everything you've ever wanted to know about Finland!

eMMI

BysTanDeR wrote:

Actually i'd have a question about your country...since this thread is about that, after all...

Uhhh....how beautiful are women in Finland?

haha.
as a female myself I don't know if I'm the right person to defien how beautiful finnish women are.. but as I am proud of my country, I'm of course gonna say that VERY BEAUTIFUL!
we do have some supermodels though (I guess), Saimi Nousiainen and Ninja Sarasalo, and some people (non-finnish people ) have said that Finland has the most beautiful women if the world.
I guess finnish women have have that sort of nordic beauty, dunno.
come visit and see for yourself!!

eMMI

even flow? wrote:

How many "endless" days are there, if any in a year in Finland? Where the sun is up for all day. Or any all dark days?

Why is there a sterotype of Finns who don't like to go into the corners in hockey?

What does the symbol on the Suomi hockey shirts stand for?

Have you ever been to North America? And if so, how does it compare to Finland?

Does everybody have blond hair?

Are there really 1000 lakes or are there more or less? Are they all fresh water lakes?

Are the Swedes your number one nemesis when it comes to sport?

Have you ever seen Santa Claus?

Is it true that you keep reindeer as pets instead of cats and dogs?

What is the name of your national anthem?

there's only one "endless" day per year. in midsummer (dunno if you people celebrate it..) the sun doesn't set on one night.
there are no all dark days in the south but in the northest north of Lapland there are.

a stereotype of Finns who don't like to go into corners on hockey? is there one?
I don't know that much about hockey...
anyone else have a theory?

you mean the lion-symbol on the hockey shirts?
well, it's a lion ( ) and it's our national symbol.

I've never been to North America so I don't know..
but out of curiosity, compare in what way? climatically?

not everyone has blond hair. I do , but not everyone.
blond hair is common though but becoming more rare all the time. it's kinda disappearing, can't remember why.. (btw. not because people colour their hair. )
the most common hair colour in Finland is probably some dull brown. you know, like a sand road.. or ashy blond.. anyway, the colour usually fades during summer because of the sun so there are more blond people in Finland during summertime. (my hair does it too.)
and what's more. finnish hair is usually quite thin. sort of brittle. during the time movies were still b/w finnish women had full dtrong hair.. I don't know what the hell happened since those times! or maybe the movies just lie..

all of our lakes are fresh water lakes.
"the land of a thousand lakes".. as far as I remember there are less than 1000 lakes here.. but 1000 just sounds better than something like 749. and the number of the lakes depends on the definition of a lake, what a puddle needs to be called a lake, you know. (depth etc.)
maybe not a thousand but still very many lakes!!

the Swedes truly are a nemesis! they've always been and will most likely always be. especially in hockey, the losses against Sweden are the most bitter ones. the battle in hockey is dead serious!
I'm mot sure how the Swedes think about us Finns.. but our bitterness probably comes from all the years under Sweden's control.
come to think of it, this feud is actually quite rediculous.. basically, I have nothing against Sweden or its people. sometimes some kind of battle spirit just takes control of me.
in conclusion, Swedes are a nemesis (in sports) but Swedish is still another one of Finland's two official languages. I've been studying it since I was 13 because I've had to. but I don't mind, it's not that hard..

I have seen Santa Claus many times.
but I dunno if I've ever seen the "real thing", you know.
I've never seen SC in Lapland. actually, I've never been in Lapland.

reindeer as pets? no. that would be quite difficult, they aren't the smallest of animals, you know.
we have cats and dogs as pets. and hamsters and rabbits and so on, but no reindeer. being accurate, I don't know, someone might have a pet reindeer somewhere.. but it's not common.
people do raise reindeer though, like cows or sheep. for food and wool..
reindeer is also a good "horse", pulling sleighs and all that. some people (in Lapland) get their living off of reindeer.

our national anthem is called Maamme-laulu. or just Maamme.. umm, how could I translate it.. something like Our Land. that's as official as I can translate it.

ISN

I didn't read your thread, cos Finland has never interested me......(notwithstanding the recent Guardian articles which I read)......I am just not interested in Finland.......it might be mutual ? Finland doesn't exist in my Waltanschauung, and I'm not really convinced that I'm missing very much......if you were from Ethiopia, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zaire, or, at a stretch, Norway, then it might pique my interest, but right now.....no, I officially have no interest in Finland.......or Estonia for that matter

ISN

fuk this double post shit........ten characters in search of a mod

pearlmutt

in college, ISN, i worked with this guy from finland, he was hot, damn those tennis players!! they were all better than us; therefore, our school rocked the small collegiate circuit, and damnit fucking a, they could write better too. so could those kids from kurkistand, i mean i can't even spell kurkistand now and i taught one of these kids!

ISN

yeah, I've met Fins too......I had a Finnish boyfriend in Florida when I was 15, and he was double-jointed, he used to twist himself up to fit into an Adidas bag......I had a very morose Finnish flatmate in London......but to tell you the truth, and this is from my heart, I couldn't give a flying fuck about Finland......maybe it's me.......but guess what.......I just don't care......you can pimp your country as much as you want (and yes, I read the recent Guardian articles extolling the virtues of your country, and I read Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson......and I'm sure it's really great etc......I just don't care)......if you want me to give an opinion about Norway, Sweden or Denmark (Holland, Belgium, Litchenstein, Andorra, France, Germany etc)......I will......it just seems that Finland is such a non-entity, and I'm not really sure why we have a whole thread in tenclub.com devoted to Finland......I'm thinking I better get out of this thread, cos I seriously don't care.........

pearlmutt

i love you.

what else can i say, you are such a handful.

and you make me do this







weird little thing all the time.

have a great day XXXXX!

ISN

you love me?

well, that's a first......

good luck.....

cos I'm a curse.....

and I drive a hearse.....

etc etc......

now that you are here, I might actually take an interest in Finland......Pearly you're so confusing.......on the one hand you're very martial.......but then you relent......according to some personal barometre, and then you're all sweetness.......I guess I fall for it every time......like a sukker......okay Finland, bring it on!!!!!

eMMI

ISN wrote:

I didn't read your thread, cos Finland has never interested me......(notwithstanding the recent Guardian articles which I read)......I am just not interested in Finland.......it might be mutual ? Finland doesn't exist in my Waltanschauung, and I'm not really convinced that I'm missing very much......if you were from Ethiopia, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo or Zaire, or, at a stretch, Norway, then it might pique my interest, but right now.....no, I officially have no interest in Finland.......or Estonia for that matter

I don't wanna start a fight and don't want to disrespect you but why would you post anything if you aren't interested at all?

to be honest, Kinsasha didn't belong to my worldview earlier because I knew nothing of it. now, I want to learn more. I want to learn more about the world all the time and broaden my view of the world like that. that's why I dug up what Wikipedia has to tell about Kinsasha..

goddammit, I lost my thought!
I can't say that I'm offended, you didn't diss my country but I don't still understand your point..
I understand if you've got absolutely nothing to ask about Finland, that's fine. I created this thread for several reasons, for example for fun (fun for me and to anyone interested) and because I know there are a lot of beliefs about Finland that are not true. just wanted to make things clearer.
this thread isn't ment to be taken seriously and I'm not trying to make Finland something it isn't. I'm not trying to make you into Finns.

but for now, I have nothing more to say. if you don't want to ask, don't ask. if you don't want to read the thread, don't read it. if you don't care, don't think I don't care.

ISN

yeah, I guess Finland is more important to you than it is to me......I'm only being honest, and if you want to set yourself up with this big Finland thread, you can only expect me to let you know.......you asked, so I'm telling you......Finland means nothing to me.......it is probably one of the most boring countries I've ever heard about........if you want a thread on Finland, then you have to accept all opinions.......cos, mate, it's really kind of well ya know, naff.......that you want people to get excited about your country.......well, I am very conscious of the fact that Finland means absolutely nothing to me.......and even less than I realise.......if you want to start a whole thread about a country.......pardon me for telling you it's a complete waste of time, and a major exercise in vanity......I love Andorra......why don't you start a thread about Andorra? or Portugal for example......good lord.....you've got to have a major province missing if you expect people to get excited about Finland......jus cos you're Finnish.....yawn

bostonlou

eMMI wrote:

my bellybutton's just fine thank you. it's spelled napa btw.
why is "how's your bellybutton?" the only thing you've learned? but I guess Finnish actually is a quite difficult language to learn..
well, I think I shouldn't really swear here, so..

you should be proud of your heritage! we all should be proud of our heritage, no matter where we live.
you know when Finland's independence day is? *pop quiz*

make that trip! in fact I think all of you should come to Finland, I welcome you! BLB too? great, the more the merrier.

i never learned more finnish because we all spoke english i guess?!?

dec 17th of course!! according to google

eMMI

ISN wrote:

yeah, I guess Finland is more important to you than it is to me......I'm only being honest, and if you want to set yourself up with this big Finland thread, you can only expect me to let you know.......you asked, so I'm telling you......Finland means nothing to me.......it is probably one of the most boring countries I've ever heard about........if you want a thread on Finland, then you have to accept all opinions.......cos, mate, it's really kind of well ya know, naff.......that you want people to get excited about your country.......well, I am very conscious of the fact that Finland means absolutely nothing to me.......and even less than I realise.......if you want to start a whole thread about a country.......pardon me for telling you it's a complete waste of time, and a major exercise in vanity......I love Andorra......why don't you start a thread about Andorra? or Portugal for example......good lord.....you've got to have a major province missing if you expect people to get excited about Finland......jus cos you're Finnish.....yawn

I'm sorry but now I'm getting a little pissed off.
I understand that you don't care. I just don't need it to be rubbed all over my face, okay?
don't waste your time reading this thread and posting comments when your uncaring is that big. and if I want to waste my time on this thread, please let me.

btw. why won't YOU start a thread about Andorra?

if people don't get exited about Finland then they won't. but now it seems other people have at least a little interest and that's nice.
and now I know where you stand. and you know where I stand.
so I guess this conversation is over.?

eMMI

bostonlou wrote:

i never learned more finnish because we all spoke english i guess?!?

dec 17th of course!! according to google

haha. maybe. but didn't your nana teach you more?

dec 17th?! what the hell? December 6th!
you should check wikipedia...
well you only got some 9 days wrong.

even flow?

eMMI wrote:

I've never been to North America so I don't know..
but out of curiosity, compare in what way? climatically?

I was just wondering about the lay of the land, the way people treated you, weather, the money for goods and such. But since you haven't been here to compare, then it dosen't really matter.


What is the name of the "endless" day? We don't have a day like that where I live.

What is the main fish that the people eat from the lakes?

What is the name of the leader of the country? President, Prime Minister, etc.

How often do you vote for your government leader(s)?

I think this is a very informative thread.

What is your favourite "Finnish" cousine and what goes into making it?

hippiemom

eMMI wrote:

I'm sorry but now I'm getting a little pissed off.
I understand that you don't care. I just don't need it to be rubbed all over my face, okay?
don't waste your time reading this thread and posting comments when your uncaring is that big. and if I want to waste my time on this thread, please let me.

btw. why won't YOU start a thread about Andorra?

if people don't get exited about Finland then they won't. but now it seems other people have at least a little interest and that's nice.
and now I know where you stand. and you know where I stand.
so I guess this conversation is over.?

I like this thread! I didn't know a single thing about Finland before, and now I do. My sis-in-law spent a week there a while back and loved it, sounds like a lovely country.

Ignore the negativity ... who even knows where she got the idea that anyone cares what she thinks of a thread topic, or anything else for that matter :rolleyes:

IndianSummer

the finns are a germanic people, but their language is anything but germanic.
do you have the explaination?

also what language do the lapps/sami speak ?? are they (the lapps) the same people as the aleuts of alaska ??

mookie blaylock 10

i spent a couple of months living in stockholm, sweden, and i was lucky enough to make a day trip to helsinki. it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
i found the people to be much more friendly and open to conversation than the swedes (a broad generalization - sorry to any swedes)
the women in finland are also beautiful...in my opinion more beautiful than the swedes. there is not much variety in sweden, a lot of people are blond. the women in iceland are also incredibly beautiful....but back to finland...i wish i could have spent more than a day there. i visited a huge market by the ferry terminal, the art museum, the huge church with the massive pipe organ inside (i can't remember the name of it), and some coffee shops. the only negative thing i could say about finland is that the beer was not very good, but i am from canada, so i have high expectations!

KIPPIS!

thanks for starting the thread. i love finland, and am always interested in learning about other countries.

mookie blaylock 10

even flow? wrote:

I was just wondering about the lay of the land, the way people treated you, weather, the money for goods and such. But since you haven't been here to compare, then it dosen't really matter.


What is the name of the "endless" day? We don't have a day like that where I live.

What is the main fish that the people eat from the lakes?

What is the name of the leader of the country? President, Prime Minister, etc.

How often do you vote for your government leader(s)?

I think this is a very informative thread.

What is your favourite "Finnish" cousine and what goes into making it?

technically, we do have the "endless day"...in canada at least. not in toronto, but they would experience it in the northwest territories.

compared to canada, scandinavian countires would be considered expensive in terms of cost of goods, and cost of living, especially in sweden.

the finnish people are really wonderful people, i met quite a few when i was in sweden, and i got along better with them than many swedes. it's tough to get conversation out of some swedes!

canada and scandinavia in general could be considered similar in terms of landscape. i was there in the winter so i very much felt like i was at home, but the sun rising at 10 am and going down at 3 pm was hard to get used to.

...just trying to answer a couple of your questions as a canadian who has been to finland for a day!...

pearlmutt

so how many finnish folks are good at tennis?

no one is voting here, except for el, he's thinking about it, me, i'm thinking about moving

sell me on your country, mine's already sold.

wolfbear

I too am enjoying this thread. Always good to hear about another country. Finland, plus all northern or cool weather countries are places I would love to visit. (Don't like the heat!) Finland sounds like a definate visit. Where else would you recommend visiting if we did a trip?