Tales from the Departure Lounge

#16 Marko Remes (The Runaway Bride)

• Andy Plant & Nick Cuthbert • Season 1 • Episode 16

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Run, Tina, Run! This episode features THE BEST STORY we've ever had on TFTDL so far. The fabulous Marko Remes (Edith Cowan University Australia) recounts an unbelievably crazy tale in Tunisia and we cannot believe our ears. 

Not one to shy away from the limelight, Marko is a natural orator who also takes us on a eloquent journey to Finland during summer solstice including sauna etiquette (whipping and beer), introduces us to his legendary Eurovision parties and the cha-cha-challenges of feeling like a nobody in a foreign country. 

Full transparency, Marko had another, even crazier story that we couldn't include! Gutted. If you see him on your travels, buy him a drink and maybe he will tell you off-the-record - otherwise we will get him back on to tell all when the time is right. Patience is a virtue. 

Final boarding call: Finland

This episode is sponsored by Loncom Consulting! Helping agents, language schools and institutions integrate and configure their CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce - check out www.loncomconsulting.com/education 


Tales from the Departure Lounge is a Type Nine production for The PIE www.thepienews.com

Nick:

such a nice guy.

Andy:

Hell of a chap.

Nick:

he's so good. He could have a spinoff show of his own. Welcome to Tales from the Departure Lounge. This is a podcast about travel for business, for pleasure, or for study. My name's Nick and I'm joined by my co-pilot, Andy. And together we're gonna be talking to some amazing guests about how travel has transformed their. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. Welcome to the podcast.

Andy:

Today on the show we talk to Marco Rames. He is the Dean of International business operation at Edith Cowan University in Perth. He's actually finished and has made Australia his home and he is an amazing setter of scenes. He paints a really good picture of his travels.

Nick:

Yeah, and he told us about his. Home country of Finland and the summer solstice,

Andy:

He goes into the traditions of sauna and sauna etiquette.

Nick:

Including being whipped,

Andy:

He's been to a few Eurovision He's a great ambassador for Western Australia. He's also a great ambassador for skincare routines. He has got possibly the best story that we have ever heard on this podcast.

Nick:

without a doubt, this is so good. I can't wait for people to listen to it. I'm not gonna give any spoilers away. Just hold onto your hats.

Andy:

He's the Finnish multi linguist who calls Western Australia. His home. He's a Eurovision fanatic who immerses himself in culture wherever he goes, sometimes a little too much. Let's get some tales from the departure lounge from Marco Rames.

Marko:

The beauty of those nights is that they are the white knight. So it never gets dark when I ask people that, would you want to come to my Eurovision party? And people are like, oh no, no, I'm not really a fan. And I'm like, just wait until you've been to one. I won't deny that because in Estonia I was somebody and really I felt like I moved to another country and I felt like an absolute nobody we go to the bar and then behind the bar there's like a kitchen and we see a door open. And I say to Tina, run, follow me. Run, run, run. She will probably not love me sharing this but sorry, de I love you.

Nick:

Before we get into this episode, I wanna introduce you to a new sponsor to the podcast and a company that I am very excited about and that is Lancom for Education. We live in this digital economy, and I meet leaders every day from agents, academic institutions, and language schools who are struggling to manage all of their digital systems and data reports. They've invested in HubSpot or Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or Zendesk, but they're only using a fraction of their potential. Long com are a team of logical, technically minded people who bridge those gaps. They actually slot straight into your team, and they do everything from cleaning up the data to CRM integrations while managing accommodation or home state bookings through channel management systems. But the real magic is when they help leaders produce better management reports and forecasting. This is the life blur of good strategy of investment plans and winning hearts and minds of new partners. We all collect data, but what are we really doing with it? And I'm telling you now that all you need is lancom to get ahead. They're here to solve your problems, unlock the full potential in your data, and grow through digital systems. So go to lancom consulting.com/education and select a time you want to chat. It's as easy as that. Now let's get on with the episode.

Andy:

Marco, welcome to the podcast.

Marko:

Thanks for having me on board.

Andy:

How do you say your surname,

Marko:

Rames

Andy:

Rames. Nice.

Nick:

I can't do it.

Marko:

Brilliant.

Nick:

Ramez,

Andy:

Awesome.

Nick:

there you go.

Andy:

Our first question to our guest is always, where would you take them? If you could take them anywhere in the world?

Marko:

We are recording, this episode today on what is Midsummers Eve in the northern hemisphere, so the height of the summer solstice. So let's visualize being in Finland and visualize being in a cottage in a green forest of pine trees with nothing but nature around you. It's just turned 10:00 PM sun is still up and it's midsummer. So it never really sets. The lake is still, it looks like a mirror and you've got nothing but time. the whole night is yours. The highlight of Midsummer's night is always for me and for a lot of people in Finland, is to go to the. And preferably kind of sauna that hits with the wood. Not the typical electric sauna that you would see in gyms So the sauna essentials for me, is number one, beer. And number two, what is called Vata in finish. Vata, it's kind of like a whip, which is made of, birch tree branches. And if you think it sounds kinky as an outsider, there's nothing about it. It's very, very normal thing to have in Sona. You whip yourself, or you whip each other with that. And it's really good for your blood circulation,, but also it creates like a natural room aroma. I guess, you can figure that I am from Finland originally.

Andy:

This sounds amazing, Marco. how do you know how hard to whip your fellow sauna goers?

Marko:

it's kind of like a ga by gaze thing., you look at their reaction, um, You can't go too hard because, even if, I know this sounds a bit strange, but if outside of sauna you might be able to take a bit more harder whipping, but in the sauna you've got the heat. You'd start gentle and I guess you'd ask your son body

Andy:

they might say they want it harder.

Marko:

but yeah, for sure.

Andy:

I dunno much about sauna culture., is it traditional to then go out in the winter? You might go out in the snow and roll around?

Marko:

Rolling the snow. You do snow. Angels I don't know what's that really called in English you've got like the hole in the, in the frozen lake. I just roll in the snow. I just do it the lazy safe way.

Andy:

Is this something you would do with your family or would it be like a communal thing with people around the lake who gets involved?

Marko:

It would be mainly family, maybe some like cousins or aunts and uncles. when you are older, it's like a group of friends. There are like individual saunas, like at people's summer houses. Summer cottages. So saunas are everywhere in Finland, it's a country of five plus million people and it's got 3 million saunas.

Andy:

Tell us more about the whole, midsummer's evening. you've taken us to Finland. We're by the lake, we've had the sauna. What else is going on?

Marko:

Well, the beauty of those nights is that they are the white knight. So it never gets dark and it kind of, the night becomes a bit of a blur, not because of all the beer or the blueberry liquor or whatever you might be drinking but you just really don't know what time it is. Cuz the sun is always there. It's, it's quite incredible., it's always there in the horizon. It never, never sets. Um, so really, you know, you go to sauna, you spend hours there, you grill, you have your like, barbecue kind of thing. You'd have your bonfire and um, and you'd just drink, you'd sing, you'd dance, and suddenly it's like 5:00 AM.

Nick:

It's amazing. So you're calling from Perth what is it like to come from a. Cold climate, to somewhere that's humid and hot

Marko:

Perth is actually not that humid. this is like Mediterranean climate here. So the summers, yes, they are hot, but it's dry heat. What I love from Finland is the nature, the greenery and the space that you have and the fresh air. And you actually have that here in Perth. Like even if birth is a city of 2 million people, nature is never too far away from you.

Andy:

I imagine there's fewer saunas though

Marko:

Sona is actually the only word that, is a finished word that is used in English.

Andy:

Really, are there any words that are very descriptive? I often hear that, other languages have descriptive words that really encompass quite a lot of words in English. Is there anything like that in Finnish

Marko:

For example, the time in autumn when all the colors of the, of the trees change. There's a specific word in finish just for that, That's called ska. Ska actually. You say with the, like in finish you do the really rolling, uh, ska.

Nick:

Ska.

Marko:

That's it.

Andy:

Can you do that, Nick?

Nick:

Rosca. I used to go to Estonia and you would get all of, the finish coming over on what we would call a booze cruise. They were coming for the cheaper alcohol, filling up, then getting on the ferry and taking it home. Have you ever been on a booze cruise?

Marko:

I dunno if I've been on a Boo cruise, but I actually used to live in Talin for seven years. So Talin is where I lived before I moved to Australia. And I definitely saw the Boo Cruisers coming in. And I must tell you my favorite time of the day in Talin was the evening when the day Cruisers had left.

Nick:

Yeah. I can imagine.

Andy:

What are the biggest differences for you, the biggest culture shocks for you? Coming from Finland to Perth.

Marko:

I guess one big culture shock kind of thing for me was the everyday small talk. Like in Finland people are. fairly shy or private, and there's not that much small talk. And I just remember going to a supermarket and the checkout person would be like, what have you been up to today? And I'm like, oh God, where do I start? I'm like, how much do I need to tell?

if someone in English says, Hey, how are you?

Nick:

that framing question, being polite, then yeah, people think, well, hang on. Actually I've got a bit of a cold and you know, I didn't sleep very well last night. This kind of thing where obviously that's not really what they're asking,

Andy:

There's that Oscar wild quote, the most boring people in the world are the ones that tell you how they are when you ask

Marko:

exactly. Finland and, and finish language. You know, you just go straight to the point. You don't need the small talk.

Nick:

I once had this experience where I was in a hostel in New York, and there was an American guy talking to a Swedish girl. And I could hear this Swedish girl having to explain where Sweden was, this American guy had absolutely no idea. Is that something coming from Finland, that you have to explain it to people?

Marko:

It has happened. I mean, I have a story of, of an, encounter with an American person. I got a summer job at Harris, the department store in London. That was the first time I was ever overseas. And, I had this name badge with I think Finnish, Swedish, German, flax, whatever languages I would speak. This American woman, she looks at my badge and she's like, Marco, Marco, where are you from? And I'm like, oh, I'm from Finland. And her eyes went like a broken machine. She's like, Finland, Finland, Finland. You come to work by bus. And I, no, it's, it's not in London. It's another country. Here in Australia, Finland's got a really strong brand. People know Finland for, the progressive government for education system, Eurovision, you name it. people just know where is.

Nick:

Okay, let's do it. Let's talk about your revision and your adventures.

Marko:

Let's do it. I'm probably not giving my age away here when I say this, but, I remember I was home alone. My mom was working, and, I was just watching TV and there was this competition happening and I just got absolutely glued to that. And then there was this one particular song that, just kept playing in my head. And, that song was sung by s Dion. Who's obviously from Canada, but at the time she was representing Switzerland in Eurovision and she won. And I just kept playing Eurovision and that's really when it started. And so I've watched Eurovision ever since 88,

Andy:

And, now do you throw parties and that kind of

Marko:

Massive, massive, massive parties. they've become quite epic, I actually hire a bar we had like 70 people there. We have photo walls, we have a stage, people dress up. we've got like an interactive scoreboard. I literally spend days putting together it's like a pre-show. It's not the actual Eurovision, but we kind of watch like the preview videos and then we vote and yeah, they are incredible People really get into it and sometimes when I ask people that, would you want to come to my Eurovision party? And people are like, oh no, no, I'm not really a fan. And I'm like, just wait until you've been to one. And I think I've converted many people there. So my recruitment works with Eurovision and hopefully also in international recruitment.

Nick:

and have you ever been to a Live Eurovision?

Marko:

This is a travel, travel broadcast, Eurovision is a great way to travel. I've been to, baku, Malmo, Copenhagen. Tel Aviv, Lisbon and I went this year actually I went to Liverpool. Liverpool obviously hosted Eurovision this year because previous year Ukraine won, but because of the war they couldn't host and you gave us the runner up. And I had never been to Liverpool before and I didn't really know what to expect. And I tell you, the whole city was breathing Euro Eurovision. I mean, Eurovision was absolutely everywhere, from shops to cafes to nightclub.

Nick:

How do you feel about political voting for the other Scandinavian countries? How does this work?

Marko:

Uh, well look, I think countries often vote for their neighboring countries, especially when there's a linguistic connection or a cultural connection. But I always say this, you can get some votes from your neighbors. There might be some diaspora voting, but you need a good song to win. So my favorite song. I mean, no question. This year it was Finland. It was. Epic. If you haven't thought watched Eurovision songs from this year, it will blow your mind.

Nick:

Oh, it was Chacha Cha.

Marko:

that's it. That's it.

Nick:

Oh, hang on. Marco. Marco. Marco, you just said that you need a good song to win. Eurovision. Actually,, what you need is a human caterpillar.

Marko:

That's it. That I think Finland was absolutely robbed. One day I'll recover.

Nick:

That staging was immense. The, uh, dance routine for Cha Chacha. The people of Great Britain, I think we gave you 12 points, me and my family voted cha chacha Finland.

Marko:

And Finland will forever love you for that. Thank you. I actually had that, do you remember he wore like this green bolero kind of thing?

Nick:

Mm.

Marko:

I had that done by a seamstress here in Perth, so I wore that in my Eurovision pre-party and I took that with me to Liverpool and uh, I even had a fake tattoo done like the finished guy and. Seriously the amount of support I got, especially after the event being over and Finland being robbed and people agreeing with me. It was great fun. Lots of attention. A little bit too much. I, I kind of shied away from the media, but yeah, see it was fun.

Andy:

did you get stopped by any TV cameras,

Marko:

the closer we got to the Liverpool arena, it was pretty nonstop. And, and we had to be like, sorry, we've got a show to go to. No more interviews.

Nick:

Did you have five dancers on dog leashes?

Marko:

I had three girlfriends, not really, but 3, 3, 3 girlfriends

Nick:

Attached by, attached by leashes. Okay, we'll leave it there.

Marko:

Yeah, exactly.

Nick:

I wish I'd, I'd gone to Liverpool now.

Marko:

I tell you what, if you watch Eurovision and if you enjoy the show on tv, go one year. Go and live it in the city that is hosting it. Even if you don't get tickets to the show, Eurovision is everywhere. It's, it's a bit like, imagine going to a city that hosts like World Cup. it's like a Carnival Athmosphere. The difference is that with Eurovision, there's less hooligans.

Nick:

right. Marco is Sweden next year, Then we'll get over to Finland, get in the sauna. Then we'll go to Talin to get some booze. It's gonna be epic.

Marko:

That sounds like a golden triangle,

Andy:

The next section of the show is called any laptops, liquids, and sharp Objects. do you have any travel hacks or is there anything you have to take with you when you travel?

Marko:

I've been to probably like nearly 90 countries now. some for leisurer, a lot for work. I'm really about three things right now. and they are comfort, convenience, and wellness. When I fly, I think there are two things that are really important to me, and one of them is layers. I'm sure you agree and dear Nick, that you go to a plane and, you just never know how cold or hot it is. I always go with this, uh, like a fleece hoodie just in case. I always have a scarf just in case. And sometimes in places, especially like flying from places like Australia, I see people wearing shorts and I'm like, Shocked. I can't believe that. I'm just thinking, aren't you gonna freeze?

Andy:

But Marco, they're probably looking at you and wondering why you're wearing a green Valero top. So,

Marko:

that's only for special events. That one, The second thing for me when I fly, and maybe this comes with age, but when I was younger, I really didn't think about it. It's not really good news on your skin. So what I now travel with is this, there's probably a better word for this, but like keep on face masks. Like cream lotion that you put as a mask and then you just let it stay. And, can I mention a brand? Is that a allowed on this show?

Andy:

we might get

Marko:

All right. Yeah. Good idea. So yeah, what I'm using now is it's like a kaile mask by Australian brand called Isop. And it really makes a world of difference. and I know that lot of men, they shy away from skincare production. So my message to all the listeners of this podcast who identify as male is three words, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Your skin will be forever thankful.

Andy:

Our listeners can't see Marco, but he does have very good skin.

Marko:

I do. well, you, you know, my age from the Eurovision fact, but I, yeah, yeah, yeah. but that's also because I didn't see some for the first 20 years of my life,

Andy:

I think a lot of men probably do shy away from a, a skincare routine until they start getting on a bit and then wondering how they can combat

Marko:

then it's too late.

Andy:

the wrinkles, the wrinkled sheet face they wake up and look at every morning.

Marko:

And once you realize that you've lost the game, it's too late. Do you know what a spike mat is?

Nick:

Got one. I have got.

Marko:

you've got one. Do do you use it at home?

Nick:

Do you know what? I haven't used it for a long time. I did use it for a while and it was brilliant. Go on, describe it.

Marko:

Well, you probably can describe it even better, but think like a yoga mat. Really, it looks like a yoga mat. But then it's got this tiny, tiny little spikes and they're not the kind of spikes that would make you bleed or anything, but then you lay on it on your back and it just makes your blood circulate. It really relaxes you. And I actually use it every night at home and I actually fall asleep on that. And whenever I can, I travel with the spike mat.

Nick:

A lot of people recommend it for back pain, don't they? When you first get on it it is really quite uncomfortable. But then after about five minutes, you get this warm sensation that just comes over your whole body. Kind of a euphoria thing, isn't it? Where it goes from being painful to being really quite comfortable.

Marko:

Yeah, totally. And it almost becomes addictive. You almost feel like you need it. I feel like I don't necessarily need like melatonin and sleeping tablets, like stuff, if I have a spike mat.

Nick:

That's fascinating. Have you ever though, Marco, I've done this where you get out of bed and you tread on it barefoot and that really hurts.

Marko:

maybe a couple of times. Yes.

Andy:

I think now is a good time to ask you if you've got any good travel stories you wanna share. Mark.

Marko:

I mean, most of them are too inappropriate for this podcast probably,

Andy:

will you go to prison if you tell them?

Marko:

probably not prison. No, no. I might be, I might feel a bit humiliated, but there are a couple of really good ones. I've got one story from Tunisia that was quite, quite an experience, so I can't even remember the year but that was purely a leisure trip. And, I was inter with my friend from Finland, Tina, and we were inter in Italy and we ended up eventually in Sicily and that's right at the bottom of Italy. And we're like, where do we go from here? And we're like, let's just fly to Tunisia. It's no longer part of the Israel network, but who cares? We'll fly into Tunisia. First time in North Africa. Something different, obviously on the way. We bought some duty free vodka, drank probably most of that to be honest on the first night on our little, hotel balcony. And I remember us going to this nightclub and sort of dancing. Frankly, I can't really remember how the night ended, but, um, then we woke up and we kind of had. Kind of like these bris or tattoos or something like printed on our forehead, you know, like the movie hangover. And, then we noticed that those things were actually from the Hannah tattoos that were on our hands and fingers going all the way, especially to t They went all the way up her arm. And then we realized that we are not in our hotel room, where are we? And then these kids, they walk into the room, they bring us bread and milk, and we're like, who are these? Then comes this older man who turns out to be their dad. And so there were these two teenage boys, one younger boy about age of four. And then they also had, we didn't meet her at the time, but also like this 20 year old older daughter. And this man introduces the family and he speaks to us kind of like we had combination of half English, half German, and then he's like, yesterday, A and you were with me and mine in club, and you came here for the after party. We're like, oh, did we? Great. Um, anyway, then invited for dinner the same night because We woke up the following morning and we were like, yeah, fine, we just need to go back to the hotel to recover. But we were really humbled. We were like, great, we get invited to home for dinner. And then we recover the entire day. Then we go back to their place and the setup was incredible. They had flowers, they had candles, they had room sends, you know the whole lot. And then the dad, the, the, the man in the family, he asks me to go with his teenage sons to this local market to buy illegal alcohol. And seriously, that market was like a zoo. I saw so many Tunisian animals there. There were camels, there were chickens, there were goats name it, it was pretty, pretty wild. But we found illegal alcohol, some vodka or whatever we bought. Then we got back to the apartment and Tina is there with the man, and suddenly he's carousing Tina's hair. And I'm like, who? What's happening here? And then the man, man asks me, So, Marco, will you come and visit Tina here in Tunisia? And I'm like, what on earth are you talking about? And then he explained that they had gotten married the night before, so that's why the tattoo, Tina had this dinner tattoo thing, which was kind of like the wedding ring, but kind of like tattooed. And Tina and I, when we looked at each other, we're like, how can we get out of this? But obviously we were in someone's apartment, we couldn't leave, we couldn't run away. It was like middle of nowhere in in small Tunisia resort time. So we just had to play with it. So we had the dinner, then we had to go with them to the after party. And then after party had the extended family there and there were more flowers and celebration of the new bride and it was crazy. Then at one point my friend Tina, she has to go to the bathroom, and then the 20 year old or 20 year, so old daughter says that she has to go to and she leaves me her baby. So I there with a baby who starts to cry and they tell whoever, I'm like, what happened to Tina? Where's that, where's that daughter? Where's that uh, mother of this baby? Nowhere to be seen. They finally come back. Tina comes all red with her eyes wide open, and Tina is like, things are getting crazier. Things got a little bit intimate with this woman in the toilet. She's really into me. What can we do? So another drama. And now the both the. And the daughter. They were both after Tina and I said to Tina, this is, I have to do something. So I say to Tina that, well, actually, I say to her newly new husband, I say that, excuse me, I need to go and buy drinks to the whole wedding party, but let me take Tina with me as well. And he, at Greece, we go to the bar and then behind the bar there's like a kitchen and we see a door open. And I say to Tina, run, follow me. Run, run, run. And we just ran through the kitchen, ran to a random street until we found a taxi, got a taxi to our hotel packed and we left the entire city.

Nick:

Oh my God.

Marko:

So I was basically helping the runaway bride, Indonesia.

Nick:

Oh,

Andy:

is still married to somebody in Chin's ear.

Marko:

Yeah. I don't think she officially ever divorced. True.

Nick:

Waking up having to piece it back together. Finding out you got married.

Marko:

had we found that out in the morning, what had happened the night before, we would've never done the dinner on the subsequent night. We had no idea. It was, it was a nightmare

Andy:

One of the best stories I've ever heard.

Nick:

yeah.

Marko:

swan to

Nick:

What I love is when we asked you have you got any travel stories, then you've come out with that one, and, that's the one that you can tell.

Marko:

I can tell that one, because I wasn't the one getting married. It's easy to tell a story when you are not the bride of the groom. I was just assisting Tina to escape. That's it. she will probably not love me sharing this story, but sorry, de I love you.

Andy:

any other stories you wanna share?

Marko:

there's one story from a work trip. One of my first trips was to Siberia to do student recruitment into Australia, would you believe? And I remember flying into, I think the city was sk in Siberia. the usual of recruitment events and stuff. And we actually had a,,train organized by the education agent who was hosting the phase. And the train was, from t to a city called Novo, which means new Siberia. Most of the travelers there were local Russian passengers. and I remember,. Them starting to come to me and talking in Russian. And, you know, I didn't really speak Russian, just few random things. But what I did remember was this thing that I learned when I was a kid in Finland, which in Finland they have this TV shows where they teach kids to learn languages and he just sometimes watch some random languages being taught. And I remember this Russian language Stevi shop where this Finnish, actor, was traveling around Russia and he'd always introduce himself in Russian. And, I thought I'll just say the same thing, whatever he used to say. So I basically said to them, my name is Marco. I'm a famous Finnish actor. and the Russian passengers were like, fin Finky. And then I tried to say to them in English, no, no, no, I'm actually just joking. It's a joke. But they didn't understand me

Nick:

No.

Marko:

and suddenly they were all this train. Lot of passengers were coming to come into my carriage to see the fins, and they wanted to take photos and autographs and the amount of vodka I was given, that was probably my like 15 minutes of fame.

Andy:

You are just impersonating people wherever you go. Finish pop stars, finish actors.

Marko:

it.

Nick:

If it all goes wrong, you can just go back to Siberia and pick up your celebrity lifestyle as the Finn actor.

Marko:

that's it. Or I can found my carrier and.

Andy:

The next section of the show is called What's the purpose of Your Visit? So Marco, why do you do what you do?

Marko:

I told you before that I used to live in Talin, in Estonia. And in Talin, I actually used to work in travel media and I kind of did pretty well. You know, I, I was there for seven years and I thought I was doing quite well in my job. And then I just thought that when I moved to Australia, I'll continue with that success. So I'll, work in media, and then I started to go to job interviews and I'd got a rejection and another rejection and a third rejection. And the reason was always the same that, you seem like a nice guy, but you don't have a portfolio. And they were basically expecting you to have a portfolio of Australia clients. So it was tough. I won't deny that because in Estonia I was somebody and really I felt like I moved to another country and I felt like an absolute nobody. and that's quite a big hit. It hits you really, really hard. I applied for a job at, at the time at Navitas English to be like a rec recruitment manager or regional manager for a market and hit the chatbot there. And haven't looked back since. So, I guess I appreciate more being in this industry and this sector because I had that difficulty and I had to overcome those hurdles to actually get into these, uh, fields. And I think to answer your question, why do I do this? Why, why have I stayed in, in this field? it's, you, the impact we make in people's lives. it's pretty remarkable. And, you can be at the start of their journey and then you are often still connected whilst their journey continues after graduation. And I think extremely rewarding. I've been really blessed because work's taken me to places like Bhutan and Kazakhstan and Kenya and Rome Island, or indeed crazy places like Siberia. But hopefully I don't need to go to Tunisia for work. I'm dramatized by that.

Nick:

Yeah, never go back.

Andy:

I wouldn't if I were you. Yeah, I wouldn't.

Nick:

The way you articulated that idea that. In one country you were somebody and then in a new country you were nobody. Having to reinvent yourself, that is so relevant for so many students. But I guess that builds character, doesn't it? That's where strength comes from and that's part of people's journeys.

Marko:

Definitely, and I tell you what, once you are at that, critical junction, after all those rejections It's really, really hard to, put yourself back together and find that new path. It doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of strength, takes a lot of courage. but you just need to be believe in yourself. You just need to believe that there's nothing to lose. if I try something and if I don't get it, surely another door can open somewhere else. and I'm so glad that door that happened to open for me at the time was international education.

Andy:

The last section of the podcast is called Anything to Declare, and this is a free space, Marco, for you to talk about whatever you'd like to.

Marko:

Remember that setting when we were in Finland, Midsummers Eve, going to Sauna, whipping ourselves. But I haven't really spoken so much about Australia, which I really proudly call home now. I know that a lot of listeners, of this podcast are actually from outside of Australia. Many, many are in Europe. So my sales pitch, is that if you ever get the chance, Come to Western Australia, which is my home. Western Australia as a state is just out of this world. it really is the most stunning corner of the continent. It's huge. It's 10 times the size of the uk. Would you believe and if this was independent country, if Western Australia turned into, I dunno, Australia, Australia would be, the ninth largest country in the world. The natural beaches are just absolutely spectacular. You've got the Margaret River Wine region. You can go diving or snorkeling in Nloo River, which personally I think it's nicer than Great Barrier Reef. I went to the Kimberleys, which is really the top end of Western Australia. And there's this place called Gabe Lavec. And just imagine you've got the most incredible beach on the world and on the beach. Imagine that this Red Rock formation, kind of like a mini Uluru, has landed right there on that stunning beach.

Andy:

What a picture.

Nick:

you really are a famous Finnish actor, aren't you? You're telling these stories. With such poetry.

Marko:

But the difference is that I'm not acting. This is all true.

Nick:

I love it.

Andy:

Marco, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's been great to have you.

Marko:

Thank you. Absolute pleasure. And happy travels.

Nick:

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for listening. As always, you can get in touch with us at Sick Bag at Tales from the departure lounge.com. Also, remember to check out a sponsor Lancom Consulting. They are already working with loads of agents and companies in the education sector. If you have a C RM system that you need configuring or you want to I integrating with something, if you wanna build an online store or you just want better predictive forecasting, Dashboards and analytics. Then check out Lancom Consulting. See you all soon. Tales from the Departure Lounge is a type nine production for the pie.

People on this episode

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Andy Plant

Host
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Nick Cuthbert

Host