Finland/ Suomi- Helsinki

So we arrived in Finland on September 18th for our visa trip. I have had very limited access to internet, and so this blog has been very sparse and my email box is overflowing.

The first thing I noticed about Finland is that it is clean! It has a very similar landscape to Russia, but it is organised. The roads are very high in quality and there is organised agriculture going on.



There are so many things that you take for granted living in the west. So many that I won't bother listing them all, because seriously you won't appreciate them. Let me try one on for size. The day we arrived Melody and I rejoiced and marvelled over a ham sandwich (such quality sliced ham does not exist in Russia, nor such soft bread). Sound trivial? I thought so, but the list is very long, so much so that I felt like crying because of the contrasts.

Helsinki train station. (Helsingfors in Swedish.)


The joy was indescribable when we visited Merja's house. It has a nice garden. Wow. Once again my heart was filled with emotion. We however, have been staying in an apartment 15 mins from the centre. Finland does have some similarities with Russia. (It was part of Russia in the 19th century until 1917. Some how the Bolsheviks just forgot about Finland, and they were allowed to go free. The Soviets tried attacking in WW2, but then by God's grace got distracted by the Nazis, and Finland was spared again.) Helsinki has many apartment buldings like Russia, but they are all shorter (mostly 3 floors), they are much cleaner and have a lot more green space in between. The grass actually grows and is not a dustbowl. There is adequate parking for all residents. There is a bit of a similarity to the Russian Dacha system. People can have a garden plot in a special zone in the city, they can also have a cottage in the forest, but do not do gardening there. Some Finnish food is similar- a milky yoghurt sour drink like the Russian drink, Kefir; meat wrapped in cabbage- but the Finnish version has berries and sauce on top.


The trees, gardens and grass, remind me greatly of my own city, Melbourne. The amount of rain we have had while here has reminded me of a Melbourne Winter!


We had some Finns visit us in Novo in May. The lady is Merja. The bald man is Veltsu (he's a real softy). The other man is working on the translation into Khanty for IBT (he was not a visitor to Novo). The berries are in the top right, yes you eat them with meat.


Finnish Orthodox Church. While the bulding looks greatly influenced by Russian culture, the church comes under the Greek Patriarch.


Boats to Tallinn, Estonia take 90 mins.


In the foreground, the new arts museum. In the background is the Ice Hockey Stadium and to the right of that the 1952 Olympic Stadium. Close to where we are staying, some of the apartment buildings were part of the 1952 Olympic Village.


We have noticed quite an amusing fad during our time in Helsinki. At first I thought people were practising for cross country skiing. Nope. So many people can be seen walking around with these walking sticks. They are supposed to be good for posture. I just have to laugh. People will surely pay for anything if someone markets it well enough!


Finnish breads... The one on the right has rice in it, egg can also be cooked on top.


I actually enjoyed these pieces of art. They are from an artist who is an activist trying to save a breed of Finnish cow that is in danger of disappearing. There is still a suburb in Helsinki where one can keep cows, and she is the only one who takes advantage of this by-law.


Cottage in the forest.



Roasted bananas and chocolate on the fire at the cottage.


Enjoying the day.