Spicing up your life with Finnish oddities

Last Sunday, about one hundred Helsinki Summer School students found their way to the Kumpula Botanic Garden, to the Finnish Oddities Event.  Weather was gorgeous with sunshine and perfect little breeze of wind to cool us down. I was happy to see that so many students came to the event and seemed to be fully enjoying the “odd” Finnish activities of Humppa dancing, Nordic Walking and Mölkky outdoor games. Also pea soup and Finnish style donuts i.e. munkkis, were according to the comments, tasty.

So, why do we organize an event called the Finnish Oddities? We Finns often like to think we are different from other people in this world, and also somewhat different from the citizens of other Nordic countries. Swedes, Danes and Norwegians speak Germanic languages and but Finnish belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group. This makes it painful for a foreigner to try to understand the Finnish words. Also Finns believe that they have a special “sisu” in them that could be described as a strength of will or stubbornness.

Finland has always been somewhat separated from the rest of the Europe, with Baltic Sea surrounding us from South and West and the long and desolate Russian border on the East. Before the era of television and internet it could take decades or centuries before foreign influences would find their way here. Meanwhile we would often just develop our own versions of entertainment, relaxation and food. That’s why some aspect of Finnish culture might seem even downright odd – and in fact, Finns don’t even mind that this is the case. Instead being “odd” is something essentially Finnish in its nature and something we are secretly proud of.

Finns are convinced that every foreigner entering the country should visit sauna, the hot steamy room that is essential to Finnish culture. We also will most definitely make you try karelian pies or perhaps mämmi, a black porridge looking delicacy. Nordic Walking, Humppa dance and Mölkky outdoor games are other forms of Finnish oddities. So, the reason why we organized an event called Finnish Oddities? We wanted to give our students a chance to experience something very Finnish and have a peek inside the Finnish mindset where being a little different and odd might just add a bit of spice to your life and make it more fun!

Text by: Terhi, Social Programme Coordinator