By Jonathan Riikonen
Now that America has turned 250 years old - or young - it’s time to reflect on some of my thoughts. I must confess, as a Finn I have always felt semi-American myself, like I was born into the wrong country. I have loved the United States since I was a kid, especially the idealism it represents. When I was in grade 6 or 7, I had an American map on my bedroom wall next to the desk; I could list all the states and capitals, and still can.
I always wanted to become American, but life threw me to other places instead. Sometimes I wonder whether I tried hard enough, or simply the opportunity did not arise. I once spent a wonderful year in Mountain View, California as a technical trainee, a time about which I wrote earlier. I still regard it as one of the best years of my life, along with the year working on Caribbean cruise ships. I also became a member of the Finnish American Society and wrote for their magazine.
America is the only country associated with a dream. There is no such thing as, for example, the Brazilian, South African, Italian or Finnish dream. But in the United States everywhere you go you meet people talking about the American Dream. What is this dream? It is an opportunity to become someone when you work hard and have faith. You can sense this immediately when you enter the U.S., especially the first time.
The thing is when you make it in America, you make it in the whole world. While America cannot follow any small or even bigger countries, they all follow America. In the 1970s and beyond Finland was called the most American country in Europe, which might surprise many. An American-made car was a status symbol and touring bands were welcomed and revered there and English-speaking movies and TV series beat the local ones. Already in 1963 when J.F. Kennedy died, all the Finnish storefronts had his pictures and American flags on their windows.
Some believe it was a subconscious way of distancing us from the Soviet Union and its shadow. But it was more than that. It was also the encouraging atmosphere we could sense from across the pond. During the peak immigration era from 1890s to 1920s more than ten percent of the Finnish population moved to the New World or The Land of Milk And Honey. One can only imagine what seeing the Statue of Liberty meant to them, the symbol of freedom and a new beginning for people seeking an adventure or escaping Tzarist oppression or poverty.
This American Dream is still not a cliche even though there are many opposing elements today. It is sad to see when protesters burn the Stars and Stripes flag or speak trash about your own country, or Europeans speaking negatively of the country they have never visited. No country is perfect. As I lived a few years in Canada, I can tell that many seemingly patriotic Canadians are secretly willing to move to the United States as soon as a chance arises. This can be seen with artists and researchers, not to speak about hockey players. Again, this is due to the opportunity America offers.
As for me, as a writer of eight screenplays I have tried to conquer Hollywood by contacting producers and attending film script contests. The best I have reached is an Honorary Mention in LA International Screenplay Competition with “Sherwood,” which is also available as a book in Amazon.com by googling my name and Sherwood.
Briefly, Sherwood is a story about a private, reluctant guy who becomes the most celebrated hero by twist of fate. But what happens then ... well, hopefully one day you can see it on the screen. I was twice close, the first one was a costly scammer, but the second one was going to fund it until he had a stroke and it fell apart. I am constantly seeking a producer or financier hoping someone would provide me with a connection.
To me the American Dream exists because it inspires and motivates to pursue innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. After all the strength of any nation is based on the strength of its most valuable resource, the people. Many of them have gone through sacrifice, failure and hardships before making it happen. The keys are perseverance, faith, learning from setbacks and patience. I am still on this stage, equipped with my everlasting American dream and Finnish sisu.
My first technical training year not only satisfied my curiosity, but it made me see the American society from the inside, not as an outsider looking in. The first thing I probably learned was to become more open, since most Finns are innately shy and don’t dig into useless small talk. After that year I have made many public speeches and lectures and never been nervous. I believe easygoing Americans made me find my self-confidence and forget our very Finnish “sorry that I exist” sentiment.
The other thing was the strength of community feeling, I attended a local Lutheran church, and it was like a family gathering.
The same time I learned more about Finland, I realized things that one can only see from the distance, how unique we are as people. I have tried to convey these peculiarities and extraordinary traits in some of my past columns. Now there is new genetic research of our origin which will make us even more unique than thought. I will write an article here soon.
With that I hope we all can be proud to have Finnish roots, as well as you can be proud to be Americans. Happy 250th anniversary!