You know when you’ve been to Finland too long when…

There is one famous post with the same name that went viral, and it was published by Helsingin Sanomat.

http://www.hs.fi/english/extras/toolong

In this article, I will try to put my own version of this famed article, in my own specific way! 😀 Here it goes.

1) You go everywhere with your crocks!

2) You think Finns drinks coffee WAY too much.

3) Thursday is for pea soup day.

4) It’s May. You still can’t believe there is still no snow. You have the feeling it might snow at any point!

5) Unfortunately, you do know who Tuksu is.

 

Johanna Tukiainen

6) You still don’t like the taste of salmiakki.

7) You always go through the trash and put the different trash in the appropriate trashcan.

8) You always keep the tölkkit (cans) & pullot (bottles) cause you can recycle them in the nearby market and earn little cash.

A tölkki. If it says ‘PANTTI’, then it is recyclable and you can recycle it in your local market.

9) You are happy to wait for the first Friday of the month because you get in for free in museums.

10) You think Putous is hillarious!

11) You just love pikkujoulut!

12) You realise that ‘summer’ is just a figment of your imagination.

13) You actually like mämmi.

14) You are stunned to see Finns on Christmas mass.

15) Vappu was unlike anything you have seen in Finland before!

16) You do like finnish TV, especially LIV,JIM  NELLONEN etc.

17)  When you realise Santa  Claus is Finnish. End of discussion!

18) You go on kirppi shopping every weekend.

19) You can’t hardly wait for the next ravintolapäivä.

20) You  eat a  hell lot of  ‘laatikko’.

Dearest Finnfanatics, with this article I wrap up my voluntary stay in Finland. My voluntary service ended just today. It’s been a wonderful year for me. Finland opened up my eyes, Finland taught me beauty and patience.

 I hope you enjoyed reading the blog, and that you get to see Finland one day.

You won’t be disappointed.

I promise you that.

If you want to contact me for  my private details or if you have any questions mail me:

finnishchronicles@gmail.com

If you are willing to volunteer in Finland, check my coordinating organization for vacancies:

http://maailmanvaihto.fi/

If you want to know more about my voluntary work place, visit:

http://www.lyhty.net/

Kiitos kaikille ja näkemiin!

Regional differences in Finland

 

 

Finland is a country of diversity. People  differ from region to region. The map you see is part of a book called ‘Tatun ja Patun Suomi’kids book by Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen. You may find it in English by the name ‘This is Finland’.I happened to pick the book once from my coordinating organization. It was such a pleasant read!

I travelled in Finland quite a bit, and I can tell you there are  differences. For instance, as you move away from the south and go to the north people tend to be more welcoming, warm and chatty. Of course, as you move from the South, the language gets more unintelligible. 😀

Although, when you start going towards the west, there is an obvious Swedish influence. People are lot more open-minded,witty and out-spoken. And you might assume, richer and more educated. I’ve been told that is because of the roots of the Finnish Swedes trace back many generations.The cities on the west coast quite much differ from the rest of Finland.

I haven’t gotten to travel much to Eastern Finland, so I wouldn’t know much about the traits of the people in that part of Finland.  My favorite finnish cities are: Helsinki,Tampere,Jyväskylä & Vaasa.

How about you?

 

Mä rakastan mun vaimoni!

 

 

This is an actual sport in Finland. The winner of the competition gets beer in the weight of his wife.

Wouldn’t you love a thick wife? 😀

PS: The answer is in one of my articles. Scroll down and have a look!

Eläinkorttelit – Animal quarters

Today we had a nice stroll around town during Ravintolapäivä tasting delicacies made by the common crowd. While we were looking for a street, I just stopped on the Isoroba street sign. What I saw was the street sign, and an specific animal above the sign. It’s a typical thing for the prominent streets of Helsinki.  And it’s all over the place. It makes one wonder. Why?

 

Iso Roobertinkatu – fasaani(phesant)

 

Helsinki city plan was drawn up in 1800’s according to Stockholm city plan. Stockholm had these quarters where as every quarter was named after an animal or a plant. Helsinki city decided to implement the very same idea. To our utter regret, after some time, the animal quarter idea got outdated. Helsinki residents got bored with it and the plates were removed.  However, people got nostalgic and decided to bring back the plates. That’s how the story of eläinkorttelit (animal quarters) started living on the streets of Helsinki.

 

It’s very charming to see all the different animal signs in different quarters of Helsinki.

What is your favorite eläinkorttelit?

Pertti Kurikkan Nimipäivät / Pertti Kurikka’s Name Day

Have you heard of the latest punk sensation in town?! It’s Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät! Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät  was formed back in 2009, in Lyhty Ry, my working place. The band was formed thanks to the staff of Lyhty,who decided to give a chance to a group of intellectually disabled people and teach them how to play music.  The results?  F A S C I N A T I N G!

These boys are both performers and co – workers of mine. I see them all day long, rocking their socks off! I tell you, these boys know how to play!

From left to right: Kari Aalto (vocals), Pertti Kurikka( guitar), Toni Välitalo(drums) Sami Helle ( bass).

The name of the band derrived from Pertti Kurikka’s nameday. As I previously mentioned in Finland people celebrate their namedays. It occured that the band formed on Pertti’s nameday. Their music is connected with their everyday lives, how disabled people cope  everyday. Being a disabled person is more difficult on a whole new level. You don’t get to be treated like everyone else, wherever you go you get scorns of people. Disabled people know what they want. All they want is to be heard.The band members are sick of being treated so and decide to pour it down in punk!

My  favorite track is: KALLIOON!

In this track the band disputes how they are sick of living in group homes. They descrive how it’s boring where they live and Kallio is the place to be! They are enraged with the treatment of society, so they just let it all out.

Their rise from anonimity to stardom was recorded in a motion picture named Kovasikajuttu ( The Punk Syndrome.)  In this documentary you can see the ordinary lives of the band members. They love, cry, eat just like any other human beings. In the documentary you will encounter the hardship these people had, the things that you don’t get to see that easily. It’s touching and emotional. The way these people rose from the ground up to stardom. It’s was a long path paved with obstacles.

CAN YOU GO ONSTAGE WITH SHIT IN YOUR PANTS?

Ever since the documentary had it’s premiere and it was showed on national TV, YLE1, Pertti Kurikkan Nimipäivät went worldwide! The band had gigs all across the world. The toured in USA, Czech Republic and many more to come! The audience is crazy about them.

I want to thank Lyhty Ry and the producers of the movie for giving an insight to the world about disabled peoples’ lives. Hopefully, after seeing this movie you will realise that people with special needs are no second-rate citizens, they are the same, just like you and I.

PS: See Kovasikajuttu, it won’t let you down.

For more information and merchandise, please visit:

kovasikajuttu.fi

Did you know that Nightwish in their video ‘Amaranth’ payed tribute to the famed painting by Hugo Simberg named ‘Wounded angel(Haavoittunut enkeli)‘?

Watch closely from 1:17 onwards.

PS: Here is the screenshot of the video and the actual painting:

 

Fascinating, is it not?

Antaverkka blues

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My days as a volunteer are numbered. The last camp is now history. I would like to thank all the volunteers. You did a wonderful job! Your efforts will never be forgotten. Now I can proudly say that I have brothers and sister in every corner of the Earth.

Until our next encounter…
KIITOS KAIKILLE!

You know when you’re Finnish when… #4

 

 

They all mean WHO.

 

e.g  Ketä sinä tarkoit? – Who do you mean? 

Kuka hän on? – Who is he?

Joka työtä tekee? – The one who works?

Annual weather forecast of Finland

Here you have it, your annual sääkartta! It is the real deal. 😀
Autumn and spring are practically non-existent, while winter will be your bestie during your stay in Finland. From time to time, you will have some false hope of warm-ish weather,but the next day you will have a snowstorm,50cm of snow the least.

That’s it folks, your annual weather forecast of Finland.

FREESTYLER ROCKA MAKA FON! =)

Oh the 90’s! The best time to be in. Remember when you were jamming on the beats of Bomfunk MC’s? When you were babbling the text?

Guess what? Bomfunk MC is a finnish hip group which was formed in the 90’s. Any of you Finnfanatics who have lived in Finland will recognise the metro station in  Helsinki where the video was filmed.

Any idea? Here is a reason more to hit the metro next time!

PS: Read the article carefully, the answer is in the article itself. 😉