One Game Dad

My new podcast & YouTube series is now available! I've just launched a new show that's about writing and video games. More specifically it's about how to do each together and better. Where most shows analyze one or the other and are a discussion of them, The Writing Game aims to provide concrete ideas on how the stories can better work in games. Tune in every two weeks for a new episode of The Writing Game available through iTunes or Youtube. Writing, Games and Stories each have their...

I det sista avsnittet av serien The Duck Pond blickar Gregory Pellechi tillbaka på de tidigare avsnitten tillsammans med Kommunförbundets svenskspråkiga invandrarkoordinator Liselott Sundbäck och funderar på vad som avhandlats och vad man lärt sig under processens gång. Season one of The Duck Pond concludes with a chat between Gregory Pellechi and his boss and integration specialist Liselott Sundbäck. Together they look back at all that’s occurred during the show and what they learned from...

I det här avsnittet funderar Gregory Pellechi på hur framtiden ser ut för invandrare i Finland som integreras på svenska i och med den kommande landskapsreformen. Hur kommer det att påverka den svenskspråkiga servicen? Andra utmaningar är den åtstramande ekonomin, minskat stöd för arbetssökande och myndigheter som inte är förberedda på de förändringar som samhället står inför. Hur ser framtiden i övrigt ut? On the latest episode of the Duck Pond, Gregory Pellechi doesn’t attempt to divine...

Finland är föreningarnas förlovade land. I det här avsnittet av the Duck Pond talar Gregory Pellechi med några föreningar som arbetar med eller för personer som integreras på svenska i Finland. Life in Finland means taking part in associations. On this episode of the Duck Pond Gregory Pellechi talks to a number of associations that are for or work with Swedish-speaking immigrants. I found a way to integrate in Finland before I had even arrived. It’s one I’ve used to find friends and social...

I det här avsnittet av The Duck Pond funderar Gregory Pellechi på hur det är att hitta jobb som invandrare och om de som integreras på svenska har svårare att hitta jobb än andra. Immigrants face additional obstacles when it comes to gaining employment so Gregory Pellechi explored if there are additional hindrances for those learning Swedish. Work is how most people define themselves and their lives. In my case, I find that I consider myself a journalist, and this podcast is further proof...

Integration, och vilket språk det görs på, är en personlig fråga men även en som berör personer runtom invandraren själv. Denna vecka sätter sig Gregory Pellechi ner med sin fru Nora Lindström för att diskutera hur det faktum att han lär sig svenska påverkar henne. Integration, and which language it is done in, is a personal issue but one that affects more than just the immigrant, so this week Gregory Pellechi sits down with his wife Nora Lindström to talk about how him learning...

Gregory Pellechi har som mål att bli finlandssvensk, men först måste han ta reda på vad det innebär. Kan vem som helst bli finlandssvensk? I det här avsnittet hör vi Zulmir Becevic, Philip Teir, Susanne Osterlund-Pötzsch, President Barack Obama, Pia Polsa, Ida Schaumann, Sari Pöyhönen and Johanna Fogelström. Gregory Pellechi has set out to become a Finland Swede, but before he can do that he needs to know what a Finland Swede is. To start with the premise that one could become a Finland...

Att välja svenska som integrationsspråk innebär att du måste ta dig an vissa strider, säger Gregory Pellechi i det senaste avsnittet av podcastserien Duck Pond. – Att välja svenska är en kamp, inte bara för mig utan för min fru, hennes familj och alla som talar svenska. Det handlar om att kämpa för sin rätt att tala svenska och få service på svenska, säger Greg Pellechi. Att Finland är ett tvåspråkigt land betyder inte att alla talar båda språken. Det märkte Greg extratydligt då han skulle...

I det här avsnittet talar Gregory Pellechi om hur integratioskurser i Finland är uppbyggdaoch om förväntningar både från de studerandes, lärarnas och samhällets sida. I de två föregående avsnitten har temat integration diskuterats utgående från högre konceptuella premisser, men i det här avsnittet fokuserar Greg på hur integrationskurserna ser ut i den konkreta vardagen. Avsnittet är gjort med tanke på dem som funderar på om det är en bra idé att integreras på svenska eller inte i...

Greg Pellechi dyker djupare in i Ankdammen och granskar de myndigheter som har hand om integration i Finland. Hur utlänningar ska integreras i samhället är en omtalat fråga inte bara i Finland, utan i vilket land som helst som försöker välkomna nykomlingar. I den här podden fokuserar jag ändå på integration på svenska i Finland och i det här avsnittet diskuterar jag offentliga integrationsåtgärder i Finland. Oberoende språk, så berörs alla integrationskurser i Finland av samma lagstiftning...

This was originally posted at Kommuntorget. Integrating in Swedish in Finland Gregory Pellechi gets his feet wet in this introductory episode on integration and life in Finland-Swedish circles. Welcome to the first episode of the Duck Pond, a podcast the realities of integrating in Finland’s other official language – Swedish. I’m the host of the show Gregory Pellechi, I’m also one of the few who has chosen to learn Swedish in the capital region. I say few, because up until 2012 there...

If the last episode started with me remarking on the sounds of summer, then this one is going to start with how summer’s already passed and Autumn is here. Yet it’s only the middle of August. This is Finland, so it’s be expected. In those few short weeks of summer things have changed. The biggest change for me is my forth-coming child. That’s right, the wife is pregnant with out first child who is due in December. Which is why it’s was so timely to get to speak to ViLiKe about how they’re...

Hear that? That’s what I arrived to in Turku. That’s the sound of Finnish summer. Which was a welcome relief since last year summer was on a Tuesday. This year Finland’s getting an enviable amount of summer. Though it did snow in June in Lapland. But the two days I spent in Turku at Turku Castlecouldn’t have been nicer, especially since they included some barbecue. But that wasn’t why I was there. I was attending the newest event in Finland’s startup ecosystem. The Shift. And it marked a...

And…. we’re back. Well really we and by that I mean me, never left. Rather the show has been on hiatus because of some work I took on for a couple of weeks. That combined with other commitments has meant that I’ve failed to bring a podcast episode to completion when I promised to do so. That’s a failure that I own. And it goes beyond this podcast. It goes to the blog, my own writing and other projects. It’s not something I’ve really had the time to address till now. But that failure to...

Updated Below Hey, how are you? Well? That’s good. I’m doing fine. And I am most days because I’m healthy and hopefully so are you. But health isn’t just a matter of wishful thinking but work. That work isn’t just a matter of diet and exercise, but preventative measures like going to the dentists, getting all your vaccinations and having regular checkups. What makes going to the dentist or doctor possible and what makes vaccines, medicines and treatments available and viable has been a...

There are a lot of factors that shape a city, hell there are a lot of actors that shape a city like Helsinki. The larger the city the greater number of stakeholders, not just in terms of population but organizations whose purpose is specifically to affect the city. They can do so through economic, social, political, ethnic or cultural means. The ways in which they do so differ. Some lobby and seek to enact laws. Some create movements. Others buy land and determine how that space will be...

The past couple of months have changed my needs. Going to Swedish class every day means I don’t need a coworking space to write or record from. I’m still writing and recording, but my focus isn’t on making a living out of them. Not that I don’t want to, but I’m required to go to class. And for now the kitchen table is enough for me. That doesn’t mean this podcast isn’t still concerned with coworking spaces. And while I may be unique in my refocusing on my Swedish lessons others don’t have...

Welcome to Fulltime HEL, this is episode 15 and I’m your host Gregory Pellechi. For this episode I’m not showcasing another Startup. This doesn’t mean I’m done with Startups or coworking spaces. I still have more interviews to run. But I’ve been thinking about another big industry here in Helsinki and Finland. Video games. Okay to be fair I think about video games a lot, and not just because they’re big business in Finland. I like to play them, and hope one day to get to contribute to a...

I’m from the US. And yet I’m in Finland. Given the weather that’s not necessarily an envious position, and there’s certainly a lot of companies that want to be in the US. Or at least in an environment like Silicon Valley. And not just because of sunshine 11 months a year. Speak to just about anyone at a startup here in Helsinki and there’s a certain reverence for Silicon Valley. The valley hasn’t always been what it is now, nor will it always be. Helsinki is already experiencing changes,...

I’ve eaten a lot of animals in my lifetime and that’s not just in volume. The range of animals I’ve eaten run the gamut that is the food chain, clearly establishing me at the top. And yes I know it’s a whole circle of life thing, but hakuna matata. Bear, crocodile, shark, snake, buffalo, boar, moose, elk, deer, reindeer — you get the idea. I’ve eaten a range of animals and even some not so normal things like spiders, ants and other insects. Some were more delicious than others, buffalo in...