In search of Scandinavia

Can I have the big one?

Three weeks have passed in this beautiful town in the southernmost tip of Norway. I´m having a full immersion into Norwegian culture as my experience will not limit only to my own observations but I will also learn a lot on the course I´m attending. It´s about Norwegian culture, society and education. By far we have made three field trips, learned about Norwegian values, education, history and literature.

I was right to anticipate being the only Finn among the new exchange students. My only words of Finnish during all this time (apart from some samples when asked) were spoken in a club where I briefly encountered a Finn from Yli-Tornio. Funny that I had to come all the way to Norway to meet the first person in my life who speaks meänkieli – the language spoken on the Swedish boarder. I think it´s time I travelled in my home country more.

For my fellow students there are plenty of things that make them gasp but for a Finn exploring another Scandinavian country is detailed and challenging work. It´s for the very reason that differences are not big.

In my everyday life I´ve been studying the importance of matpakke (lunchkpack), courtesy in the traffic, market place, differences between grocery stores, Sunday strolls and many more interesting subjects. Everything is as I knew and as I expected: Norway is like Finland but a tiny bit better and nicer.

Or maybe it´s not that simple. It´s possible that right now I´m blind to the positive sides of my home country because I´m on the “honeymoon phase”. However, I have been very busy observing the Norwegian society. I already discovered some facts that would make Finns raise their eyebrows. Norwegians are really, I mean really, into decorating their homes nicely. There are numerous interior shops even in the small town of Kristiansand. I also feel that Norwegians appreciate their nature more and truly want to be connected to it. Finns love their tellies and gadgets and prefer having a comfy life on this side of the window glazing. We are the hi-tech nation of Nokia! We don´t want to pick berries – let the Thai come here and do that.

Norwegians are extremely concerned of people´s well-being and equality. Even on the expense of results in study or work. That´s why pupils in primary school are not evaluated with grades. I find that Finns are more focused on success, as we have such a low national self-esteem, and we want the rest of the world think that Finland is actually quite alright even though it´s on the freaking Arctic Circle!

The quest goes on. Tonight I will disguise myself with a bottle of wine and do some field work concerning the alcohol consumption in Norway. I heard that Norwegians drink excessive amounts but I doubt that.

Ha det bra!

A summer´s day

It´s another strikingly sunny morning in my life, in Mid-July, in a town where 18-year-olds drive their cars around the two blocks the town centre consists of and then gather in the carpark of the local Siwa.

I can't complain. Staying at your parents´ place in the middle of nowhere can be a nuisance. But here I have both physical and metaphorical space to roam around and wind down by delving into Scandinavian short stories and the contents of my old “memory shoe boxes”. However, with a mum whose daily exercise reminds me of Alexander Stubb and a dad who thinks the telly must be switched on around the clock I start to feel like an angst-ridden teenager in a soap opera.

We´re going to head to the remote lake surrounded by bogs. With me I take a real angst-ridden teenager Eppu, a knife, some lunch, a towel and mosquito spray. It´s a hot day - perfect for rowing and diving into the lake, sunbathing and cooking food outside on a fire!

We´re off with our bikes. It´s about 3km on a dry dirt road, then a few hundred meters down the path through the cruelest Finnish nature. We reach the lake, as remote and isolated as ever. There´s nobody there, just some birds flying about and a dozen of down-facing rowing boats. We choose one and struggle for five minutes trying to turn it around. I kick us onto the water and start rowing like I´d never done anything else in my life. It´s getting a bit windy and some clouds are gathering. I row a beautifully formed circle. Eppu starts steering with a spare oar and we start moving in slight curves towards the cottage.

As we hit the shore we see the rain coming down on the other side of the lake. We run before the rain and reach the cottage just in time. It´s really pouring down now. We go inside and make a fire. We cook potatoes and onions wrapped in foil. It´s hard to keep the ember going on. Finally we eat some partly uncooked potatoes and it tastes great.

We spend time eating and lying around in the cottage. The rain stops eventually but it´s still kind of too cold to swim. The lake is a bit rough, too, and we don´t want to row around the lake. We put down the fire and start our journey back. As I row, we notice more malicious-looking clouds rising above the horizon. They´re approaching quickly. The way back is like a high-speed video but the rains creeps upon us anyway. It´s coming down big time! We pedal and pedal and get soaking wet. There´s no point to hurry anymore as we´re soaked to the bone.

The water is dripping down my cap, down my nose and I can feel how my trainers fill with fresh rain water. We get back home and it´still raining. I tell Eppu I want to peel off my clothes and go fooling around in the rain. I dance outside in my bikini. Eppu stands on the porch and looks at me for a while. I see disbelief (or is it pity) on her face and I stop. We go in and decide to make hot chocolate.

The kettle is on and we´re wrapped up in dry towels. Then a loud lightning rumbles and cuts off the power for hours. Talk about proper summer days!

Going out there is learning

And suddenly I´m home.

Another exciting big outing is done and I´m richer by various new encounters and events. I have witnessed with my own eyes the existence of two new countries. (If you think about it, nothing can really exist untill you see it for yourself.) I have met people, good and bad, some of which I will alway remember and feel sorry for not having them in my everyday life. Once again I have re-established the fact that in every country people are the same, with same needs and wants. I´m improving at seeing people as caring individuals rather than as a crowd of strangers.

Whoever it was who said that life is a book and those who don´t travel read only one page is right. And why would you not want to read more, learn more, see how other people live in faraway countries? In Greece I learned to relax and go with the nature. In Bulgaria I enjoyed extreme kindness and hospitality. In Hungary I discovered how easily you can connect with people from all over the world. In England... well, they´re always jolly good fellows and polite, too.

At home you sometimes fall into being frustrated as you´re countrymen are predictable and ordinary. But for somebody we are foreigners and we might cause confusion or delight. Little by little I'm starting to appreciate being Finnish even though all that many foreigners know about us is the long winter and (consequently) high suicide rates.

Finns are alright. Every nation is, even though sometimes we don´t get their ways. If you just meet enough people you´ll know that they are still as good as we are. Once you discover that muslims are not just a bunch of fundamentalists, southeuropeans can speak fluent English etc, the world feels like a more pleasant place to live.