Finland: On Being Untraditional and Being Human

After spending a day in the cute little town of Gdansk, Poland, I boarded the ferry to Finland and spent the majority of the 22 hours on the ship laying on the sundeck and catching up on rest. I arrived in Helsinki early in the morning and didn't waste any time. I immediately headed to the shoreline and walked around the old market square. The market booths contained a lot of fresh seafood (some people selling it right from their docked boat!), reindeer meat, wool scarves, hats, and sweaters, freshly baked breads, and of course the tacky souvenirs. I continued along the shoreline and walked past the harbor to find a huge leafy green park sprawling on the southern end of Helsinki, right along the shore. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was so excited to see some trees with colored leaves! Even though there were only a few, it made me so happy that I'm not entirely missing the great Midwest autumn colors from back home. I relaxed in the park before walking farther along the shoreline and then back through the city, passing by tons of designer and antique shops. Then I met my friend Silja back at the train station, and the rest of the time in Helsinki was spent being not-so-traditional Finnish and very untouristy. It is so nice to stay with a friend who is a local, because you see an entirely different side of the city (not to mention you don't have to worry too much about navigating and getting lost!). Yes, she pointed out some major landmarks and we had a great traditional Finnish meal, but I also saw the other side of the city. Silja lives just outside the main city center on a small island. It was so quiet and peaceful, and we were just steps away from the rocky beach and a beautiful nature preserve area. We spent a lot of time just hanging out with her friends, having fika (Swedish tradition of getting together for coffee and treats), and going out for coffee or drinks. On the first night, Silja invited a bunch of people over for a tapas and sangria party (hmm...are we still in Barcelona?) and I had the chance to meet a lot of her awesome friends. I found that the stereotype about Scandinavians being cold and unfriendly was very untrue, at least among these ones. They were so kind to me, always speaking in English and immediately treating me like a friend. They said the stereotype is true, but I didn't sense it at all, except for maybe with strangers. We also went to see some of her friends perform capoeira (a Brazilian martial arts dance), which was incredible to watch. Maybe we didn't see everything Finnish, but I loved just seeing what they do on a daily basis and having the chance to just relax and hang out with friends rather than be sightseeing all the time. It was a nice change of pace and I had an awesome time. One of Silja's friends asked me if Europe was really different from the U.S. or what differences I noticed. While it's hard to compare all of Europe to all of the U.S., in general I think it's not so different. Well, maybe the language, customs, food and buildings are all very different (ok that's a lot), but when it comes to the way people interact with each other, we are all really very much the same. I can see how culture affects people, but in the end we are still all human beings with the same basic needs and the same desires to have love, community, and a high quality of life. I know that seems so obvious and I always knew it, but at the time it was a striking realization to me and I have never believed it to be so completely true until now. We are so different and yet really all very much the same, and that is beautiful.   Tonight, I will board another ferry, and in the morning I will be in Sweden! I'm excited to be staying in Scandinavia for a while more, since I really love it here (despite the rain and the cold), and I'm especially excited to visit more friends while I'm there.