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International

Insight for Outsiders - Finland

Stephanie Kwoll - Omega Contributor

Name: Antti Patana

Age: 24

Hometown: Turku, Finland

Field of study: Business

Finnish culture

3 things you need to know about Finland:

1. Finland is a high technology country. 2. It is the land of 1,000 lakes and endless forests. 3. A lot of Finish people own summer cottages, mostly in really tranquil and quiet places.

A must see in Finland is: Archipleago, an island on the coast of Finland and Lapland.

The biggest difference between Canada and Finland is: The attitude of people. Canadians are very open-minded whereas Finnish tend to be very reserved.

In Finland, never ever: Mix up a Finnish with a Swede.

A wrong stereotype about Finland/Finnish people is: That we are impolite or rude. We are just reserved.

Finnish people love: Beer, sausages, summer cottages and saunas!

Finnish people hate: Winning silver medals in the World Hockey Championship. We make it to the final but almost never win it!

What I like most about Finland is: Saunas and summer cottages.

What I dislike most about Finland is: The darkness in the winter. The sun rises at 8 a.m. and sets at 3 p.m. in Southern Finland and in the North it is even less. In some parts, the sun doesn’t get out at all for two weeks.

Here in Canada I miss most: Rye bread and Finnish practicality. We do things a lot easier at home.

Finnish cooking for beginners: Reindeer with mashed potato

Ingredients:

• Reindeer meat
• a bit of oil
• potatoes
• salt, pepper, milk

Instructions:

Cut reindeer meat into thin strips and fry in a pan. Peel, cut and boil potatoes, add milk, salt and pepper and mash.