Finnish ‘ambassador’ to Burnside High School

Press, 10 July 1979, Page 21

Finnish ‘ambassador’ to Burnside High School

Mikko Pelkonen is something of a trail blazer. One of only a handful of Finns in New Zealand, this amiable 19-year-old student at Burnside High School is a fitting reflection of his country —

individualistic, aware and determined. Mikko (pronounced “meeko”) is well “above” most of his New Zealand age group in more ways than one. He is 1 metre 87 cms tall (6ft 2in) but he also leaves most of them gaping open-mouthed when it comes to knowledge of the world and its problems. A Rotary exchange student from the Kallio Rotary Club in Helsinki, Mikko is guest of the Bishopdale Rotary Club until December. He brings to his new friends and companions here the attributes so typical of Scandinavian youth. He is articulate, polite and incisive with a wry brand of good humour. A talk with Mikko is frequently punctuated by earnest forays into a Fin-nish-English dictionary — not because he does not understand English, but because Nev; Zealanders so often speak too fast, too poorly and with too much slang to make it easy for foreigners to understand us in a short time. Like all other school students in Scandinavia, Mikko has learnt English (and Swedish and German) s.nce he was about 11. He speaks it with a slightly “upper class” tone which owes much to the Swedish method of tackling English vowel sounds. “It really is a difficult question” — this often gives Mikko just that second or two longer to translate his Finnish thoughts into English. “Does he still dream in Finnish after only five months away from home ” — “Yes I think I do but that will probably change ■ soon.” For at least one Christchurch man, Mr Arto Haaia of Sawyers Arms Road, Mikko’s stay has had special significance. He is able to converse with him in their native Finnish, which is one of the “loneliest” languages in the world. Unlike its other Scandinavian partners, Finland has a language with its roots in Eastern Europe and not in the West. It bears more relationship to Hungarian than to Swedish. Norwegian or Danish. The Finns are proud of their language and sympathetic with those who try to understand it. Finland has another reason to be somewhat out of step with its Scandinavian neighbours. Its strong republican stance contrasts with the constitutional monarchies of the other States. Its president since the 19505, Urho Kekkonen, is no less loved however than any monarch. Kekkonen keeps the Russian bear quiet and skillfully nurtures the Finns’ intense pride in their land of 62,000 lakes. While the Russian bear lies still, the Finns are calm. When it moves thev carefully stoke their individualism and national nride. mindful however that their country owes its very exist-

ence to Russia. In 1809 Czar Alexander II ended 650 years of Swedish rule when he united Finland with Russia. The end of the Russian monarchy gave Finland its independence in 1917.

For Mikko, like most of his countrymen, the presence of Russia a few kilometres away from his home makes matters of politics and world affairs a great deal more important than they are to the average Kiwi teenager. Politics, with 12 parties contesting Finnish elections, are hard for young Finns to avoid. The vote at 18 years of age is regarded by the Finnish youth as an important part of their education. If Mikko’s comments that “one reason why young people don’t speak much about politics here is because they don’t know anything,” seems somewhat harsh, his comment must be viewed in the light of the fact that political parties here do little to court youth, and the schools adopt an apathetic attitude to politics in general. New Zealand is still too scared to give its youth real responsibility, and the politicians pay the price. Mikko’s views of our education system are coloured by the way we regiment young people into uniforms. “I went to look for David (the son of one of his hosts, Barbara and lan Murray) and I couldn’t find him. They all look the same.” Perhaps a little sadly, Mikko relfects that New Zealand youth seems a shade too naive, a shade too frightened fo find themselves, and a shade too materialistic for a country which overseas is well known for the prowess of its sportsmen and sportswomen and the beauty of its countryside, but less and less for its social policies. Mikko’s biggest disappointment has been the New Zealand winter. “I’ve missed out both ways,” he said with a plaintive wave at our still snowless hills. A slalom skier and a top-flight yachtsman, he arrived too late for the yachting season and it seems too early for much snow. Sport has played a larger than normal part in Mikko’s life. His father, Rainer Pelkonen, is a sports teacher and a principal of Makelanrinteen Yhteiskoulu which is Finland’s largest high school, ■with about 2000 students. Mikko has come from his own country’s largest school to New Zealand’s largest, for Bumside High School is still much bigger than any other. Why did he choose New Zealand when the chance of a Rotary exchange became possible? “Well it was the country most far away from Finland,” he said. “Anyway all other young people at home seemed to want to go the United States. That’s the country with all the glamour.” If New Zealand lacks the sparkle with which the United States attracts young people, it does at least give Mikko the chance to get close to nature.

“This is what I really like here, the trees and the land. It’s not only a lot like home, but it has also got a special ‘message’ from the land. I wonder if we all have enough time to pick this up.” Mikko has a twin sister, Anne, who has been an exchange student in the American Field Service scheme. He, his father,

By

JOHN BROWN

and his brothers Kalle, aged 25, and Aarno, aged 28, are the proud owners of an “H-Boat.” Its red slim hull is a common sight in the summer months for the Pelkonen family. Mikko regards living in the homes of New Zealand families as a “breakthrough” for him. “How else could young people get such a wonderful opportunity for learning and seeing new ways?” he asked, as he made a dash to relieve his host family’s cat of an almost dead bird.

Mikko is under few illusions about the sort of life

he faces when he goes home in December, “it’s a pity I'll miss Christmas here,” When he goes home in December he will have a month’s respite before taking up his period of compulsory military service. He is quite resigned to spending most of the next year in the Finnish navy. “He feels a strong duty to his parents, his family and above all to his country. If his personal brand of national pride seems strange to his classmates at Burnside High School they should pause and listen, as he often does, to the way they “knock” New Zealand. Finns are a proud people, for they built a country out of the destruction of World War II in a political climate that could explode at anytime. Mikko might have had more chances than many of his fellows at home. He was a student at one of 14 remaining private high schools. What he has achieved, however, owes much to the Finnish determination to “make the sun shine” all year by increasing human efficiency as it does to a personal education.

“We work hard at school. We have got to, but then again we don’t have a lot of the problems New Zealand has,” Mikko said. His politeness disbars him from extending his comment but he is none too impressed by the “unusual” and restrictive way we treat matters of sexual relationships and human development. “Perhaps it’s because New Zealand is so isolated . . . perhaps its some other reason, perhaps . ..” When Mikko attended the St Hans celebration of the local Scandinavian Club (this coincided with the longest day in northern Europe) he was one of only a very few Finns to have ever been present. If his presence gave more meaning to the blue and white cross of the Finnish flags which hung from the roof it also emphasised how close are the links between the conglomerate Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. These countries may be only names to most New Zealanders, but to those who have had the chance to meet and talk with Mikko Pelkonen, Finland will now be much more than a land of lakes and forests.