MY FINLAND
I want to tell you something about Finland and the way how I see it. I was born here and as in every country, we have our pros and cons. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you My Finland.
Nature
Four seasons
First of all, we have four seasons and such a beautiful nature. In Finland the nature is for everyone. For me, nature means peace and escape from the city. Fresh air, silence and water are elements that makes me relax.
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Education and health care
Education system
Our education system is highly considered and, no wonder. We begin our school at the age of 7 and already on the third class we begin to study English. We have primary school, upper secondary school, high school or trade school and university or university of applied sciences.
I love my studies at Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences because we have freedom to plan our studies and build such an entity as we want. I have also amazing possibility to travel along my studies. Oh, and did I mention that our education is free and we get a meal for free at school till High School.
Health care
Next thing I want to mention is our health care system. Health care in Finland is top-quality. We also have one special thing that has got quite famous worldwide, too. It is called...well....actually its new name is one of the hot topics of the year and voting is still in process. Anyhow, it is a free package for new moms that includes for example, baby clothes and products .
I am happy with our health care because of its quality. Till the age of 18 the health care is free and later students usually get their own student health care that is free or at least, cheaper.
Culture and Design
To see and do
Many kinds of music festivals! This picture is taken from the weekend-festivals that is held in Helsinki. I would love to visit some Rock-festivals for example, Ruisrock. Other interesting festival to see would be Flow-festival.
We have many interesting cities to visit. My favourite cities are Porvoo (picture on the left), Tampere, Turku and Helsinki. My towns Lahti and Jyväskylä are also great cities. Especially Porvoo´s old town is worth seeing!
Here are also some known castles. For example, Suomenlinna, St.Olaf's castle, Turku castle etc. This picture is taken from Turku castle that was really interesting place to visit.
Design
Why design? Well, I want to tell you only about some brands I especially love. Have you heard about Pentik, Vallila or Marimekko? My favourite is especially Pentik. They have amazingly beautiful decoration products. But the truth is, that our design products are kind of a expensive. On the other hand, they are well created to express the beauty of our culture and nature.
PICTURE
My other favourite brand Vallila shares opinions. I like only their simple patterns, mostly the white and grey ones. Vallila also use to capture the Finnish nature to their products. I have had Vallila's wallpaper, curtains and carpet.
PICTURE
Coffee culture
Kahvi
There are some things I want to mention about our coffee culture. Coffee is definitely my favourite drink. They say that Finns use to drink 4-5 cups a day, yes you heard right. And we are not talking about tiny little cups of milk and drops of some substitute of coffee, no. We are talking about dark and strong filter coffee. You can find coffeemaker almost in every house of Finland. Why it is so important drink? Let me tell you. For me, coffee represents happy moments and it is kind of a new start of the day. I need those starts at least 2-3 times a day. It is also a moment to stop and relax for a while for example, during the work day. Drinking coffee with someone is also one form of hospitality in Finland.
PICTURE
Traditions
Cottage life
Yes, you might already heard about lakes and saunas but these pictures are taken from my summer cottage. It is located in the middle of Finland and in addition, middle of nowhere. All you can see is nature, forest and lake. It is totally silence and the nearest neighbours live on the other side of the lake. For Finns this is the perfect way to escape from the hectic daily-life.
We go to sauna and then swimming to the lake, usually naked because, well, there are no one watching. We can go fishing and in winter time skiing or snow walking. This little place in Finland will always be in my heart wherever I go.
