This is Finland – Part I

The opinion of a foreigner about any country will always sound like…..

The opinion of a foreigner!  =p

But that’s the point here. To show some Finnish characteristics that pop up in front of the eyes of someone who’ve been there for the first time or those who do not know many things about Finland. (First thing you should know: in Finnish, Finland is “Suomi” ^^)

So this is the first post of interesting things of Finnish culture, nature, society, etc. Of course there are many other things about Finland, but in this series of posts I’d like to share interesting aspects of Finland in my foreigner’s point of view.

1 Sauna

This is where the blog name came from. And it is easy to understand why when you know how important the saunas are in Finnish culture. If you consider the Finnish population of around 5.4 million people, 2.5 million saunas is an impressive amount! Almost every house has a sauna. It’s not that Finns go to the sauna every day, but saunas are really important for socialization, for friends and family get together, have a conversation and relax. There are many saunas in Brazil, but I’ve never been to one. It might be an interesting experience (although I wouldn’t be brave enough to dive in icy water after a sauna bath), plus, it has many health benefits. Check them out here.  

2 Ice Hockey (Jääkiekko)

Finns are crazy about ice hockey! Being a Brazilian, I can totally understand that passion comparing to what soccer is for people here. This year, Finland hosted the world games (for the 7^th time!). Actually, Sweden co-hosted it with Finland. And same will happen next year. Russia won the gold medal this year (Finland won in the previous year, 2011). It seems that ice hockey is a very popular topic among Finns. Well, that’s very familiar to me.

3 Forests and Lakes (Metsä ja Järvien)

Seventy-five percent of Finland’s territory is forest (mostly pine trees, spruce and birch). That was the first thing I noticed when my plane landed at the Vantaa airport and on my taxi drive to my hotel. The landscape is beautiful! It was that view that made me realize that I was in Finland (in addition to the Finnish signs that I couldn’t read at the airport). Finland is also a country of lakes. Some people call it the land of a thousand lakes, although it has much more than that. There are 187,888 lakes larger than 500 square metres in Finland. That’s a lot, isn’t it?

4 Summer Cottage (Kesämökki)

Finns are very connected to the countryside. There are almost half a million summer cottages in Finland, where people go to relax in their vacation or holidays. They are usually close to water, whether it’s a lake or the seashore and it’s no surprise that almost all have a sauna. I read somewhere an old Finnish saying that goes: 'The ultimate happiness is to have a red cottage and a potato field'. I don’t know exactly what’s the importance or tradition of the red color, but many pictures I found were of red cottages indeed.

5 Dark Bread (Ruisleipä)

I once heard this: “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.” If that’s true, Finns won’t have a problem with that. That’s because the most popular bread in Finland, the Ruisleipä, is a dark, sour, dense and dryish rye bread. I’ve tried it when I was there and it tasted really good, very ‘rustic’, if that adjective applies. They have many other similar dark breads, and they are very different from the traditional “pãozinho francês”, a type of white bread with a golden crispy crust that we have here in Brazil.

 

 6 Coffee (Kahvi)

Brazil is one of the biggest producers of coffee in the world. But no one can beat a Finn in drinking coffee. Finns consume around ten kilos of roasted coffee (per capita) per year! It’s the highest consumption in the world! I know many Brazilians who drink a lot of coffee throughout the day (like my mother). But I guess the difference is that here it’s not a national consensus. Especially among young people, coffee is not so popular. Many parents think it is bad for the health of children, so they do not encourage their kids to try it. And many of them won’t get the habit of drinking coffee afterwards. But the thing here is that for Finns, coffee is more than just a morning pick-me-up.

 *This text is only my opinion of cerain facts about Finland. Sorry if there is some wrong information or misconceptions.