After having spent the last few summers working in Helsinki before deciding to move here permanently, I am no stranger to the question “What brings you to Finland?” So, you would think that after being asked such a question more times than I have had hot dinners, I would have a perfectly rehearsed “Here’s one I prepared earlier” answer to reel off at any given moment. The reality is far from it. I still find it virtually impossible to articulate a reply, let alone one that whoever is asking appears to understand. Common assumptions such as “Are you studying here?” or “Do you have a Finnish boyfriend?” are met with a resounding “No”, and as soon as I start to try and explain that I moved here for no reason other than I like it here, I am immediately met with a look of amazement that I have not yet been carted off.
The next question is usually, “Where are you from?” and my reply, ‘England’, only ever seems to reinforce their belief that I am completely mad. Why on earth would anyone want to move from England to Finland? Or “Horrible rainy, cold Finland” as it is more often than not described. I could have sworn that it was our (English) weather that had the wet and unpredictable reputation?
The weather is the favourite and perhaps the single topic of conversation that binds our nations and so, try as I might to convince the Finns that I like long winters, cold springs and given a choice I would always choose cold over hot, my reasoning does not appear to cut the mustard. And here I am, reinforcing the opinion that the English have a predilection for talking (albeit nonmeteorologically) about the weather! Which conveniently brings me on to another fascination and yet another reason for why I am apparently insane to want to live in Finland.
London. To those who have not heard of my hometown, Brighton, my description of it as being approximately one hour by train from London never fails to extract swoons of “oh I LOVE London”. Suggesting that despite it being 1777 when Samuel Johnson famously exclaimed to James Boswell, "Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”, such an opinion is still (world) widely held.
In order to save myself from the resulting feeling that I have been banging my head against a brick wall for the duration of such conversations, I have considered abandoning my attempts to pinpoint exactly why I love Finland and choosing the alternative option; a more hostile reply involving a venomous remark such as “because I hate England”. Easier for me to express? Most likely. Truthful? No. Furthermore, it is probably just as incomprehensible as my original choice. So despite my deliberations I am still ill-prepared for the dreaded “why Finland?” question. As they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison, but then again, they also say that the grass is always greener on the other side, but for me? I think it really is…
Daisey Cheyney is an English girl in Helsinki who moved to Finland after graduating from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Laguage and Linguistics. She likes cold days, dark nights, strong coffee and never-ending stories. |
