Between sauna, snow and university

The icy cold stings in the form of thousands of tiny needles in my hands, my fingers are stiff. Nevertheless, I manage to press the trigger and then see a snapshot of the dancing green on my camera display. The sky is crystal clear, you can see the Great Bear and the waning moon. We are right on the riverbank, in deep snow, on the other side a birch forest. With every single breath you shudder inwardly once more. And so we stand there, in silence and overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. In the middle of nowhere and without mobile reception we observe the Northern Lights at -18° in Finnish Lapland.

I spent the last four months living in Finland during my semester abroad and learnt that Finland has more to offer than icy cold. The country in northern Europe often seems somewhat inconspicuous, it is not often in the press. Yet Finland has been declared number 1 in several areas. In 2016 it was ranked as the safest country in the world. It is the best-ranked country for the fifth time in a row in terms of press freedom. It is the country with the highest social progress and the highest standard of living worldwide (World economic forum 2016, World press freedom index 2016, Social progress index 2016, social progressive imperative 2016). The Finns consume the most coffee and have the highest milk consumption with one litre of milk per person per day. In Finland there are more Heavy Metal bands than anywhere else. It has achieved the most gold medals per capita at the Olympics and is the most sparsely populated country in the EU. For 5.5 million inhabitants there are 2 million saunas.

Numerous innovations have their origins in Finland. The indestructible mobile phone Nokia 3310 comes from Finland and the company Nokia was named after a small Finnish town in south-western Finland. The operating system "Linux" comes from a Finn and the first SMS was developed by Matti Makkonen in Finland.

The Finns themselves are often described as reserved, quiet and withdrawn, but this is somewhat two-sided. On the one hand, Finns place extremely high value on their personal space. For example, there are hardly any shared flats in Finland because Finns prefer to live in their own flat. On the other hand, they love singing karaoke and going to the sauna together. Naked. With friends, colleagues or their boss. They are very honest and do not engage in small talk. If you ask a Finn how they are, there are no platitudes, but an honest and comprehensive answer. Finns also do not find silence unpleasant. During a normal conversation, there can be many minutes of complete silence in between without anyone feeling uncomfortable. Finns also have great trust in one another. At most Finnish parties there is usually a huge pile of bags and jackets, without anyone thinking that their money, credit card or mobile phone could be stolen.

Last but not least, the Finns are somewhat mad. Who else would live in a country where you live in virtually complete darkness in winter and have to walk on frozen roads for half a year? They have developed their own sports that are unique worldwide. This starts with children. Particularly among girls and women between 10 and 18 years old, "hobby horsing" is enormously popular. In this sport, courses are set up as in show jumping, but there are no horses. Instead, children jump over obstacles with specially built hobby horses. This sport is so popular that there are even regional competitions and an annual national championship.

For adults there is, for example, the sport of "wife carrying", where the wife is carried by her husband and they must complete a course together, which often leads through a lot of water and mud. Bonus points are awarded for special costumes. There is also wellington boot throwing and mobile phone throwing. For this, not only Nokia mobile phones need to be used and the record is held by a German who achieved 136 metres. An annual air guitar championship is also very popular in Finland, with workshops even offered by the Finnish air guitar champions themselves.

Finnish student life is much more straightforward and personal. Events take place on a small scale and professors are addressed informally. Every Finnish student also receives €500 per month from the state and there are many working professionals who also take up studies alongside their work.

In many respects, Finland is a special country, but the most breathtaking thing is the beautiful nature. It is also called the "land of a thousand lakes" and most Finns spend the summer far from civilisation, in their little cottage with sauna right on the lake. There are beautiful sandy beaches in western Finland and 65% of the rest of the country consists of forest. As soon as you travel to the north, you are surrounded by reindeer. In autumn, the forests of Finland glow in a thousand bright colours. In winter, Finnish Lapland is covered with a thick blanket of snow. It is possible to see the Northern Lights and for that reason alone I was very satisfied to have spent my semester abroad in Finland.

Sarah Urbankski