Oh yes indeed, dear Mr Mulisch seems to create a stir wherever he goes. Not hard to fathom then where he gets his inspiration for the portrait of Onno Quist... Way to go, man!
For years i felt like i belonged to some other place. I was born and grew up in Göteborg, on the west coast of Sweden. My father is Swedish, my mother is Finnish. I grew up with my mother, and i always identified with her Finnish roots. Every summer we went to Finland, i learned some (not much) Finnish, and felt like i belonged there.
Turning 20 i decided to move there. I went "home", or so i thought. I quickly discovered that they did not much care for me there. My family relations there were not especially happy to see me, nor did they keep much in touch. The swedish speaking minority was not very open, to put it mildly. I thought we would through a common language be able to communicate, but i soon found out that there was not much in common there.
In short, it would take years to adapt. Hence i have done exactly that, and found a place for me. Now having lived in Helsinki for close to 18 years i consider it "home". But as i walk these streets i realise i am no
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