When I’m thinking what Finnishness really means to me these things come in to my mind first: freedom, equality and clean, beautiful nature.
Finland is an independent country where we have a freedom to choose. The state gives us good basis for living. We have a free education and Kela gives benefits and support for families, pensioners, sickness, the unemployed and students. We have free municipal health services for people under 18 and after that costs also are low compared to other countries. In our country woman can be a president and we have the democracy.
We have four seasons in Finland which differs quite a lot. In summer the days are long and at the midsummer the sun doesn’t go down. Summer is the time of the light. There are a lot of flowers and green trees everywhere. My favorite thing in summer time is go to sauna and swim in the lake (and there are lot of lakes in Finland). After that we usually make food in the grill outside and play “Mölkky” together, the game where you try to push over the wooden blocks of numbers with a block of wood. Okay, it sounds very weird when explaining that… Anyway, don’t forget to go to the marketplace and buy some strawberries, peas and early potatoes. The best smells in the summer are just cut grass and the moment after the summer rain.
In autumn the nature shows its wonderful colors! The migratory birds prepare their travel to south and most of the animals prepare their nests for the hibernation. The nature offers berries, mushrooms and grains. The days get shorter, darker and colder and we are moving forward to winter.
In winter there are snow and frost outside. In the evening or night time you might see the northern lights outside. Winter is time to ski and ice-skate (Finns loves ice-hockey!). A real winter wonderland you can experience in Lapland. Go and meet Joulupukki in Rovaniemi, sleep in a glass igloo, swim in the ice hole, take a husky safari and pack hot cocoa to the thermo and wander to the tipi-like hut.
In spring the nature is waking up again and the snow has melted. Cleanliness and freshness describe the spring time. “Hiirenkorvat” or the new leaves are coming to the trees and catkins have their time to cheer up the nature.
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