Back to the land of the pure

Kirsistan is back in Pakistan.

After spending last academic year in Karachi teaching English, I went home to Finland to spend the summer there and I just arrived back to Pakistan a week ago. So you are lucky and I will keep on posting about my experiences in this controversial and often misunderstood country that is portrayed in a negative light in the western media.

This time more personal reasons have pulled me back to Pakistan as I have met someone special with whom I will spend the rest of my life, InshaAllah (if God is willing). I will, therefore, be forever connected to Pakistan and will keep on coming back for the rest of my life. I might have been giving respect in my earlier posts to the awesome, generous and hospital people of Pakistan and not in vain at all. The people are the reason I fell in love with Pakistan and why I love it here. Whatever you might read in the news is only done by a tiny minority and does in no way reflect the thinking of the majority. I am proud to have some awesome bunch of Pakistanis as my friends. There are not enough words to describe how lucky I am to have met them and to have them as my friends. It is a priviledge. A special shout-out goes to my Pakistani friends in Finland without whom I don't think I would ever have had the courage to come to Pakistan in the first place.

I will continue sharing my experiences here and even plan to travel around and see some new places in order to understand this country better. Fingers crossed there'll be more videos too. ;)

Stay tuned for more news from Pakistan.

Kirsistan vol. 2 is about to begin - bigger, better and bolder this time.

Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture

This time I visited the famous Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture where some of my Pakistani friends have studied different fields of art; communication design, textile design, interior design, photography (minor), film making (minor), architecture, fine art, liberal arts etc. The building is amazing, shares a wonderful story and is an inspiring place to study. It truly deserves a video of its own.

Frere Hall

As-salam alaikum everyone,

I have continued my newly found tradition of making videos of my excursions around Karachi. Last Saturday I finally managed to get inside Sadequain Gallery, which is in Frere Hall. It was a lovely sunny day as you can see from the video and I had a great time exploring new sights in Karachi.

I have been in Pakistan for over 6,5 months now and slowly my time is drawing to an end. Soon it is time for me to bid farewell to my friends here and head back to Finland for the summer. Aah, nothing beats the summers in Finland so I would not want to miss that for anything. Pleasant weather, green trees and forest everywhere, sun bathing and swimming and sauna by a lake or the Baltic sea, BBQ with friends and family, long walks outside, concerts and festivals not to forget the long nightless nights with the sun that almost never sets. Finland just bubbles with life after a long winter. It is all very opposite to my life in Karachi where the sun keeps on appearing throughout the year and it never really gets that cold. It has been a good getaway from the Finnish winter this year. I've heard that we have had piles of snow and seriously cold temperatures for long now.

So just watch this video and marvel the blue skies and sunshine in Karachi.

P.S. Sadequain seems an interesting character and his work is beautiful. He was apparently responsible for the renaissance of Islamic Calligraphy in Pakistan.

It's a Mad World

Hei kaikille tasapuolisesti,

Olen viime aikoina keskittynyt enemman videoiden tekemiseen kuin itse kirjoittamiseen. Toivottavasti vaihtelu virkistaa teitakin ja olette viihtyneet lyhyiden Karachi-videoideni parissa. Elama sujuu raiteillaan, toissa on kivaa ja saan vaihtelevia tehtavia, koska pomoni tajusi pestini lahestyvan pian loppuaan. He tahtovat kierrattaa minua eri kampuksilla tutustumassa holistisesti yksityisen kouluni jokaiseen eri osa-alueeseen ja ikaryhmaan. Varmasti mielenkiintoista. Vapaa-aika sujuu edelleen samoissa merkeissa eli tanssien ja laulaen. Tanaan esiinnymme ystavien kanssa eraan kaverin mehndi-funktiossa, joka on haiden yksi tapahtuma. Mehndissa haaparin ystavat esiintyvat lavalla ja tanssivat haaparin kunniaksi. Perinteet vaihtelevat perheesta riippuen, mutta yleisesti ottaen tama on iso ja juhlava tapahtuma. Kerron haaperinteista lisaa myohemmin pelkastaan haihin painottuvassa kirjoituksessani.

Tahdoin laittaa tanne videon ensimmaisesta julkisesta esiintymisestani laulajana Pakistanissa. Halloweenina yksi ystavani jarjesti hyvantekevaisyyskonsertin, jossa myos mina ja kitaristi-ystavani esiinnyimme. Kitaristi myos editoi videon.

Visit to Mohatta Palace

Due to the positive feedback I received from my first ever video blog, I decided to do another one. This time I visited Mohatta Palace in Karachi where there's an art exhibition and you'll hear more on this video.