I’ve always considered administration to be a necessary evil, a distraction from the ‘real’ work. However it has been impossible to avoid. The most hectic period was 1991 to 1994 when I was head of the Kouvola translator training institute. The former military barracks in Kouvola had been wonderfully refurbished for us, but immediately after the official opening the University decided it wanted to close us down because, in their view, we were surplus to requirements. In 1992 the battle was won with the help of a nationwide campaign. The following, smaller trial came hard on its heels in 1993 and the third – once again a large one – in 2000. By that point translator training was considered so important that it absolutely had to be transferred to Helsinki. The students asked me to lead a resistance movement since they, along with the staff, were all for staying put. We were successful. Moving to Helsinki would have been an option if in so doing there could have been some guarantee of decent prospects for the translator training. On the fourth attempt (in 2009) we were transferred to Helsinki. One of the good things about the move is that students are now better placed to pursue any of a wide range of subsidiary subjects.

The busiest time was the 1992-94 period when I was also a member of the Arts Council of the Academy of Finland. International affairs also took up a lot of time, most of all arranging student exchanges and language practice abroad. The EU-funded projects were worthwhile. I was chair of the steering group for two such University of Helsinki projects and a member of two projects in the University of Eastern Finland and another with Helsinki University. Work-related activity included a spell as vice-chair of the teacher and researcher division of the Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters (1988/9 and 1992/3) and chair in 1990/1.

In 1996 I took up an invitation to join the Kouvola-Sarkola Rotary Club, because I wanted to get to know people outside of the workplace. It was a good decision. I was made Club President in 2001/2 and Assistant Governor for Pohjois-Kymenlaakso from 2007 to 2009. Between 1997 and 2004 I was a council member for the Pohjois-Kymi Paasikivi Society.

My latest civil activism is at some remove from administration: I sing alto on occasions such as Rotary club Christmas parties and anniversaries as well as for people living in sheltered accommodation. My singing career peaked with a performance at a service of worship.