Author: Lucy - United Kingdom

Lucy is a journalist from United Kingdom and she participated to FCP in 2003. Currently based in Glasgow working as a reporter and editor with the Press Association. Topics covered: current affairs, politics and arts across Scotland. Multimedia journalist producing video footage, news articles and digital packages. With the current employer Lucy Christie has covered general elections, the oil and gas industry, Scotland’s independence referendum and the UK’s preparations for departing the EU. Lucy thinks that the FCP Alumni 2019 could offer her more links to Europe and Finland in these uncertain times of Brexit: “I relish the opportunity to reacquaint myself with Finland and foster new links as the UK prepares to leave the EU… On a more personal level, I enjoy meeting new people and learning new things!”

When a negative is actually a positive

I have learned the secret of Finnish happiness. And I’m going to reveal it exclusively to readers of this blog.

After consulting some of the country’s top academics (and several people down the pub) the answer turns out to be … drumroll … a lack of UNhappiness.

Now, that answer may not be very satisfying, but you’ve got to admit it’s rather Finnish.

 ...  (continue reading)

A special af-fin-ity…

It was the summer Beyonce was Crazy in Love and Captain Jack Sparrow swashbuckled onto our screens. Can you guess the year?*

I was 25 and fresh out of journalism school when I travelled to Finland to take part in the FCP programme, eager to explore a country I had yet to visit but with which I somehow felt a bond.

Scotland and Finland share a population size of around 5.5 million, long winters, and ...  (continue reading)