|
The first time
I came to Finland was in March 1992. With my friend
Otto I had come
with the ferry from the newly independent country of Estonia. The Finnish borderguards
were greatly surprised, two Dutch guys, their first time in Finland, not coming
from Sweden, Denmark, but of all places Estonia! The only foreigners in Estonia
(besides the Russians)
came FROM Finland.
|
|
|
|
There were no airlinks to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia,
so besides driving
all the way through Germany, Poland, Lithuania and
Latvia the only way for a westerner to get
to Estonia was first to go through Finland. You should have seen the Estonian borderguards
on the way back when we explained that that Mazda with Dutch licenseplates
at the harborfront was our car. And of course that we did not have any Estonian visas
either. The country was so new that there was no border between Estonia and Latvia
yet. Luckily they found it humorous themselves and issued us a visa on the spot.
|
Look! Nature!
|
The Finnish cartoon character Moomin is very popular in Japan
|
|
|
In
1992 Finland was still the most expensive country in the galaxy and Estonia
probably one of the cheapest. The shock was too great for my extremely meager student
budget. A cheeseburger in Helsinki was about the same price as a dinner for four
with appetizers and champagne in Estonia. The cheapest hotel in Helsinki, the youth
hostel, was unaffordable for me and so I spend the night first in a few clubs without entrance
fee and later when everything was closed, I found myself on the street, waiting
for daylight to come. And March in Finland is cold, really cold. I realized that I
should start traveling to warmer countries, make more money, and preferably both.
I was happy to go back to Estonia the next day. On the ferry back Otto and I realized
that one of the most important things in life is experiencing it, full on and that traveling
is probably the best way to do this. Hence this
silly competition. What a night in the
cold can do to you.
|
Maija looks beautiful on her wedding day
|
León on a regular day
|
Chisako and Maija
|
|
|
The
next time in Finland was more than ten years later. My friend
León had met a very
nice Finnish girl while working in Scotland. He was now living in Turku, Finland and
they had
decided to get married. And so I took that week off and found myself in Finland again.
The wedding was a small and private affair and Maija and León looked beautiful.
After the wedding I got to know the Finnish people a bit
|
|
|
|
more intimate. At first they are a quiet people. Actually stony silence is probably a better description. In
Finland you are only supposed to talk if you really have something to say. This results
in long silences, even in a large company, that will drive the uninitiated to tears.
After a while you might think that the Finnish hate you and do not want to talk
with foreigners, but quite the opposite, they just do not want to bother anyone with
nonsense. Of course even the Finnish end up talking and the best place to
experience this is in the sauna. Finnish life used to be in the sauna and looking
at Finnish weather you will understand quickly. Other things they take pride in are
their impossible language and of course vodka. And so before you know it you end up
with a whole bunch of Finns, drinking, enjoying the sauna and trying to learn a few
Finnish words that you will surely forget the moment you have learned how to pronounce
them.
|
Only polar beers come to Finland for the weather
|
León looking very good
|
Cold
|
|
In Turku we stayed in the Park Hotel, which
is a pleasant and reasonably affordable place in the center of the city.
|
