Is Economics a science?

S&T Eurobarometer reports the average view of the Europeans (EU-25) on what is regarded as scientific. Medicine is leading on a five-point scale (4.6), Physics closely behind (4.4).

What about Economics? We got 3.2. Comparing to Horoscopes (1.9), that is quite good. But look at Astrology and Homeopathy: both of them got 3.1.

We have two interpretations of the data. The first one is that we don’t work hard; we have to present ourselves such that we get at least to the level of Psychology (3.6). The second one is plain: don’t believe voice of the European street. It is the same vox populi that, for example, considers Israel the biggest security threat for Europe…

Austrian School Conference (Post Scriptum)

From the Wirth Institute, I've today received nice shots taken during my address at the conference in Edmonton. Economi(cs/sts) can be sexy, can't they? :)

Laffer what?

I like liberal economics. Equally, I don't like bad economics. Unfortunately, often liberal economics overlaps with bad economics. A recent example is Petr Mach's leading article "Flat Corporate Tax and Laffer Curve" in CEP newsletter 11/2005. Mach estimates the impact of corporate tax rate on revenues from this tax, and identifies the top of Laffer's curve at about 20.75%. This sounds cool, but let's take a clooser look...

The estimate is based on OLS conducted over 5(!) observations over the last five years. Not many degrees of freedom, I suppose. Over the period, we observe steady decline in tax rate, and dramatic increase in taxable profits. The Mach's estimate assumes that the increase in profits is solely due to the change in tax rate, which is doubtful. In period of boom, with large foreign investments (excluding those exempt from taxation), changes in profits should be attributed to other causes than the tax rate. Three most evident causes may be general boom, competition for foreign investors, and tax competition.

Therefore, the estimates of Laffer curve and of predictions of revenues at 15% rate (as proposed by the Civic Democratic Party), are unfounded. The party should be cautious to propose a generous social system accompanied by a drop of corporate tax rate, since the only result can be growing deficits. So, I am in favour of lower corporate taxes, but not for wrong reasons.

Pokrok navzdory (article for Dec 05 issue of "Sociál")

S Fakultou sociálních věd, konkrétně s IES a IPS, mám zkušenost trvající právě deset let. Za tu dobu jsem zaznamenal obrovský vývoj. Stačilo ale, abych nedávno detailně nahlédl do střev fakulty, a zjistil jsem, že velká část pokroku se odehrála spíše navzdory fakultě než jejím přičiněním.

Mluvím-li o fakultě jako celku, nikoli o jednotlivých institutech, nemohu se ubránit pozorování, že máme co do činění s koalicí byrokratů a neproduktivních výzkumníků. Z byrokracie je největší hydrou ekonomické oddělení. Tento tvor se krmí z grantů pomocí tzv. „institucionálního zabezpečení“ (jen v doktorském grantu, který jsem pomohl zajišťovat, čítala letošní položka 200 tisíc). Za odměnu ekonomické oddělení vycení zuby pokaždé, když mu předložíte cokoliv jiného než upravené finální dokumenty. Nezbývá než se starat o administrativu vlastními silami, nemluvě o tom, že v případě zahraničních grantů není tvor ochoten vůbec komunikovat v angličtině.

Fakulta stojí na politické paritě institutů. Díky tomu stojí na stejné úrovni renomovaní a citovaní odborníci s lidmi, kteří odčerpávají zdroje ze skutečného výzkumu na svoji Potěmkinovskou (v Americe se říká „Mickey Mouse“) vědu. Není pak divu, že ve Vědecké radě FSV se klíčovou otázkou výzkumu nedávno stala barva obálky fakultního sborníku. Lidé, kteří nesledují recenzované žurnály a nepřispívají do nich, kteří neakceptují, že jediným vědeckým jazykem je angličtina, rozhodují o ostatních pouze na základě proporčního zastoupení.

Když se diskutovaly finance ve Výzkumném záměru, jeden prominentní žurnalista-proděkan označil odměňování na základě výstupu za postup analogický najímání vrahů. Anebo vezměme jinou prominentní žurnalistku-proděkanku, doc. Köpplovu. Ta otevřeně lhala ohledně akreditace doktorského programu ekonomie, než ji usvědčilo detektivní hledání kopií akreditace na rektorátu UK. Přinejmenším o rok zpozdila převod doktorského studia do anglického jazyka, čímž jej uzavřela pro zahraniční zájemce.

Na FSV se nachází celá řada výkonných a talentovaných výzkumníků, učitelů a studentů. K jejich růstu je ale nutná odborná, morální a finanční podpora. Fakulta by se mohla starat alespoň o finanční složku. Před současným děkanem zde proto vidím rozvojový úkol: provést reformu byrokracie, narušit neproduktivní status quo a prosazovat diferenciaci při odměňování. Byrokracie by měla být výkonná a dobře zaplacená. Ve Výzkumném záměru by mělo být financování zcela výkonnostní, na základě publikací v Social Science Citation Index. A také – což se bohužel neprosadí – neuniverzitní obory jako žurnalistika a public relations by měly spáchat kolosální harakiri. Poté FSV bezpochyby získá status elitní instituce, kde poptávka převýší nabídku ne kvůli snadné prostupnosti studia, nýbrž díky své kvalitě.

Wall Street vs. Teheran Main Street

No more F1 vs. WRC analogy, but let's keep the spirit of beautiful parallels. I shall discusst differences between mainstream Economics and the mainstream of other Social Sciences.

The former one is like Wall Street: clear, structured, hierarchical and transparent operations. The market is highly regulated by committees and a strict code of the profession (which involves PhD education, TeX-nical knowledge, econometrics, and lots of applied math).
The latter one is like a street market in Teheran: unclear, where each deal is special, bargaining is time-consuming, anyone is involved, everything is possible and the quality is very costly to monitor. Of course, beyond sharia and words of almighty ajatollahs, nothing is regulated.

Which one do you prefer?

Karel Englis Prize

Yesterday, at the annual meeting of the Czech Economic Society, I was awarded by the Karel Englis Prize. Any author below 30 years was eligible to send a paper on an economic policy topic; mine has been fiscal governance. I'll be pleased to read any of your comments to the paper!

F1 vs. WRC II.

The dichotomy echoes also in Macro vs. Micro. In F1, you want to see the macro picture, since cars are too fast. In WRC, you want to see the race from within the cabin, where all the natural beauty passes quickly around. F1 team - like Macroeconomists - have a grand strategy, a few variables to control, and derive large implications from hypotheses. They construct models to be immediately tested.
A WRC driver - like a Microeconomist - pays attention to details, allows to be inspired by any observation, considers hundreds of behavioral modes and tactics, and doesn't make clear implications from ideas he suggests.

Yes, you guess right: I am a Microeconomist, an Orienteer, so I like WRC more than F1. Anyway, as a Renault-owner, it was of course my duty this year to watch how Renault goes for individual and team victories...

A Bloody Sport

Orienteering is fun. But the fun has often consequences. I've just come across a few pics from a spring event showing that in forest, you must always keep fighting. See more on my photopage.

F1 vs. WRC I.

F1 is clean, ultra-fast, focusing on standard and repeated tasks to be done as efficiently as possible. It's about large investments into each component, it's about systematic development of particular and very narrow human capital. Before the race, you always know the few names who can win; the others are simply backbenchers. Equipment splits the racers into separate clusters. F1 is also a typical artificial sport; you can't use the car in normal traffic.
WRC is dusty, rough, focused mainly in dealing with hundreds of small problems, where a driver has to cope with any detail at any time. It is about good car too, but also about persistent driving, large intuition, and ability to forecast potential problems. The race is open; favorites change with weather, place, and season. WRC is a typical outdoor sport; the car is infinitely closer to showroom cars than F1.

Why I'm writing about this? I find this dichotomy everywhere. The best case is Athletics vs. Orienteering. On one hand, an average athlete is fast, much faster than an orienteer. Yet, the orienteer is far more universal. An orienteer can run in marsh, on mountain hills, on rocks, in any terrain. A good orienteer can navigate through anything anywhere at any time, day or night, any season of the year. The athlete needs the track, or at least good roads, while the orienteer needs only public land. Athletics is about large and long-time investments into a few elite runners; in Orienteering, time is certainly necessary to get experience, but it is not prohibitive. Athletics is an elitist sport; if you are below average, you sooner or later leave because the sport is a loss of time for you. Orienteering is democratic; anyone from 5-95 can participate and enjoy competition. The final difference, between artificial vs. outdoor sport, is pretty obvious.

D Day (Delicious Day)

On Saturday, I did my best to prepare something sweet and delicious. A good try, isn't it?

Mr. Tau (Canadian Post Post Scriptum)

Those nurtured by Czechoslovak TV can easily remind of Mr. Tau, a middle-class-looking hero of a comedy TV series in 1980s. He was even able to walk on a wing of a flying airplane! I am pretty sure that the constructors of Boeing and Airbus know him too, since they put warnings on an airplane wings: "Don't walk outside this area." Just look carefully on your next flight. No wonder if you meet Mr. Tau on the wing.

Winter est arrivé!

Just a few snapshots from the weekend. BTW, you can see my "ship" on the second one.

Globalization (Post Scriptum from Canada trip)

Proliferation of air traffic is one of the most visible signs of globalization. I realized that on Ruzyne Airport when I couldn't find my transatlantic flight on screens, for too many preceding flights had to be shown. So, I sadly had to look for the check-in area just on my own, which was a bit confusing and a little stressful, in economic terms costly. Therefore, I urge those who want to regulate globalisation to take up my case and make it a case of globalisation externality. The policy slogan could be: Crowding is inefficient and must be wiped out by proper regulation. We are here for that.

Now for real Post Scriptum: I hope nobody is taking this fake-economics post seriously...:-)

The Blue Angel

The best gift I received on the occassion of my Friday Name Day was a blue-eyed angel visit. The cute angel is called Jachymek and I confess that all people love him since the very first encounter. Most time - when growing teeth don't hurt and mummy is close - Jachymek is smiling, enjoying himself (and his cars) and playing with us with a great sense for play. Also, he's just learnt to bark, can imitate a kittie's "yauu", and climbs stairs as fast as Reinhold Messner. His recent achievement is 'silly walk', and now he loves to rush through the house just to enjoy the newly acquired motion and speed. He's making some progress in speaking, but, for some reason, he consistently refuses to repeat "prosim, prosim" (please). Maybe it's difficult to pronounce; for a baby like him, "bagr" (digger) and even "batyskaf" (bathyscape) are far easier to tell...
More pictures on my fotopages.

A capable gourmet

Sharper Views or Sharper Tools?

When teaching Economics, you constantly struggle with the issue of relevance. You feel that your lectures are not up-to-current research, but your students complain about abstract models lacking links to their own real-world observations. I am trying to tackle this trade-off at my best, since in most cases, it is possible to make any topic more interesting (topical, understandable) as well as more rigorous. Sometimes it is beyond my capabilities, however, and then I'm seeking a constrained optimum, a balance between attractivity and rigorousness. My approach is that in the optimum, my supply is more rigorous than what is subjectively optimal for the demand side. Why?

I hold that academia is here not to 'cultivate public opinion', nor listen to the 'heart beat of the present day'. We are here to give students instruments which provide results with certainty. In the after-school life, the students will use non-certain language and non-certain instruments every day, because the world prefers cheap uncertain instruments over costly certainty. Because of that, I see the purpose of teaching twofold: firstly, we should decrease the costs of certainty by making modelling and testing easier to comprehend, and secondly, we should let the unaware students that certainty is available, and that it is costly.

In a pub debate on Thursday, someone raised a concern that Master students have no arguments and opinions on pending issues such as EU-China economic relations; another friend complained that we don't teach them to argue. I don't see either a problem. If we allow students just argue, we replace straightforward reason by unfounded judgements, let values - not clear facts - dominate the problem, and after all, we will have to resort only to simplistic applied economics. Some schools tend to use this model of teaching. We at IES don't. If we did, we would devalue the research aspect of the institute, which would be - I believe - a kiss of death for prospective elite economists raised at IES.

Nordic Odyssey

Jirka Marek, our companion on summer trip to Norway, has just completed an itinerary where he comments on lots of interesting things. It could be especially useful to all those who seek practical experience from Norway. The full text in Czech is right here and a few pictures are located here.

My Photo Page

If you wanna enjoy more pictures from my trips and various endeavors, just visit my photo page at Fotopages.com. The site is regularly updated (well, depends on what you mean by "regularly").

Jet Lag

Jet lag, that’s a lot of fun. On the way to the west, one can deal with an eight-hour difference without any problem. In my case, after three shorter nights because of social program (can you avoid Hungarian Dance Festival in Canada?), I had at last one very long night (14-hours) in a mountain hostel; it was just after a rushing hike/run of 1000m elevation within 100 minutes. After that, I was perfectly alright.
On the way back to the east, it’s getting to be a bit harder. Monday morning was my landing time in Prague, and upon arrival I had to do some work immediately at the Institute. Anyway, on Wednesday late night I thought that I’m finally back in GMT. Then I woke up on Thursday… It was neither 7 a.m. (usual time), nor 8 a.m. (wake-up time after a hard day), but 12 a.m. Of course I checked all watches, cell phones and alarm clocks to check if somebody is not playing with me. Well, to be honest, I’ve never experienced that before. The odd feeling is thus last but not least remarkable experience from Canada trip.

Canada versus Europe

Across the Atlantic, things are a bit different. Canada is not as shocking as some parts of the US, since it blends European and American influences; yet also here it’s interesting to watch for differences:

1. Trains. Have you ever seen train with 108 wagons, pulled by three locos in a row?
2. Warnings. Visiting a park, would you expect hundreds of ”SLOW” signs on the biking roads, whenever a small slope or bend approaches? Not to speak of warning signs at the gondola station up in mountains (”Proceed at Your Own Risk”).
3. Cars. Ugly, nasty, environmental-unfriendly boxes on wheels.
4. Roads. Four-line highways are standard even for roads up to gondola station in mountains.
5. Oil revenues. Alberta province is so rich because of royalties that Prime Minister Klein distributed CAN$ 400 to each citizen of Alberta.
6. Refineries. The factories are built on large areas; 10 km sq. is no exception.
7. Cities. Most cities were built as on the green field, so have structure of a chessboard, with streets going north-south and avenues east-west. You don’t get lost unless you interchange street and avenue numbers. (You can also get lost when you don’t change the numbers, but become confused and convince yourself that you must have changed street and avenue numbers. This happened to me, Lucka and Kamila.)
8. Food. Junk food is real junky. Canadians have it even worse because of socialized health-care, which obviously introduces moral hazard.
9. Trails. In mountains, you walk for five-six hours and don’t meet any human. On the other hand, you have a good chance to meet some bear, canibou, deer, beaver, and thousands of squirrels.
10. Phone. One-minute call from National Park to Edmonton (400 km) costs CAN$ 2.5. The machine doesn’t return change. Well, the price is like a call from Prague to some deserted places in mid Africa, or into slums in Bangladesh.
11. Relieving. You get sophisticated instructions on how to cover and dig your ”droppings” in a national park.
12. Highway passage. Below highways, there are passages for animals to trespass. They put sand there to study which animals use the passages and how. People can go through as well, but have reserved a special human path (animals don’t follow it because of smell).

Proceed at your own risk!

Fashion Police

Myself, living in ivory tower, I tend to wear whatever I just find at hand. But sometimes even I realize that some outfit is totally out. Occassionally, it is so out that it's actually cool. Last weekend, I found such a couple at orienteering event south of Prague. What a style!

The North American Tragedy in Microcosm

Calgary is a really shocking place. When you are getting close to it, it looks like a slum city. Well, you realize that the houses are not exactly a slum for the lowest class, but a slum of the middle class. The subdivisions of half-million-dollar houses without any single tree look desperately.
An outspoken urban affair writer James Howard Kunstler writes on his blog (quoted by Edmonton Journal, Oct 9), that Calgary is ”an archetypal city of immense glass boxes in a sterilized centre surrounded by an asteroid belt of beige residential subdivisions.” He adds that a typical Western metropolis (though Edmonton is an exception) features poor urban design, with a core of uninteresting glass towers from which radiate districts comprise cookie-cutter homes and big box stores.
Fortunately I spent in Calgary a couple of minutes only. Truly, the first look was horrifying and I hope we never end like that in Europe. Edmonton is much nicer, with a colorful river valley joined by several creeks, parks, and much greener residential houses. Check Lucka’s photo pages to see how beautiful Edmonton can be, especially in Fall.

Back to native teepees!

Europeum Workshop in Bologna

IES suffered a temporary loss of tons of brain power when Professor Turnovec (nickname Francesco), Roman (Branco) Horvath, Adam Gersl and me visited Bologna for an Europeum Workshop. The Workshop as such was amazing, and I do not hesitate to say that I much liked the political economy sessions. Most people there were post-doc or junior department members, so we could have a feeling of doctoral "underclass", but in fact the atmosphere was warm and discussions pretty focused and helpful.

Bologna is special in several respects. The city retains the original Renaissance layout with dazzling porticoes. The parade is almost 40 kms long, with the single longest one of 2.5 kilometres. Rain, not to speak of snow, is no danger for pedestrians. Speaking of architecture, the city is full of romantic lanes, lively markets, and fascinating churches. The most famous is Basilica di San Petronio, which once threaten to be bigger than St Peter's Cathedral Rome, so the pope forbid to finish the building. See the photo shot below.

Another intesting feature here is...politics. Communist have been ruling the city for decades, therefore it is not so difficult to buy here entire Marx Capital (what a wasteful production!). Yet citizens apparently don't complain. At least there is a curiosity - Bologna is the only place in the world with a statue of Alexander Dubcek, the 1968 Communist Prime Minister in former Czechoslovakia.

The unfinished Basilica

City Hall on Piazza Maggiore

Ceiling of our villa room

Marx is not dead (fortunately only in Bologna)

Raising Asocial Economists?

If any economist both provoked and impressed the audience of his or her peers, then it was Ariel Rubinstein during his Presidential Address at the Annual Conference of ESEM (Econometric Society) last year. In Madrid, it was hot outside, and the newly elected president brought the heat also into the plenary session.

Rubinstein spoke on Dilemmas of An Economic Theorist, where he basically an extended his previous thoughts based on survey study in A Skeptic’s Comment on the Study of Economics.

He says to be skeptical on the mission of economic theory. In short, he finds that economics is teaching people to be asocial, or it at least attracts asocial individuals. Better or worse, economics is a tool in hands of policy makers and ideologues to whom Rubinstein is not particularly attracted.

I think Rubinstein is empirically correct, but theoretically wrong. Strange for theorist – normally I would assume this to be reverse.
It is indeed plausible that most students and graduates of economics favor pro-market solutions comparing to solutions with more equalizing outcomes. My intuition goes in the same direction as his empirical study. Yet, is this a sign of broken informal institutions, a destruction of moral/social obligations?

Well, consider the following competing explanations:

1. Vicious self-selection I. Economists are asocial. Their knowledge on market vs. state efficiency and distribution effects is not significantly different from common knowledge.
2. Vicious self-selection II. Economists are asocial. Their knowledge is different. But superior economic knowledge shifts not distribution of policy preferences.
3. Corrected bias. Economists are social. However, policy recommendations given by superior economic knowledge are different from policy recommendations of those completely ignorant. Economic knowledge stresses decentralized solutions of market problems, unintended consequences of social policy, and the possibility of entrepreneurship. It is also able to analyze formally government failures.
4. Reaffirmed self-selection. Economists are asocial, and have the same implication as in Case 3.

Hypothesis 1 implies question – why study Economics? So, proponents of ”asocial economist” hypothesis may resort to Hypotheses 2 or 4. But why not Hypothesis 3?

To me, Rubinstein’s puzzle is nothing special. By studying economics, as, among others, Bryan Caplan proves, we correct our prejudices on malign effects of markets. Thus, we are naturally driven to favor more pro-market solutions. In our objective function, market is relatively less costly to the government. We face a substitution effect – no wonder we consume more markets (efficient outcomes) and less government (egalitarian outcomes). This implies nothing about our social capital, nor does it imply we relax our altruism. We only know that altruism and tribal feelings can be extremely costly and collectively inefficient in modern society.

National Parks (Suomi Photoseries III)

Team Czechia on stage

The Photographer

A lively järvi

Water Jewels, Not Watery At All

Helvetinjärvi

Squatters

Packing was our daily hobby

Porvoo and Helsinki (Suomi Photoseries II)

The Old Quarter in Porvoo/Borgaa

Port of Porvoo

Porvoo Church

Tower at the Main Church

Grass-root skier

Bears peasants

Isle at Helsinki harbour

Orthodox Church

Alexander II, Tolerant

The Dome as It Stands

The University (Charles is nicer, isn't it?)

On the Way (Suomi Photoseries I)

Amazing socialist realism a la Gaudi (Wroclaw)

Always read the map, says Björnar Valstad

Sigulda Castle

Cross and sword rule the world

Four layers

Ancient Sigulda Castle

The Nightmare Search Around Polva

Estonian Sunfall

The Blues of Late Evening

Addicted to Pizza

Can you believe he's sleeping?

Crazy Frogs atakují Suomen Tasavalta

Ding ding, beng beng není ani zvuk motoru, ani zvuk pneumatik, nýbrž kultovní refrén, který provázel oddané fanoušky a fanynky Crazy Frogs na jejich severské výpravě. Cílem akce bylo zjistit, jak populární jsou Crazy Frogs v Polsku, Pobaltí a samotném Suomilandu. Kromě toho snad i trošku poběhat po plotnách (ano, to vy v Prima vařečce neumíte!) a vyzkoušet squatt ve finských národních parcích.
Na cestě tam zaujala Olesznice, partnerské město Chrudimi. Jörgen se zde cítil jako doma, a možná právě proto zde úplně zasekli dopravu. Co my s tím? Navrhujeme Polsko vyloučit z EU! (Anebo jim naopak přispět na transevropskou dálniční síť.) To nám trošku nabouralo itinerář. Zařízli jsme to tedy až ve dvě ráno na odpočívadle v Litvě, kousek před hranicí s Lotyšskem. Odměnou bylo ranní pozorování, zda nechutné záchodky plné “junk&shit” na celé podlaze, všech stěnách a možná i stropě někdo využije; a vskutku, Litevci sem chodili náruživě (jakkoli si některé jemnocitné slečny zacpávaly nos).
Další zastávka v Siguldě byla trefa do černého (resp. do Oty Černého). Do hradu jsme se vkradli přes živý plot, poběhali jsme v okolí, vyběhli si kopec od lanovky a pokochali okolím. Došlo i na koupačku v raftové říčce Gauja. V místě se silnějším proudem Jörg plaval kraulem proti proudu a za minutu se posunul cca o 1 metr vpřed. On prosto moloděc.

Pak ale ukázková blamáž. Dle instrukcí Libora Zhustasmutného jsme vyrazili do terénu Short Distance z JWOC 2001 – text hovořil jasně: 20km severně od Polvy ve východním Estonsku. Směrem na východ k hranicím vedla dálnice, po které téměř nikdo nejel – že by se z Pobaltí nikomu nechtělo do Běloruska a Ruska…? Před Polvou jsme začali panikařit – copak můžeme lokalizovat mapu na OB, když jediné, co máme, je mapa světa? A když na mapě OB je jedinou jasnou věcí silnička jdoucí JVV-SZZ směrem? V tu chvíli jsme u silnice natrefili na mapku se silničkami v okolí. Bystré HPéčko ji zvěčnilo a byli jsme tedy rozhodnuti, že navigaci dokončíme s pomocí bystrého oka. V Polvě se nám tento postup rozležel v hlavě a na benzínce jsme raději konzultovali lokaci s pomocí jedné místní mapy. Pumpařka ani místní dědýsové nám příliš nepomohli. A hle – na mapě se vyloupla krásná silnička JVV-SZZ směrem, přesně 20 km na sever, no to bude ono. Když jsme však přijeli na místo, bylo nadmíru jasné, že to ono není (John Lennon by řekl: to není Yoko Ono). Přesnější lokalizaci jsme tudíž si objednali přes virtuální základnu, Libora Jirků, sedícího doma u netu. Po chvíli přišla spásná SMS – mapa leží údajně přesně 20km od Polvy. Ne ale na sever, ale na západ. Konkrétně na východ od hlavní silnice u vesnice Sadverna. Krása! Spali jsme s představou o-la-la tréninku ve stopách estonského JWOCu. Když jsme ale přijeli ráno do Sadverny, započalo hledání inkriminované JVV-SZZ silničky. Nu, projeli jsme jich asi 20 a žádná z nich to nebyla. V momentu největšího zoufalství jsme zaparkovali, poptali se místních dřevorubců a pak hurá na blind do lesa, třeba to najdeme… Samozřejmě jsme to nenašli, bodejť by jo. Zato jsme objevili krásné oblasti plné zeleného humusu, posekaných stromků, pasek, kopřiv a na závěr vosí hnízdo, které Kamču šeredně pobodalo. Polva never more.

Azyl ve Finsku po první dva/tři dny poskytla středoevropským běžencům klubovna Keravanu Uh-zde-je-něco-hrozně-finského-atu. Keravan nabídl něco mnohem lepšího než karavan, který jsme očekávali po mohutných varování od Petry. Nakonec byla k dispozici i epesní sauna s březovými větvičkami, krásně vyhřátý sklep na spaní a plně funkční kuchyňka.
Na prvních mapkách jsme otestovali místní lesíky, pochopili styl mapování a generalizaci; šedé plotny byly poměrně dost jednoznačné, srázy na svazích rovněž, žádná hard-core Skandinávie. Běželi jsme vždy každý na sebe, časové srovnání neexistovalo, třeba Jörg chodil do lesa pod heslem “hodinky neuznávám, navíc tu stejně mají posunutý čas”.
KeU vydrželo jako opěrný bod k výpravám do Porvoo/Borgaa a do Helsinek. To první bylo maličké až k uzoufání. Naopak Helsinky mají hodně do sebe, i když novoklasicismus není nic, z čeho by člověk padal v údivu na pozadí. Děvčata naplánovala výstavu leteckých fotografií z celého světa, která opravdu stála za vidění. Zato Jörg chtěl jen a jen do muzea sportu, kam jsme ho nakonec nepustili, ale to, že neviděl sbírku plaveckých čapek jsme mu aspoň kompenzovali okružní jízdou kolem Olympijského stadionu, kde před 53 lety exceloval Zátopek a před několika dny jeho etiopští nástupci.
Nuuksio: pěkná procházka po parku, soutěž v hledání zmutovaných obřích borůvek, koupání na Adama a Evu, squatt ve srubu, ráno výborný OB. Turku: déšť, dojmy mlhavé, mlžné, zamlžené až nijaké. Ani hrad, který se má údajně majestátně tyčit nad městem (ale člověk ho stěží objeví), to nevytrhl.
Cestou v jednom järvi došlo na deep-water-training, vodní, bahenní a řasovou bitvu. A pak došlo na vícedenní orienťák “po stopách Fin5 2005”. Nevadilo nám ani, že v okolí probíhala honitba – my máme přece výrazné dresy! Navzdory barvě dresu a slonímu pohybu se mi nicméně podařilo spatřit obrovské zvíře s velkými parohy, ale v tom mžiku lze stěží říct, zda to byl los nebo sob. Sob či los, toť stejně komplikovaná otázka, jako jestli člověk potkal Apače nebo Siouxe. Takže do deníku píšu zahlédnutí losoba (resp. sobola).
Déšť trošku zkazil tréninky, mizíme do parku Helvetinjärvi. Průvodci slibují rozeklanou soutěsku s úžasným jezerem, po návštěvě Norska je to ale jako chlubit se s Velorexem na frankfurtském autosalónu. Jinak je navzdory dešti park parádní, nabízí mechové okolí, rašeliniště, kde si Petra umývá adidasky (cestou zpět ji šerpa Jörg nese v náručí), ohniště, kde hodinu rozžeháváme oheň a nakonec i srub na dříví, který jako správní Češi obsazujeme jako hotýlek na jednu noc.
A pak nás čeká už jen spousta kilometrů do Čech. Na severu stavíme na obhlídce ostrovního národního parku Päijänne. Zúžená pevnina mezi jezery až na několik metrů připomíná molo. Zde Jörg hraje úspěšnou jednoaktovku “Bohatýr dobývá bójku”. Cestou zpět do Helsinek se konečně dostáváme do vysněné kouřové sauny u Kuusijärvi. Přežíváme i situaci, kdy šílená Finka rozlévá barel vody a spouští tsunami vodní páry. Jiný šílený Fin zase spřádá spiklenecké teorie o tom, jak Němci a Amíci barbarsky rozvracejí svět – že by se mu přehříval mozek? Jörg se od šílené Finky poučil a zkusil mučení parou v malé sauně na mé osobě – a vskutku moc nechybělo a v autě by autor tohoto článku scházel, zato by se zvedla statistika infarktů vedená finským ministerstvem zdravotnictví.
Nu a k cestě zpět – přespáváme v teepee ve Finsku, poté prohlídka Tallinu a Rigy (obojí hezčí než celé Finsko), trénink kousek od moře v Estonsku, kochačka dunami v Lotyšsku, jízda přes noc Litvou a Polskem (highly recommended) a samozřejmě neskutečná ranní zácpa ve Wroclawi – toto město by potřebovalo hodně silné projímadlo. Do toho všeho nás pronásleduje přízrak Mr. Lonely a jeho “lonely, I am so lonely, I have nobody, only my own…”.
Co na závěr? Vylepšili jsme mapovou formu, což Jörg hned viděl o víkendu v H21A. Ověřili jsme, že když do národních parků ve Skandinávii, tak jedině do Norska. Připravili jsme se na terény Jukoly (i když ji stejně asi nikdy nepoběžíme, my radši Tiomilu). A rozhodli se, že se příště jedeme saunovat do Somalilandu místo do Suomilandu – zní skoro stejně, tak to bude asi stejně fajnové.

Jörgen Swimmer (Photoseries)