"Why can't we be more like Finland?"
 

Being a Finn in America, it's always interesting finding outsider views about Finland. Like this rank of countries, or this article.

I know there are a few people from Finland here, so I was curious if you have an opinion on that article. I haven't lived there in so long, so I don't know what it's like.

Or how about Norway?

Canada pwns them all.

Yeah. Scandinavia has to be the most beautiful place on Earth. Ever. At least, that's what Pretty Picture told me. Do you know him? Then again...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2625255.stm

I know that Poets of the Fall is from Finland :D

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Pony trekking or camping
Or just watching TV
Finland, Finland, Finland
It's the country for me
You're so near to Russia
So far from Japan
Quite a long way from Cairo
Lots of miles from Vietnam

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Eating breakfast or dinner
Or snack lunch in the hall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all
You're so sadly neglected
And often ignored
A poor second to Belgium
When going abroad

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all

All together now, Finophiles!!

Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all
Finland has it all...

If you've enjoyed hearing this song and would like to know more about Finland, why not ring Mr. Griffiths of Hemill-Hampstead? He and his charming wife Edna would be glad to answer any of your questions, and - who knows? - may show you some of their unrivaled collection of scandinavian credit cards.


- :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

That songs pops into my head regularly when I read posts from our Finland contingent :D

Same here. :D



- :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Stupid question but I have to ask. How cold does it get in Finland? And if I ever visit Finland, where should I go for sightseeing? What languages do they speak there, besides English?

It can get fairly cold, but I don't remember the numbers. Think about Russian cities at the same latitude as Helsingki, and you'll get an idea.

Finnish is the main language. Swedish is also speaken there, but I don't know what percentage of people know it.

Actually it doesn't really work that way. The Gulf Stream makes Finland (and Scandinavia as a whole) warmer than inland Russia. The winters in Moscow are probably colder than in Southern Finland although it's more to the north.

I think the record in the north part of the country is -52,5 degrees Celsius (that's ****ing cold people), but where I live in Åbo (Turku in Finnish, was mentioned in the article btw) it can maybe go down to -30 degrees, but these days (with the green house effect and everything) it doesn't happen very often and if it does only for a few days. Usually it's around 0 - -10 degrees during winter. You might think it's cold, but man is it beautiful when there's snow everywhere.

http://www.vapaalla.org/finlandphoto...Pikku_Kili.jpg

This is from the river Aura in Åbo (Turku).
http://ezhe.ru/turku/winter_2005/images/aura.jpg
Around 6% have Swedish as their native language. As for how many Finns can speak Swedish probably quite many, but with varying results. ;)

@ Spider Crusoe: Where in Finland did you live when you lived here?

I lived in Kellokoski during (preschool?) kindergaten and first grade. Most of my relatives live in Helsingki.

As for my thoughts on the article, mainly I would agree with it. But as always with columns like these they tend to romanticize the reality. For example I wouldn't say that being a teacher in Finland is something particularly prestigious. Maybe those figures about there being 10 applicants for every place in the universities that train teachers is correct, but maybe that's because they know they will get jobs when they get out. There's a big shortage of teachers in Finland at the moment (especially for the Swedish-talking population), at least in upper-secondary schools. The situation is I think better in the Universities.

And "talkoot" aren't as common as they used to be, but I guess they still exist.

Other than that I would pretty much agree with Kaiser has to say. It's always interesting to hear an outsiders view of ones country, and as a Finn it doesn't happen very often. :D
Hehe, I had to look up that place. It seems to be situated a bit north of Helsinki.

Yeah, Finnish Sauna's for everyone!

Erm..

Just out of curiosity I checked the cost of flights to Finland in late November.
Lufthansa has a great deal going at less than a third the cost of some other carriers, but a 21 hour trip time and four layovers don't sound like a lot of fun.

ScottMate

My family has always used SAS to fly to Copenhagen, and from there Finn Air to get to Helsingki. I don't know what sort of cost it is, though.

Yeah, it's a pretty small place from what I remember.

A few other points worth considering:
1) "Finnish senior citizens are well cared for." On the contrary, the system is in many places abysmal, due to a shortage of workers. The same goes for the elementary and high-schools.
2) The unemployments benefits are so good, that many people stop working altogether and instead just abuse the system.

For me it would be medium-sized jet Birmingham to Chicago, three hour layover, 747 Chicago to Frankfurt, four hour layover, small jet Frankfurt to Stockholm, one hour layover, and a puddle-jumper Stockholm to Vaasa. Quite the deal for $1057 round-trip.
I didn't even think of checking for Helsingki, which would probably be both faster and cheaper.

ScottMate

True, good points.