Helsinki, Finland

We had a wonderful two days in Helsinki, Finland!

We started off with dinner at Passio, which had a surprise menu concept that was so much fun.

The following day, we went on a walking tour where we learned all about Finland and Finnish culture. In general, we were so impressed with their quality of life, incredible public services, trust, and of course the many saunas.

Some key takeaways from our tour:

People: Finns are said to be private, introverted, and unsmiling. Our tour guide joked that a normal Finn will look down at their own shoes, but a social Finn will look down at their friends’ shoes. In general, Finns are incredibly trusting and believe that everyone is “good.”

Government: Finland had to mandate that their government is 50% men and 50% women, because the ladies were taking over. Our guide said it’s common to see elected officials out and about, at the movies, bars, etc. Their Prime Minister, Sanna Mirella Marin (the youngest female Prime Minister in the world), made news recently because a video of her partying was leaked. While it was a big news story across the globe, apparently in Finland most Finns couldn’t understand what the big deal was because “it’s perfectly normal to go out.”

Food: Traditional food is typically fish, reindeer, and brown bear. We tried the creamy salmon soup from Kappeli and traditional butter and cinnamon buns from Frazer Cafe.

Education: Finns teach independence at a very early age, so they’re capable people that are brought up by the same set of rules/standards. It isn’t uncommon to see seven-year-olds taking public transportation by themselves (since they’re taught how to use public transportation in school and are given free access to it). At age 16, students’ public transportation and books are “no longer free.” Instead, the government pays each child a small sum to use on transportation and books, to teach money management. Additionally, the school system isn’t focused on standardized testing like it is in the United States and school is only about 20 hours a week. Since Mondays are transition days from the weekend, school is only 3 hours (how awesome).

Libraries: We could not believe the size, resources, and popularity of the libraries in Finland. In addition to books, movies, music, and games, Finns can borrow power tools and other utensils from their library. The library we visited had a ton of shared coworking spaces to reserve, 3D printers, recording studios, sewing machines, mannequins to create clothes, kitchens to host dinner parties, gaming systems (Xbox, PlayStation, etc.), the list goes on. We saw a play area for young children that had about 20 babies and their mothers there socializing. The library also had a restaurant and coffee shops. You truly could spend days in a Finnish library.

Saunas: For now, let’s just say there are saunas EVERYWHERE (another blog on this coming soon).

Overall, we had a wonderful time in Finland. As the Finns say, “moi moi”!