Chapter 30 - Finland, Shouldn't We Call It Suomiland?

Toto began an around-the-world trip in Helsinki, Finland, which is way up in Northern Europe. Finland is so far north, half the country is north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle is the line on your globe or world map that represents 66 degrees latitude. At the center of the Arctic Circle is the North Pole. At least one day per year in the summer, the Arctic Circle has 24 hours of sunlight, and the opposite is true during the winter.

The part of Finland that is above the Arctic Circle is called "Lapland." Do you know what Lapland is famous for (besides being cold and either really dark or really light all the time)?  It is where Santa Claus lives!  Can you find the city of Rovaniemi on a map of Finland? It lies right on the Arctic Circle. That is where the people of Finland believe Santa lives. He has a village there with a post office that will answer any letters mailed to Santa Claus there.

It must be really cold in Lapland in the winter, because it was cold at the beginning of May down south in the capital city of Helsinki. The trees had not sprouted leaves yet when I was there, because Finland is so far north on the globe.

In English we refer to this country as Finland and the people "Finns." What would you think the name of Finland would be in Finnish? I would think the local name for the country would sound something like the word we use in English, right? Actually, the Finn's name for their country sounds nothing like "Finland." The country's name in the local language is "Suomi" and the people are called "Suomalairen"!  I asked a Finnish woman from the tourism office why we use such a different term in English than in the local language and she admitted she had no idea and also found it funny. You'd think we'd call the country "Suomiland" and the people "Suomis," wouldn't you?

While I was visiting, tourists from all over Europe were arriving to Helsinki. This is because Helsinki was hosting the annual Eurovision competition broadcast on TV throughout Europe. Eurovision is like the American TV show "American Idol," except in the Eurovision competition, each country within Europe enters a person or group to represent their country. Then all the countries divide a certain number of votes among their favorite acts (a country cannot vote for itself). There are forty-two countries represented all across the extended European region, from Sweden to Serbia and Ireland to Israel. Each country's fans obviously want their country's act to win, and so it's a bit like a cross between "American Idol" and the World Cup soccer only for Europe. Moreover, the competition occurs once a year.

Last year I was in Slovenia when the Eurovision final was on TV. The whole city was watching, so I did the same at the pizzeria. Last year Finland won with a funny act called Lordi who to me is a cross between the old rock band, KISS, and some monsters from The Lord of the Rings movie! As an honor for winning, Finland got to host the 2007 competition. I met some Spanish students in my hotel elevator with their Spanish flags who came to cheer on Spain in the semi-finals. I wished them luck. Regardless of the  ultimate winner, all of Europe gains by learning more about each other's countries every year in the Eurovision competition, which was one of the reasons the broadcasters came up with the idea, I suspect, in the 1950s after the terrible experiences from World War II. The Eurovision competition has been broadcast without interruption every year since 1956. Perhaps we all could benefit if we had a friendly worldwide music competition that welcomed students to meet each other in the spirit of togetherness?

Travel Questions on Finland:

1. What is unique about the Arctic Circle in the summer?
2. What is at the center of the Arctic Circle?
3. What is the name of the province within northern Finland where the Finns believe Santa Claus lives?
4. What is the name of Finland in their local language?
5. Where did Toto watch the 2006 Eurovision finals when the Finish group, Lordi, won the competition.
6. Serbia won the 2007 Eurovision competition days after Toto left Helsinki. In which city will next year's Eurovision competition be held? (Hint: Re-read chapter 6.)

Global Nomad Questions on Finland:

1. Write a letter or email to Santa Clause in Lapland at his address below. Ask him to write you back. The Finns told me unless he is too busy, he will write back if you ask and that he reads every letter. You can read more about Santa's post office by clicking on this link.
   
   Santa Claus
   Santa Claus Village
   FIN-96930 Arctic Circle
   Finland
   [email protected]
2. Pick one of the 42 countries competing in the Eurovision contest (www.Eurovision.com) and write your own TotoTravels.com chapter about it. Email it to [email protected]. Toto will select the most interesting chapters to post on www.TotoTravels.com for everyone to read.
3. Finland actually has a second official language. Do a cybersearch and write what that second language is. (The name of the country in this second official language is "Finland," so my guess is that's why the country's name in English is Finland instead of Suomi.)
4. In Finland Toto learned something new about the difference between Scandinavia and the Nordic countries. He had mistakenly thought Finland was part of Scandinavia, which is the name of the region made up only of three countries near Finland: Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Finland considers itself as part of the four "Nordic" countries. Do a cybersearch to find out what the other three Nordic countries are.