188000 Things I Love About Finland

Finland is a country in Northern Europe and contrary to popular belief, is not a part of Scandinavia, for reasons that I do not understand, and even if I do, I do not have to agree. People generally do not have strong feelings about countries like Finland, unlike countries like the USA, England, France or China, and that is a good reason for me to take my time and write a few things about this lovely country.

One of the reasons that the country of a thousand lakes is famous for, is, well, it's lakes of course. And it's much more than a thousand, it's actually 187,888 (at least the most important ones). I cannot tell you if I love all of them, as I have not been to all of them and probably never will. In fact, I still haven't been to any of the lakes in Finland, or any other place there, which seems a little weird, since I am writing a blog about a country that I've never been to. But I guess that's the most awesome thing about freedom on the internet. So, back to the lakes. I love lakes. They are not the best liquid formation that one could swim in, but everyone would love to have a house by the lake, let's face it. Quiet and relaxing, healthy and simplistic, beautiful scenery and totally suitable for scary horror movie stories, waiting to happen at the next house by the road, or even in your own house, what's not to like? A fireplace, a few good friends, a nice hot dinner and a hot Finnish girl (or guy) when everyone leaves could definitely desribe the perfect night.

Besides the lakes, Finland has many other amazing locations to offer. Being divided in 20 major regions like Lapland, Ostrobotnia, Savonia, Tavastia and Karelia, Finland offers sceneries from vast forests and huge icy areas, to graphic widely populated cities and islands. One of those is Rovaniemi, the capital of the northernmost region of the country, Lapland. Rovaniemi is very close to the Arctic Circle and includes the village of Santa Claus. Who is of course another reason to love this country! When we were all young, most of us did not believe in the existence of a red-dressed fat bearded guy who goes down the chimney and delivers gifts to everyone, but we definitely enjoyed the gifts, so we never complained about how much sense it all makes.

Which brings us to the next topic about Finland, Aurora Borealis. The collission of charged particles in the ionosphere, due to the Earth's magnetic field, produce images of unbelievable beauty in the sky and I am pretty sure that any effort of describing this phenomenon, would not give it justice, and that it should be  directly observed by anyone who wants to experience its beauty to the maximum. Oxygen will give you green or reddish color, while Nitrogen will give you blue or red. 

Moving away from anything related to nature or natural beauty, at this point I want to stress out how much I love the Finnish language, and its names in particular. A nation that has a long history of storytelling and various legends and myths, their language has evolved to a constant singing-like language, while their names are very distinctive and strange to people not used to northern european culture. Characteristic last names are names like Koskinen, Laine, Korhonen, Heikinnen and Virtanen. Special reference is deserved here by some of my most favourite Finnish people, the people that are, or once were, members of the band with the ancient Greek name Amorphis. These are:

• Esa Holopainen (lead guitar 1990-)
• Tomi Koivusaari (rhythm guitar 1990- )
• Olli Pekka-Laine (bass 1990-2000)
• Niclas Etelavuori (bass 2000- )
• Jan Rechberger (drums 1990-1995, 2003-)
• Pekka Kasari  (drums 1996-2002)
• Pasi Koskinen (vocals 1996-2004)
• Tomi Joutsen (vocals 2005-)
• Kasper Martenson (keyboards 1993-1994)
• Kim Rantala (keyboards 1996-1998)
• Santeri Kallio (keyboards 1999-) 

Amorphis have made many of my nights and days much better with their magnificent mind-escaping music, and more specifically with their Tuonela and Am Universum albums, released in 1999 and 2001 respectively. If you add a couple of old ones to those, and their Joutsen trilogy, which is comprised by Eclipse (2006), Silent Waters (2007) and Skyforger (2009), you have a pretty decent discography. Following, an acoustic reprise of one of their most representative songs, called My Kantele.

Amorphis almost always use lyrics that come from Kalevala, one of the most significant literature works. The Kalevala is an epic compilation of poetry, comprised in the 19th century from numerous oral folklore and mythology. The most widely known version of it contains a little less than 23,000 verses and is divided into 50 songs.

Finnish traditional music can be heard a lot in songs by Amorphis, but it is not the only kind of music that comes from this wonderful country. In fact, Finland has a very influential rock/metal scene with dozens of interesting, if not more than that, bands. Another very beloved Finnish band is Sentenced. These guys have disbanded since a few years ago, but in the years they were active, they provided a lot of intense angry and miserable in times music, without ever losing their sarcasm and irony.  Their third album, Amok (1995), gave them recognition, but I have to admit I am a fan of the next albums, mostly Frozen (1998) and Crimson (2000). That does not mean I do not also love Down (1996), The Cold White Album (2002) and The Funeral Album (2005). Many thanks to Sentenced who are responsible about a great deal of songs speaking about death, suicide, loss, misery and coldness, nevertheless being so addictive and emotional. 

 

And just so that we are not unfair to Sentenced, I should really also mention their awesome Finnish names here:

• Miika Tenkula (guitar 1989-2005)
• Sammi Lopakka (guitar 1989-2005)
• Vesa Ranta (drums 1989-2005)
• Ville Laihiala (vocals 1996-2005)
• Sami Kukkohovi (bass 1996-2005)
• Taneli Jarva (vocals, bass 1991-1995)

Let's see, how many things I love about Finland do I have so far? 187,888 lakes, 16 guys in my two favourite bands, 20 regions that comprise the country, the Aura Borealis, Santa Claus, the Kalevala, if I sum all that, it gives me 187,927. I need another 73. Oh wait. Did I mention what's my favourite season of the year? Reading this post about Finland, you might think it should be winter, but you guessed wrong. I absolutely love summer. And during summer, in the northernmost point of Finland the sun does not set for 73 consecutive days. How is that awesome? Well, I am not sure exactly, but it gives me the magic number I need to make the title of this post more catchy and prone to be read by people, so I will just go with that, I hope you do not mind.

PS. I was also going to mention Apocalyptica, and maybe I should have, because "188,000 and one" might have sounded better, but I can't say I really love them. I do like them though.