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A mother pulls her young child on a red sledge across the frozen sea in Helsinki on a grey winter day

What Finland's Kindergartens Get Right (and Bri...

I grew up in the British school system, where a four-year-old is barely out of nappies before someone is assessing their phonics. League tables, SATs, the gentle but insistent pressure...

What Finland's Kindergartens Get Right (and Bri...

I grew up in the British school system, where a four-year-old is barely out of nappies before someone is assessing their phonics. League tables, SATs, the gentle but insistent pressure...

A woman walking a snow covered path through a Finnish pine forest, seen from behind. Photo: Joel Willans

Saunas to Sisu: 15 Enchanting Traits of Finnish...

Finnish women get described by outsiders in the language of mystery and allure, which is flattering and almost entirely wrong. The reality is less romantic and a great deal more...

9 comments

Saunas to Sisu: 15 Enchanting Traits of Finnish...

Finnish women get described by outsiders in the language of mystery and allure, which is flattering and almost entirely wrong. The reality is less romantic and a great deal more...

9 comments
Freshly picked wild Finnish blueberries in a bucket on a forest floor, photo by Joel Willans

25 Things Finns Do Differently That Foreigners ...

Nobody hands you a list when you arrive in Finland. You find out about the shoes at the door and the ticket machine on the wall by getting both wrong...

13 comments

25 Things Finns Do Differently That Foreigners ...

Nobody hands you a list when you arrive in Finland. You find out about the shoes at the door and the ticket machine on the wall by getting both wrong...

13 comments
People walking on the frozen sea in Helsinki as a Tallink ferry passes behind in winter, photo by Joel Willans

Surviving 15 Finnish culture shocks: A foreigne...

Finland has a habit of surprising people. Not with drama, Finns aren't really into drama, but with a quiet consistency that turns out to be completely different from what most...

9 comments

Surviving 15 Finnish culture shocks: A foreigne...

Finland has a habit of surprising people. Not with drama, Finns aren't really into drama, but with a quiet consistency that turns out to be completely different from what most...

9 comments
Two young Finns laughing together at a phone on a Helsinki street, Very Finnish Problems

12 Finnish Language Memes to Make You Laugh Out...

Finnish is one of the world's most unusual languages. These 12 memes prove exactly why, from kuusi palaa to kalsarikännit.

3 comments

12 Finnish Language Memes to Make You Laugh Out...

Finnish is one of the world's most unusual languages. These 12 memes prove exactly why, from kuusi palaa to kalsarikännit.

3 comments
Bottles of Crapula red wine lined up on a shelf in a Finnish Alko store

Finland's Complicated Love Affair with Alcohol

Finland ran prohibition from 1919 to 1932. It ended after a referendum in which 70.5% of those who voted backed abolition outright. Fact box The repeal is remembered as 5.4.32...

5 comments

Finland's Complicated Love Affair with Alcohol

Finland ran prohibition from 1919 to 1932. It ended after a referendum in which 70.5% of those who voted backed abolition outright. Fact box The repeal is remembered as 5.4.32...

5 comments