Holidays & expats

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by lustrousonion, Dec 21, 2014.

  1. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I'll take a stab at it ...Minnesota? Must be someplace with Scandinavians and trees...
     
  2. lustrousonion

    lustrousonion Senior Member

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    @jannert Bingo!
     
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  3. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I'm good! :)
     
  4. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Whenever I'm abroad for a longer period of time, I start to miss rye bread and zalmiak. It's weird, though, 'cause whenever I'm in Finland, I tend to eat toast and avoid zalmiak. I'm also a milk-drinker, like most Nordics, so unless it's the UK, milk is sometimes hard to come by. And it's pretty much a given you won't find a proper sauna outside of Finland/Sweden/Russia. I can live without these things, of course, but in a way they are symbols of Home.

    As for Christmas, it doesn't feel right without snow. I think I'd feel pretty much at home in Minnesota, Michigan, Vermont, or Canada because of the climate, and also because of the immigration waves in the 19th and 20th century, some imprints of Scandinavia/Norden are still teeny bit visible in those parts of North America.
     
  5. outsider

    outsider Contributor Contributor

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    Yes, that's Englishmen for you, can't take them anywhere. The Scots on the other hand. . .
     
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  6. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    At times like this, my mixed nationality becomes really confused. Part of me is laughing at the English, the other part IS English. :p
     
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  7. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Where's your spine, conchy? LMF.
     
  8. lustrousonion

    lustrousonion Senior Member

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    I bet you would. In my hometown, many people still fly Norwegian flags. It's just a shame that the Finnish saunas didn't catch on. That would be lovely on a cold winter's night. :rolleyes:
     
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  9. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Finns didn't immigrate in hordes, so I'd imagine their influence was lesser than that of Scandinavians. But summer or winter, I'm definitely a big fan of saunas (quelle surprise!). There's nothing quite like running from the hot sauna into the snow or a hole in the lake. Heart-attack inducing, maybe, but it's part of the culture. :p
     
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  10. Gawler

    Gawler Senior Member

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    For me that definitely comes under the definition of "sisu"
     
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  11. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Color me surprised and impressed. How'd you know the term?

    But yeah, either it's sisu or utter lunacy. o_O
     
  12. Gawler

    Gawler Senior Member

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    The benefit of a lot of travel, known it for years, it come up again when I worked with a Finnish woman about 4 years ago in Hawaii. She was just as surprised as you that I knew the term.
     
  13. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Cool! And it is quite surprising 'cause as far as we're concerned, the rest of the world is completely unaware of one small country of saunas and sisu nestled in Mother Russia's armpit (or alternatively, stuck on her butt, depending on how you view it). However, if someone outside, out there in the real world notices us, even if in a negative light, we're overjoyed. Case in point, there's a Danish comic with a Finnish character whose a knife-wielding, drunk mute, but no matter, we're just glad our existence has been recognized.
     
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  14. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    That's slightly (but not much) better than the Czech perception of Brits as knife-wielding, drunk AND loud-mouthed! - based largely upon a small percentage of football hooligans.
     
  15. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    ... but are you flattered? ;) Though I must admit, the drunken Brit is a fairly prevailing stereotype in every place I've ever visited -- even the UK :D. But then again, so are drunken Poles, Russians, Irish... Finns.

    Anyway, it's almost Christmas, which means SAUNA TIME!
     

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