Views towards Näsineula tower in Tampere, summer 2009 Very Finnish Problems creator Joel Willans chats with Joe Konderla, writer at the Finniot, a blog on adjusting to Finnish quirks. Topics include British imperialism in Wales, Helsinki versus Tampere and overdosing on Moomins. Co-host Thomas Nybergh advises against home ownership and suggests learning Swedish to fast-track…
Joel Willans, captain of Very Finnish Problems, investigates the extraordinary hot beverage habits of his adopted country. Lari Salomaa, from Swedish artisanal coffee and tea brewery Johan & Nyström, joins to spill the beans on the nuances of Nordic caffeine madness. He uses his book on the subject to explain the situation. Co-host Thomas Nybergh…
A beautiful view of Helsinki’s architecture and atmosphere. My trip to Helsinki started off rather unfortunate as my host family told me about temperatures rising to plus 20°C this week on our way from the airport to their house last week Saturday. I do quite enjoy warm weather, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t…
Two Moomin snowmen in urban setting. Photo by Spixey on Flickr. Creator of Very Finnish Problems Joel Willans returns with a conversation on how and why Finland is big in Japan with project manager, exports specialist Sami Häikiö. We learn about the strides being made to bring Moomin to the world and the peculiarities of…
The iconic statues at Helsinki Railway Station. After falling in love with a Finnish woman, I fell just as deeply in love with her country and culture and learned that the Finns are a complex and beautiful breed. One side of the Finnish personality is reserved and shy, yet the other mirrors that of a…
Fredrika Runeberg, the woman behind the famous cake and much more. You probably know Johan Runeberg, but what do you know about Fredrika Runeberg? As the wife of Finland’s national poet, Fredrika Runeberg has sometimes been overshadowed. Here are five fantastic facts to get to know her life and contributions to Finnish culture a little…
A visual representation of the cultural divide. Four years on from the invasion, this is how Finnish opinion of Russia actually moved, and what Sanna Marin got right before anybody else. YouTube Very Finnish Problems I was 13 when I moved from Russia to Finland. Now, I’ve lived here for as long as I lived…
For the vast majority of women doing hair and makeup is a part of their daily routine. However, it is also a great way of expressing yourself, especially if you are Sonja Kataja a self-taught braider, make-up artist and model from Helsinki. Check out her Instagram account and you will find her transformed into a…
Donald Trump visited wildfire-devastated California and did what he does best. He talked nonsense. Answering a question regarding forest fire prevention, he quoted a conversation he had with the Finnish president Sauli Niinistö. He said that California should do more raking like Finland. Nobody rakes forests in Finland. Niinistö said he spoke briefly with Trump…
Ask people what they think of when they think of Finland and the likelihood is Northern Lights will be on the list. Lapland is home to the spectacle. It covers 100,366 km2 which is nearly a third of Finland’s entire area. Despite its size, the chilly far north has less than two people per km2….