I came to Finland when I was 19 and it was the very first time that I was outside of my “comfort zone” – Vietnam. When I was a teenager, I traveled a lot through out the whole country in Vietnam but Finland was the whole new chapter in my journey of exploring the world. Honestly, I never heard about Finland before in my life probably because Finns are too humble to talk about their country on the media, thus I basically have no idea where I was heading to, I just packed my luggage and ” hit the road Jack”.
If I was to ask to describe Finland in one word, I would say – ” peaceful”. Finland has taught me to slow down and enjoy every little moments that I have. In Sountheast Asia, we live really hectic life- style especially in big cities. On the street in Asia, there are always some kind of activities, quite time is only last from 1am – 4am. However, in Finland, for an Asian girl like me, it is always quite. At first, I found it hard to cope with the quiteness here but then my Finnish friends taught me to do things that I have never done before in my life – enjoying the quiteness. They took me for a walk in the beautiful forest here in every seasons and in the winter, they showed me how to ” sauna” in Finnish way 🙂 and taught me some winter sports. I started to love Finland from that time on because Finland gave me time to spend for myself in peace.
Pic 1: Walking on a frozen lake
Pic 2: Forest in winter time
Finland is a wonderland in winter but also, it is absolutely beautiful during the summer time. Even though summer is short in Finland and it often rains, the sunny day in summer are worth waiting for. Spending time in summer cottage and grill ” makara” with my close friends near the lake is always my favourite activity in the summer.
Pic 3: Finnish summer dream
Finnish people are quite calm and shy like in this photo 🙂
It is not easy to get close to Finnish friends at first because they do not show emotion but if you just give them time, they will open up and once you are their friend, you will be forever their friend.
Though I have moved on with my life and exposed to many cultures and lands, Finland will still be at special little corner in my youthful heart.
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