Hi to all! I am Perianne, an immigrant from Finland (though I have been here in USA for nearly all my life). I am the nicest, sweetest person you will ever come across! lol Anyway, I am happy to join you and may I add positively to this forum.
Welcome. I have had a real interest in Finland ever since I read what Mannerheim said to Stalin in WWII Stalin: I can send ten million men against you Mannerheim: Tell them to bring their own shovels, we can't bury that many. and there is the famous quote by Julius Caesar. "Beware the Finns, for they are a wild and terrible race" I have three questions about Finland 1. Do you view yourselves as Scandinavians, like the Norwegians and the Swedes, or are you something different? (this is from David Letterman, where two Finns seemed almost offended to be called Scandinavians) 2. Do many Finns look more Turkish than European? (This is from the book Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, who mentions the characteristic as an aside) 3. Are the Lapps (Laplanders?) Finns? or are they more like Inuit in Canada and Alaska I hope you like it here. Sweet and nice people are always good to have.
Lucky for you that you escaped Finland at an early age. Nothing personal against the country or its people. It's language, however, is one of the ugliest languages I have ever heard spoken. The consonant to vowel ratio in every word has to be at least 10 to 1.
Welcome, Perianne, I think you'll be happy you joined this forum. I look forward to reading your comments and finding out some of your interests. Enjoy...
Have you tried Scots Gaelic? It's beautiful when spoken, but trying to read or learn it is a doozy....
You may remember Lummy? I buried him in my backyard with some stale bread the birds wouldn't eat. Cotton would say hi if he could, but he's not here. All I got. Finland, huh. Huh. Make good guns, some highly collectible, but then so does most of Europe. They make good guns because they've had to, I suppose.
What I mean by that is that you are a great poster and we all look forward to your contributions to the board!
Welcome, Finn! Enjoy the Sweet People here. PS: I love listening to spoken Finnish. It's a beautiful language (though impenetrable .. what with being one of the hardest to learn)!