Month: March 2021

It’s been quiet on the blog (thanks for the reminder Mom!).  One thing that I have been ruminating on is a recent report that ranked Finland as the happiest country in the world (again!).  This was actively commented on in Finnish social media and the news.  One common question is why?

I can see why Finland was ranked in the top spot again. The country by and large has a stable economy.  New families are supported with parental leave.  There is access to health care. Mass transit is accessible and affordable.  There is convenient access to nature (we visited Helsinki and Tampere, the two largest cities in Finland, and were minutes from large parks).  A lot of these points and others are comprehensively discussed by Anu Partanen in The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better of Life), which I talked introduced in a post about sisu.

I suspect the happiness measure would not be the same across different groups in Finland.  The same week this happiness report came out, two news articles in the Finnish media described harassment and discrimination by female Cabinet members and how non-white (non-blonde) Finns are routinely asked “are you from here?” (sound familiar?).  COVID 19 cases are increasing here again, leading to talk of a partial lockdown. There is work to be done, even in Finland.

Personal experience with the health care system confirms how Finnish society is structured to support the ranking on the happiness report. I had to renew a regular prescription – which meant calling for an appointment.  The doctor was able to approve the prescription over the phone, which cost 15 dollars for a 90 day supply.  I recognize that might have been an exception, but it is line with a similar process for my spouse.  She had to visit the doctor (25 euro office visit) before refilling her prescriptions.  We don’t have a “health care plan” – the country has universal health care.  What we had to do is call a central number that routed me to a care team based on our residence address.  When compared to the US, a visit to the doctor runs $250 + prescription – all part of a high deductible plan that can reach to $10K annually.  I am not even factoring in the monthly cost for a plan.

It did take some time to get connected to the correct place (a lot of calling around, etc) – and not speaking Finnish made the process harder. I recognize that I may not be taking in the full cost of the visit – it seems that health care is paid through taxes – so ask me again in a year. ( :-0 ) To be fair, based on the chapter on taxes in Partanen’s book, I don’t think taxes are as unreasonable as you would imagine (in other words, it is not the “dreaded socialism”!).

The experience with the health care system contrasts the difference between freedom from and freedom for.  I perceive Finnish society is set up to value freedom from worry – worry that you won’t be supported in your old age, worry that you won’t be able to pay your health care expenses, etc.  U.S. society is structured around freedom for choice – that you can choose the type of coverage in your health care plan, you can choose how much you want to save for retirement, etc.

Understandably this is a simplification with a continuum between the two. I do enjoy having choices (most of the time – it can be overwhelming).  It does make me wonder how we could change intended outcomes by applying some of the Finnish mindset (freedom from) towards some of the pressing societal issues the US faces. What do you think?

A week ago I posted the following question on Twitter:

A bit of context.  St. Urho is the so-called patron saint of Finland, who saved Finland from a scrouge of grasshoppers.  It is celebrated on March 16, the day before St. Patrick’s Day.

I grew up in Northern Minnesota, which has one of the largest enclaves of Finnish immigrants to the United States. Growing up I remember people wearing purple on St. Urho’s Day, as a point of Finnish pride. Finland, Minnesota has an annual celebration

To be honest – St. Patrick’s Day was just that … a day.  I would call it good if I was able to eat a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal on that day.

Reading the history of the St. Urho’s day, it doesn’t take long to see that, this holiday is decidedly a modern fictional creation.   Perhaps some of you reading this may laugh and scoff at those silly Rangers (people from the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota).

However since I am in Finland this spring, I decided to pose this question on a local Facebook community group in Kuopio:

Being in the time of COVID, this was the best that I could do in terms of local, on the ground research.

Here is why I am interested in this question.  I know that immigrants adapt elements of their home culture in unique and perhaps distorted ways.  Very rarely does the home culture re-appropriate those elements.  St. Urho’s Day would be a unique case where this occurs.

Posting to the facebook group exceeded my expectations. (This is a very positive facebook group in general.)  Someone even pointed to a documentary made by the Finnish TV service about Finland, Minnesota.

The general sentiment is St. Urho- as I know it – is not celebrated in Finland, but several people seem to be interested in the holiday.  (As someone said – if it gives you a reason to celebrate, why not?)

And perhaps a “Saint Urho” may not seem that farfetched and could have its own mythology:

• Urho Kekkonen is the longest serving President of Finland – and is well-regarded in Finland (and perhaps by Finnish immigrants).  They even celebrate him at St Urho’s Pub in Helsinki.
• I was told the local Kuopio soccer team was founded on this date (March 16) in 1923;  one of the best players in the squad is Urho Nissilä. 

Coincidence? Perhaps not.

I may have unintentionally started a new holiday in a country that I am visiting. If that is the case, I declare it probably should have a unique pastry associated with it.  I would certainly welcome an encore performance of the Runeburg torte or laskiaispulla (perhaps with blueberry?)

So whether or not you choose to celebrate St. Urho (or it’s more well-known cousin) St. Patrick, I wish you a happy spring. Lord knows we all need it after this past year.

Hard to believe that we are approaching halftime of our stay here.  One obvious change: the days are getting longer.  There is light in the morning when we wake up and later in the evening.  One interesting thing: it starts to get light for about an hour or so before sunrise – almost like a gradual transition to day.  The change is noticeable – and energizing.

Temperatures are warming up too – after several weeks of colder temperatures we reached above freezing for a stretch of days.  Sweet!  The one downside to this weather:  refreeze.

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Navigating this for me can be trauma inducing.  In college I slipped on ice walking back to my dorm and had to have knee surgery a week later, so yeah, it makes me nervous.  The Finnish Meterologic Institutue issues pedestrian warnings (so another thing to check for a weather junkie like me …).

I purchased grips for my shoes to help navigate, but until the temperatures warm up more, please excuse me while I penguin walk.