It is general knowledge that Finns are quiet, nature loving people who are passionate about the sauna and foraging. Or are they really? My yet another trip to Finland this last week confirmed what I had already known before — there is much more to the stereotypes we usually have about five million Finns and their way of life. Here are four things you should know about the Finnish way of life that ...
Author: Liis Kängsepp
Liis has worked as a journalist for more than ten years, recently she started a new job as head of economic news desk at Estonia’s biggest newspaper Postimees. For the past four years she’s been a stringer for the Wall Street Journal, covering Estonia and sometimes Finland. She participated in the FCP in 2005 and has written many stories about Finland on a wide variety of topics from finance and economy to design and culture. She’s been volunteering at Arvamusfestival (Festival of Opinion Culture, similar event to Finland’s Suomi-Areena and Swedish Almedalen Week) for three years, previously as chief of communications, now focusing on international relations.
“The month I spent in Finland all those years ago was an important milestone in my continuous love affair with Estonia’s northern neighbor. It widened my horizon, assured me that my decision to learn Finnish was 120 % right and brought wonderful friends, contacts and new story ideas. I hope the alumni meeting will be no different.”
Finland, a place of inspiration
Finland has been an important place for me ever since I was a child watching Ihmemies (better know as MacGyver to the rest of the world) on black-and-white TV in Tallinn. Estonia’s capital was part of the Soviet Union at the time and Finnish television was a window to the free world. Watching ...