finland
i was in helsinki only three days, but there a few things i selected to comment on:
1. my host. i was couchsurfing for the first time and i had a great first experience. i think couchsurfing and other networks like it are wonderful ways to travel - i was greeted at the train station and taken to my host\s home and we made dinner together and i immediately felt at home. much better than being in an anonymous hostel. the wonderful thing is realizing not only cultural differences (learning that other ways are possible) but also similarities between people who live on opposite ends of the earth. one of my favorite comments from my host was: -I drink entirely too much coffee. And I have a bad habit of making coffee and then only drinking half the mug and then the sink is cluttered with half-filled coffee mugs-. i read somewhere that Finns drink the most coffee per capita than any other country. my host also told me stories about her family - her father was a communist but most of her family came over from estonia before the revolution. so she felt sad for her father, because he really believe that people should be equal but it failed in the Soviet Union, and she thinks it is idealistic but it doesnt work in practice (i will be writing on this from my estonia & latvia experiences). in finland education and health care is free for everyone. even college. i couldnt quite imagine this. free. for everyone. i mean, it is a possible thing, you know? there are only 5 million people in Finland. and i think about small versus large countries and i think national pride is more understandable in smaller countries because maybe (maybe) there is a little less diversity of lifestyles and opinions (but i'm beginning not to believe this either) but i also think that a lot can be done with education and health care when you don't spend more than 50 % of your budget on military expenditures. just saying.
2. speaking of military expenditures. i went to visit one of the most famous sightseeing spots for Helsinki - an island called Suomenlinna, which was a military fortress (see picture). i didnt take a tour or anything, so i just wandered around, and of course, happened upon a prison (see foto). the sign said you couldn't go in. i asked at the information desk and was given a very weird look but was told it was an operational prison and there were about 90 prisoners who did work around the island. as prisons go, this doesn't seem to bad - they can work and be outside and wander around the island. i found a couple things interesting - i wonder if anyone has written a book on islands and prisons. being on this little island, i thought of Alcatraz, and stories i have heard of the Galapagos Islands, which had both a US military base on it at one point (a terrible history of what they did to the island) and a prison. i'm sure someone has. islands seem to be used as military/naval advantage points, and they are also isolated, making it the perfect place for people society or governments don't want. i also find interesting that the island is a destination for prisoners and tourists. there are also some 850 residents. i asked one girl i met in helsinki about it and she didn't even know it was there. my host did, and told me some of the history.
3. finland's currency is the euro and estonia has crowns but both are in the EU. estonia is cheaper however, and about two hours away. so one thing my host told me is that estonians are upset because finns will ferry over from helsinki to tallinn, buy a lot of beer and go back. in fact, they don't even leave the dock. on weekends they will drink on the way there, buy a lot of beer, drink in the pubs right near the dock, and then stumble onto the boat drunk. my host called them ^drunken hobbits^. sure enough, on the boat to tallinn i noticed many people with little carts that they bring to stock up with beer, and a store of beer right at the dock.
posted by leah v @ 5:16 AM
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