Finns are normal, easy going people, but like every other people group, they have distinct idiosyncrasies. Here are some that, as an American, I find weird. #1 Potato Skins The first meal I ever had in Finland was a nice home-cooked meal of foods very common in Finland. It consisted of salmon in a white ...
Every summer tens of thousands of Finns head to nearby forests and swamps to gather wild berries in bulk. This is not surprising in itself, as many people all over the world go berry picking, myself included. What is astonishing is just how many berries there are hidden in Finland’s extensive forests. The first time ...
There are many striking things about the Finnish capital of Helsinki, such as the beauty of its architecture, the sparkling sea, and even its small size. What is also striking is the lack of an obvious security or police presence. Having come to Finland after living in the Washington, DC metro area makes this all ...
Something that most foreigners in Finland realize quickly is that Finns can be very, very quiet, often to the point of making non-Finns uncomfortable and left wondering if something is wrong. As a general rule Finnish men are quieter than Finnish women, and of course some Finns are actually quite talkative and animated. However, as ...
Look on a world map and it is easy to see that all of Finland is north of the continental United States. Indeed, all of Finland is also above the major population centers of Sweden and Norway. This means that the entire population of Finland must content with constantly changing light conditions that are felt ...
The idea of cross country skiing always stuck me as boring. Why would you spend time doing something as benign and slow as cross country skiing? As a youngster I was only exposed to cross country skiing once by a friend who was quite bad at it and I wrote it off as a dumb, ...