I found this list that reminded me very much of my student days, even if some of the references are only Tampere-specific and I studied in Espoo. If you are planning to visit or move to Finland, you should know at least some of these terms.
Tag Archives: finland
Tale of two Finlands
Finland is in general a very egalitarian society, where mobility is common and opportunities available, which is something I think other countries should learn from. However, I have noticed certain, if not polarization, at least divisions in society regarding how they see the outside world.
There are those that understand that Finland’s economic success is dependent on globalization and those who only see the Chinese threat; those who have travelled and seen the world and those who haven’t; the young who are used to having people with foreign backgrounds in their classroom and the old who first saw a black man in their street in the 90’s; those that welcome foreign labour and those that feel threatened by it (especially if they are already unemployed); those that speak foreign languages with confidence and those who feel they threaten the status of the Finnish language; those that want a more generous welfare state and those who want to pay less taxes; those who think racism is stupid and those who are unabashedly racist; those who have taken advantage of EU farm subsidies, Erasmus exchange programmes and the like and those who strongly dislike the EU…
Difference of opinion is of course what democracy is made of. Finnish society, however, needs to be aware that these differences exist, and that not everything is smooth and perfect.
Päivän sanonta
“Suomen puhuminen on vaikeaa, kun olet nähnyt maailmaa.”
-Kulta
Immigration in Finland
I found this old article about Brett Young (whom I know personally and can vouch for his Finnish language fluency), and it got me thinking. I lived in pääkaupunkiseutu (Helsinki & Espoo) for six years, will marry a Finn this summer, have plenty of Finnish friends and speak Finnish fluently at home (with the odd partitive instead of accusative mistake, heh). I also studied engineering in Finland and pretty much became an adult there, having adapted to and adopted parts of the culture, for which I’m grateful.
However, compared with my current stay in Brussels, I noticed that the society in general hadn’t truly accepted me. Whereas those closest to me treat me like “one of them”, as soon as I was on my own people would be suspicious, or even downright hostile. Why? I guess because I look different. I have brown skin and dark eyes and hair, and my features are very non-descript (people usually can’t guess that I was born in Mexico, at times I’ve been told I’m Spanish, Portuguese, Arab, Turkish and even half-Finnish half-Thai).
Even though I’m currently abroad, I plan to eventually come back to Finland to raise our children there, and in time I would like to apply for citizenship out of gratitude. However, I sometimes have my doubts about whether all the effort to integrate is worth it, since I’m afraid I’ll always find somebody shouting at me “Vitun turkkilainen, mene kotiin!”
Attached to people, not places
My fiancée commented once that I was probably more “international” than she was (if there is such a thing) even though she has lived in 3 other countries besides her own, and in my case it’s one less. I wouldn’t mind moving from country to country that much, as long as the job is interesting, the pay and the quality of life are good and we are together (which of course entails her filling her requirements list as well). However, she referred to a valid point: I’m not attached to the places themselves anymore, but to the people in them. A place is just nature, buildings and maybe a nice view or two, but the people I know (and the people I love) are really what is important.
One example are my feelings to the place where I was born. Even though I consider myself to be healthily nationalistic I don’t have an urge to go back and settle there, but just to see my family and friends. The same is the case with Finland. I’m very grateful for my experiences there, but it’s a place as good as any, what is important are the friends and family there. Belgium is the same story: if it fills the criteria detailed in the first paragraph I’d stay after my studies are finished, otherwise I’m willing to search for something somewhere else.
The problem with freedom, as a friend says is that “you don’t know what to do with it”. I hope that’s not my case.
Suomen eduskuntavaalit
Kokeilin Sanoman vaalikonetta niinkuin olisin Suomen kansalainen, ja asuisin vielä Helsingissä. Tulokset yllättivät minua vähän.
Ensimmäinen ehdokas jonka olisin valinnut oli Arto Bryggare (Sdp), toinen oli Ben Zyskowicz (Kok) ja kolmas oli Tuomas Nurmela (Kok). Suurin yllätys oli, että puolueiden ehdokkaiden keskimääräinen sopivuus -osassa löysin ehdokkaan nimeltä Marijan Basic, joka on itsenäinen ehdokas joka on syntynyt Kroatiassa mutta asunut Suomessa jo pitkään.
Katsotaan miten menee. Toivottavasti Perussuomalaiset eivät saa paljon äänestystä, en haluaa toista Tony Halmettä eduskuntaan. Joka tapauksessa, en voi äänestää koska en ole kansalainen.
I’m confortable here
Basically because I blend in with the general population. Unlike in Finland, people don’t usually stare at me in the street.
FIFA official date
- USA 2-0 Mexico (Again… the team needs more than a winning mentality to win)
- Scotland 2-2 Finland (Interesting usage of new players by both teams)
- Belgium 0-2 Czech Republic (Belgium still seems to have forgotten how to play)
- UK 0-1 Spain (Horrible game, great goal by Iniesta)
- France 0-1 Argentina (Most entertaining match overall last night)
Meme: video(s) of my place(s) of origin
Checking Ceronne’s blog, I found this meme, the idea being of posting a video or videos representative of your place of origin. Given that some were already used, I decided to go for Ingrata, by Café Tacuba (which has the added bonus that the group and part of the shooting are very close to the places where I grew up).
In the case of Helsinki, even though it’s not my place of origin, I was there quite a few years, so I guess it qualifies. Below “Sinä lähdit pois” (even though I was searching for a song about the airport called “Helsinki-Vantaa” that would bring me better memories but I guess it’s not in YouTube just yet).
The weather is going nuts
13°C in Brussels and still above 0°C in Helsinki. In the meantime it is snowing in northern Mexico. It’s obvious to me that the weather is going nuts.