When I have a chance to show the best things in Finland, I´ll definitely show sauna, frozen lake (avanto) and winterswimming. I think that’s the best way to discover Finns.
Sauna and the frozen lake
When I was a young girl I barely swam in the lake in July. I thought the water was too cold. I couldn’t understand how people could swim in the lake during winter. It’s freezing! But be careful: once you try it, you want to do it again and again. After swimming you´ll go to the sauna and sit there with others. There you can relax and throw your worries away. That is how my winterswimming story began.
It’s very difficult to explain the feeling when you go to the hole in the ice. (As they say in my favorite winter swimming place, in Kaupinoja) First it’s freezing and then it tingels and when you get out from the lake it feels warm. Maybe you still think that finns are carzy and maybe you are right but it makes us Finnish.
Sisu is the most common way to explain finnishness. It is our national character and because of that Finnish people has survived many things. Our forefathers has needed sisu to defend Finland in wars and now we have it in the blood. That’s why Finnish people are capable of anything.
Monument of Sisu
In the end, I’m proud to be Finnish. I’m proud of every single thing that makes us Finnish. Finnishness is something which you should get to know better.
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