I listen in my earphones this Italian song. Outside the windows the roofs of Hanoi. Ten of thousands of houses and homes with their daily lives, their happiness and their sadnesses. Lorenzo, in the meantime he is singing his ‘Mi fido di te’, and yet yesterday his life changed and is now missing, all of a sudden, such a big part of it. Yet his song tells a story of some years ago and I wonder what was in his mind and his life at that time when he sat down to write those words. When he was in the recording studio checking this songs, making changes, trying different melodies. That unexpected and unphantomable element of life called future was already there, though unknown to him. A point it time that you get slowly closer to. Like a station that is far and that will take time for the train to reach but that ultimately will not be missed. Lorenzo, thsi song is for you!
Letter from a friend
When was last time I wrote a letter? A real letter. A letter written on a piece of white paper, with a pen or a pencil. Actually I do not remember. A friend write us here in Hanoi and we got the letter yesterday via Lausanne – Helsinki – Hong Kong – Hanoi. I am sure that emails do the same. Once the ‘send’ button is clicked they also travel around the world, passing through or over countries, continents, oceans at a speed that we can’t comprehend. However it is a journey that we cannot retrace as it goes through local, national, and international server providers and cables.
With a letter it is simpler. The one we got, went through 4 countries, most of the time by plane. For some short stages by van or truck.
Living in Hanoi it is very important for me to have email and especially Skype. I feel closer to relatives and friends back home they are just a ‘click’ away on the phone button and with a web cam we can actually see them rather then just hearing their voice. I could not imagine to be abroad for long time without having this tool to help to bridge the gap.
However, yesterday letter gave me a different feeling. The friend who wrote it took time for it. Sat at a table, the white paper in front of her, the pen in her hand. Her baby on the carpet on the floor playing and waiting for his mother to get back to him and entertain him.
The good thing with the letter is that it takes time to write, can be left for some days or weeks and re-started again at a different point in time. Letters are able to link time with a line that is not as immediate and based on ‘now’ as emails do, but is more as flow. You write letters having people in mind and figuring out what they are doing. You read them figuring the writer, the desk, the room. The mountain landscape out of the window where he or she is writing.
I would not like to go back to a time where letters and telephone were the only way to communicate. I need Skype and email. But I need also to remind myself about the different way you actually communicate with different means and what they are good for. Skype makes you see and talk abotu the latest. A little buit as going home the week end and telling what has happened in the work. Letters are personal and work that way: having specific people in mind. All the rest is useful but has also limitations. As in the case with this blog I will now send to the ‘blosgsphere’, a world made by unidentified readers who may or may not encounter this message surfing the internet.
Buon Compleanno Antonio
Ciao Antonio. Olga, Venla, la zia Katja e lo zio Nanno, tutti noi ti mandiamo tanti auguri da Hanoi in Vietnam. Ecco la nostra sorpresa.
Vietnam – Finland – Vietnam
Our Swedish Camp from the inside
Here is where we live now in Hanoi … from the inside
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC6rU0qe2J4]
Our Swedish Camp from the outside
Here is where we live now in Hanoi…from the outside
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2J8mOPEjc]
Olga’s end of the kindergarten year concert in Hanoi
Hi , this is Olga not so happy Asian performance at the Hanoi Tower. She joined her kindergarten friends to close her first nursery/school year in Hanoi. Enjoy!
Family weekend in Sam Son, Vietnam June 2007
Here we are in Sam Son, 150 km south of Ha Noi. First time out of the town and enjoying the Chinese sea.
Olga is now three – Birthday in Sam Son (Vietnam)
Happy birthday Olga! Paljon Onnea Olga! Tanti auguri Olga!
Writing a doctoral dissertation and running a marathon: personal reflections on similar experiences PART V
Conclusion
Though this dissertation is not over yet, I must admit that from the day I wrote the last word and got the overall feedback on the manuscript I feel relieved. Overall, I can say that after some initial difficulties I found my own pace in the writing. This was helped by setting clear deadlines and the number of pages for each chapter. One important lesson from this experience has been about the importance of being precise, a problem I have because I tend to be carried away by ideas and thoughts. The dissertation has taught me the necessary patience required to check, re-check, and check once more information, data, and text (and hope not be proved wrong here).
Some more general comments I would like to add here are the following:
• Beside Prof. Takala comments, feedback, and questions on the overall structure, content, and academic standards, I found also useful to remain in touch with colleagues and friends in Cambodia who provided feedback on the accuracy of specific sections of the thesis such as, for example, the correct reference to laws and sub-decrees regulating decentralisation in Cambodia or the recent history of the country. These comments have also helped to find new references and sources.
• David Ayres, who is one of the main reference in my thesis because of his research con education and state formation in Cambodia, has poof checked the whole manuscript. This means that one more person has red the whole thesis and has makes the correction in the English language.
• All the writing took place at the University, either in the library or in the PC labs. This created sometimes logistical problems with books and articles that were solved by occupying two or three lockers at a time. Nevertheless, coming to the University every day has provided the regular schedule and rhythm that I need when working.
I can certainly agree now with the description by Simon Down about the intensity of the process, particularly due to the deadline set by the birth of my daughter in November. After crossing the finish line of the Tampere marathon, I remember that my first thought was: “I did it”. Followed by: “never again!” But then the days and weeks passed, the legs recovered, and I started again to go for some evening runs. I know that next year I will look again for a half marathon to participate to. Similarly, once I wrote the last word of the dissertation I felt happy that most of it was over. However, I know that, without going back to the whole doctoral research process, at some point in the near future I will look again for materials and resources to learn more about development and to write a chapter in a book or an article in a journal. Therefore rather than a point of arrival, this dissertation represents a point of departure.