A thank you speech

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

Thank you for this great honour. Winning means very much to me because I’m only a novice actress among veterans. In fact this was my first feature film so how could a career start better?

First I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me throughout the process. Making of the film has actually been a long process and I’m grateful that you stood by my side and kept me sane. And many thanks belong to my dog sitter Annie who took care of my little puppy when I was shooting the film. Your help was irreplaceable.

I would also like to thank the entire crew, my co-actor Brian Meade, the scriptwriters and especially the director, Garry Marshall, who believed in my talents. Without you I would still be acting just small supporting roles.

Acting on this awesome group was fantastic and so is our new film. This Oscar is to all of you.

Thank you!

Dear Sir,

I’m writing with reference to the article on the loss of national and cultural identity, published in your recent issue.

I agree that cultures are becoming similar and it derives from travelling. Nowadays almost everyone has the resources to travel so it’s not surprising if cultures are blending. People take influence from other countries and at the same time they bring something from their own culture to the country they are visiting. It shows in music, movies, fashion, literature, sports and of course food culture.

Here in Finland we have for instance Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Greek restaurants. We wear similar clothes to those the other people in the world wear. Music that is played on the radio comes from foreign countries. Doesn’t that mean that the world is becoming global?

I still don’t believe that there will be one big culture. Every culture has something special and in Finland it’s definitely sauna and salmiac.

And what is the point of travelling if there is the same culture everywhere? In my opinion the best thing in travelling is that you learn something new about different cultures. The old saying is true, travel broadens the mind.

Art and music in schools

Art and music lessons have always been hard for me because I’m not artistic or musical person at all.

After ten years in school I can draw a stick figure and play a fipple flute but it doesn’t motivate me that much because I feel I have learned nothing!

Singing tests don’t encourage me in any case. I have been told that I can learn to sing if I try harder but I don’t believe it because I still sing out of tune.

That’s why I think it’s unfair that music and art are graded. You can’t be good at everything and you shouldn’t either. I have managed seventeen and a half years without any talent for drawing and singing so I don’t think they are very important subjects. It is enough to me that I can listen to music but it is a waste of time for me to study music and art because I’ll never become a visual artist or a singer.

All in all art and music lessons should be given to those who want to become professional artists.