NationStates Jolt Archive

Yea, I know, "lame fake, come up with own ideas", yea, yea. But I just thought that as there have been threads about States (shitloads of), UK (several) and even one about Greece, (and propably about plenty of others, but those are what I have ran into) one about Finland wouldn't do any harm.

And btw, please say from what country are You from when you answer.

Corruption doesn't exist in Finland, they once kicked the Soviets' asses in a war, the capital is Helsinki...okay, so I don't know much. But what I do know, I like. :)

I'm from the US.

IMHO, there are people in Finland who, like Americans, enjoy hunting, fishing, and shooting firearms (in a responsible manner, of course).

It's really cold there. And the winters are very dark.

I find it interesting that the world's greatest sniper was a Finn (Simo Hayha). And he didn't even have a scope on his rifle.

Finland. Cold. Not Scandinivian, but Nordic. A language rather unrelated to most others. Neat 1 and 2 € designs.

Yea, I know, "lame fake, come up with own ideas", yea, yea. But I just thought that as there have been threads about States (shitloads of), UK (several) and even one about Greece, (and propably about plenty of others, but those are what I have ran into) one about Finland wouldn't do any harm.

And btw, please say from what country are You from when you answer.
I'm from America, and I know that if I ever need to learn more about Winter warfare, I'll visit the Finns. They kicked Russian butt in the Winter War of 1939. :)

I'm British, and I know next to nothing about Finland, other than that it is the northernmost country of Europe discounting Russia, some of it actually being in the Arctic Circle. I know also that it has had phenomenal success in dealing with some kinds of heart disease, which were endemic in certain regions, by encouraging people to change diets. And I know that its language is a language isolate, similar in ways I do not know to Hungarian but without known ancestors, and not, I gather, Indo-European of origin.

Oh, and I know the situation in it in WWII was... interesting, as the Germans and the Russians competed for various parts of it.

I know nothing of its politics, society or people, though, so sorry.

I find it interesting that the world's greatest sniper was a Finn (Simo Hayha). And he didn't even have a scope on his rifle.
Häyhä is surprisingly well known man... But he did kill more than 300 Sovjez though.

When asked what killing so many people felt like, his answer was something like "It's much like shooting bears, just that the Russians aren't as scary." :D

That taking the ferry there is quite cheap and a sure fire way to get so drunk during the journey from buying all that duty free alcohol at the stop-over on Åland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85land), that you will not remember anything from the short excursions off the boat to Helsinki and the way the Finnish populace acted or how you made yourself understood, or why that big, blonde, pleasant Finnish man kept asking you when it was OK for him to come visit you in Sweden as you had apparently discussed, suspectably post-coitus...

And that you will not forget how the chilly and wavy Baltic sea is unmercifully inconsiderate to your monumental Koskenkorva (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koskenkorva) bender, and how your sick-up consisting almost entirely of half-digested pierogi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi) is an attractive meal for archipelagian birds.

...I know next to nothing about Finland, other than that it is the northernmost country of Europe discounting Russia, some of it actually being in the Arctic Circle...Norway is further north than Finland...

I know that Suomi (is that the Finnish name for Finland?) gave the Soviets all they could handle in 1939, though I think it's inaccurate to say the Soviets lost the war. They eventually overwhelmed with numbers, but the Finns made the Russians pay dearly.

I also know that Finnish isn't as similar to the three Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) as they are to each other. I know the Finns love their saunas. I also know Paavo Nurmi (sp?) did very well in the Olympics many years ago.

I know Helsinki's the capital. Anyway, that's me. If I got anything wrong, I'm American. That's my excuse.

Häyhä is surprisingly well known man... But he did kill more than 300 Sovjez though.

When asked what killing so many people felt like, his answer was something like "It's much like shooting bears, just that the Russians aren't as scary." :D
542 Russians using his rifle - over 200 using a submachinegun.

Norway is further north than Finland...

So it is. How embarrassing. Sorry! I thought Finland extended all the way to the northern coast there *-_-*

The Finns appear to be introverted by Scandinavian standards, but have better bands (unless you're into Black Metal).
They generally leave the Lapps to their own devices.
Aki Kaurismaki is an excellent director.
Booze is very expensive.
The Kalevala is a very strange read.

They make good racing drivers.

Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen, Marcus Gronholm, Ari Vatanen, Keke Rosberg Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen...

Oh aye, and the only Finnish people I've ever met (5 or 6 of them) were all very attractive.

Oh, right, country. Northern Ireland.

I'm Canadian.

I know that Finland is Suomi in Finnish, and I'm told that means "people of the fens". Like the others above, I know that the Finns held off a Russian invasion in WWII, and that they've had some phenomenal snipers.

I understand that their climate is a lot like mid-northern Canada, and that it was once a province of Sweden. Your head of state (president?) is a woman.

And best of all, we have you to thank for saunas. :D

What do You think/know about Finland?
Finland gave us Linus Torvalds, and so will never be forgotten. :-)

And btw, please say from what country are You from when you answer
England

I know that Suomi (is that the Finnish name for Finland?) gave the Soviets all they could handle in 1939, though I think it's inaccurate to say the Soviets lost the war. They eventually overwhelmed with numbers, but the Finns made the Russians pay dearly.

I also know that Finnish isn't as similar to the three Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) as they are to each other. I know the Finns love their saunas. I also know Paavo Nurmi (sp?) did very well in the Olympics many years ago.

I know Helsinki's the capital. Anyway, that's me. If I got anything wrong, I'm American. That's my excuse.

In here, the debate about whether the war was "won" or "lost" is still going, though not with too great intensity really. Most of us consider it as a victory though, as our aim was to remain independent and Stalin's to conquer our land, "secure" their next-to-Leningrad border permanently (by moving most of the Finnish population to deathcamps in Siberia, like he had done to several Caucasian peoples.) and end the existense of Finnish culture.

Under those terms, Suomi *gives a plate full of cookies :D* won.

Paavo Nurmi *couple of extra cookies and a friendly nodd* was a decent runner, but I really dunno why he is so overboasted. :rolleyes:

An yea *ran out of cookies already :( * Finnish people and language have common origins with Hungary and Estonia rather than Sweden and Denmanrk.

I know that it was once fascist and fought the Soviets and invented the molotov cocktail in the process, though I'm told the alliance with Nazi Germany was not taken too seriously. There are a large number of Swedes on the west coast and Nokia cellphones are made in Finland, too. The Finnish language has 14 or so cases and is really hard.

Finland gave us Linus Torvalds, and so will never be forgotten. :-)
And Jukka Korpela, of course. Though he's not as famous.

Why did I give all the cookies to Sarz already? Dammit! You people know by far better than I had expected, should have saved couple for rest of you too! And so few negative comments, I'm just amazed :eek:

The booz (if that's how it should be written) is really expencive, that's unfortunately true... But since our government lowered the alcohol taxes just recently, the prize has came down quite nicely.

I know that it was once fascist and fought the Soviets and invented the molotov cocktail in the process, though I'm told the alliance with Nazi Germany was not taken too seriously. There are a large number of Swedes on the west coast and Nokia cellphones are made in Finland, too. The Finnish language has 14 or so cases and is really hard.
I'm told that there's pubs in Finland where if you take a non domestic phone out of your pocket you'll be comitting a serious faux pas.

542 Russians using his rifle - over 200 using a submachinegun.

Geez... You're right. I should be ashamed for this, a foreigner with better knowledge about Finnish supersniper than I have! But anyways, well known.

I'm told that there's pubs in Finland where if you take a non domestic phone out of your pocket you'll be comitting a serious faux pas.

:D

No comments.

Geez... You're right. I should be ashamed for this, a foreigner with better knowledge about Finnish supersniper than I have! But anyways, well known.

and you invented the sauna...

I would live in a sauna if I could...

I know that it was once fascist and fought the Soviets.

Finland had a very strong nationalist right-wing movement in the twenties and thirties, and we did have a lot of extreme right-wing activity up to the end of the war, but the local fascist-equivalents never won power. They tried a coup in the thirties, but were rebuffed by the government. Finland was never really a fascist country. "Conservative" would probably characterise period Finland better.

We were happily allied with Germany against the Soviets up until -44, when we did that infamous volte-face of ours, though.

And another thing (in addition to my previous two posts) - BBC News did a report on Finland's tax system yesterday (contrasting it with Estonia's), saying it demonstrates that a high-tax economy can work very well if enough money is invested in education.

:D

No comments.
A friend of mine almost got lynched once (or so he claims: he could be exaggerating...)
Wasn't Tove Jansson Finnish?

Finland had a very strong nationalist right-wing movement in the twenties and thirties, and we did have a lot of extreme right-wing activity up to the end of the war, but the local fascist-equivalents never won power. They tried a coup in the thirties, but were rebuffed by the government. Finland was never really a fascist country. "Conservative" would probably characterise period Finland better.

We were happily allied with Germany against the Soviets up until -44, when we did that infamous volte-face of ours, though.

Oh, ok

Race car drivers, snipers, OS developers, and - of course - most importantly: hockey players!

Selanne, Koivu, Laukkanen, Niinimaa, Lumme, Hurme, Salo, Ruutu, Kapanen....


Some of the best freedoms and job equality in the world. A giving country that ranks near the top in per-capita foreign aid.

You drink more coffee per capita than anyone except the Norwegians, you have won more summer olympic medals per capita than anyone else, have the best reading literacy score in the world, and ahve more people per capita devoted to research than anyone else.


Unfortunately, for some reason Finland also tops the list for suicide rates in many age categories....

A friend of mine almost got lynched once (or so he claims: he could be exaggerating...)
Wasn't Tove Jansson Finnish?

Well, what I know Finnish people are rarely that hostile towards English-speaking foreigners (Russians and Somalian refugees are, sadly, a whole different story :( ) but if drunk enough, anything can happen. In Finland, fights at nights between drunk people are quite common, and stabbings also. Guess we are quite violent and aggressive, especially after a night in a bar :rolleyes:

That's one of the main reasons we have so strict gun laws.


And yes, Tove Jansson was indeed a Finnish writer, though he (as the name suggest's) belonged in to the Swedish-speaking minority (some 400,000 out of 5,2million) and wrote in Swedish.

British. Been to Finland briefly, liked it a lot.

Friendly people (utterly un-Scandanavian looking to my untutored eye) nice food, bloody expensive and possibly the finest central heating in the world.

A lot of snow. In fact, one of my chief memories is of going to a venue in the middle of nowhere to attend a conference organised by the anti-smoking lobby, and having to take my cigarette breaks outside in a blizzard, in -20 degrees, in a lightweight business suit.

I would happily live there if weren't for (a) the climate; and (b) the fact that I'm English, and therefore crap at foreign languages.

Well, what I know Finnish people are rarely that hostile towards English-speaking foreigners (Russians and Somalian refugees are, sadly, a whole different story :( ) but if drunk enough, anything can happen. In Finland, fights at nights between drunk people are quite common, and stabbings also. Guess we are quite violent and aggressive, especially after a night in a bar :rolleyes:

That's one of the main reasons we have so strict gun laws.


And yes, Tove Jansson was indeed a Finnish writer, though he (as the name suggest's) belonged in to the Swedish-speaking minority (some 400,000 out of 5,2million) and wrote in Swedish.
I don't think it was that serious (he obviously hadn't been lynched when I saw him next) probably just a bit of shouting or a scuffle.
At least you have to be drunk before trouble starts over there. That's something...

That is compensated by being drunk as often (and hard) as humanly possible. :rolleyes:

Oh, ok

No prob, it happens. The war was such a mess. :D

I know quite lot - in fact, I know as much as not be able to name it all in one reply.

I find the country quite interesting, actually.

And yes, Tove Jansson was indeed a Finnish writer, though he (as the name suggest's) belonged in to the Swedish-speaking minority (some 400,000 out of 5,2million) and wrote in Swedish.

(Swedish)

I happen to know that Tove Jansson lived on the island of Pellinge near to Borgå. My mother comes from the Swedish speaking minority, from Borgå in fact... my nationstate is named after the Latin name for that town.

So, I guess that actually makes me half-Finnish. Anyway, you are our neighbour to the east and very useful for going on drinking trips to via Mariehamn... don't you just love it when the see is so rough that the dance floor disappears beneath your feet? (Or is that just the effect of the vodka on the legs?).

I know that Finnish speakers sometimes seem a bit awkward when you speak Swedish to them, even in areas where the finlands-swedes live.

I also know that Finland has the best pizza restaurant I know of in the world... Pizza Dennis in Åbo!

good food, good people, good drink and good pubs

applying for a finnish visa any day now

I grew up in a small town in New England. A large part of the population were second and third generation Finns, descended from immigrants who came to work in the granite quarries.

Great people. Like to drink, get a little wild when they drink too much.

I know that hunting is popular in Finland, and that they have a large population of American white-tailed deer in the southern part. They have a well-developed forest industry, and are leaders in the field of forest management.

As I write this, I'm looking at a beautiful reindeer pelt my son brought back from a trip to Finland and Scandinavia. He remarked on how much more courteous the Finns were than the Swedes. He liked the people and the food and drink, but didn't have a chance to see much of the country but from the train.

I'd like to take a hunting trip there and see their forestry first-hand. Tough language to learn, though.

I know that Finnish is supposed to be the hardest language in the world.

I'm from the UK and I happen to know that the Finnish government is one of the first clear cut victims of globalisation. The agressor being Nokia. Apparantly from what I have read, over a 1/3 of all shares in Finland are Nokia ones and a few years ago when corperate tax went up, the CEO of Nokia announced he/she (dont know their name) was not pleased, and threatended to move their money elsewhere. Of course the problem for the Finnish government being that there is little they can do, they need the tax from Nokia but also they have to be fair with everyone. Finns, how accurate is my knowledge?

Forgot to mention: I'm from Romania. (add to post 35)

i'm from the UK... don't know much about finland at all...

apart from having heard of mika hakkinen, kimi raikonen and tommi makinen (the drivers), sauas are from there, the local lager is called lapin kulta, Nokia phones are from there and its cold...

Plus it has lapland where father christmas is supposed to live...

And i knew a girl called Reena (sp?) at uni last year from finland. She was a bit of a slag, but a good dancer ;)

I know that they claim ownership of Aland, even though pretty much everyone on the island speaks swedish.

They fought the invading Russians very successfully in WWII.

Finnish isn't related to other European languages.

They produce outstanding Rally drivers.

The winters are long & cold.

My girlfriend has been there & she said it's very beautiful.

I also know that Finland has the best pizza restaurant I know of in the world... Pizza Dennis in Åbo!
Sorry to tell you this B, but Dennis just died (a month ago). I'm certain his sons carry on the good name of the pizzeria... :)

Finns, how accurate is my knowledge?
Not very, but you spelled the names right.

all i know is that its cold as fuck even by irish standards and that it has quiet a few good metal bands......do you have polar bears by any chance

I know that the language is really interesting and that there is some kick ass music coming out of Finland at the moment.

And now I feel like listening to some Moonsorrow.