Tsampa.org is the oasis of Kristoffer Lindqvist, a Swedish-speaking Finn born in 1975. Perpetually under construction, the site is expected to be finished around 2075 or so. As am I.

Tsampa may be a cryptic choice of domain name, but it says a lot about the origins of this site. As an East Asian Studies and Social anthropology major, I spent the memorable years of 1999-2001 in the traditional Sino-Tibetan border regions of what is today Qinghai Province in Northwestern China. Programming having been a passion of mine ever since I began poking around on the Commodore 64 and my dad's early PC back in my teens, I returned with several Tibetan language learning applications and a Tibetan font (and a laptop shaken apart by predominantly bumpy travelling on the Tibetan plateau). I wanted a web site to share my work on. Yak.org was taken, so the Tibetan staple food I had come to love was a worthy Plan B. Short, easy to spell, good tasting and memorable. By the time I had my BA in East Asian Studies (sinology), the Tibetan Stuff icon was just one among many.

Professionally, I am somewhat of a jack of all trades. Teaching has been an integral part of my life for many years. I have taught courses in East Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki, lectured for many years on Chinese language and culture at a local Adult Education Center, and also spent 2004-06 shepherding an elementary school class through fifth and sixth grade. I also freelance as a translator, mostly from Swedish and Finnish to English. Since January 2008, I've had the luxury of working as a Software Designer at Sulake Dynamoid.

I am also a very lucky man. I am engaged to one tantalizing woman, Sanna. Together we have a blond little son, Rufus, who flies through his day when he is not deeply immersed in a book (preferably dealing with cars, trains or adventurous snails). Sharing his days as a stay at home dad for a little over a year beginning autumn 2006 was one of the best choices I ever made. My much improved diaper game and patience now comes in handy with number two, Renée. Born in October 2007, we have yet to understand who she really is, but she appears to be a tranquil little soul. For more on the Karjalainen-Lindqvist family, see the family section.

I am also a powerlifter, a hobby which traded places with my previous martial arts obsession (I hold a black belt in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu). Obviously, I have also managed to get iron mixed up with computing in more ways than one. My blog Under the Bar is possibly the oldest in the ever expanding powerlifting blogosphere. Updates have been infrequent ever since it dawned on me to organize powerlifting meets over the Internet, but it is certainly not dead.

Not satisfied yet? In that case, feel very free to peruse my Curriculum vitae or investigate my web portfolio. Wondering what to give me as a present? My Amazon wishlist is here. Looking for my e-mail address? Try kris@tsampa.org. Still here? May I gently suggest the annual gingerbread project? After all, a little bit of Christmas spirit is never wrong. Thanks for reading!