Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes
Wednesday June 5th, 2013. 11:57 AM.[Finland culture].
Interesting article in BBC Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes
No CommentsGiant map of Spain shown at Kamppi, Helsinki
Saturday June 1st, 2013. 12:16 AM.[Spain, helsinki].
Last weekend I found this in Kamppi Square: a 250 square meter giant interactive map of Spain.
I had the chance to talk with some Spanish people from the Spanish Tourist office in Helsinki, (but not Pedro), and also I talked with a Finnish man, who joined us in the conversation after asking in Finnish: “What language are you talking? Spanish?”
More information here in Facebook.
1 CommentXylitol
Saturday May 25th, 2013. 11:21 AM.[Finland culture, Uncategorized].
I wrote an article on medium.com about Xylitol and Finland. Check it out.
No CommentsDo people eat reindeer meat in Finland?
Tuesday March 26th, 2013. 01:36 PM.[Finland culture, Spain].
Yes, but rarely. Finns don’t eat normally reindeer meat, although I see it constantly being promoted to tourists. The typical reindeer dish from Lapland is poronkäristys .
This capture is from Helsinki Times newspaper, where you can see that reindeer meat consumption by average is only 0.5 Kg per person. And I guess that it was served to tourists.
Should I make a joke about Horse consumption and Findus? Oh well.
And yes, in Spain we love meat.
World Meat consumption http://chartsbin.com/view/bhy
Source: http://lihatiedotus.fi/www/fi/tilastot/lihan_kulutus_euroopassa.php
Finland - Land of the Midnight Sun
Friday March 8th, 2013. 12:43 PM.[Finland culture, Music, Videos].
New video promoting Finland and its endless Summer nights under the Midnight Sun. More info in visitfinland.com or finland.fi.
Don’t think about the mosquitos, just enjoy the music and relax with the video:
Did you know this blog is part of finland.fi? (Spanish Blogs Section, olé)
2 CommentsFrozen Sea in Finland
Thursday January 31st, 2013. 11:49 AM.[Winter, helsinki].
Some photos of January 2013, having a walk in front of Eira-Kaivopuisto area in Helsinki.
Helsingin Sanomat, Helsinki Times and SixDegrees
Saturday December 8th, 2012. 02:11 PM.[Finland culture, Opinion, helsinki].
As a foreigner in Finland, I don’t talk fluently Finnish, so I appreciate a lot every time I can grab some news and information in English about Finland.
Let’s explore some options:
One of the best ways to know what’s happening in Finland it was the English online version of Helsingin Sanomat (the main newspaper in Finland). But, as you can read in their website they just closed it this year 2012:
Helsingin Sanomat’s English-language digest, the International Edition, launched in 1999, closed down in its present form on Friday October 26th
Other option is Helsinki Times, a weekly newspaper. I’ve bought it some times and currently I’ve subscribed 3 months for 20€ (online version)
Helsinki Times is an independent weekly newspaper covering news and events in Finland. Available on annual subscription, and on sale at R-kioskis
The last option is a free monthly magazine called SixDegrees. You can find it in piles normally in crowded streets in Helsinki or inside the train station or shopping malls. Their style is much more focused on multicultural issues / entertainment.
You can read 6Degrees online from http://www.lehtiluukku.fi/pub?id=24329 (click the button Lue lehteä ilmaiseksi )
They have a section Finnish after Dark: Learning the Finnish they don’t teach in school.
I found it normally quite funny, I will end this blog post with it:
Finnish: Tuparit
English: Housewarming
While Finns may not always invite people to their homes very often, the housewarming party is a notable exception. The best ones are loud, wild … and include free drinks and cake. It’s a great opportunity to praise the hosts taste in decor, marvel over the low rent, and then spend the rest of the evening spilling red wine on their carpets and infuriating their neighbors by playing the White Stripes at full volume.
* Jarilla on tuparit siellä poikamiesboksissa lauantaina. Oot sä menossa?
* Ehkä. Mä en oo keksiny mitään hyvää tuparilahjaa.
* No, hei! Vie kilo suolaa, jälkiuunileipä ja kossupullo. Kyllä ne sinkkumiehelle kelpaa.
* Jari has having his housewarming at his bachelor pad Saturday. Are you going?
* Maybe. I don’t know what to bring, though.
* Bring the usual bread an salt - and koskenkorva. These are sure to be lot of single men there!
— UPDATE
By Twitter, Jani recommended also:
@dcorbacho YLE yle.fi/uutiset/news/. Also thelocal.se was supposed to land in Finland years ago (circa 2008), but no sign of it yet
— Jani Tarvainen (@velmu) December 9, 2012
and Therese:
1 Comment@dcorbacho hey! checkout newshub.fi
— Therese Bogan (@tbogan) December 10, 2012
Fishing under ice
Saturday November 10th, 2012. 03:23 PM.[Funny, Videos].
A video made by some really creative Finnish guys. Filmed in the lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland
No CommentsSpaniards around the world
Tuesday August 28th, 2012. 11:02 AM.[Spain, Summer, Tampere, Videos, helsinki].
Video [in Spanish] about Spaniards living in Finland. It was recorded this spring-summer 2012.
Tampere, Helsinki, Turku
Molotov cocktail
Sunday July 1st, 2012. 03:44 AM.[Finland culture, History, Videos].
Everyday you learn something new.
The name “Molotov cocktail” was coined by the Finns during the Winter War.
During the Winter War, the Soviet air force made extensive use of incendiaries and cluster bombs against Finnish troops and fortifications. When Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov claimed in radio broadcasts that they were not bombing, but delivering food to the starving Finns, the Finns, who were not starving, started to call the air bombs Molotov bread baskets. Soon they responded by attacking advancing tanks with “Molotov cocktails”, which were “a drink to go with the food”.
Molotov cocktails were eventually mass-produced by the Alko corporation at its Rajamäki distillery, bundled with matches to light them. Production totalled 450,000 during the Winter War.
Although it can’t be said that Molotov cocktail was a Finnish invention. Improvised incendiary devices were used for the first time in the Spanish Civil War between July 1936 and April 1939, before they became known as “Molotov cocktails”.
3 Comments