Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 14:10:16 GMT
I read an article from a Finnish newsite about the US elections. It interviewed some Trump supporters in a rally. Few of them asked the Finnish reporter if it was difficult to live in a socialist country where you don't have money to even buy a television. Wow. That's all I can say. If this is really what some people know of the world, I am not suprised that Trump is so popular. I know that they are a minority in this issue, but still. Scandinavian countries aren't socialist -in a way Soviet Union was. Or never have been. Finland is a parliamentary republic. A nordic-style welfare state, which might lead some people thinking it's socialist. But I'm hoping all of you already knew that! And if there are people in the US think that Finland is a socialist country and are afraid that Obama tried to bring those same ideas to USA, let me just say, things aren't so bad here. ![:wink:](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) Finland is a top performer in education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties and quality of life. I would say many things here are in a better shape than in the US. Sure, I pay taxes. A lot some may say. But I've seen what some of you pay for your health insurance and it's a lot too. Those taxes have given me free education including university (master's degree). During university I was paid a monthly allowance for living and housing expenses. School lunches in the elementary school and the high school were free. We have universal health care. My gallbladder surgery that included four nights in a hospital cost me under 100 dollars. I don't have children, but paid maternity leave here is four months. After that you can stay at parental leave for six months, but you don't get the whole pay. And what I am really proud of; teenage pregnancies are really rare compared to industrialized countries. We have sex education in all the schools. A right to abortion isn't really a part political discussion here and abortions are legal. So. I've a lot of cleaning to do this Friday evening and I thought I could take breaks and answer to your questions. Do you want to know something about Finland? Or do you want to know what we think here about US and the politics here? Believe me, we discuss about the elections every day at work. Tallenna
|
|
valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,816
Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
|
Post by valleyview on Oct 14, 2016 14:44:45 GMT
Does the Russian presence in Crimea and their stance in Syria worry you?
Sorry that I'm starting with a difficult question, but it seems like as the U.S. and UK become more nationalistic, Russia is flexing more muscle on the world stage.
TIA for starting the thread.
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 15:05:58 GMT
That is a tough one valleyview . We were in war with Russia and we share a long border. So everything Russia does worries me. Mostly I am worried that there will be huge conflict between Russia and the US, and we would end up in the middle of it. That's why your presidential elections are important for me. We need someone balancing the power and I believe Hillary Clinton can do that. Trump would probably let Russia to do whatever they want. I don't believe Russia wants to invade our country, but if there was a possibility, I would want US to be in our side. These are scary things to think about and I'm happy that at this point we have peaceful and relatively good relationship with Russia -hopefully it will continue. Edited to add: Just last week two Russian fighter jets breached our airspace. It doesn't happen often, usually the planes breaching the airspace are cargo planes. This scares me a little because there isn't a chance it's an accident. Russia was either showing it's strenght or testing our defence.
|
|
|
Post by jenis40 on Oct 14, 2016 15:10:38 GMT
Since university education is free, does your country have difficulty finding workers for lower paying/lower skilled jobs?
How much of a factor is religion in your government and society? When I was in Germany recently I was surprised at the part religion played in their lives and government. I thought it would be more secular than the US.
Do women earn equal pay as men? I was also surprised that Germany was about 10 cents less than each dollar earned by men. I was also surprised that the people who spoke most vehemently about this being wrong were young men. Hope for the future!
ETA and thank you!
|
|
valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,816
Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
|
Post by valleyview on Oct 14, 2016 15:16:22 GMT
Thank you, Enna. I asked because I think many Americans are losing perspective on Trump's foreign policy.
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 15:18:47 GMT
Since university education is free, does your country have difficulty finding workers for lower paying/lower skilled jobs? Yes we do. There are a lot of immigrants in lower paying jobs. In construction pretty much everyone is from Estonia and only working in Finland, because the salaries here are so much better. We have a pretty high unemployment rate partly because there aren't enough jobs for the ones with university education. Partly because we lost Nokia and a lot of the forest industry. Tallenna
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 15:26:09 GMT
How much of a factor is religion in your government and society? When I was in Germany recently I was surprised at the part religion played in their lives and government. I thought it would be more secular than the US. We have a national church. I just checked that 72.9 percent of Finns are members. I think a lot of them are like me; I pay my taxes for the church so that one day I can get married in a church, but religion doesn't really have a big role in my life. I go to the weddings and funerals, but that's pretty much it. In school we are religion education classes, but you can also choose a class without the religious aspect. When I was in school ages ago, everyone was in the religious education class. Religious discussion here is nothing like in the US. We all are pretty liberal members of the church. ![:smile:](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) So religion isn't really a factor in the goverment. Tallenna
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 15:27:59 GMT
Do women earn equal pay as men? I was also surprised that Germany was about 10 cents less than each dollar earned by men. I was also surprised that the people who spoke most vehemently about this being wrong were young men. Hope for the future! We have the same situation than in Germany, women don't earn an equal pay. But we have had a woman as a president and as a prime minister, so I think that the glass ceiling has been broken. We just need this thing corrected. Thank you for the questions! Tallenna
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 15:31:43 GMT
Thank you, Enna . I asked because I think many Americans are losing perspective on Trump's foreign policy. I have noticed this and it worries me. I can sort of understand this, because the US is such a large country. It is easy to think there that foreign issues are foreign -they won't affect you. Because I live in a small country I can't do the same. US politics are followed here closely, especially these elections. Speeches and debates are shown live. And I just have to mention; I haven't met a single person who thinks Trump is a better candidate. Tallenna
|
|
valleyview
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,816
Jun 27, 2014 18:41:26 GMT
|
Post by valleyview on Oct 14, 2016 15:43:51 GMT
I think that the parties have gone through a bit of a flip with foreign policy and no one has noticed. To me, allowing VP Cheney to have policy control has hurt the Republicans and undermined Secretaries Powell and Rice.
I have trusted both Clinton and Kerry with foreign policy, and am very concerned about Trump's cabinet choices and his willingness to work with advisors.
|
|
|
Post by jennyap on Oct 14, 2016 15:47:24 GMT
I'd be interested to hear what the reaction to Brexit has been.
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 16:05:52 GMT
I'd be interested to hear what the reaction to Brexit has been. I think Brexit was a suprise to everyone. Mostly it has been seen as a part of this new politicial movement in Europe. In Finland the party with nationalist and EU critical politics has been successfull also. And there have been discussions in Finland about leaving, but I don't think anyone has considered it seriously. Suprisingly the situation hasn't been discussed much in the news since the vote. I have seen some articles about Finns living in UK -they are worried what this means to them. Tallenna
|
|
|
Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Oct 14, 2016 16:38:49 GMT
Are there really as many saunas as people?
Besides Helsinki, what are some other good places to visit?
Have you ever stayed in one of those glass igloos?
Does Finland get along with Norway, Sweden and Denmark? Are there any friendly rivalries?
How easy is it to move there? LOL
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 13, 2024 10:37:44 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 16:49:20 GMT
I also wonder how easy it is to move there ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 16:53:50 GMT
Are there really as many saunas as people? Besides Helsinki, what are some other good places to visit? Have you ever stayed in one of those glass igloos? Does Finland get along with Norway, Sweden and Denmark? Are there any friendly rivalries? How easy is it to move there? LOL I've heard that there are as many saunas as people, but who knows. But we do love saunas and it is hard to find a house without one. But since I live in an apartment, I don't have one. Good places to visit -I would go to Lapland in the winter, but it is really cold! Beautiful though. And Santa Claus lives there, so you can meet him! ![:wink:](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) In the summer Savonlinna in the eastern Finland and Porvoo in the southern Finland are really nice little cities to visit. I haven't stayed in those glass igloos, I have a feeling they are pretty expensive. I rather escape the winter and spend my holidays outside Finland. I think we get along with Norway, Sweden and Denmark pretty well. The only rivalry is between Sweden and Finland and it is mostly about ice hockey. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) We never want to see Sweden win anything in hockey. Since you are coming from outside the EU, it might not be that easy to move here. But I'm sure it's possible. Tallenna
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 17:01:08 GMT
I also wonder how easy it is to move there I don't actually know how the process works for Americans. But if you a have a spouse or a job here I think it's pretty easy. So welcome! It is not like we don't have any problems here. We do, but after visiting the US and living there for a while I've started to appreciate things we have here much more. At some point I wanted to live in the US again, but I don't think I'm ready to give up the six weeks of holiday I've in a year. Tallenna
|
|
|
Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Oct 14, 2016 17:08:12 GMT
Last time I was in Oslo, there were a ton of Nigerian hookers. No easy way to say it. Immigrants and refugees are a huge political topic here in the US. Is Finland seeing an influx of people?
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 17:31:17 GMT
Last time I was in Oslo, there were a ton of Nigerian hookers. No easy way to say it. Immigrants and refugees are a huge political topic here in the US. Is Finland seeing an influx of people? We did as the refugee crisis happened last year. I don't know how we managed, there was so many people seeking asylum here. Usually it is 1 500 to 6 000 people in a year, last year it was 32 500. I can say it is a lot in a country of five million people. We opened centers all around the country just to give these people to place to stay while their applications were processed. It was mostly people from Iraq and Syria. And most of them were young men, they came and hoped to get their families here later. But as you can guess, we couldn't give asylum to all. Some returned by themselves when they realized how long it would take to process their applications, some are flown back to their home countries. The situation is really difficult and huge political topic here as well. There was some incidents -rapes and sexualt assaults by the asylum seekers and this fall two men from Iraq robbed and killed a man. In your small country these were front page news and it has affected the overall opinion. Finland is very safe country and people feel it is changing. I don't know. I wish we were more open for other cultures and not always seeing the bad things first. Edited to fix the language. English isn't my first language so I make a lot of mistakes, sorry! Tallenna
|
|
|
Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Oct 14, 2016 17:42:53 GMT
Thank-you for all of your replies. This is an awesome thread and you're doing a great job.
|
|
|
Post by bc2ca on Oct 14, 2016 18:41:06 GMT
A niece was an au pair for 4 months a couple of years ago in Finland. How many political parties are represented in parliament? Do you usually have a majority government? How often are elections held?
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 14, 2016 18:51:43 GMT
A niece was an au pair for 4 months a couple of years ago in Finland. How many political parties are represented in parliament? Do you usually have a majority government? How often are elections held? Hopefully your niece liked our country! There are eight parties in the parliament. There isn't usually a majority goverment, I had to check when was the last time it happened. It was 1916. The cabinet is formed from the parties that get most parliament seats and the prime minister comes from the winning party. The elections are held in every four years. It is getting late here in Finland and I need to get some sleep. But if you want to leave more questions, I'm more than happy to answer them tomorrow! Tallenna
|
|
|
Post by Yubon Peatlejuice on Oct 14, 2016 19:34:40 GMT
Have a good night!
If we visit your country, what are some Finnish dishes that we MUST try?
What is a good souvenir to bring home?
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 13, 2024 10:37:44 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 20:08:49 GMT
Well, this is just freaking awesome and I wonder if we should be asking one person from all the countries represented here to answer similar questions. SO much nicer than deciding to research Finland on Wikipedia...a first-hand account of life from one of our very own. This is generous and just super cool of you!
|
|
|
Post by compeateropeator on Oct 14, 2016 22:24:52 GMT
Thank you for taking the time to answer everyone's questions. I love to hear about other countries. I would love to come and visit your country at some point. I have been to Helsinki airport and that is it. It was in 1982 and I had just graduated Highschool and was on my way to Sweden as an exchange student, Helsinki was our layover. It is pretty interesting and funny when you look back to your youth and think about the things that left an impression and why. The thing that I remember most about that layover is that there were armed soldiers (?) with red (?) barets and big automatic weapons walking around. We were specifically told to not to engage them and to act like responsible and respectable adults. I think they tried to instill fear in us because you know that what a bunch of kids who have been cooped up on a long flight were going to act like...and I wouldn't call it respectable. ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) It was very surreal for this country girl. But if I was experiencing it now I don't think it would even be a blip on my radar, especially with the all the heightened security in airports these days. The other thing I remember is one of the exchange students from Boliva lost his passport and he had to stay back while they dealt with that. Anyway I know that isn't really Finland now days, just some scared kid's weird memory. I look forward to seeing your wonderful country someday
|
|
|
Post by koontz on Oct 14, 2016 22:43:16 GMT
I love this thread (and I love Finland)! In fact, I love it so much I decided to stop lurking and start posting (hello!). I did post occasionally on Twopeas but do not remember my username. Where in Finland do you live? Not to hijack your thread, but since I know there are many misconceptions about the Netherlands as well, please feel free to ask any questions you have about life in the Netherlands.
|
|
|
Post by bc2ca on Oct 14, 2016 22:52:48 GMT
A niece was an au pair for 4 months a couple of years ago in Finland. How many political parties are represented in parliament? Do you usually have a majority government? How often are elections held? Hopefully your niece liked our country! There are eight parties in the parliament. There isn't usually a majority goverment, I had to check when was the last time it happened. It was 1916. The cabinet is formed from the parties that get most parliament seats and the prime minister comes from the winning party. The elections are held in every four years. It is getting late here in Finland and I need to get some sleep. But if you want to leave more questions, I'm more than happy to answer them tomorrow! TallennaMy niece loved Finland, but didn't love being a nanny (which was no surprise to anyone that knows her ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/OrTI4SBmZ2ZYSFv6ag4f.jpg) ). I'm fascinated that there hasn't been a majority government since 1916, and assume there is a lot of work to maintain coalitions and get laws passed. I think that is a much healthier system than 2 parties that many can't embrace 100%. Does Finland have mandatory military service?
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 15, 2016 2:34:50 GMT
Have a good night! If we visit your country, what are some Finnish dishes that we MUST try? What is a good souvenir to bring home? You should try karelian pies with eggbutter, a delicious snack. And korvapuusti, our version of cinnamon rolls. I've been told fish is good here, but since I don't eat seafood, I don't know. I like moose a lot. And cloudberries, there are so good! As for the souvenirs. For my foreign friends I've taken chocolate (really good here) and salmiakki, salty liqurice. Few have liked it. There is also Marimekko for unique prints. And a lot of moomin stuff.
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 15, 2016 2:36:30 GMT
Well, this is just freaking awesome and I wonder if we should be asking one person from all the countries represented here to answer similar questions. SO much nicer than deciding to research Finland on Wikipedia...a first-hand account of life from one of our very own. This is generous and just super cool of you! Thank you! It is a fun chance to use English. I read all my books in English but don't write a lot. I should do that more.
|
|
|
Post by vspindler on Oct 15, 2016 2:43:14 GMT
Yeah, can I come visit? ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/Q_m8lDOvc_3Le3r1GKdf.jpg)
|
|
Enna
Full Member
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Posts: 296
Location: The land of the midnight sun
Jan 26, 2016 14:55:35 GMT
|
Post by Enna on Oct 15, 2016 2:43:44 GMT
compeateropeator, it is for sure different here now. You don't really see a police or army presence here like you do in the States. When I travelled there ten years ago and walked out of my hotel in New York on the first morning I saw a group of SWAT guys in full gear. I've never seen police so armed, because it rarely happens here. Welcome back someday!
|
|