Not the country where I want to be.
Wednesday, May 29th, 2002
So, Finland. What can I say about Finland? I realize that it’s ridiculous to pass judgment on a place after spending a total of only three days there, but unfortunately that’s what I have to do. Everything I write is, of course, based solely on my brief experience there - consisting of three hours in Helsinki and two days in the little town of Imatra - and on what I was told by my friend Gorsharn, who has lived in Finland for nearly a year.
On the positive side, there are many, many beautiful trees in Finland. There are lovely lakes. There is yummy fish and there are delicious berries. Helsinki is nice. The public transportation is good. Everything is clean. There is the type of peace and quiet that you will never, ever get someplace like Brighton. There are some nice old buildings - I didn’t see very many myself, but I’m sure there are others somewhere else in Finland. Um…there are many beautiful trees…
On the somewhat less positive side, there isn’t a whole lot to do (at least, not in Imatra) unless you’re a sporty, outdoorsy sort of person, in which case you can fish, ski, cycle, hike and swim in the freezing cold water to your heart’s content. There is the type of peace and quiet that can seem extremely oppressive after a while. There are lots of functional, unattractive "new" buildings that make Finland look very much like an Eastern bloc country. Then there is the matter of the sun - it hardly ever rises in the winter, which must be hellish, and it never really sets in the summer, which is odd and disturbing in it’s own way.
And there is also the matter of alcohol. Apparently, when Finnish men get drunk, they can get really aggressive and will pick fights with other men for no reason. This kind of behavior is probably typical of people all over the world, but it’s particularly extreme in Finland - so we didn’t go out for a drink in Imatra for fear that Jeremy might get beaten up. I don’t know if this really would have happened or if we were just being overcautious or what. All I know is that my friend said she had been out drinking with other women and never had a problem, but the one time she went out for a drink in the company of a guy, the guy got randomly headbutted in a bar. That was enough to make me think we were better off staying indoors on Saturday night.
I don’t have a whole lot more to say about it. Maybe I’ve gotten Finland all wrong, or maybe I just missed something. I don’t know. My friend loved her time there, and I give here a lot of credit for having the guts to go there in the first place (without knowing a soul or speaking much Finnish) and then sticking it out through the long, dark winter. I think it was a brave, adventurous thing to do, and I’m glad she wound up having a really good experience. For my part, I was really happy to be able to visit Finland - and I was even more happy to leave again. Finland is not, in fact, the country for me.
Comments
1
Actually from everything I’ve read and seen you got it just right!
2
Actually Finland does have something else going for it Jessica. A Band called Gjallarhorn. They sing and play wonderful finnish folk tunes, Scandinavian fiddle and viol accompanied by powerful didge drone and driving djembe pulses. The lyrics Jenny Wilhelms sings are pure folklore, trolls- Sea Witches, Kings and enchantresses, Runometric chants! In my own imagination their sound takes me away to Rivendell, Minas Tyrith, Middle Earth. Somehow I suspect you’d like it Good examples of their stuff can be found www.gjallarhorn.com
3
Now that does sound awesome. If they’re anything like Garmarna, I think I’d love them. Thanks for the tip!
4
Assuming your friend living in Imatra took over where we left off, and even lived in the apartment we set up…..I would say you got it mostly wrong. We too spent a year in Imatra, and though buildings are rather utilitarian, Finland isn’t about old architecture; Europe has no lack of that. Finland is about the wild and restless rivers, the endless woodland, and the unfathomable lakes. I hope your friend had as magnificent a year as we did in Imatra. It was the people, you see, who made Imatra a beautiful memory for us.
5
Funny - this is the third time in one week that I’ve found myself talking about this trip to Finland last year…
Anyway, I’m the first to admit that I probably did get it wrong. As I said, I was only there for a weekend, and there’s no way you can understand a place after just a weekend.
The one Finnish person we spent a good deal of time with was absolutely lovely and fun to be around; she showed us some great sites and arranged an amazing meal for us, and was generally just a terrific person. People always play a major part in one’s memories of a place, and I’m sure that if you made good friends in Imatra, you would have good memories of the town.
For my part, I just got a strange vibe from the town. I’m sorry if I’ve done Imatra an injustice by writing about it like I have. I can only write from my own experience of the place, so I’m happy to hear from other people who have a better understanding of Finland in general and Imatra in particular, and who are willing to point out the good things that I missed in my brief visit there.
Sorry. Comments are closed.