What the hell?

Alright, so I was wrong on the location. We went to Naantali last night to hear a male tenor sing in German. The range of music selected was interesting. We started with Bach, moved through Mendelssohn, and finished with Schumann. My favorite was something called,"Mondacht." (Perhaps I shouldn't have been, as T. explained the majority of the songs were old love songs; which somehow tied together flowers, girls crying, horns, and nightingales.)

Naantali is roughly 20-30 minutes away from Turku by car. The way Tarja and Pekka drive it takes 15. I'm not kidding. And I always wear my seatbelt.
(And my heart in my stomach.)

As I just finished saying to my brother, I missed his call because I was sitting in church at the time.
Listening to a concert. Not god.
(snort)

Not that I don't think he's a good guy, but you know what I mean. If society thought a woman was wearing the pants, I might be encouraged to think differently. Until the Catholics get their robed clergymen to begin behaving decently, I'm not holding my breath.

The church we went to was simple, but breathtaking. The Lutherans in Martin's time painted over all the paintings and decorations that were presented in Latin. (Why have stuff up that the common person couldnt' understand? Latin's a tough one. Zipzip, white paint.) As a result, you're left to examine the arched structure, the organ, the hanging ships (?), and the altar. A few snippets from the old days have been recovered, but for the most part, the walls are off-white. I couldn't understand the ships suspended from the ceiling until T. explained.

Sailors were so worried of not coming back to port that they created exact replicas of their homes to present each time they came ashore. By leaving 'their' ship in the hands of god, they hoped to protect themselves while at sea. Kind of neat. (But still out of sorts when hung next to a lamp, but hey, that's me and nautical themes;)

It's funny when you consider why the country became predominantly Lutheran.

Turns out that greed can work in mysterious ways. When dear Martin Luther started his prophesizing, Finland was under the countrol of the Swedes (the super power of the north at the time). The king in 1527 was flat broke, and desperately seeking alternative sources of income. His disinterest with religion turned into quick action, when he realized that the 'new' religion on the block stipulated that the head of the state is the head of the church ... and therefore in charge of the Church's financial resources. Ha. If you consider how rich the churches were at the time, it wasn't a bad idea. King Gustav Vasa even went so far as to make canons out of churchbells.

A Holy Boom.
(sorry.)

And no more bowing to the Pope. No more convents and monasteries.
(And no more saying,"Take thee to the Nunnery!")

King Vasa was the first elected King. (The peon in me has to point out: See what happens when you let the un-royal into power?) Vasa might, therefore, have been disappointed to learn about future decisions by his government. Before he died, the Parliment decided to readopt a policy where the son succeeded the King. eh.

Now, don't go thinking the remainder of the Vasa clan was normal by any means. The brother of the son had a Polish wife. This in itself isn't the punchline. The wife is single-handedly responsible for bringing the fork to Finland. (I don't know why I found this funny, but I did.)

Q: "Hey, what's your claim to fame?"
A: "I brought the fork!"

Katarina Jagellonica (a.k.a. fork lady) threw her husband into the slammer. Why? Well, he was a man. Seriously, they fought over 1) power 2) religion. Oh, and popularity. He didn't like it that the people were falling quickly in love with her mystical powers.

Tomorrow's history lesson: Poisoning your Family

Who needs daytime soaps, when you have Finnish history?

OHMY! I forgot to tell you about the prime time viewing schedule. It will have to wait until later, but just be informed that Passions, Days of our Lives, and the Bold and the Beautiful are staples in Finn's TV vocabulary.

posted by irene @ 6/14/2002 06:49:00 AM