What makes this country unique is its language. It is very difficult to learn. It is related to Hungarian, but is closest to Estonian language. There is no he/she, just a singular word for "human". There is no future time in the language, just past and present.
Helsinki is one of the northern most countries in the world.
612 000 people in Helsinki.
It is located on a peninsula.
Three phases of history: Finland belonged to Sweden for 600 years. Swedish and Russian didn't get on during this time, so therefore lots of warfare. Helsinki was heavily bombed by the Russians. In 1809 it was the last war between Sweden and Russia. Russia ruled, but Alexander the Second allowed the people to keep their Lutheran faith, the original regulations, and their language.
They had to pay war reparation until 1952 in the form of ships, trains, machinery etc.
1917, Russian empire collapsed and Finland declared independence.
Helsinki has over 50 theaters.
First railroad built in 1860. Train is famous for its sculptures. The joke is that these sculptures show the four emotions of the Finnish. The point is that these faces do not look very different to one another, because the Finnish do not show emotion.
All profits from the casino goes to the youth schooling and tertiary education.
Stockmann is a department store described as an institution. The people say, "if Stockmann doesn't have what you need, then you don't need it."
National pension, free healthcare, education and university. Daycare is a right and if it is needed, the state has to find a daycare centre for the child within two weeks. This is all paid for through taxes. Each child is given a welcome gift when they are born which includes clothing, diapers etc.
There is a very high selection for teachers and they require high qualifications.
Helsinki is famous for their national romantic architecture of their houses.
Helsinki used to be a wooden town.
Finland is famous for building ships, ice-breakers and cruise ships.
Finland is surrounded by over 170 000 islands. You can take a small ferry to an island with a restaurant on it.
Supercell headquarters here: created clash of clans, hay day etc. Angry Birds created by Finland.
Linux operating system was created here.
Helsinki is a hi-tech country. It has the biggest designers in the world, specifically of furniture.
Three quarters of Finland is forest, so paper is a big export. A lot of goods are made out of wood too.
1906, the city was divided into estates like bourgeoise, peasants, clergy etc.
1960, women received the vote. Today, parliament is 10% women. The first female president of Europe was in Finland. She ran for 12 years.
1852, the large white Lutheran church was completed. Emperor Alexander the Second is in front of the church. He built the railroads, gave them free trade and made Finnish an official language in 1862, so this is why his statue is in front of the church.
Finland has had five Russian Tzars. The political development only began under Alexander's reign.
Finland is one third larger than the UK.
5.4 million population of Finland.
Only 6 inhabitants per square kilometre on average.
Finland has 100 000 moose and over 200 000 reindeer in the north. Tourists can go on husky sleighs, reindeer rides etc. during Christmas. It is rumored that Father Christmas lives in the north too.
It is a rich country with a lot of room. If everything were to break down, they could still feed their people and 10% of the country is covered in fresh water.
Fishing is one of the main hobbies, especially ice-fishing.
There are huge taxes on liquor, so it is very expensive here.
Helsinki has room for over 11 000 private boats.
It is a tradition to wash your carpets here. There are special tables at the marina where people can wash their carpets. It is also a sign of the honesty in Finland, because you can leave your carpet out to dry by the marina all day, and it will still be there when you return.
Almost every home and apartment in Helsinki has a sauna. It is a human right in Finland. Wherever the Catholic Church took over, the sauna tradition was destroyed because they were against nakedness. But the Catholic Church has been thrown out of Finland for centuries.
Whenever a new building is built, the sauna is built first because it is the warmest place. The children would be born in the sauna in the 20th century. It is also their anti-stress program.
The Rock Church was opened in 1969. It was meant to be built in 1930, but this was interrupted because of the Second World War. This church was built by excavating and building into the rock, instead of building on top of the rock.
Helsinki underground looks like a Swiss cheese because of all the pathways.
Finland is a sports nation. Lots of skiing, ice-hockey and ice-fishing. It is a joke that Sweden, Russia and Finland meet up again on the battle field like in history, for ice-hockey.
Russians used to not be allowed to go abroad for holidays so they came to Finland because it was a part of the Russian empire, so they built beautiful holiday homes here.
Meilahdentie is an area filled with Pine and Birch trees where the former president used to live.
Nokia main office is in Finland.
Many would call the politics in Finland boring because there is no drama (Unfortunately, there is no throwing of chairs during political meetings).
They say that a lot of the political meetings are held in saunas where they are sweating and naked, so it is difficult to have conflict in this situation.
The first abstract monument in Finland was dedicated to composer, Jean Sibelius in 1967. It has 600 steel pipes and weighs over 24 tons.
Music experimentation is very popular in Finland such as cello rock music.
3500 Euros gross is the average monthly income of a man, while women receive 2900 Euros. Therefore, inequality still exists, but they are planning to change this.
One of the main causes of death in summer is when men who are under the influence of alcohol, attempt to swim across the lake. Drinking is a big thing in Finland. They do not have six packs here, they have twelve packs.
Finland was extremely beautiful and historical. Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction work going on because they only have three months of summer, while the remaining months are filled with snow. The construction workers usually have no work during the winter so they become snow shovelers. We even saw a few shops selling reindeer fur clothing and moose meat. The tour guide decided to paint her apartment in different colours because she was tired of all the white and grey during the snowy seasons.
One of my favourite attractions was the white Lutheran church. We climbed 53 steps to reach the top. When my dad was diagnosed last year, the first verse that came to his mind was Psalm 23. When we walked into the white Lutheran church, the minister started reading this verse.
It was also really refreshing to see such a young minister preaching in this church. After our tour, we had the option of staying back in town or going back to the boat, but my sisters came across some free wifi....and the Windjammer was calling.
After an amazing dinner, including a juicy rack of lamb, we were treated to Martyn Dominique, a vocal sensation. His set included songs from Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. We ended our night by watching the cruise band for a few songs. I am so looking forward to Stockholm tomorrow!
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