I just arrived in Helsinki. Finally. For many years finnish things have invaded my life and it was usually a contribution: early Internet backbones, Aki Kaurismäki, Linux and Nokia.

So for the first time I am going to have a first time impression of this country. I am not going to make photos: I forgot my camera at home. But that‘s okay as I am going to cover this trip using my blog for the first time. It‘s the time for the first time as it seems.

Just left the airport bus. First impression: very european. Met Florian Cramer on the plane (he is going to give a talk on the READ_ME Software Art Festival as I will) and after some talk about permuted poems we agreed that the local architecture does not differ a lot from what we are used to in Northern Germany. But I didn‘t see much so far anyway as I was busy fiddling with my new Ericsson Phone and the local GSM setup.

Tried to send a SMS to somebody in Helsinki. All three providers signaled errors. After my last try the targeted person called me and told me she has received the message 20 times now and I should stop worrying about it.

I admit my first stop is McDonald‘s. I like McDonald‘s as it is a good benchmarking tool for international travelers. How much is a Big Mac Menu? EUR 4.90. Does it taste the same as in Germany? No. Is catchup included with the fries? Yes. Is the taste of strawberry milkshake okay? No. Traveling is fun.

I am using NetNewsWire for writing my blog offline while munching my Big Mac. Very convenient. A real productivity tool. Please keep on enhancing it, Brent. Thank you.

So much for now. I am going to have a walk looking for my Hotel and getting acquainted to the locals.