Finland

My bonus daughter, Andrea, has Finnish ancestry. I had big plans for fun things we could do in California to represent Finland. We could attend one of the lawn programs at Finland’s International Cottage in Balboa Park, San Diego; we could try to get an invitation to one of the Finnish community dinners, also in San Diego; or we could relax at the Finnish owned and operated Albany Sauna in Berkeley. No, I’ll have to come up with something else.

Andrea has been in my bubble, maybe we could cook together. But no, all bubbles have popped, the safety net is gone, and my schedule says to go to Finland.

I have to admit, the resources from Finland, with that Nordic Noir – a dark and complex mood, really fit our situation right now and have cheered me up.

To start, I read Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta. There is nothing like a good dystopia to hold my attention while the surge has taken all the ICU beds in Southern California and our capitol is in chaos. Is Memory of Water this generation’s Brave New World or 1984? I like it and will be thinking about it for a long time. Please discuss it with me if you read it! I borrowed it from the Los Angeles County Library. Wherever you get it, check that it is by the correct author. There are several books with this name.

Next, I watched a movie in which Nordic Noir does Christmas! It’s called Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale and it’s about how some miners find Finland’s original, not so pleasant Santa and the Finns have to figure out how to deal with him. It’s a little horrifying and oddly funny at the same time. Roger Ebert called it a rather brilliant lump of coal for your stocking. It’s available both on Kanopy and free online at https://tubitv.com/movies/527863/rare-exports-a-christmas-tale

There are two Finnish TV shows on Netflix, Deadwind and Border Town. Deadwind's protagonist is a recently widowed young woman detective with good charisma. Border Town has the brilliant older male detective who knows significantly more than normal just by looking at the crime scene. I watched the first episode of each just for a taste, and my brother David has watched all three seasons of Border Town and highly recommends it. Brooding crime dramas are the epitome of Nordic Noir, but now it’s time for me to move on to the lighter part of Finland.

You might not think a blog called Finnish Nightmares represents the lighter part of Finland, but this is a popular cartoon for introverts around the world. Apparently, Finns value their private space and give space to other people as well. They might be quiet in groups, even with their friends. If this is you, you might enjoy http://finnishnightmares.blogspot.com/

Other ways to travel to Finland while staying at home include:

· Watch Restaurants on the Edge: Finland on Netflix

· Be inspired by and then practice for the Wife Carrying World Championship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12L_LOfB9-A

· Read Kalevala, an epic poem from Finland at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5186

· Listen to works by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsLoe5LaKqU and make sure to include his most famous work, the tone poem Finlandia here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE0RbPsC9uE

· Check out Finland’s popular music including this upbeat song with a car burning in the background (how Nordic Noir is that!?!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAU1Yo3jMA&list=PLL92dfFL9ZdJBbTpg-h9AMnZfxNlHwrbh&index=2

I’m still wanting to do more with Andrea. I passed along the Finnish children’s book The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My for her to give to one of her cousin’s children and I’m thinking about making one of the attached desserts and dropping it off for her. Which one do you think will be best?

https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-desserts-in-finland

If you plan to make it to Finland, TheCrazyTourist has eight galleries of things to do. Here is the main gallery: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/25-best-things-finland/. As with all travel, a local travel advisor can be really useful. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Finland and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: https://www.nationalparks.fi/aulanko