Tag Archives: finland

in english

Mexican wedding receptions


Norteña

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

One of those things that I was not used to anymore was how Mexican wedding receptions are organised. The wedding ceremony itself can be religious or not (usually you have both, as there is complete separation of Church and State in the country) but as almost everywhere else you have the reception.

In Finland, the reception is a very orderly affair, with a programme that will include the toast and the banquet, performances by a band and maybe even the guests, speeches and finally some dancing. In Mexico, it is quite orderly as well, but you don’t notice it so much. You will first have the toast and the banquet, then the first waltz and finally a lot of dancing (6 hours of it).

To keep the audience entertained, depending on the music being played the band will use props that will also be distributed to the audience, so for example they’ll have balloons when having samba, cowboy hats for music from northern Mexico, hats, shirts, etc. Furthermore, they’ll bring in certain members of the audience to dance on the stage with their respective attire, which becomes very funny with songs like YMCA.

I’m not saying one is better than the other, they’re just different.

in english

Finnish holiday season

Especially for people not used to it, the Finnish holiday season is quite an experience, if for nothing else, for its length.

Here in Finland, people take 4 weeks during July, which means that during this month the whole country is basicaly closed for business. This is the time when summer trainees and skeleton crews are responsible for the continued functioning of the nation while the majority spend their weeks in a summer cabin in the middle of the forest, preferrably next to a lake, but maybe without running water or electricity.

Only peace and quiet.

in english

Midsummer in Finland

So far north the seasonal changes are very, very obvious indeed, especially in relation to the amount of light you get depending on the time of the year. During the summer equinox we get almost 19 hours of non-stop sun (if it’s sunny, that is), whereas in the darkest part of winter we have only around 6 hours.

These changes mean that also the seasons have very defined looks to them: summer is very green, autumn has two defined phases: ruska and dark and muddy, winter (if lucky) is white with snow and the spring then sees the melting of the snow and the greening of the land. The Finns also change quite a bit, as any local will tell you.

in english

Following the rules when the locals don’t

I witnessed a very interesting event on the public transport a couple of days ago.  I was taking the bus on Sunday back to my place in Espoo when the bus driver started an argument with a man of dark complexion since he was having a beer in the bus, which is forbidden.
His answer was quite interesting, as he said "Why can't I do that, if you see plenty of Finns who do?" which regardless of being prohibited actually is the case, especially during weekends or holidays such as Vappu. Even I have done so on a couple of occasions in my student days.
This strengthened my resolve to follow the rules to the T even when some people might not, regardless of whether it is fair or not.  It's the easiest way to stay out of trouble.

in english

Cooking on TV


Cooking on TV

Originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado

I guess after all the stereotype is changing, as I saw this guy on MTV3’s morning show and he was speaking flawless Finnish. From his name only I’m assuming he grew up here and has at least one Finnish parent.


Update: His name is Alex Nurmi and seems to be quite a popular guy, judging from his Google egosearch results.  And yes, his mom is Finnish, his dad African.  We need more examples like him on the media.