Outlandish

Having been born in Finland I am one of the few lucky ones on this planet who has had the best sort of starting blocks for life. Today my country celebrates its 99 th year of complete and unquestionable Independence so I think it’s time to note some basic points about this extraordinary country. The truth is that if I had been born in some other country, whatever other country, my life would have been very much different, and probably not in a positive way. Finland has belonged under great kingdoms and empires but still the Finns have always held on to their own language, own culture, and their own way-of-life. And because of that my country has been able to rise from the ashes of the crumbling Russian Empire, civil war, two World Wars and multiple recessions. It is a big country with a very small population, but still it has been able to keep its independence for this long and will probably continue to do so no matter what the future brings.     Finla...

Estonia has actually two Independence Days. The first one was on 24th February, when they celebrate the Independence Declaration made in 1918. After the Second World War, though, they were occupied by the Soviet Union and the country was forced into communism. In 1991 when the Soviet Union was crumbling, Estonia declared itself independent again while the Soviet tanks roamed the countryside trying to stifle all hope of becoming independent again and soldiers were trying to take over the TV tower to shut down all communication channels (which obviously was much easier back then). But despite all Soviet soldiers' efforts Estonians stood their ground and on Saturday 20th August they celebrated their 25th year of Independence.  Estonians are quite patriotic, especially when I compare them to their brother nation, Finland. They take their independence seriously and Tallinn was filled with all sorts of concerts and markets and Estonian flags. In Finland people just...

Some people critique wines, some movies, I seem to have developed a habit of critiquing countries. The difference is that for me that critiquing affects my actual life quite a lot. If a country gets a negative review from me, I’m not going to be comfortable living there, obviously. Cultural differences, those little everyday things that drive you crazy, make you appreciate all the little things you have back at home and make you realize all the things that prove the fact that grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. Those are the things I base my critiques on and obviously as a Finn I look at things quite differently than somebody from India or Brazil, for example. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral The only culture shocks that I have experienced have been all those times that I moved back to Finland. Noticing how nothing had changed, nothing had moved forwards, rather backwards and how the coldness and darkness really do affect your and everybody else’...

Estonia, a country I didn't know much more about than that everything there is cheaper than in   Finland. By now I've learnt such interesting things as the fact that Estonia has two Independence Days. First in 1918 when Germans lost the First World War and second after the Soviet Union had been demolished in 1991. Tallinn has been an unknown center of some pretty major historical events, such as the sailing competitions in the Moscow Olympics in 1980. For this occasion the communists built one of the ugliest things my eyes have ever had to endure, Linnahall. It used to be a concert hall on which you can climb and look around the harbour and the sea. The idea is so lovely that I cannot comprehend how they could fuck it up with such an abominable structure. The view's nice though. Another highlight for Tallinn was in 2011 when it shared the status of the European Capital of Culture with the almighty city of Turku. How splendid! But my favourite thing about Tal...

Lately I've come face to face with the biggest cultural difference, not just between Finland and Slovakia, but between Nordic  (and some Western European)  countries  and the entire rest of the world: equality between men and women. I grew up in a world where my sex didn't determine anything for me or the people around me. I had a lot of boy friends (not boyfriends) already in kindergarten and it could never have occurred to me that I couldn't or shouldn't do something that they did just because I was a girl. In my family I was the only girl child and I was usually the one who did all the crazy things that boys are expected to do like climbing trees, walking first in line to a dark forest and jumping off rocks. As I got older I as a person was never seen as someone whose main function in life is to settle down with a man, not necessarily a man I would like, just some man, and produce children and be content with the fact that that's all my life would ever be. ...

Parliamentary elections are approaching in Finland and living in Slovakia has made me look at our right for a vote from a new perspective. There is no such thing as democracy. There are good attempts at it, but true democracy is nonexistent on this planet. Still, what we in Finland call democracy is a lifeline that we wouldn't exist without. I live in a country that has the lowest voting percentage in Europe. People in Slovakia simply don't vote. One reason is probably that being able to influence stately matters is still a very new thing. There are still a lot of people (mainly elderly) who think that communism was the best thing that ever happened. Another reason is that in such a corrupt country people have completely lost faith. They don't think that their vote counts at all because it's just that, only one vote. And here's a perfect example for all those Finns back at home who think along the same lines: when there are enough of yous the country ...

Finland has been an independent republic since 1917. Yesterday it celebrated its 97th birthday. I don't think I could appreciate independence as much as I do if I hadn't lived abroad. Also the fact that right next to us there is a country with very little civilization, no human rights and no freedom of any kind helps to appreciate the things that might normally be taken for granted. For about 600 years Finland belonged under Swedish rule. Because of Sweden we have the Western culture and civilization that prevails in the country these days. But since we have been stubborn from the beginning of time we never succumbed to the Swedish language. We had our own and it was there to stay. Swedish is still an official language in Finland but few people away from the seaside speak it. After Swedes came the Russians. But instead of forcing Finland under their rule we got autonomy: we were able to keep our language, laws and religion. The one thing they screwed up though: becaus...