Marimekko,Alvar Aalto,sauna,Finlandia vodka etc...

I travelled a lot through Finland once..yes..I recall..
the lakes..the nature..the Finnish people are a funny lot..
to me..they are very different to Swedes,Norvegians or Danish..
their soul is very attached to nature..apart from the bigger cities..
Finland is nature..lakes,forests,tundra,polarcirkel,bloody mosquito's..
the language..I couldn't speak it even with a hot potatoe in my mouth..
the bad words..one learns first..like *perkele* *vittuu* *hellevetti*
slang is slang..now..marimekko..is Finnish fashion..very bright colours..
even in the 60's the Finnish created their own fashion designs..
I'll see if I can find a link?Finnish vodka is called Finlandia..
drinking age is 18 years..I recall Helsinki one day in the summer..
some youngsters apparently under the age for drinking..
approached me to get a bottle of Finlandia in a shop..
as a tourist..I can buy this..I did..they just wanted to get stoned..
Finnish society is having a problem with alcoholism..suicide rates in Finland
are very high as well..their dark winters..and maybe the solitude..
drive them into depression...in summer..everybody revives..
everybody wants to live..the sun..nature..joy and merriment..
I can understand them..on my 8 years on the road..
one sees..how people expect their life to be..
travelling was not always a bed of roses for myself..it was not 8 years of
holiday..I did have my black days as well..and I learned my lessons from them..
in these days..I'm talking of 1969 to 1976..the attitudes of people
were very different then today..today..it's technology..
people travel with a laptop..computer age..I don't blame them for it..
in Finland beginning 70's..the youngsters were living on the aftermath of Woodstock..music..was very much appreciated..
I recall a baari in central Finland..where the local youngsters were hanging around..
ahah..the Finnish..they drink themselves under the table..
they make a competition of it..I was in a village once near Jyvaskyla..
middle of nowhere..but..there was some kind of disco tent..and I went in there..
did not speak a bloody word of Finnish..
Finnish folks are very curious..they wanna know..who you are??
what you represent in life..I told them..I was a traveller..
I was kinda accepted by a little group on a table..drinking..boozing..
having a laugh really..Finnish moods at its best...
I recall they even played Andre Brasseur music there=a Belgian...
his music was instrumental..it surprised me to hear *early bird*there..
the music was all kinds of rock..I saw a fight with high heels there..2 girls fighting for a bloke...well..well..reminds me of the binge drinking scenes in U.K towns nowadays..anyway..never try to separate 2 chicks fighting with high heels..
you might get a scar in your face??apart from that..
Finland is such a marvell of nature..oh the sauna bit..ahah..yeah..
I got a ride with a Finnish student between Helsinki towards Kotka..
it was around midsummer celebration..kind of a solstice summer event..
we went into a campsite where they were preparing for the evening..
polser..fish..roasted grill etc...and a bloody typical Finnish sauna..
I never did a real Finnish sauna..there was a stove like stuff..
with pebbles...birch twigs to stimulate blood circulation..a lake in front..
to jump in naked..so..I bloody could not breathe when they poured water on these hot pebbles..and then..a swim..but..these peeps..had put 3 crats of beer inbetween the sauna entrance and the lake just believe me..one should not combine alcohol with sauna..did you know?that every midsummer..about 15 youngsters...drown around midsummer..because they bloody get stoned into the sauna..then simply drown in a lake..Finnish folks are crazy..but still..I bloody liked them..hope I did not bore you peeps??we're living in 2008..things are wee bit different now..
Tiger
P.S..I'll put a posting on Alvar Aalto,Sibelius,Kalevalla etc..later on..

http://www.marimekko.com/ENG/interio.../frontpage.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg4sHQoj0i4
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