What a busy, exciting day!

The last day of the first round was, as was only to be expected, a mixture of laughter and tears. In the office, too. It was overshadowed from first thing in the morning by the knowledge that more than half our contestants would soon be going home. But at the same time we were tingling with excitement as the competition proceeds and the plot thickens, as it were. It nevertheless seemed odd to call out a familiar “bye” to those no longer in the running, and a second later “BYE” as we realised we were saying it for the last time… Sniff!

In other words, all eyes today have looked to the future. What a difference from yesterday, when I seemed able to concentrate on only one moment at a time. From now onwards we secretaries will be dispersing all over Finland for a week. We have shared the second-round cities between us and it’s my pleasure to go to Jyväskylä, where I’ll be looking after the contestants in the same way as before. We’ll then be returning to Helsinki for the finals and an office at Finlandia Hall.

I’m writing this blog at home. The events of today and next week are going round and round in my head at the same time; it’s a strange feeling. I’ve got the day off tomorrow, but the other members of the secretariat will either be conjuring up the next round of the competition in Kuopio or seeing to the office at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. One nice job will be hiring a horse for a member of the jury who’s a keen rider! After all that sitting any member of the jury (or secretariat) must feel in need of a spot of exercise and fresh air!

Until tomorrow,
Eeva