everything you've ever wanted to know about Finland!

Badmind wrote:

hmmm.. sure they must be very beatiful... but you only like blond girls??
Maybe eMMI can help me understand this... I asked her a few time ago a similiar question...
But that finnish girl I know once even told me... that her and her friends made some kind of pact to not never in their lives marry any finnish guy...
She´s always complaining... about finnish guys... saying that most of them are horrible and stuff like that...
So eMMI do you think that there´s a problem in Finland between finnish girls, and finnish guys??

Badmind wrote:

For all of you finnish people out there... here it goes.. a text I found on net about an american guy who lived in Finland for 10 months :

"Finnish people are supposed to be modest and not talk about themselves. This aspect of the culture is illustrated by the Finnish saying "Modesty makes beautiful". If a Finn is praised a lot, he becomes suspicious and cautious. Emotions run deep in a Finn and do not often come out. Negative emotions are expressed more often than positive ones. It is accepted to feel negatively; when you expect the worse, you cannot be disappointed. (Keltinkangas-Järvinen, 1996.)
Today urbanisation has broken the sense of collectivism. As people moved to cities, mostly in the 60's and 70's, they tried to continue the habit of joint activities. After the first years it decreased to a minimum. (Kortteinen, 1982.) Today collectivism has changed to individualism.

The summers are short with near continuous daylight and the winters are cold, dark, and long.
The climate of Finland plays a major role when talking about lifestyle. The winters last about six months. During my time in Finland, winter arrived in late November and lasted until the end of April.
It was the coldest weather I have ever experienced in my life. It was so cold that cars had to be plugged in to keep the motor warm to be able to start. Everything was practically frozen. Occasionally, the inside of my nose or my hair would freeze in a matter of seconds while walking to the university or waiting for a bus. It was the first time I really wore a coat, gloves, and scarf in order to keep from freezing to death. Wearing warm clothes and socks were an important factor when it came to staying warm.
The cold weather brought darkness along with it. Finland's northern position on the earth in relation to the seasonal positioning of the sun is the reason for the cold climate and darkness. This was an interesting sight for me and took me a little time to become adjusted.
In North Carolina, the sun usually sets in mid-winter at about 4:30 p.m. Some days in Finland enjoy only a few hours of daylight, if you are lucky enough to see the sun at all. Each day loses about four minutes of daylight from June 21 until December 25. During Christmas, the sun rose at 11:00 a.m. and set by 1:00 p.m. The darkness effects people both physically and psychologically. I noticed that as the days got shorter, I slept a little longer and was more tired. It was practically dark all the time. It was a weird feeling thinking it was night at 2:30 in the afternoon. Indoor swimming pools and athletic gyms help people to deal with the darkness by remaining active and exercising. I never knew how wonderful it was to see the sun on a regular basis until the Finnish winter. Many Finnish people experience severe depression during winter months because of the darkness. I think the sun plays an important psychological factor because it gives people more energy and positive thinking.

Finnish culture is different in many ways from American culture and also a lot alike. People are people no matter what culture they are in and everyone everywhere has their normal, everyday routines. The year I spent in Finland was the most stress free year of my life. It was stress free not because I was in a dreamworld, but because of the culture and lifestyle. The overall impression I got was that the Finnish are "relaxed" people who take time to enjoy normal, everyday life. It was relaxed because of many reasons, but mainly because of the lifestyle of the people.
First of all, there are very little violence or drug problems if compared to America. It is a peaceful place to live, yielding no fear of being afraid or threatened by normal day things. People really mind their own business and live in a safe manner. The people do not have the same mentality about harming others or stealing from people. Of course, there are exceptions in some cases, but overall it is safe. For example, I was never afraid of walking alone late at night or had any kind of fear of being harmed while in Finland.
Second, the Finnish lifestyle is not as fast as in America. Americans seem to always be busy or stressed about something, whether it is competition for jobs, appearance, or money and material objects. It appears to me that there is one social class of people in Finland. Everyone is considered equal, and everyone has the opportunity for some type of training or higher education, which is very low cost. Even the Finnish language has one word for he, she, and it (han). It seems as if everyone is equal and begins at the same starting line when it comes to opportunity and jobs.
Finnish people are also healthier than Americans. Fast food has not been in Finland for a long time. Even so, McDonald's in Finland is like a nice restaurant in America. I think the diet and attitude towards eating healthy is much better. The diet is different in each region, but mostly eaten are various types of breads, fish, reindeer, cow, potatoes, and vegetables.
Practically every household in Finland has a sauna included with it.
Finnish language is said to be the second hardest language to speak after Chinese.
I think Finnish people should be proud of their country for all of its qualities, beauty, and resources."

Badmind wrote:

Woow.. it´s been a while since anybody posted here something!
So how´s things going with you, eMMI??
Everything ok?

Is it already snowing there??

Take care

P.S.
I know you people there are dying to see PJ, and are really pissed for them not having toured there this year... but hell I think I´m gonna start a thread to bring them back to Portugal again really soon, no way I´ll wait another six years without seeing them again!!! They need to be back.. those two concerts were just...No words to describe it!!! hell just listening to both lisbon boots gives me chills!!

parel jam wrote:

What's the link with the Finnish language and the Hungarian language? I heard they are pretty much the same...

How come that those countries are lying pretty far from each other and still have pretty much the same origin of their language?