Finland, ahhh! I don’t know where to start. It is like a fairy land. Beautiful rolling hills covered with dark green pine trees. And the people, beautiful as the land they tread on. I can remember my first day in Finland traveling on the train and looking out at the countryside rolling by. All I could think about was how beautiful everything was. A feast for the eyes, like the enchanted land that artists have for so long tried to depict in their paintings, and poets have strived to describe, but have been at a loss for words in their language, to convey the natural beauty of it all. I have one word for these artists and poets: Finland.
My Journey to Finland
In the summer of 2001, on the 13th of July, I embarked on a journey to the far away lands of Finland and Sweden. my purpose was to compete in three international Orienteering (see my Public Profile) events. The Fin5, a five day event in Turku, Finland, the Oringen, another five day event in Marsta, Sweden, and the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) / Tampere Games, in Tampere, Finland. The Tampere Games was a side event for the WOC, so that spectators could also run. It was a four day competition. The events were in the order I listed them in, and occurred one right after the other giving us just enough time to travel between them. Since the first two events were five day events, there was a rest day after the third day that gave us the opportunity to do some sightseeing. During the Fin5 we looked around Turku for a day, and during the Oringen we visited Stockholm.
Day One / My First Impression
Since I live in southern New York, my experience with airports is that they are rather large and full of people. Flying into Helsinki was a little weird. We arrived at about 9 on a Saturday morning, and the airport was basically empty. The only other people we saw were janitors and a few airport personnel. Customs was a cinch. They asked me what I was doing in Finland, I told them I was Orienteering, (everybody knows about it over there) and I didn’t have to say another word. The gate opened and I was in. The bags came through right away, and soon enough we found ourselves on a shuttle to the train station. The airport was so small and empty, I felt I had flown into some northern outpost way up in Lapland. Driving through Helsinki on a Saturday morning didn’t do anything to change my impression of Finland. The streets were empty, the place seemed deserted. I asked the driver if the Russians had recently attacked and everybody had fled the city, and he just laughed. He explained to us that everything closes down on weekends, and everybody sleeps in. What a country! It seemed like a dream land, (partly because I had not slept in 24 hours) cobbled streets with empty tracks running down the middle and wires overhead. All the buildings were old fashioned, and the little shops reminded me of my grandmother’s tales of Europe. We arrived at the train station and easily got tickets for the train to Turku. On the train I got my first peak at the people of Finland. I shared a car with a family of four. A young mother and father, and their young children. They looked like the ideal family. The ones you see on family oriented commercials. The train ride also gave me a great view of the countryside. We passed lots of little farms, nestled in between the pine trees. The only trees we saw were coniferous, and they made the forests look dark and foreboding. Everything I saw reminded me of the stories my grandmother used to read me of elves and gnomes and the good townsfolk. It was like a land out of the story books.
The Culture
Nearly everybody in Finland is upper class or higher. I rarely say anybody that looked less fortunate, and I didn’t see a single homeless person. Almost all the citizens are your typical Fin: blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. I didn’t see much diversity in my stay there. This is not necessarily a good thing, but it definitely contributed to my fairy land impression. I don’t think it had anything to do with the Fins not being accepting towards other cultures, but rather the lack of emigrants to seek Finland for a new home.
Finland is still very much it’s own little country, staying away from the corporate greed of modern day US. That is not to say the Fins are not at the fore front of the digital world, every Fin carries a cell phone (Nokia is from Finland), and being middle class citizens, are up to date with the latest computers and software. But what I mean to say is that they have not seceded to the globalization of large companies such as Wal-Mart. The only American chain I saw in Finland was McDonalds.
All the shops are nice European style shops. None of the cheap Wal-Mart stores, but everything was set up nicely and a little on the fancy side if anything. Because of the exchange rate at the time of my visit, everything ended up being cheaper.
The one thing that definitely stood out in the cities, was a great love for ice cream. Every block had an ice cream shop on at least one corner. It seemed that every Fin had a cell phone in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. The ice cream is very tasty as well. Probably half of the ads I saw were for one kind of ice cream. I knew I just had to get it, and when I finally saw it at the grocery store I bought it right away. It is called Jattis. I could see right away why it was advertised so heavily, it was simply the best. The other thing the Fins seemed to have a fascination for was licorice. The stuff is pretty good, but when they mix it with their other favorite candy, ice cream, things go crazy.
The first advertisement I saw in Finland was for Lapin Kulta. I couldn’t tell from the advertisement what Lapin Kulta (the Gold of Lapland) was, but pretty soon I noticed it to be the beer of choice in Finland. The Fins are very proud of their alcohol, and it is a big part of their culture. I can’t say I am a big fan of beer, so I didn’t take the opportunity to try it out, but I can tell you the Fins certainly love it. The other popular beer was Koff which I believe is also brewed in Finland. Being so close to Russia, the Fins were big on Vodka, and they had their own brand of that too. Finlandia seemed to be the Vodka of choice in Finland. Since I am not a drinker I didn’t get to research the drinking scene first hand, so I can’t tell you a whole lot about it.
The Bottom Line
There is no question this is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. The solitude of the country side, and the clean air made it feel like a dream. My visit was like love at first sight. Being back home in the US, I feel a longing to go back to Finland and make my home there. I keep thinking, just three more years of High School. If you have not had a chance to visit any of the Scandinavian countries, I highly recommend you do. But especially Finland. There is just something different about this country that makes me yearn so much to be back. It certainly is a fairy land out of the story books.
For information on Public Transportation, The Countryside, Weather, and Money, please see the comments section. Due to the 8,000 character limit on reviews, I am not able to submit the entire review. The remainder of the review is submitted under the comment section.
Note
Please also see my review on Helsinki:
https://mouthshut.com/readreview.php?rid=19947&r=1
- Thank You! We appreciate your effort.