I love to talk about Finland!
I am surprised by how little most people in the US know about Finland (including myself before about two years ago). It seems like the ones who do know about it love it, are passionate about it, and know quite a bit about it (I even personally know two men with Finish saunas built into their Utah houses!).
On the other end of the spectrum are people who I wonder if they can even identify their own state on a map (see Miss South Carolina try to answer a question)! One girl, upon finding out I was spending so much time in Finland, was concerned about whether I would be able to communicate, and so asked me: “Oh, do you speak European?”
I suppose I do speak at least one “dialect” of “European” – I’m pretty good at the version that they use in the England part of Europe. But even that, I’m not quite sure. 🙂
Moi Clint!
Well, that’s Finland. Love it or hate it. Besides the very country’s name is prone for exotism and imagination. For instance, Finland in spanish is “Finlandia” which would be translated as “the land of the end of the world” or “the land of the end”. Anyway, welcome back to Finalnd and I hope to see you soon here!
PS: The “european” quote and the answer by Miss South Carolina deserve to be shown at overheardinnewyork.com 🙂
When I first met my wife (before we started dating) we were hanging out with some of her Canadian roomies and chatting about the qualities of people from various provinces. I asked her if she new where Newfoundland was, and she responded, “No, but I know where Finland is.”
(Hint: Newfoundland is pronounced “Newfinlind”)
Ha! I’ve never thought of that before. There is York and Jersey in the UK, and New York and New Jersey in the USA – but I never thought about Finland and “Newfinlind” before. I bet Nokia is a pretty big thing in Newfoundland then, huh? 🙂 Then again, where is it not?