4 months in 10 highlights

Last Saturday, May 11^th, I completed 4 months living in Finland.

Many things happened in these 4 months. Good things, mostly. And I’m so grateful for all those happy moments and for the nice people that made them possible.

I selected 10 important aspects/events of these 4 months. 

1. Trips – Germany, Tallin

I always had in my mind that when I was in Europe I should visit as many countries as possible. And that’s what Brazilians usually do when they come here. But living in Finland I realized that I’m not so close to all European countries and that travelling here is not as cheap as I expected. Even though, I had two good experiences first in Germany during Easter holiday (I visited Heidelberg and Munich) and a couple of weeks ago in Estonia (Tallin).

2. Vappu

This one is difficult to explain. You have to experience it to truly understand what it is like. But shortly, the May 1^st holiday in Finland is a colorful and exciting student celebration that makes streets crowded in a wonderful gathering that reminded me of Brazilian street Carnaval. And luckily the weather was perfect for the picnic in Kaivopuisto, a park where most people go to celebrate.

3. Sunday breakfast with Expats

In the beginning of my stay here, I wanted to meet new people and make friends, so I joined the InterNations social network for expats living in Helsinki where I found this group that get together every Sunday morning to have a cup of coffee and talk about random stuff. The interesting thing is that the group is never the same; people come and go all the time. I really appreciate the discussions about life here and it’s wonderful to learn about other people’s experiences and diverse backgrounds, even knowing that I might never see some of them again.

4. Sightseeing with Ana

Ana is a dear friend who works with me. She is also from a foreign country and has been living here for five years. I’m deeply thankful to her and her efforts to show me nice spots in Helsinki, including cozy cafés near the sea, panoramic towers with great views of the city, churches, public markets and so many things that I can’t even remember. Thank you, Ana!

5. Long wait for summer

Weather has never been such an important topic for me. But now I check the weather forecast every day and I feel that I’ve been waiting for the summer since I arrived, not because I miss the warm weather so much, but people here talk so much about it that I get influenced and find myself in the same expectation mindset. Despite the summer-anxiety thing, it amazes me to see all the spring changes! It’s so beautiful to see flowers blooming after all the snow. We don’t have the four well-defined seasons in Brazil, so that’s totally new to me.

6. Ice hockey

I’m not a sports person per se, but I do enjoy watching football matches and F1 races. Last weekend I went to see my first Ice Hockey game at the stadium. The match was between USA vs Austria as part of the International Ice Hockey Championship that is being hosted conjointly by Finland and Sweden this year. I really enjoyed the experience and now I’m watching the games on TV, whenever it’s possible.

7. Sauna

I already wrote a post about mysauna experience. But I had to mention it again since it was the ultimate Finnish culture event in these past 4 months, and the one I’ve been expecting the most, since the last time that I’ve been here in 2011.

8. Special people

It seems impossible to develop intimate friendships in such a short period of time. But I really feel that I’ve made great friends here already. In the beginning I felt that it would be too difficult to be close to anyone here because Finns are usually shy, reserved and don’t mix personal and work life. However, that certainly is not the whole truth and I met amazing people and they are friends that I would like to keep even if I move away.

9. Food

Not much to say here, just that I love food in Finland. It’s so authentic and simple. I don’t miss Brazilian food at all! (Maybe the picanha…)

10. Missing my Family

In Portuguese we have this beautiful untranslatable word called “saudade”. It refers to the feeling when you miss someone or something. So far, the saudade of my family has been the worst part of living here. I talk to them very often, almost every day.  But we have 6-hours difference, so it’s not that easy. The important thing is that they are happy for me and it comforts me that everyone is fine over there. 

(BTW, my sister and one of our friends are coming to visit next week and I'm so excited!!)

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.