#aLSO the youngest daughter was RANDOMLY AUSTRALIAN

[cinematicnomad]

you lived in austria, didn't you? did you see hallmark came out with a new movie called christmas in vienna?

oh my god anon lol

YES i did live in vienna for the last 2 years of high school and YES i did know about the new hallmark christmas movie. in fact, i knew about it a year ago because an austrian friend of mine who’s now an actress has a role in the movie and she was posting about when they were filming last december/january. my mom is a huge hallmark christmas person and loves all things related to our time in vienna (which is truly gorgeous at christmas time) so i told her about it and she’s spent all year reminding me that we’d have to watch it together. so we did last night when it premiered (even though it’s mid-november and too early for christmas stuff). 

and oH BOY. 

look, vienna was gorgeous in the movie just like i thought it’d be. but my mom and i knew nothing about the plot and then ... like 5 minutes into the movie the male lead revealed that he was a US diplomat?? 

ANON, MY DAD WAS A DIPLOMAT ALL MY LIFE. THAT’S WHY WE LIVED IN AUSTRIA, BECAUSE HE WAS STATIONED AT THE US EMBASSY THERE. 

from that point on in the film there was no way the movie could just be a fun lark into hallmark escapism. it just became a 2 hour jaunt of my mom and i yelling at the tv about how stupid everything was. like??? they had him living in a fucking pALACE. and alina, my high school classmate playing his nanny, had to say some dumb line like “oh, all the US diplomats live in fancy houses like these in vienna.” UM NO WE DON’T AND ALINA YOU DEFINITELY WENT TO MY HOUSE IN HIGH SCHOOL. honest to god not even the ambassador lives in a residence as gorgeous or huge as that set. 

and then!! ANON! the whole conflict of the movie was that everyone was UPSET that the dude was offered a promotion where he’d have to move!! 

FIRSTLY, that is not how promotions work in the state department, omg, no one calls up a diplomat and is like “hi, do you want to get promoted? if you say yes you have to move next week.” like. WOW NO.

but SECONDLY, he is a DIPLOMAT. a FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER. his ENTIRE CAREER is based around moving every 1–3 years. nobODY SHOULD BE GETTING MAD AT HIM THAT. 

LASTLY, this movie clearly exists in an alternate universe where visas don’t exist because everyone’s just like “we should just stay in vienna!” and nO THAT’S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS. 

if he had had any other career it could have been a fun little jaunt to watch for my friend but nOPE they had to make him a diplomat and do it all TERRIBLY. 

WAIT AND ALSO!!! 

alina and i are 29 and she was playing sarah drew’s college roommate. ANON. anon, sarah drew is f o r t y years old. 

#ask #anonymous #aLSO the youngest daughter was RANDOMLY AUSTRALIAN #DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT ACCENT HALLMARK!!! #anyway it was v v v dumb #but again #vienna at christmas time is just as beautiful as the movie made it out to be #so like #if you want to see a gorgeous european city decorated in lights at christmas #go for it!! #but the rest was so dumb #(also there was just so much were i was like 'omg i went on a date there' 'heyyy that's where my favorite starbucks hang out was!') #(MEMORIES!!) #kat liveblogs her life #cackling tbh #christmas in vienna #Anonymous

[insideanairport]

Interview with Rashid and Sobia (a family who survived a Hate Crime)

❍❍❍

By Hami Bahadori 17.03.2019

I was on the train to go to Turku, when I read the news about the series of terrorist attacks in New Zealand, by a group of white-supremacist including an Australian white man who shot and killed more than 50 people. Consequently, the racist party of Perussuomalaiset (Finn Party), is almost praising the white terrorists. Johannes Sipola, who is a racist, white-supremacist and a member of the party [Perussuomalaiset Youth leader of the Northern Lapland] condones the terrorist attack. The Perussuomalaiset party is participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections of April 14 and hopes to capitalize on anti-immigration sentiment as it did in the 2011 and 2015 elections.

That day, aside from the very bad news of the attacks in New Zealand, I was excited to meet Rashid and his family for an interview over delicious (لذیذ) Pakistani food. This was the first time, I was meeting them. Rashid insisted that he will drive me home from Rautatieasema. It was one of those offers that I couldn’t refuse.

At their apartment, I met Rashid’s wife Sobia who is studying P.H.D in chemistry at the University of Turku and their two cute daughters. First, we listened to great classical Urdu music by Fateh Ali Khan and later to Boney M. because their youngest daughter who was 1.5 years old, likes to listen to Boney M. They made amazing Biryani (بریانی) and Shir-khorma (شير خرما) with Paratha bread (پراٹھا).

They told me stories about the time when they invited a neighbor in for lunch unexpectedly. The neighbor, who happened to be a priest, told them that he had never experienced such a thing in Finland were a neighbor randomly ask you to come in when the food is ready to be served. In another event, Rashid and Sobia invited a friend for food and he was so surprised that asked if the food is for free!

Usually, you don’t talk about politics [or money] while the food is on the table. People have to enjoy the meal. It’s an intimate and spiritual thing. So, after dinner, I started the interview.

///

Last year on February 4th, 2018, Rashid was brutally attacked by three white Finnish racist men without any motivation aside from Rashid’s background. Despite the obvious racist motivations of the attackers, the incident was not reported by any major press in Finland. The attack was not even investigated as “Hate crime” by the Vantaa police. Even though at the time of the attack, Rashid saw them for the first time, and there was no prior confrontation or rubbery involved.

Sobia described what happened that night: 

“It was late at night, I was sleeping, Rashid left home to smoke a cigarette in the outdoor parking lot. A young obviously seeming underaged teenager asks Rashid for cigarette and Rashid refuses. After a few minutes, Rashid is walking away but all the sudden three people attack him from behind with knife, ax and brass knuckle. They stabbed him in multiple locations in the back, stomach, head and legs until he falls unconscious.”

Rashid was transferred to the hospital and had many surgeries on the same night. He spent the following 52 nights in the hospital with critical condition. Rashid said he used to listen to the song “Hello” by Lionel Richie when he was in the hospital. Following the news of the attack last year, I called the editor of Migrant Tales, the only media source that published the story. He asked the Vantaa Police “how do they know that this was not a hate crime?” and the police responded, “Well, we talked to the boys and they didn’t seem racist”! Something that shows no clear parameters to determine hate crime in Finland.

///

Rashid: Racism has many different faces and unfortunately police don’t have proper training on how to deal with “hate crime”.

Sobia: What if Rashid was a white person, would this still happen? I don’t think so. We know the real price of peace, rather than those who think they know. We have come here for peace, not for money or anything else.

Those who have hatred towards the “others” are not safe to society, especially when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. We are now very careful; I don’t let Rashid go out at night alone.

Rashid: My Memory is badly affected after the incident. I tend to forget a lot of things, although I am still recovering. I am sorry that your first email was skipped from me.

Hami: What do you think about the community here. What can we do to change society, in order to be more open and inclusive? And how much of it, is the responsibility of the majority?

Sobia: The people of color and underprivileged immigrants are already “scared”, we can’t do anything. There is a great language barrier which everyone is preoccupied to overcome. Sometimes, I think about my kids, we don’t want them to see the same stuff. We want them to grow up in a good society.

Things can’t be changed all at once, but in order to develop a good society, we have to educate kids from the very beginning. They need to learn about respect for humanity, culture, and differences from an early age. People see the world differently based on their cultures.

My mother always told me “respect everyone regardless of their color, economic situation or culture, no matter where they are coming from or how they look”.  I see in the kindergarten that kids also tease each other. Kids imitate their parents and repeat what they do. Sometimes, I see that other kids don’t want to play with my daughter. That’s why education about culture has to start from the very beginning. I remember that my older daughter told me once, “Mom, can I have blond hair?”

Hami: Yes, these issues that seem to be small, are actually very large problems within the society that needs to be changed.

Sobia: Yes, I must mention that some doctors and other medical staff were a bit apologizing to us because of what happened. They were a bit ashamed. They felt it deep in their hearts and felt our pain.

Hami: Thank you very much.

#solidarity #interview #BetweenSheikhnRefugee