“Siniristilippu” – the flag
The feeling of blue and white
White clouds and blue skies. Summer lakes and snow drifts. These are the colours of the Finnish flag.
Part of the Nordic family
The feeling of friendly rivalry
Finland shares culture and a long history with the rest of the Nordic/Scandinavian countries. And as in any family, they maintain friendly competition, and this ensures that they all stay at the top of any international ranking.
White nights
And we are alive!
It is sunny when you get up and it is sunny when you go to bed. Who would want to (or need to) sleep when the days are endless and the light is white?!
Kaamos
The feeling of sunless days
Finnish winters are long and dark. In Lapland, the sun doesn’t rise at all between December and January. In Finnish, this sunless period is called ‘kaamos’.
Sauna
It’s a state of mind
Sauna is a holy place for Finns. This is a country with 3.2 million saunas and 5.4 million people. Finns go to the sauna naked – and often together with family. Every Finn has her/his own sauna routine, but it always cleanses mind and body.
Sauna whisk
A bloody good feeling
Nothing beats the feeling of sauna mixed with a bit of whisking with birch sticks. It really gets your circulation going! We have a bit of a disagreement, whether the whisk should be called “vasta” or “vihta” in Finnish. But there are no doubts about its health impacts though!
The Polar Bear
…that never existed
News! Despite stubborn belief, Polar bears do not roam on the streets of Helsinki. Actually, they don’t live anywhere on Finnish soil, but a large number of other arctic animal species do.
Pusa Hispida Saimensis
How cute can one be?
The Saimaa ringed seal, ‘saimaannorppa’, are among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 370 individuals. The only existing population of these seals is found in Lake Saimaa, Finland.
The original Santa
The never-ending wait for Santa Claus.
The real Santa comes from Finland. He has always lived at Korvatunturi, a mountain in Finnish Lapland, in the far north of the country. (He does not live at the North Pole!)
Iceman
”Leave me alone. I know what I’m doing.”
This typically Finnish attitude was made famous by the Iceman himself, Formula 1 driver Kimi Räikkönen. We feel he quite nicely sums it all up.
Karjalanpiirakka
Craving for something delicious?
“Karjalanpiirakka” is a traditional pasty, or pie, originally from the region of Karelia. Its rye crust usually contains a filling of rice porridge. The original topping is a mixture of eggs and butter called, appropriately, egg butter. Karjalanpiirakka is eaten all over Finland at all times and occasions, from breakfast to weddings.
Cup of coffee
The feeling of dying for a coffee.
Finland is, per capita, the number-one coffee consuming nation in the world. Finns drink an average of 2.6 cups per day. Coffee is consumed all day, every day, and coffee breaks are mandated by most unions.
Perkele
The feeling of PRKL
The mother of all Finnish swearwords. Literally means the devil but at the same time it means so much more. You can make the curse longer and more effective by rolling the ‘r’. If you say it, say it like you mean it!
Sisu
The feeling of perseverance
In Finland, as the saying goes, we ‘go through even a grey rock.’ Arctic nature has given us guts – or ‘sisu’ as we call it. It’s about not giving in – even when it might be wiser to do so…
Finland is the first country in the world to publish its own set of country themed emojis.
The Finland emoji collection contains 56 tongue-in-cheek emotions, which were created to explain some hard-to-describe Finnish emotions, Finnish words and customs.
Source: This is Finland, finland.fi