By Stephan Struve

Movement and Rush. The social organization Slow Food wants to re-establish cultural cuisine and encounter the fast life. Our author Stephan Struve tries to slow down his life for two days: A failed self-experiment of a speedaholic.

Helsinki – Honking cars. Just crossed the stop light. Nearly struck by a van. Squeezing in the closing bus doors. A swift look at the watch. Only one hour left. The schedule: Get home, take a shower, have dinner and get dressed. Late arrival. Less time. The two Hamburgers get backed in the oven while having the necessary shower. No time to slow down.  But a lot of people care about a relaxed way of life and the descent of their food. So, why not try to slow down like them? Two normal days to overcome, two days to eat slowly. 

Monday, Nov. 20th. 

10.00 a.m.: My alarm clock rang the first time. I set a Heavy Metal track to completely toss me out of my sweet dreams. A rough look at the mobile. Eating bread, yoghurt, fruits and drinking self-cooked coffee? No, I am not a sleep-ascetic. I reset the alarm clock and slept one hour longer. Only a swift shower and then ate fruits in the bus. Just managed to arrive at class in time. No slow food for breakfast. And I do not even know the descent of the bananas! But one thing is for sure: They were were not grown in frosty Finland.  

2 p.m.: The class is finished. Time for a coffee in a relaxed coffee shop. Free refill self-evident! When it comes to slow down, drinking coffee is essential. Thus it is a slightly and temporary slow down. Success? Not really. One hour drinking coffee, but Finnish grown coffee beans? Surely not. Anyways. Time was running quickly. Fighting my personal starvation I quickly went to the unicafe. My modest student budget and all-day experiences impede a high-class restaurant or Finnish specialities at the snack shop. Again missed to slow down. 

3 p.m.: Unicafe is not crowded, but just one hour left to the next class. I gulped down my meal in order to check my e-mails before the class begins. Managed to answer two mails and just arrived at class at 4.10 p.m. 

6 p.m.: Uff, just left class. Wrote text messages during the lecture to make appointments for the evening. Sauna is scheduled for seven, cinema in the city centre for 8.15. Still 35 minutes bus ride to face. Approaching the street next to my bus stop, the bus just whooshes. I started to sprint immediately, ignored the stop light, nearly get hit by a car and squeezed through the closing doors of the bus. Ok, still 40 minutes left.                                                                                     

6.50 p.m.: Just threw my clothes in my room. Grabbed my towel and my flip flops.  

7.00 p.m.: Baked for ten minutes in the sauna and took a quick shower at the same place to save time. I wanted to leave with the bus at 7.40, thus just 20 minutes left to get in my room, get dressed and sprinting to the bus stop again. No time to eat! Maybe I can get grab something to eat in the cinema. Slow down? An urban legend, a fairy tail, a myth for me.                                                                    

8.25 p.m.: The advertisements of the movie already began. I left my stuff at my seat and wanted to get back to the snack shop. The guy at the door accessing the cinema said that the movie would start in that precise moment and that he had to close the door. Oh no! Nothing to eat at all. Just some candies and a soft drink. Uff! But the awesome movie overlayed the hunger.  

00.30 a.m.: Caught a late bus after some beers in a Bar. The only possibility to eat something in the late evening was a fast food restaurant and other snack shops. No, I can not fail to slow down eating fast food! Ascetic until 12.30, I could not bother to eat something. Maybe I succeed tomorrow. 

Tuesday, Nov. 21st. 

7.00 a.m.: Tried to wake up under the shower for 20 minutes. It did not work at all. Getting an invitation for lunch I skipped my breakfast. I just ate yoghurt and then left my place. Again fruits escorted my long trip to the city. Slow food is missing.          

2 p.m.: The long-desired lunch! Nothing special to eat, but at least 40 minutes to rest, to chat with a friend and to relax. I do not think that 40 minutes of a unicafe’ lunch are “slow-food-acceptable”. And again a lack of knowledge about descent of the food, its production circumstances and the use of pesticides. Pleasure? Yes, but because of the people that joined me and the rest in general. Not just because of the food. Failed again.                                                                                 

3 p.m.: Grabbed a coffee again. Still so much work to do. Just wanted to get work done.                                                                                                                                       

7 p.m.: After working in the library I went home. Tuesday night is an obligatory and nearly compulsory club night. Thus a little nap is a duty. Not meal before.            

8.30 p.m.: Some Friends joined my place to get ready for the nightlife. I did not eat before, so my dinner comprised pizza baked in the oven while having a shower. I gulped the pizza in a rush. Just 15 minutes left to get ready. Clothes were thrown through the entire room. And again running to the bus stop to catch the important happy hour at the club. A complete rush.  

Wednesday, Nov. 22nd. 

11 a.m.: Waking up as usual. Eating again bananas in the bus I decided cancel my miserable self-experiment ahead of time. Mission: failed despicably.  From my point of view, I just did not have the time to slow down. Sounds contradictory and strange, but for me as a young student with a limited budget, I just can not effort to ease down, eat just domestic food and enjoy every bite. That is what some critics take into account. 

 A social movement – A possible review?  Some critics state that Slow Food is just the culinary wing of the anti-globalization movement. Furthermore they say that members are elitists that discourage cheaper ways of production and preparing of food.  On the other hand, Slow Food describes itself as the eco-gastronomy faction within the ecology movement. What point to take? A general statement or review for a social movement is hard to make. My self-experiment broke down obviously. But other people have the will and the muse to slow down their life. So why not give it a try? Enjoy to discover it on our own!