To the fins on the Christmas tree
What comes to mind when you name this country? Fishing in rubber boots, residents of St. Petersburg, rushing in their cars for shopping to the border of Finland, an outpost of Santa Claus, surrounded by little gnomes and children of wealthy parents.
For me, a resident of Ukraine, Finland is somewhere on the other side of the world. And not only geographically, but by interests. What could be so attractive in it that I would rush thousands of kilometers in order to wake up and see a piece of Finland in the window. Sweden has the dazzling Stockholm and a number of small towns that look like a giant, oversized model of a dream city. In Denmark, there is the majestic Copenhagen with the storyteller Andersen and the royal family at the head. What is there in Finland? Pile of fjord, marshland and Mumiy Troll.
With such a conclusion, I would never have ended up in Finland, having agreed to exchange such mastodons of interest as Spain, Italy, Germany and France for it. But it was thanks to the work that I managed to get here, and also make sure how, in my own way, this country is interesting.
Do not forget about one more minus - is it Finnish? Where did he even come from, and who understands the Finns, except for the Finns themselves? Estonians? Knowing German, English, Spanish, you can conquer half the world and gossip with a representative of any nation in most of the European part and both Americas. Who do you speak Finnish with?
Therefore, I express my deep gratitude to all those not lazy Finnish activists who teach English and with sticks and gingerbread make it teach their children. It was these geeks, as well as their children, who helped me navigate the cities and villages of the countryside, quickly jump from bus to bus without knowing the local topology, find the places I needed in a matter of minutes, and also determine my position in the steppes of Finland without GPS. Thank you, comrades, for your help and understanding. Without you, I would have frozen under another pine tree a long time ago, I would have fallen into the networks of unscrupulous human traffickers (if there are such in Finland). Or I would sob at bus stops from impotence to figure out local routes, and sob nervously, in response to the howls of others, “I don’t understand you! ”.
