Respect our right for life and differences - Vive la vie!

Shame on the disrespect shown in Paris!

Thinking about the current refugee situation in Europe and our view on the ones trying to get into our countries for a safe and better life, one comes to think how we should - or should we - change our view.

One view is that the current refugees have chosen their side. They have decided to leave their life and even families in home countries. They are running from the ones who are responsible for the insane actions as in Paris!

Naturally some of the people on the move are not what they claim to be! Therefore it might be good to be sharp on the control, both filtering out the ones with "wrong" intentions, as well as to secure the adaptation into the country can be managed properly. Still keeping in mind there is a reason they left their life at home country for a reason!

Strength & respect to everyone, we should never give up to the dark forces. Life must go on, you can call me naive, while I strongly believe the good ones will win at the end!

HAVE A BEST POSSIBLE WEEKEND YOU ALL - VIVE LA VIE!!!

Itsenäinen Suomi 97 vuotta - Finland's 97th Independence Day

Today Finland has been independent for 97 years. Again Tuntematon Sotilas -movie is on TV and the President's reception is back in Helsinki now that the palace has been renovated.

To secure we can celebrate Finland's independence also in the coming years, there has been discussions if Finland should join NATO or not. I myself see more benefits than down sides or risks, or one could think joining would be the best insurance ever...

Regarding the NATO topic there is a good column at local newspaper - naturally in Finnish.

More about Finland's independence in my old posts.

Suomen mahdollisesta NATO jäsenyydestä on käyty yllättävän vähän rakentavaa keskustelua. Asiaa voisi ajatella siltä kantilta, että se olisi paras mahdollinen turvallisuusvakuutus, joka jo sinällään tuo rauhallisuutta. Uusi Suomi ja Arno Kotro pohtii asiaa eri kanteilta kolumnissaan:
http://arnokotro.puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/181775-voi-halonen-ja-tuomioja-minka-teitte

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää meille kaikille!

6 Joulukuuta 2013 Suomi 96 vuotta - December 6th 2013 Finland 96 years!

Corrected: "...Year 1917 Finland separated..."
----
Tomorrow December 6th is the Independence Day of Finland. Year 1917 Finland separated from Russia and started to develop a life of it's own. I guess someone at Russia - or later at Soviet Union - started to have doubts regarding the decision and hence they started a war against Finland at 1939, the famous Winter War.

This is how Wikipedia describes the winter war in brief;
"The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939–1940. It began with Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940."

Tomorrow the Finnish broadcasting company YLE shows again a classic movie about the second world war time in Finland, the Unknown Soldier - Tuntematon Sotilas from 1955. Wikipedia briefing at here and Youtube taste below.

Tomorrow's annual President's reception will be held at Tampere, since the precidential palace is under renevation. No dancing but a concert instead. Let's see what kind of a party it will be.
...and in case you are wondering, NO I am not going, it is always televized.

Let's finish off with a "music video" from the 1955 movie, a clip of Finlandia, composed by Jean Sibelius.

Hyvää 96. Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi 

-

Happy 96th Independence Day Finland!

PS To check out my older posts about Finland's independence, click here.

PPS It's only 19 days until Santa Claus, Joulupukki, comes over. Welcome Christmas!!!

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi - Happy Independence Day Finland!

This fantastic, strange, fascinating, country with unique, peculiar, interesting people and unique, challenging, ever changing athmosphere and climate is celebrating 95th birthday today!

Here is a fantastic clip of Finland, giving you a glimse of what we have. Have a look, make sure your loudspeakers are ON, sit back and enjoy! Welcome for a visit, I love this country!

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi - Happy Independence Day Finland!

PS Old stories of the same topic via this link.

Hyvää 94. Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi - Happy Independence Day Finland!

94 years ago Finland got independent from Russia. After that we've had some a few times arguments with the eastern neighbor. Every independence day the national broadcasting company shows the old school black-and-white movie "Tuntematon Sotilas" - "Unknown Soldier" from 1955. It is about the second world war in Finland, the contingency war we had on the Eastern frontier.

To get to the mood, check out from Youtube the Finlandia by Sibelius...

Tonight is also the traditional President's reception with somewhat 2.000 guests = hands to shake by the president. It's been a fun event to check out the outfits, one more horrible that the other - and some positive ones too.

I've not been invited yet, so I need to comment it by hear-say and media experience, but the dancing is not something I'd be looking for.

The ones who wish to watch it online - like we did during the Brussels years - visit here. There are also pages with about this year's events in Finnish in here, for images later on 18:30 Finnish time (CET +1 hour), check out the "Kuvagalleria"-section.

Toisin sanoen, jos haluat seurata Linnan Juhlat 2011 online internet-lähetyksenä, se onnistuu YLE Areenalta 18:30 Suomen aikaa. Tietoja päivän muista tapahtumista löytyy täältä.

Happy Independence Day of Finland -
Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää!!!

PS I almost forgot that today is also Saint Nicholas day. In Belgium today is the main present day of the year, Christmas has come along only afterwards and nowadays kids have two opportunities for presents...

World Championships: Finland 14 - Canada 2

Let's go Canada, let's go!
...but not in this game.

It's again time for the World Championships and this time in Finland. The games are played in the ice hockey arenas, one of them being the very same that hosted Ice Hockey World Championships already 1997 in Helsinki, but yesterday's game was played in the home arena of Espoo Blues, my home team.

5 players and goalie in both teams with their sticks sharpened and ready to start the game. But soon the tention is over as Team Finland controls the game from the beginning and already after the first 20 minutes it is 4 - 0 and after 2nd 20 mins it is 8-0.

Hats off to Canada as they played (naturally) with a high moral through the game and it was awarded towards the end by 2 goals.

Yes, Finland has found a way to donimate a game in ice hockey arena against the mother country of ice hockey. However, unfortunately the game was not ice hockey but floorball...

But some of you thought it was ice hockey while reading - gotcha!!!

PS In few hours starts the fun of Finland Independence Day. You can follow it at http://www.yle.fi/linnanjuhlat/2010/
To get to the mood check out this old clip from ice hockey World Championships
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ddim6Yx3mI

Fruits, Vegetables and Independence - Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi!

The local main newspaper Helsingin Sanomat had in their online paper an interesting article about eating habits of fruits and vegetables. UNICEF had conducted a survey and quite alarming fact was that only 14% of 15 years old boys in Finland eat daily fruits or vegetables! Only fourteen procent!!!

I know from my own experience that it is not only the boys that have difficulties to eat them, it's also the girls. Unfortunately some allergies rule out some of the fruits that our lady in the same age group can eat, but I can tell you it wouldn't be that easy even if she could eat them all. Same challenge with the veggies. The only one that is on "I like to eat it" -list is cucumber (Cucumis sativus), but there the vitamins are as rare as Finnish NBA-players...

What is positive, is that the younger man in the family is happy to eat different kinds of veggies and salad. He has even loves "well prepared" green beans, or I'd say Haricots verts as the French, thinner and longer version is. That's one of the things picked up during Belgium years.

What is the "well prepared" then?
Well, I'm not 100%  sure how my wife does them, but an easy option is to put some (a lot) olive oil on a hot pan, put the beans in, add some sea salt & pepper and that's it! You don't need to cook them long, even if you use the frozen ones it takes only some minutes to prepare. Very good - unless you are too suspicious and afraid to taste one...

What comes to the fruits, the shops are full of different type of them but as the article refers, they are not that cheap up here in the corner of the world - in a country covered with snow. We try to encourage the kids to eat them, naturally showing example, and even push it a bit by putting on a plate in minimum one piece of the veggie prepared or served. Be it green bean, cherry tomato or what ever, they get familiar with the taste and it becomes a habit bit by bit. A healthy habit.

No veggie or fruit - no desert. And the desert can also be or include some fruit - which is something where we could improve a bit.

To read the article at Helsingin Sanomat online newspaper, go here.

To finish the Finnish topics, let's talk about independence;
Tomorrow is again the independence day of Finland, this time # 93 I believe. Hence we get to enjoy a long weekend while tonight most of you prepare again for a 5 day work week.

Last year I wrote the 100th posting about the Finland's Independence day. You can check it out to read a bit about the history, and more details you can get from Wikipedia... Along the years we have build a tradition of two TV evenings per year: Finland's Independence day reception at the President's Palace and the Eurovision song contest in May (I've also written about that few times).

...I actually was wondering in the vey same 100th posting if I'd ever reach 200 postings but today we are somewhere around 230 postings. Since you keep coming back, I guess I need to do the same...

The reason for watching the reception is not that much the event itself or the party, but the biggest fun is to be a home-couch-critic for the dresses. There are always both tops and flops and naturally the flops come across easier. Some flops from an old article from here.

For Finns, here is an old sketch, nauttikaa!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJY3PoVWKw&feature=related

So tomorrow at 6 pm we shall light 2 candels in the window, a tradition that dates back for a long time. I'm not so sure about where it comes from and will not find out just now. If you know, please share!

Happy Independence Day Finland -

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi!

Hyvää 92. Itsenäisyyspäivää - It is Finland's 92nd Independence Day!

Today is the 92nd Independence Day for Finland.

The topic of independence has been in the past weeks on top more then normally, since on November 30th exactly 70 years ago Soviet Union attacked Finland without declearing a war and so calle Winter War was started. Only recently the Russian authorities admitted that the events that happened just before the attack was a fraud arranged by the Soviet government.

What happened that in the border village of Mainila the Soviet troops started an artillery activity, that is shot with heavy guns, towards their own people. And of course they tried to put the blaim on Finnish troops to justify the planned attack.

I am greatful to all the people who contributed 70 years ago to enable us to have the status we have today! Otherwise we would have ended up like Baltic countries...

When Finland decleared independent from Russia at 1917 it was not all clear at once. Soon after that we ended up having a civil war, where the "Reds" wanted us to continue hand-in-hand with Russia / Soviet Union - that was in the turbulence with the revolution - and the "Whites" that were driving Finland's independence.

The war itself was at some levels cruel and 1% of the population was killed. Today it feels fairly small numbers, ~30.000, of which about half died at the prison camps.

Why that many?
There was huge famine (lack of food) among the people outside the camps, and hence the prisoners were getting even less. Also diseases were spreading in poor hygiene conditions.

Back to today;
I am happy to have the right to choose and decide myself. Some say that we have lost part of our independence via European Union.

Partly true perhaps, but mainly in some areas where we also gain good things. Be it in union of countries, marriage, friendships or what have you, it is always about giving and getting. As long as both/all sides are happy and in a long run gaining more then giving, all is good. Even today.

The weather is still in November mood, wet and grey.

Just like few days ago at the Helsinki Airport. The airport control tower far back on left side. Also note the wind bag against the sky next to the light post in the middle. This was the brightest moment all week, clouds running fast above us and some light at the horizon...

Tonight we shall enjoy some great food and entertain us by wathcing the President's reception that is broadcasted live. You would not believe some of the dresses and hair styles you see - but they are real and some are even proud of them.

100

PS I crossed 100 posting landmark. Let's see if I ever get the 2nd full ;o)