The Ice Hockey World Championships are currently being played in Russia (May 6th – May 22nd). This year Finns are particularly excited about them. Since hockey is a national sport in Finland, it is good to know something about the important figures in Finnish ice hockey. Here comes an attempt to summarise the minimum that […]
An evening in the life of a Finnish family: Or, Happy mother’s day!
To celebrate mother’s day this coming Sunday, here’s a taste of Finnish family life. Prologue Dad and brother have been out to get a chain saw and a wood chopping machine. Brother (soon almost 5 yrs) and sister (7 yrs) are nibbling on their before-bed snack. Brother seems very pensive. Brother: Mom, I have changed […]
Finnish Vappu or May Day: A short introduction
Next Saturday and Sunday Helsinki will once again be packed with people celebrating Vappu or the Finnish May Day. May 1st continues to be Labour day, and the trade unions usually organise a march or a happening at Hakaniemi square, but nowadays Vappu is most conspicuously a celebration for students and anyone wanting to let […]
Finnish pop music as a guide to Finnish (and the Finns)
Listening to music in a language you want to learn is a great way of getting a feel for the rhythm of the language and picking up vocabulary with minimal effort. Hence, here is a list of currently popular artists in different genres of Finnish pop music; I’ll have to leave some of the classics/long […]
Season Film Festival in Helsinki March 3 to April 4 2016
The Season Film Festival is on right now in Helsinki, it gives you an opportunity to see international non-mainstream movies in the best possible theatres. Checkout the schedule through the link provided and enjoy!
Aki Kaurismäki to receive Carosse D’Or at Cannes 2016
The Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki will receive the Carosse D’or prize at Cannes this year. The prize honours the full ouvre of its recipients. Aki Kaurismäki can be considered an auteur director, a film maker whose work reflects a unique personal style. One of his best known movies is Mies vailla menneisyyttä ”The man without […]
Finnish Easter treats: Mignon, pasha and mämmi
Right now is the time for several Finnish Easter treats, here are a few of them. Mignon eggs by Fazer – these are real egg shells filled with delicious almond and hazelnut nougat. This year is the 120th anniversary for them. Again, anything that has remained successful for so long has to be good. In […]
Finnish novel in English shortlisted for Booker prize
The English translation of a Finnish novel Nälkävuosi by Aki Ollikainen (2012) is one of 13 books nominated as candidates for the Man Booker International prize. The Finnish novel in English is titled White Hunger and the publisher is Peirene Press. It has been translated by Emily and Fleur Jeremiah. The book is about the […]
How to buy tickets for cultural events in Finland
The opera, most theatres and orchestras have their own box office. In addition to that there are two main ticket selling services in Finland: www.ticketmaster.fi (formerly called lippupalvelu) and www.lippu.fi . For most cultural or sports events you can buy a ticket from one or the other depending on who the organiser has made a […]
Jazz in Helsinki & April Jazz / Pori Jazz festivals
For Jazz lovers, Finland offers a number of interesting venues and festivals. Here is an introduction of a few of the venues for Jazz in Helsinki and elsewhere in Finland. April Jazz is one of the major Jazz festivals in Finland, it is held in Espoo next to Helsinki, and as the name suggests, it […]