100 Years of Finland!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Trying so hard to find a room full of people who care, I decided to hit Miscellaneous Stuff with yet one topic. A topic about Finland.

On the 6th of December, it shall be 100 years since my land gained independence from Russia.



Ask me everything you want to know about Finland, and I'll reply as well as I can. Also, in this topic, you are welcome to share your impression on Finland, like what do you know about Finland already and what do you think is best in Finland. I'll also be more than happy to tell about the next presidential election that is going to take place in early 2018.

As a bonus task for me, you can copypaste TPM posts here, and I'll translate them all to Finnish language. With these two limitations:

1. The maximum word limit in the copypasted posts is 1,000 words.
2. As you probably can guess, those can't be Pyhätunturi posts.

Pyhätunturi?
(Spoiler:) Pyhätunturi is my codename for the spam forum, back from 'The Finnomasters' April Fools' event in 2014!

[Magmar]

Mikachu,
I've read up some on traditional celebrations for December that happen in Finland. What are the holidays like in Finland? Were they times of joy for you and are you celebrating this year?

Also, do you all really have yule goats

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Thanks for the questions Magmar!

Every house has a Christmas Tree, or, more precisely, a Christmas Spruce. There are also other decorations, like Christmas lights, candles, gingerbread houses, birch bark goats. I think the traditional Finnish Christmas celebrating used to be less commercial. Now more and more stores are open also during the holiday, while they used to be closed previously.

As for myself, I usually enjoy Christmas but sometimes it has had a dim sad ring. Like when I had to be without my mother for the first time for Christmas when I was a small child. Or in 2004, when I was isolated in the hospital for the first time and what's more, a tsunami hit Far East. Loneliness just sometimes increases in Christmas. But lots of Christmas presents and traditional Finnish Christmas food makes me warm inside. As you probably remember, I'm a winter person.

The original tradition here actually began with Yule Goats that actually looked like goats, with horns and everything.

[Magmar]

Hey Mikachu,
Yeah, Christmas holidays are very commercial and it's becoming more and more like that! I know there is some resistance in some Northern European countries like Czechia to the industrialization of Christmas. It sounds like your holidays and the holidays here are similar. In the US, we do gingerbread decorations, trees that often look like spruces but are made of plastic in most cases (ha), coloring large fuzzy slippers called stockings and hanging them somewhere...

Thanks for sharing your story about your family. I know it can be hard to be alone for them.

I am so curious about the yule goats! It sounds like the noble goat has carried on as a decoration, but perhaps not in the same sacred sort of way. I read a legend that a god (like Thor or Odin) would ride a flying chariot pulled by Yule Goats... here the myth involves reindeer pulling a sleigh, which I think you've actually got in Finland. We don't have any reindeer here.

Here's another question about Finland! With climate change, I've noticed that waters in the Baltic Sea have grown warmer over time much faster than in most other places. While they're still what I would consider cold during summertime, rarely reaching 18 C, many people I know here will swim in Lake Michigan when the water hits that temperature around June. Is swimming in the Baltic Sea a pastime in Finland? Or, has it become one since the weather has grown warmer? Would you swim in the Baltic Sea if you had an opportunity to do so?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

We have always been going to swim in the summertime. As Finland is 'the land of a thousand lakes', many people go swimming in lakes and pits. Additionally, in winters, we can swim in ice holes. Swimming is often combined with sauna.

What comes to swimming in the Baltic Sea, around here many people go to 'sunny dunes' of Kalajoki, but the cold breeze by the sea is a minus. Also, I'm not that accustomed to swim there, too many people. I prefer the continental climate.

[Zak]

Happy Centennial!

[Magmar]

Well, Finland having thousands of lakes helps explain why those who have come to the US chose to live in places in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan! There are so many lakes there! Swimming in ice holes? Is there a hot springs under the ice hole?

[Knight of Time]

Okay, I have a question for you Mikachu.

Do you know if anyone in Finland besides you has responded to a question by saying "I'm not Fish, I'm Finnish"?

(Spoiler:) That was just a trick question Mikachu; here's the question I actually wanted to ask:
Have you met any NHL players that were born in Finland? If so, can you name some, please?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

No, we don't have hot springs here in Finland. Swimming in ice holes is often related to the sauna culture. First, people go to the hot sauna, then to the ice hole, then back to the hot sauna. I did this last spring winter myself.

I'm also glad you asked something, too, Knight of Time. No, I haven't met any NHL players in person, but I know a guy who has seen Jussi Jokinen. Also, I went to watch a local hockey match last year and there I saw Jesse Puljujärvi playing.

[Jay Umbreon]

I had no idea :O I thought Finland was much older than that, and didn't even know it used to be a part of Russia!

I'm so ignorant - and I'm not even American.

Happy Finland day!

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Thanks Jay, and Zak too!

Yes, it can be argued whether or not Finland was independent before 1917.

They say the historical period in my country started with the Swedish crusaders who brought Christianity to Finland somewhere around 1100. A part of what we now call Finland was a part of Sweden and the other part was no man's land. Later, the Swedes tried to gain full control of the area. The kingdom in question was called 'Ruotsi-Suomi', literally 'Sweden-Finland'. But soon they were in trouble with Russians.

Because of the wars in the 18th century, Sweden was losing its grasp, and that's how Russia finally seized the entire Finland in 1809. When Finland was a part of Russia, Czar Alexander II granted us 'Autonomy' and that's where our identity as a nation began to grow. But the next Czars, Alexander III and Nicholas II were different. They were favouring 'Russification' in Finland.

Anyhow, it wasn't until 1917 we gained our independence. Lenin was thankful because he had been hidden in Finland from his Russian enemies and also, he believed Finland, like other countries he granted independence around there, would soon became communist as well.

I tried to put in the nutshell all I and Wikipedia know, hopefully successfully.

[Fett One]

I just saw this video, and I'm curios what you think about it Mikachu. Do you agree with their facts about Finland? Did they get anything wrong?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

Well, as a surprise, I agree with most of the video, but I have never been to Lapland in winter ;_; so I have never seen those igloos. What's more, I'm not sure if I got it right, but I don't think we are given 'zero homework' at school. And there's no big test around the age of 16, as far as I know. I took the matriculation examination at the age of 18.

Yes, the civil war between 'reds' and 'whites'. It was notably bloody. If Germany hadn't lost World War I, we might have a king.

[Fett One]

Nice to know that the video was mostly correct. I sometimes wonder if Watchmojo actually does their homework on these kind of things.