!" Lumi chides.

Aliisa is still looking expectantly at me, so I answer her. "I'm both."

"Aha." Her eyes run over my features unabashedly. She is scrutinising me, and being completely unselfconscious about it. "Well, you look more Asian. Kind of Chinese?"

That assessment is nothing new, but I am more than slightly annoyed. "I'm from Germany. I'm German." And even the Asian part of me isn't exactly Chinese – it's Singaporean. The majority of Singaporeans may have Chinese ancestry, but calling them Chinese would be like calling Americans Europeans. There is a huge difference.

She shrugs, like she doesn't care. And I suppose she doesn't – it's not like my identity matters much to her personally. "If you say so."

I dislike Aliisa within five minutes of having met her.

As I descend into a sullen silence, Aksel shakes his head. "Be nice, Liisa."

Aliisa tosses her hair. "I am being nice. I'm making small talk."

Janne raises his eyebrows at her. "Are you a real Finn? What is this 'making small talk'?"

Aliisa rolls her eyes. "You are the reason people think Finns are stupid."

"You need some lessons in appropriate topics for small talk," Janne counters.

"What's inappropriate about asking about someone's nationality?" Aliisa challenges.

"Aliisa," Lumi repeats, sounding exasperated this time.

Aksel cracks a smile. He pulls me into his side, slinging a casual arm around my shoulders. "Look, don't bug her about it. She's from Germany."

They are all obviously very close. And watching the way Aksel acts around them, I can see that it's very different from what I saw in Edinburgh, or the way he is when it's just the two of us, or when he meets my friends in Hamburg. This is a side to Aksel that I've never seen.