Tuesday, June 5

 

 

The weather had definitely changed for the worse. The temperature had dropped and the wind had risen further. I remained optimistic and wore shorts, albeit with a jumper.

I went to Arcada and had a conversation with Nathalie and Monica. I rearranged some timetables with Tomas, and wrote a series of emails to students who still owe me work. I checked Eliademy and Its Learning to see how the new summer course had begun. I had thirty students fully enrolled so far, and one query from someone who had spotted a discrepancy in two descriptions in different parts of the course.

I answered him.

By 10:55 I had left the building, bought some stuff for lunch, caught a tram to Sörnäinen and a metro to Herttaniemi, found an 89 bus and taken it to wherever Reittiopas told me to taken it, and walked along Reposalmentie, through the woods, and down to the jetty.

I stand waiting for Aga and Ilpo and look out at the sea. The sky looks blue but the wind suggests I forget about the possibility of hot sun. I can see Vartiosaari and check to see if Oliver has arrived on the shore yet. In a few minutes Aga and Ilpo will arrive on bicycles and Oliver will leap into a boat on the far shore and begin rowing across to collect us.

We will spend most of the day in a house on the island planning the festival in September. By the end of the day it will have become a conference, and we will have a clear draft of a programme and a press release. We will also have a potential name. As we leave this name will have turned into PODO. By the time we have walked through the woods and said goodbye it will have mutated into Poddo. In the middle of the evening Oliver will mail everyone with an infinitely better name, that makes sense, sounds descriptive, and doesn’t feel dull.

I will get home at almost the same time as Irma. She will wave to me as she drives past me cycling. I will dig a big wide hole at the back of the house in the gap where the dead fruit bush once grew, and we will plant daffodil bulbs there.

An electrician will arrive to discuss the massive bill he has sent, and fun will ensue.