Midsummer celebration at Seurasaari Island in Finland

Midsummer's eve is the longest day of the year and one of the most festive Holidays in Finland.  This was going to be my first Midsummer experience in Finland, so I invited some good friends from the United States (currently living in Germany) to take part in the festivities.

Fortunately, it was a gorgeous, sunny day with endless blue skies.  The Finnish weather has been moody these last few weeks and this day was just what the doctor ordered.  We left Espoo around 6pm to head over to Seurasaari Island in Helsinki.  Seurasaari is one of the larger Islands in the Helsinki metro area and the island itself has been converted into some kind of open air museum.  Upon arrival via bus from Espoo, we purchased our tickets, then ventured across the bridge entrance while fighting the growing crowd of Midsummer revelers.    The path from the entrance to the main area was littered with cultural tidbits, arts and crafts.  For example, at one stop you could cut wood with an old saw and at another stop you could walk on wooden stilts or play tug of war.  Many folks were dressed in traditional Finnish gowns while they performed traditional dances on one of the small stages.

Midsummer is perhaps the most special Holiday in Finland, because it kicks off the Summer Holiday season and it is a time of relaxation, parties and reflection.  Not having partaken in any previous Midsummer activities, we all decided that Seurasaari, although touristy might be a good place to experience our first Midsummer.  The main attraction of the celebration is the lighting of the bonfires.  Not having anything to compare the experience with, I was kind of expecting some mammoth "Burning Man" style bonfire.  However, in reality there were about 5 smaller bonfires waiting to be torched.  Each one of these bonfires varied in style and design.  They had one "Estonian" style, one "Ingrian" style and a few other varieties of bonfires.  Although they were impressive and neat to watch light up, the burning of these didn't evoke feelings of mass euphoria.  I was however caught up in a Zen like moment with friends and family sipping on a few cold ones on a rock overlooking the Bay while the fires were burning.  It was a perfect evening to kick off the start of the summer season and to reflect on life.

We actually left Seurasaari just past 10pm which is quite early for Midsummer events, but with tired children and a 30 minutes bus ride ahead of us, it was probably the right call.  All in all, Midsummer in Seurasaari was a pleasant, though commercial experience.

What inspires you?

For the last 6 months or so, I have been blogging about my experiences living in Finland as well as comparing life in Europe to what I was used too back in the United States.  I think now is a good time to take a step back and reflect on life and what directs us through each day.  Some of us live life as if we are a rat running around the wheel in a cage and we re-live this same dull day over and over again.   My aim is not just to repeat old cliche's, but I am one who truly believes that every single minute is precious and we have only one chance in life.  So, everyday we must seek and fulfill the passion that drives our desires.  Inspiration can come in many forms and fashions.  It could simply be a pleasant exchange with a stranger or a heated political discussion with a coworker, or just simply pushing your child on a swing in the neighborhood park.  The point is we all need something to motivate and inspire us in life.

Family, friends and co-workers are all important in our daily lives, but to find fulfillment and passion, we need to look deep within ourselves.  We need to analyze and seek out the items in our lives that we are passionate about.  Maybe you are driven by your work and it stokes your internal flames, or maybe you enjoy painting art, or perhaps even rock climbing.  Everyone has their own favorites hobbies and interests.  The hard part is taking the time and effort to keep your passions alive and well.  The fact is that they can only be kept relevant through continuous drive, desire and determination.  This is your life, the time is now, get out and live your dreams.

Those reading this blog entry, I ask you to leave me comments on what inspires, drives and motivates you in your daily lives.  Hope to hear from you.

Dream as if you'll live forever.  Live as if you'll die today.  ~James Dean

Moody Finnish weather

My intention is not to go on a negative rant about Finnish weather, but sometimes it cannot be avoided.  :)  We just hit the month of June and in Finland you would have thought it was the middle of Winter minus the snow.  A storm came to town for the first weekend in June and just in time for Graduation ceremonies which are occurring all over Finland this weekend.  Non stop rain overnight left swollen gutters and nasty surprises for those early morning drivers.  I know that the weather is not always perfect in Finland,  but they have had their share of warm summers, and Summer rain normally just means a small passing shower.  This weekend's storm caught me off guard to say the least.  Looking on the bright side, Finland which is about the same latitude as Alaska, is spared the very harsh weather by having the Gulf Stream warm up the air.  If it wasn't for the generous Gulf Stream, Finland's climate would be way less desirable.

Last weekend I did the Tour d' Espoo bike ride.  This 110 kilometer bike ride (cycling) featured nice views of the Baltic Ocean as well as scenic countryside and many lakes. The weather for this ride was just what the doctor ordered.  It was about 73 degrees and sunny, and I even got sunburned!  It was a really neat way to tour Espoo via bike.  Espoo is one of the largest cities in Finland in both size and population, but since Finland is so sparsely populated, even Espoo has it's share of open countryside and farms.

Anyhow, being a spoiled Californian, I could easily predict the Summer weather and seasons.  We barely had a drop of rain during the Summer and you could pretty much plan on having nice weather from early May through October without fail.  There are even streaks of warm (20 celsius or more) weather during February and March where I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I knew coming to Finland that I would have to make some sacrifices on the weather front.  They say that you can get used to things, but after 40 years of living in California, the adjustment has not always been easy.  So, when you decide to visit Finland, just remember that the weather is a bit of  "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".  It can be restrictive at times, but with a good attitude, you should do just fine.  :)

Time off, Finnish style

In Finland and most of Europe, people know what it means to really take time off.  Time spent away from the office relaxing with family and friends is highly regarded in Finland.   With summer vacations approaching soon, people are starting to get excited about their longest stretch of time without work.  In Finland, since the summers are precious and short, most people take off several weeks in July.  I don't just mean 1 or 2 weeks off, but 3, 4 or even 5 weeks in a row.  Finns know what it means to truly relax from the stresses of the workplace and recharge their batteries.  Some spend 2 weeks traveling, then 1 week relaxing at a summer cottage, then an additional week just to recover from their vacation.  The goal is to totally decompress and get work out of the mind and the system.  Having worked in the US for most of my career, I recall struggling just to reserve 2 or 2 1/2 weeks off without interrupting the work schedules.  If I wanted to take off more than 2 weeks in a row, I needed upper management to sign off on my vacation request.  US bosses always say to take your vacations, but when it comes down to it, they care more concerned about keeping the business running like a well oiled machine.  In Finland, almost all businesses completely shut down during the month of July, so managers are not running around with decreased staff trying to keep the business at full speed, but they actually relax and take the time off themselves.  It makes sense since the summers are short and precious, people should not be wasting them in the office.

Most US companies start with 2 weeks of vacation and increase to 3 or even 4 weeks when employees reach a certain level of seniority.  In Finland, most companies start with 5 weeks, however many other Holidays and  extra days off can taken during the year.   I was lucky enough to have 4 weeks of vacation in my last US company, however that was kind of exceptional. Good luck if I was ever going to get off 4 weeks off in a row.  I normally took off 2 weeks during the summer and spread the other vacation days around throughout the year.  It will be nice talking off long stretches during the summer now and feeling guilt free about it.  I am truly looking forward to vacations, Finnish style.

So you want to learn Finnish?

There is one topic I have avoided writing about in my blog. That would be in regards to my painful struggle with the Finnish language.  In the past I have always considered myself to be engaged and truly interested in learning foreign languages. However,  Americans like myself are a bit crippled in this respect and the majority of the US populous are monoglots.  Language learning just isn't supported in the United States the same way it is in Scandinavia and Europe.  We are not required to take languages in school and usually don't even start to learn them until High School (which is much too late).

Excuses aside, Finnish truly is a difficult language to learn, and some say it is one of the most difficult in all of Europe if not the entire world.  You might think why is Finnish any more difficult than most European languages?  First of all, Finnish doesn't belong to the same language tree as the other Germanic Scandinavian languages and it isn't really related to any other languages.  Finnish belongs to the Finno-Ugric language tree.  In fact the only other major languages in the Finno-Ugric tree are Estonian and Hungarian.  So, it is a truly unique language.   What makes it super difficult for Americans and other native English speakers without language backgrounds is the fact that the pronunciation is so difficult and there are so many different cases.  The Finnish alphabet uses a few special characters like the ö and the ä.  These have distinctly different sounds from the English o and a.  I won't get too deep into pronunciations, Finnish words, or grammar cases because that would be an entirely different post.  However, I do want to give an example of the twisting of words in Finnish.  For example, in English when you use a noun in a sentence like "glass", the word stays the same.  The spelling of the noun never changes.  However, in Finnish depending on how you use "glass" in the sentence, the word changes.  So if you drink from the glass, throw the glass, break the glass, put the glass on the table, etc.  The word will change in each case and you must remember how to twist the word in all the cases.  This is by no means an easy learning experience. I find it hard enough just to learn all the new verbs and nouns and then having to worry about twisting words up to 15 times is just mind boggling in my opinion.  You throw the difficult pronunciations on top of that and you are in for a very challenging language learning experience.

I had taken some Finnish lessons several years ago before moving to Finland, so I had some knowledge of the language and knew some vocabulary.  Also, now living here for 9 months I have obviously had more exposure to the language.   But, to be totally honest, Finnish is not a language you just pick up while living here.  You don't just string a bunch of words together and speak slowly in Finnish, you pretty much either know Finnish or you don't.  There really isn't much in between, because if you attempt to speak Finnish and you can't be understood by the locals, in 95% of the cases, you will get English spoken back to you.  Their command of the English language is very impressive to say the least.    It is very frustrating knowing how many Finns can speak perfect English, when I am in their country and can barely string 2 Finnish sentences together and make sense of it.   The Finnish language has been compared to a triangle, where one must learn the most difficult and challenging part at the base and then work their way up to the top of the triangle where mastery takes place.  The bottom of the triangle or base is very difficult and takes a long time to master, however once the rules are learned, the learning curve gets easier. Where in English, the language has been compared to an upside down triangle where the rules of learning in the beginning are easier and one can learn to speak basic English fairly fast.  However, as they climb up the triangle, the challenges grow with the different rules of English words and tenses.  So, basically what I am trying to say is that Finnish is extremely challenging in the beginning and English not so much, but in the long term Finnish gets easier where English can get more difficult.  It is a combination of the initial difficulties and complexities of Finnish combined with the fact that so many speak English which makes learning Finnish a difficult but not impossible proposition for any expat living in the Helsinki area.

Summer dreaming

The sun is starting to shine again in Finland.  As the barometer rises, the days are lasting longer and the smiles are returning to people's faces.  :)  Actually, it's no joke, now that the daylight is lasting past 9pm and the warmth is returning,  I am really noticing a change in my daily interactions with people.  We have lived in Finland now for 9 months and have only met a few of our neighbors.  Now, just in the last couple weeks a few families have stopped by to say  "hello".  Many Finns are an introverted  for let's say 8 months out of the year, but when the sun shines bright, they seem to awaken from their winter slumber and will surprise you with a smile or a "hi".  Nothing like the assistance of long, bright days to bring them out of their shells.

I am starting to get excited by the prospects of the Finnish summer.  I have been teased by a few weeks of Finnish summers while on vacation in the past, but never actually spent an entire summer residing here.  In addition to seeing smiling faces again, the summer terrace culture is kick starting soon.  People tend to avoid most indoor activities and soak in the sun rays at the city's many bar terraces and parks.  They truly relish the short summer season and supposedly frequent the terraces multiple times per week.  In other words, they truly take advantage of the small window of time that is the magic of the Finnish summer.  I for one, having been spoiled by Californian sunshine have taken advantage of every Spring day here where the clouds decide to go on strike and allow the sun to beam bright. It is already light till past 9pm and we are still in April.  Once late June rolls around we will have a few weeks of endless sunlight.  These endless nights are also known as the "White Nights" or "Midnight Sun".

After having completed my first winter in Finland and seeing the weather slowly evolve, I can now truly appreciate the sun I perhaps took for granted in California and now have some insights into the psyche of the Finnish persona and how they truly come back to life like a bear that just woke up from his long winter's nap.

Here's to summer 2012 in Finland and everywhere else in the world, may it be the longest, most magical, summer ever.

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.  ~Celia Thaxter

The Finnish Easter Experience

Easter (Pääsiäinen) in Finland is a distinctly different experience than what is celebrated in the United States.  The Palm Sunday before Easter the kids dress up like witches and go door to door collecting sweets.   Reminiscent of the trick-or-treat tradition in the British Isles and North America, this practice is believed to be a mixture of Orthodox Easter blessing customs from Eastern Finland with pre-Christian rituals from Western Finland and Scandinavia.  The kids must recite a rhyme in Finnish and they exchange a decorated branch before receiving their treats.  The Finnish rhyme is: Virvon varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuueks, ison talon isännäks. Vitsa sulle, palkka mulle.

I really enjoy the long Holiday weekends in Finland and Easter is no exception.  Both Friday and Monday are official Holidays, making Easter a 4-day weekend in Finland.  In the United States some people get "Good Friday" off while others just have a normal 2-day weekend.   In Finland, most of the businesses shut down on the long weekend (with exception to Saturday) so many people leave town for vacation.  In Finland most people already get 5-6 weeks of vacation, so these long weekends are a nice addition to the already generous time off policies.  Many folks I had spoken to decided to go downhill skiing in Northern Finland and there is usually still plenty of snow up there at this time of year. 

In addition to eggs and chocolate sweets, traditional Finnish Easter dishes include Ham, Lamb and Mämmi.  Mämmi, a distinctively Finnish desert dish is made from water, rye flour, and powdered rye malt, seasoned with dark molasses, salt, and dried powdered Seville orange peel.  Some are afraid to eat Finnish Mämmi because of it's consistency and dark brown appearance.  It really isn't that scary and besides being kind of thick and filling, doesn't taste all that bad.  It is traditionally eaten with cream and sugar.  Give it a try if you are ever visiting Finland during Easter time.

It recently got a bit colder and snowed a little bit on Palm Sunday and remained cool (25-38 F) during the entire week leading up to Easter.  The Finns said that these brief returns to Winter during Spring are common, and they call them "Takaisin Talvi" or "Back Winter".  Old Man Winter may have reared his ugly head again and placed Spring on hold, but the days are longer, the sun is out and the snow has almost all melted.  You can definitely feel Spring in the air, and now I am just waiting for the warmer barometer to stay longer.