Apusivu
Listen 217: When Pirita was in Canada
Pirita first went to Canada when she was just 12 years old. She went with a choir that
toured in Newfoundland, on the east coast of Canada. She has visited Canada three times
since then. Listen to what Pirita says about Canada and answer the questions.
When I first went to Canada with the choir, I stayed for ten days. The family who hosted
me and my friend was very multicultural – the father was originally from southern Europe
and the mother was Canadian. I still remember how the children could switch from one
language to the other, living in both cultures at the same time.
I liked it so much that I was determined to go back one day – and I did. I got a job at a
Finnish newspaper in Toronto. I interviewed many Canadians with a Finnish background,
and this gave me the chance to get to know both cultures really well. To give you an
example: Somebody would invite me over and they’d have both rice porridge and maple
syrup on the table. Or I’d go to a sauna in the afternoon and to a basketball match in the
evening. And many Finnish Canadians lived like this, mixing and matching things from the
two different cultures.
I loved living in Toronto. It’s one of the most multicultural cities in the world and I found
the people tolerant and friendly … and very polite! I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but honestly,
Canadians really are amazingly polite …
So, anyway, about Toronto… my friends soon taught me to drop the second “t” in Toronto –
like this: Not Toronto, but /Torono/. They also taught me that although Canadians are all crazy
for hockey, it’s not actually the national sport. No, the national sport of Canada is … lacrosse!
I never knew that. Lacrosse, for those of you who’ve never heard of it, is a fast full contact
sport, played with a stick and a small rubber ball. And that ball can move REALLY fast. Lacrosse
champion, Paul Rabil, once shot a ball at 179 km/h!
Everyone speaks English, and French in Quebec, of course. Canadian English is a mix of
American and British English. For example, Canadians, like Americans, don’t really talk about
a ‘toilet’ – they call it a washroom instead. And they use British spelling in Canada. And finally,
there is that little word called ‘eh?’. It’s the one thing that everyone who moves to Canada picks
up pretty quickly. They put ‘eh’ at the end of every second sentence. Like this: Canadians are
cool, eh?
So…What else? Oh yeah, I didn’t only work at the newspaper, but I also taught some younger
kids at the Finnish school on Friday evenings. Some of my students didn’t use Finnish at all
at home, but because they had some roots in Finland, their parents wanted them to learn
some Finnish. It was a pleasure to see how they learnt Finnish words like “mansikka” and
“joulupukki”. And “hyvää yötä” of course – they found that very difficult to pronounce! … Nah,
Canada’s great. I can’t wait to go again.
Kuunteluiden tekstejä
Strange art
Art from old gloves and postcards? I have my doubts when I enter the contemporary art exhibition at our local Art Museum. Don’t think I came here out of my own free will. No, my art teacher made me. Sure enough, in the entrance hall there is a bunch of black gloves scattered on the wall. This work of art is called “In the wind”. Well, yes, I can see the point. The gloves do look like they are flying in the air. (1)
I pick up an exhibition guide that lists all the works on show here and gives information on the artist, Anu Tuominen. Let’s see… She has received several awards for her work. She creates art from everyday objects such as plastic cups and clothes pegs. It says here that she constantly collects material for her art from nature, flea markets and yard sales. Often the objects have been rejected by other people because they are, for example, broken. So basically it’s a question of recycling and reusing existing things. Environmentally friendly art? Sounds a bit boring actually but since I’m already here I might just as well take a look. (2, 3)
The first thing I see looks like a bowl of meatballs from a distance. When I get closer I realise that the meatballs are balls of brown thread placed in a white bowl. Then there’s a cup filled with what looks like sugar or salt and a spoon standing in it. This is titled “The skier”. What on earth? These are dishes, they have nothing to with sports. What am I not getting here? I’d better take a closer look. Now I understand, there’s a small image of a skier on the spoon, and the salt is the snow. Clever. Colourful plastic clothes pegs on a clothes line, plastic cups in different colours stacked on shelves; the artist plays with the colours and shades of the objects. It is mentioned in the guide that in addition to her handcrafted art she also likes to form sentences on huge pieces of white paper. I don’t think I would call these poetry though, perhaps word ‘art’ would be a more suitable term. (4)
When I walk through the exhibition I notice that certain elements are repeated: organising the objects by colour, the balls of thread and the clever titles. She combines things unexpectedly with interesting results. Every once in a while I recognise an object that dates back to my childhood. I get flashbacks of drinking granny’s black currant juice from an orange cup and playing dominoes with my best friend. Happy memories! I stop by a “painting” made of old pencils. This is certainly turning rubbish into art. The material for this could easily be found in the rubbish bins of our school. Maybe that’s the point my art teacher was trying to make, she is really into environmental issues such as recycling. (5–7)
As I leave the museum I’m still not quite convinced what I saw was art but the exhibition made me smile and look at old things with new eyes. Could I create a piece of art out of those odd socks in my sock drawer? (8)
School strike 4 climate
Matt: Thanks, Amelia. I’m at a rally in Adelaide and lots and lots of students have come out to take part. And I’m speaking with one of them now. Why is this such a big issue for so many kids?
Student: I think this is such a big issue for so many kids because our future is being decided entirely on the decisions that are being made today.
Students: What do we want? Climate action! When do we want it? Now!
Matt: I’m here with some of the organisers of today’s event. So what’s it all about?
Student: Um, we have three main goals that we’re putting towards the Federal Parliament in the hope that they make genuine change on them.
Student: So, we want the government committing to not allowing any new fossil fuel projects. Um, we want them to commit to 100 per cent renewable energy export and generation by 2030 and we want them to fund a just transition for fossil fuel workers and their communities so that no one is left behind.
Matt: And what do you think about people being critical of kids taking the day off school, for instance, or leaving what they’re doing to take part in it?
Student: I don’t think they have any ground to stand on. Um, students, kids they take the day off for a bunch of less important reasons like this show or, like, the races. Um, this is an incredibly important cause and, um, this is an opportunity for them to stand up for their futures and that’s definitely worth missing school for.
Student: Everybody wants us to go to school and I want to go to school because I want to get educated. But climate change is so important that through school that I’ve learned that we need to actually do something. And with our power we should all stand up and fight for what’s right.
Matt: There is so much going on right here and there are more events happening just like this around Australia and all around the world. Back to you, Amelia.
Amelia: Thanks, Matt. Let’s check out some of those other Aussie rallies. There were massive crowds in Sydney.
Student: This is an everybody issue.
Amelia: People in Cairns talked about the reef.
Student: We can feel that climate change is a pressing issue, especially in Cairns, where the Great Barrier Reef is on our doorstep and dying.
Amelia: And there was a big turnout in Canberra. Now, with all these protests and marches happening around the world, you might be wondering how it started. Well, it was inspired by a teenager from Sweden.
Cale: You probably know by now that this is Greta Thunberg, and she’s the person behind this global movement. It started in August last year. She believed that her government wasn’t doing enough to fight climate change. So, she decided to send a message.
Greta: Every Friday, we will sit outside the Swedish parliament until Sweden is in line with the Paris Agreement.
Cale: Greta’s actions attracted heaps of attention. And pretty soon, millions of kids all over the world had joined in too. Greta’s become an international icon. She’s travelled the world, talking to world leaders, with a pretty clear message.
Greta: Unite behind science. And then I want you to take real action.
Cale: Of course, that’s not an easy thing to achieve. Climate change is a global problem. And a lot of countries can’t agree on the best way to tackle it. But the Aussie government says it does have a plan.
Mathias Cormann: We are committed to strong environmental protection, but in a way that is economically sensible.
Cale: Greta says the best thing people can do is start small, because everyone has the power to make a difference.
Greta: No one is too small to have an impact and change the world. So, just do everything you can.
Amelia: In keeping with all things environment, let’s check out some happy stories of people doing their bit to help save our planet. These kids in Townsville are on a mission to save a tiny, endangered bird. These little cuties are blackthroated finches. Experts reckon they’re extinct in New South Wales and only around a thousand are left in Queensland. But the students at Belgian Gardens have managed to breed 120 over the past six years. Check this out! It’s a virtual reality reef. A team of international scientists created it to provide a snapshot of what the world’s coral reefs look like and how they’re changing. And what better way to draw attention to the issue of climate change than to create a giant portrait of Greta Thunberg? An Italian land artist created this 27,000 square metre picture of her by ploughing through a field in Verona, Italy. Well, that’s about it for today. But let us know, did you hit the streets for a climate march? Comment below. Let us know where and what you got up to. Also, hit that subscribe button so you can keep up with all the latest news.