|
Having part of my roots in Finland, while being born in Sweden, I have always had a sort of peculiar relation to Finland and finnish culture. I always loved the Sauna, which Finns and Estonians preserved and cultivated after its disappearence from the daily life of most european countries in the 16th century. The experience of birch leaf sented steamrise (löyly, leil) and then the cold water of a forest lake covered with mist, creates a state of body and mind that would make a Dalai Lama envious. I did not learn the Finnish language until the age of 18, but ever since then I have been fascinated by its audial characteristica. Being unusually rich in vowels (A single word can consist of up to nine vowels) it leaves a very soft and pleasant impression, when listening to many speakers. Later, while studying in Tartu, I learned Estonian, with its amusingly large fraction of "translator's false friends", with respect to Finnish. Over a decade I lived with an Estonian woman in Sweden, speaking and hearing more Estonian than any other language. The linguistics as well as the history of Finns, Estonians, Ingrians, Livonians and all the other small groups of people sharing these common denominators has become both an interest and a passion, which has let me experience conditions of minority cultures evolving in the midst of strange and unrelated surroundings. Some links to visit for those who like it hot:
Last update 2003-01-28 by Janne Wallenius |