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A #Finland thread in English for Independence Day. In random order, my favourite things about the country I’ve lived in for 9 years. 1/n
The language(s). My first love will always be Russian, but Finnish comes a close second. Endlessly flexible, with millions of possible combinations (it’s agglutinative), yet pleasingly logical. It’s like a good old wine that makes you think more clearly. 2/n
Special mention for #Swedish, #svenska, Finland’s other language, which I learnt to speak here. Beautiful and charming in its own way too! 3/n
Radio. I love Yle’s radio programmes and podcasts: classical music, politics, linguistics, science, nature, relationships... A true public broadcaster that puts quality first. 4/n
Sauna!!! If I couldn’t imagine my mornings or lunchtimes without Yle Radio 1, then my Friday night is just not the sane without sauna. Yes, the air is 80°. Yes, you get naked (sometimes with strangers). It’s divine. Cleansing and relaxing. Here’s mine in my bathroom: 5/n
People. Finns don’t care who you are or what you believe in. If you don’t bother anyone else, you can truly be yourself. The flip side is a sometimes painfully cold reserve, but I’ve managed to seek out the talkative, friendly types! 6/n #Finland
History. It’s a cliché but it’s true: #Finland lies between east and west, Russia and Sweden, and has been influenced by both. Fascinating. Finland has preserved bits of Russian history that Russia hadn’t (I believe), such as the 19C journals in the nat’l library. 7/n
Patriotism. Finns love their country in a charming, sober, diffident way (hockey wins aside...). People call Finland "isänmaa", "the fatherland" without it sounding chauvinistic (for the most part — we have our racist pricks too...). 8/n
The national character. Finns are a weird mix of blue-stocking, no-exception sticklerism, almost to the point of Calvinism, and a pagan wildness and zeal for expressiveness, which you see in music and dark humour. 9/n
Logic and order. Buildings on streets in towns are odd on the right and even on the left, viewed from the start of the street. In the countryside, the number of the house is the distance from the start of the road in km * either 10 or 100. 10/n
Libraries. Even the smallest municipalities have well-stocked libraries. My town only has 45,000 people but several branches of the local library with books in many languages. (The only downside is that Finns generally don't understand "library voice".) 11/n
Ease of doing business. I'm lucky that my business doesn't need any permits, but what really makes things easy is the trust clients, other entrepreneurs, place in me. They have heard of me, but never met me, and we trust it will work out. It does (they pay my bills!). 12/n
Activism and volunteering. #Finland is a land of associations and organisations for almost every purpose and interest group. I am active in @kieliasiaa and @NordicEdiT. Sitting on boards is a great way to meet people and make a difference, as civic society here does. 13/n
Dullness. Drabness. Lack of flashiness. Modesty. Call it what you will: I love how reluctant Finns are to build ugly mansions and show off wealth. Obviously, that happens, but much less than in other countries. 14/n
A laid-back pace of life. Things happen when they happen, timetables are reasonable, and there's very little real stress (in my life at least!). The infamous Nordic red tape is not bad. Buying a house here was simple: no lawyers, no hidden costs. 15/n
