Tuesday, May 27

I began the day at Hakaniemi, talking with Annika about my childhood. Our conversations proceed in a strange way that leaves me unsure about who is making assertions and who is agreeing with them. Annika either asserted that the fact that my mother spent fifteen years dying in front of my eyes served, in an odd way, to prepare me for dealing with Auo’s death, or she agreed with my assertion that it had. Or both. I have never shied away from telling this story but I realised that I do not usually dwell on how it made me feel at the time. I spent a considerable amount of time doing that this morning.

At 9:00 Annika had another appointment and I had a short time to make it to the Linda Line Express boat at the south terminal. I got there faster than I expected and the time I had allowed for complications and unexpected surprises proved unnecessary. Now I am halfway to Estonia and sitting in Linda Class, which entitles me to free sandwiches, cakes and drinks. The boat is small and light, and takes 100 minutes. Even though the water outside seems very calm, when I stand up it is difficult to walk in a straight line.

I will catch up with the Nobanet delegation at the lunch restuarant in Tallinn, in time to eat and learn what has happened so far. There will be many more people from Arcada there than I expected: Christa, Lasse, Niklas, Rasa, as well as Eija who is organising all this.

At 18:00 we will get a bus back to the hotel, the Radisson Blu, where I will be introduced to Room 1314, which will be large and well-stocked with wifi. We have ninety minutes and I will use the time to find an R-Kioski where I buy 2 litres of water, and some chocolate.

At 19:30 we will walk through a thin drizzle to the Old Town, to a restaurant called Troika, where we will have a huge banquet that includes meat, fish, schnapps and cabbage pie.

The weather will be cold and wet, although not exactly raining. On the way back to the hotel I will catch a glimpse of a trolley-bus.