As a born and raised Finn the first things that come to mind about Finland are the Saunas, mökki life, drinking, forests, and the shy/reserved nature of the typical Finnish person. These things are amazing and I cherish them dearly and I would not swap my quiet summer mökki evenings for anything but on the other hand, there are those cold dark winter nights that just seem to suck the life out of me, this plays into the idea of Finland being the land of extremes.
The extremes
Finland is the land of extremity, I feel that there is rarely any middle ground:
- With the beautiful warm summer comes the cold dark winter
- A quiet and Finn with a bit of alcohol can turn into the most outgoing person in the world
- From the sauna which temperature is close to boiling, we like to jump into the frozen lake
- In a nation that is so into peace and quiet is remarkable how many heavy metal bands we produce.
Many people have already explained how amazing Finland is in its extremes and beautiful this country truly is which I wholeheartedly agree with, but I want to take this opportunity to explore the negatives that this extremity can bring.
As a half Malaysian- Indian I do not look like the typical Finn having been born here and lived here my entire life my personality at least can be considered very Finnish. Being the way I look I have also experienced extremity in the way I’ve been treated, racism is still a major issue here and I don’t know how but something needs to be done about that, but on the good side, people are more often than not very understanding and extremely kind here in Finland. The extremity can also be felt politically Finns haven’t been this divided politically for a while, this is evident when you hear how people talk about other people with opposing ideologies e.g calling each other terrible names.
There is always good and bad in almost everything and Finland is one of those things our extremity that we experience in this country can bear fruit to the most beautiful things in the world like the sauna and the Finnish summer and the worst part of every year winter.. This is of course how I see it and it is subjective, things that I perceive as good might be the opposite to someone else, hell maybe both sides of the coin are amazing but how I see it Finland is a land of extremes and I cherish it.
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