The Finnish are extraordinary people. A recent survey found that Finnish people would never call in saying they were sick when they were really taking the day off to do something else. Nor would they take public transportation without paying for it.
When you go to the grocery store, you weigh your own produce and the machine prints out a price tag to put on the plastic bag. We have decided that this honor system might not work in other countries such as the United States.
Everywhere we go now we see hats and usually one glove placed on a window ledge or some place conspicuous so that the owner can find it when he/she comes looking for it. When the professor lost a glove about 10 days ago, I was confident that we would find it. He took it off to punch in the code to get into our building. For two days we looked for his glove. No luck. Today when we left the building, I looked at the bulletin board in the entrance way and there was his glove. It had probably been there since he lost it and I just had never noticed it hanging on the board. Needless to say neither did my husband.
We have fallen in love with Finland and Helsinki. As you can tell, it is alot because of the people.
Today is Independence Day. Literally all of the shops are closed. Only a few restaurants are open. We saw people ice skating and children looking at the magical display in the big department store's window, but the store was not open. Can you imagine this happening in the US? Our American friend here, Ruth, leads the congregation in song at Church. She said because of that she could see tears in the eyes of many of the people when they sang the national anthem on Sunday. On December 6, 1917 with the fall of the tsar, Finland declared its independence. However following WW II Russia claimed that it could form Finland's foreign policy. Only when the Berlin wall was torn down, was Finland free of the iron hand to the east.
About 1899 to 1900 Jean Sibelius wrote Finlandia. Part of the work became a hymn with inflamatory words. Despite fear of the tsar, it was sung in Finland. The full-length symphonic poem (most of which consists of rousing and turbulent passages, evokes the national struggle of the Finnish people). The version usually heard today has lyrics written by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi and was first performed in 1941. Sibelius himself arranged the hymn for choral performances. (Wikipedia) Needless to say, Sibelius is a national hero today.
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