Tuesday, June 10

I got up at 8:15 and got to Aalto for my 9:30 meeting with Juha. For me, the purpose of this meeting was mainly to re-establish contact and to make sure that the thesis I am writing will have a place to land.

Since I last saw him, Juha has grown a beard that locates him in the grand tradition of European philosophers. I wondered whether I should say as much, but refrained. We established that he would be happy to read my thesis and that he would take charge of guiding it through the process, now that Stefan has returned to Vienna. I then returned to Arcada and listed the confdrences and publications I had completed during my doctoral research. Stefan agreed that these would make up my missing credits and, assuming Juha does not disagree, this means that I have only my methodology essay and thesis to complete.

I promised them both that these would be submited before the beginning of August, and so they shall.

Today is Arcada Day, but I was too late to join the morning session by the time I got there. I had lunch with Tomas and Jutta, and then attended a discussion group led by Mikael Paronen. Fortunately I received a phone call important enough to allow me to leave the room with grace.

Arcada Day always finishes with a meal and that is what we are doing now. Having taken ourselves through the rain to Hakaniemi Harbour, we boarded the Doris II and now we are eating and drinking while we are being transported around the archipelago. I am seated in the loud section with Camilla and Ira, Tomas and Tommy, Aki and Eija, and Anne.

When we get back to land I will phone Irma and join her, Naa and Sampo at the stone church to hear a cello concert by a Lithuanian orchestra, led by cellist and conductor David Geringas. In order to get there I will take a metro to Kamppi and then walk in the pouring rain for fifteen minutes the wrong way down Frederikankatu as far as Five Corners, before turning back and retracing my steps.

I will get there, soaked, just before the concert starts. They will play the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony; Cello Concerto op 129 by Schumann; and Mahler’s arrangement of Beethoven’s Quartet Serioso.

The evening will have a complex emotional depth due to Auo’s love of and connection to cello playing, but it will be good to hear.

I will be glad that we went.