A Finnish thing?

I found an English language newspaper/ magazine and was able to get more of a glimpse inside Finnish culture. The newspaper is called "Six Degrees." There was an article about the Finnish dish rack. The amusing thing is that the writer claims that they exist no where else in the world, BUT they are everywhere in Russia. Obviously the writer has never been to Russia. I will have to send the writer an email and tell them that the same concept exists in Russia. I have thought about why the idea has never caught on in Australia or Canada, when I realised that nearly all houses in Canalia have the kitchen sink next to a window. This poses a much deeper question....

Have a read of the article:

A Finnish thing?
Items you can find in every self respecting Finnish household:
The Draining Cupboard- by Mirjami Schuppert

Despite being one of the greatest Finnish inventions ever, the dish drying cupboard, known in Finnish as astiankuivauskaappi or more colloquially as tiskikaappi, has for some reason never really caught on outside the country.
A dish drying rack is nothing new and is known all over the world. But how many people have seen, before coming to Finland, a dish drying rack built inside a closet!
The most common dish drying racks stand on the table. The dishes dripping there look ugly and the whole thing occupies a lot of space. The superior Finnish draining cupboard is open at the bottom and is located above the sink, so that the water can drip down freely. Inside, there are gratings on which to place the dishes. A grating also replaces the lowest shelf, which enables air circulation inside the cupboard. The dishes dry by themselves behind the closed doors, conveniently out of sight.
The first draining cupboard was designed by the Work Efficiency Institute (TTS) in 1944. Maiju Gebhard, head of the TTS research, education and training department, was leading a project with the aim of reducing women's workload by inventing utensils and tools that made everyday tasks easier and faster to complete. Women had taken over men's jobs during the Second World War, and after a long working day they still had to take care of the home. Later, presumably after women had been assigned back to the kitchen, Gebhard wrote that "the draining cupboard lets the housewife out of the kitchen and into the field, garden and nature to enjoy summer!"
The dish drying cupboard is a good example of rational design. According to TTS, it is an amazing creation; a product that doesn't consume any energy and doesn't need to be maintained. It makes life easier but costs little.
Draining cupboards became common at the end of the 1940s as their production was industrialised. The original wooden grating shelves were replaced by removable plastic coated iron grating in the early 60s. Draining cupboards are still popular today despite the arrival of the dishwasher. Almost all Finnish homes have one because there are always some dishes that can't be washed in a machine.
The draining cupboard is also one of those things that Finns living abroad miss from home. A Finnish family moving abroad for the first time has to go through what has become a ritualistic search for a draining cupboard, before realising that it is in vain. The soggy grip of the tea towel over the rest of the planet has come as a nasty shock to many an unprepared emigrant.


What the write does not know, is that this is not true in Russia, the draining cupboard is common place there too.