Let's go back in time, approximately five and a half years to February 13th 2001. A Nokia colleague of mine mentioned a German speakers meeting on Tuesdays at the Zinnkeller restaurant, a German restaurant in Helsinki downtown. So I went there with my cool Ford Fiesta (model 79!). Yes , I know, I was quite dynamic and good looking when sitting in my Ford with the back door open. When I came into the restaurant, I was a bit late, about 45 mins, but immediately spotted the good looking tall blonde on the rear side of the table. That must be the German speaking group, right?!

On February 13th I decided to spend the evening brushing up my German, which I hadn't been able to use since my year as an exchange student in Kiel. I was sitting at the corner of a table in Zinnkeller chatting with other German speakers as I saw a tall good-looking guy walk in. He stopped and looked around as if searching for something, and my immediate thought was, please come to our table! And he did.

As the evening in the restaurant started fading out, I asked her "hey, I could give you a ride home, where do you live?". It was February and anyone who's been to a windy winter city knows that a cozy car ride is far better than standing at the bus stop and waiting for a bus to come. She answered: "well, that would be in Munkkivuori". Me: "Oh yeah, that's on my way, no prob." She asked me:"Where do you live?"Me:"Ruoholahti". She:"Well if that's on your way.... fine." (see map)

We seemed to hit it off pretty well and at the end of the evening he asked if he could give me a ride home. As it turned out, he lived in Ruoholahti whereas I lived in Munkkivuori (see map). However, he insisted that it's on his way and I didn't feel the need to correct him...

Anyway, she was convinced... or should I say persuaded. But what convinced her finally was Ben the car mascot who said hello to her when she got into the car. In case you see Ben at the wedding somewhere, squeeze him, he likes that!

"A ride home with a Nokia engineer from Germany, he must have a nice car!" I thought. As we approached the pea green old small Ford Fiesta, I was kind of hoping that we would just pass it by. But as I stepped in and saw Ben the pig, I realized that this guy had personality and did not need a fancy car to prove it. The green Fiesta is long gone now but we sill see Ben every day sitting in our book shelf.