Turku, pronounced T-oo-rk-oo, not Terkew as anglophones usually do, for that means smut in my native tongue (törky). We might be happy to let the rest of Finland call us the arse end of the country as they do but I'll be damned if you waltz in calling us smut. That's Amsterdam you're thinking of.
On that note, I am beginning to become increasingly worried about our comprehension of geography and falling Pisa scores if the rest of Finland believes we are somewhere around the anus area. The shape of Finland is often thought to resemble that of a fair maiden and us mob in Turku are more like her left big toe. That's not where I defecate from, personally. Not sure about you.
Such is the distain felt by some fellow Finns towards Turku that busloads of students from Tampere come into town and jump on our central square trying to sink it into the sea. I guess jealousy drives people to unspeakable and unsensible acts. Such are the depths of the dark existence in the cultureless wasteland outside the beacon of all that is good - Turku.
The township started in the 13th century and since then we have been pretty reluctant to go anywhere. They even have a term for it - corner patriot (nurkkakuntainen). We have found our corner and we are damn proud of it. No need to build walls or make it great again - it was never not-great. Except in the 60's and 70's when we tore down all the nice buildings we had built since the 13th century and constructed concrete boxes in their place. I believe Stalin saw the buildings and we served as inspiration to the Soviet architecture in the eastern block. We were so good at tearing culture and history down we got another word named after ourselves - Turku disease (Turun tauti).
There's a fitting saying in Finnish: A beloved child has many names (Rakkaalla lapsella on monta nimeä).
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti