Citizens by Sam Tranum

Author:Sam Tranum [Sam Tranum and Lois Kapila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910742013
Publisher: Liberties Press
Published: 2015-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

II.

We are staying in a modern, semi-detached cottage on a campsite next to the lake. An agreeable breeze rustles the trees overhead and the light is dazzling gold, interrupted by occasional lapis hues. The cottage has one decent-sized bedroom and one spacious kitchen-cum-living room, double height with a loft area for more guests. This opens out onto a quaint deck with view of the water’s edge and a sunken brook but – and this is most important – like any self-respecting Finnish abode, it has a sauna and wet room. As I am not one to do without creature comforts, this choice of residence suits me fine. I am already picturing myself typing up my review with a cup of coffee at the small wrought-iron table on the terrace, my scolding critique tempered by the lake’s gentle breath. My reverie is broken, however, as we have to get a move on. We have guests tonight. This was my wife’s university town a decade ago, and she has many friends to catch up with.

I am, how should I put this delicately, not amused at our mode of transport for the weekend. I haven’t ridden a bicycle since I was in school and, while you never forget the how, the why doesn’t come back immediately. It doesn’t help that my bike has no gears, a jammed seat that is about two inches too high and a reverse-pedal braking system. Yet I soon find myself careening through the grid that makes up Joensuu. The streets are a patchwork of conflicting architectural opinions, bordered by nature’s majesty. Modern apartment blocks sit noisily next to older versions which, in turn, look down upon the traditional wooden mansions that, despite their varying degrees of neglect, bookend many of the streets, eyeing passers-by with their elegance and quiet authority. We ride the slight incline of Papinkatu, past the imposing gothic revival Lutheran church and turn left along Kauppakatu and into the Joensuun Tori.

This wide market is teeming every day of the summer with locals selling crafts, antiques and foods ranging from the traditional to the exotic. The market is flanked on the north and south by generic modern façades housing shops, offices and apartments and adorned with backlit signs advertising the stores therein. The western side houses a pedestrian thoroughfare that is home to a competitive version of street hockey this weekend and has a view of the Joensuun Taidemuseo or art museum. The eastern side is dominated by the Joensuun Kaupungintalo or theatre. In the centre of the market is a large teepee that is home to a temporary bar and cafe. We escape the heat here and order up a non-alcoholic beer for me and a sparkling water for the wife. After this pit stop, we take a brief turn around the market, eyeing and fingering the wares. My wife excitedly points out the traditional dishes, and we resolve to pick up a few of the local Karelian pies. These are rye-bread delicacies that are

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