I read somewhere that the Helsinki ice hockey derby between HIFK & Jokerit is the most fiercely contested in the Nordic countries. Even if I don’t cheer for either team, as a neutral it was nice to attend a match with a nice atmosphere and chanting, not only clapping.
The Finnish national passion is ice hockey, where unfortunately the team hasn’t been as successful as their fan involvement would warrant. The only world championship until last week’s victory was won in 1995, and the party then has become legendary.
I was finally able to experience that this week. People started to believe in the team after the victory over Russia in the semis, where Mikael Granlund’s lacrosse-style goal has become the centerpiece of many a highlight reel. Then, the final itself was a thriller: Sweden led the scoreboard until Finland tied at the end of the second period, showing a strength of mind that many of their predecessors lacked (the ignominious 5-6 of 2003 comes to mind) and then went on a roll to win the championship.
The celebrations in Helsinki were wild and kicked off on Sunday night. The reception of the champions was organised in the Market Square the day after, and over 100,000 people attended (the whole country has 5.3 million people, so one could say almost 2% of Finland was there to celebrate).
The only black spots were the obvious inebriation of many in the team and the not-very-child-friendly music selection for what was a very public party, but in the end it was a shot of self-esteem and unity Finland really needed.
P.S. I think they should use Antero Mertaranta for the listening portion of the Yleiskielentutkinto (the official Finnish language exam). That’d make it hard enough! 😀
Was able to attend at least part of the N2 Social Media Hub. The original presentations below.
I attended #n2hub last week and was originally planning to post my notes, but noticed the full presentations are now available online for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy:
Over the years I’ve learned to accept as normal the many differences and quirks Finnish has for someone learning it as a second language. Some of the most hilarious I’ve seen or heard from others below:
Olen iloinen = I’m happy
Olen loinen = I’m a parasite
Minä välitän sinusta = I care about you
Minä valitan sinusta = I (will) complain about you
Minun kieli on turvonnut = My tongue is swollen
Minun kulli on turvonnut = My dick is swollen (happened to a guy who had just gotten a tongue piercing)
kolari = car crash
Kolari= town in Finnish Lapland where snow (or something like it) fell this week
We know that Finnish is not the simplest language in the world, but I find that its difficulty is a little bit exaggerated and has become a source of national pride, however right or misguided (nothing wrong of being proud of your language, but because it’s perceived to be difficult for others to learn?). Every once in a while people are surprised that I would have taken the time to learn it, but I’d say that its learning curve is quite steep in the beginning due to the amount of new vocabulary and grammar that needs to be learned, but tapers off later (unlike English for example, where it is very easy to get started but there are lot of irregularities).
I am very grateful to have had very competent teachers in the beginner and advanced levels, but was just listening to an acquaintance who mentioned that even his teacher said “Don’t worry of you don’t learn, it’s a difficult language anyway”. Now that’s a way to motivate people!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Suomen kieli ei niin vaikea ole, vaan erilainen” (The Finnish language is not so difficult, only different). Very different maybe, but if you unlearn what you have learned you’ll be fine.
Monta kertaa olen sanonut että Suomessa ei saa hyvää, aitoa meksikolaista, vaan texmexiä. Kun ei täällä ole laatuisia meksikolasia ravintoloja, suomalaiset ovat vaan tavaneet Santa Maria tai Old El Paso, joka on meksikolaiselle ruualle kuin lohihampurilainen suomalaisille.
Sen takia, tämä kirja on minun puolesta hyvin tervetullut, koska puhuu ruuasta jolla olen itse kasvanut ja löydät siellä melkein missä vaan, ei taco-kuoreista jotka vaan tapasin Pohjois-Europpassa aikuisena.
Helsingin Sanomien arvostelu löydät tästä, ja voit ostaa useimmista paikoista.
The lower one is part of an album called Easy Melodías,which is pretty much impossible to find these days.
