#3 in this series of 4
Here are more Finnish emojis — these
express characteristics I don’t know much about. Or am I just
not seeing the truth?
Torilla
tavataan — The feeling when something so great happens you
just have to share it with somebody. “Although Finns are not
crowd-loving ‘samba people’ by nature, when something great
happens, we Finns head for the market square. There’s one in every
city. If Finns win an ice-hockey tournament, a singing contest or
pretty much anything, the market square is the place to go.”
Matti Nykänen
— the feeling of bon voyage. “Matti Nykänen, the world’s most
successful ski jumper ever, has introduced some of the well-used
catchphrases for Finnish language. We say ‘every chance is an
opportunity’ or we estimate the percentages with ‘fifty-sixty’
share. One thing we know for sure: ‘life is life.’ ”
Karjalanpiirakka — the
feeling of craving something delicious. “Karjalanpiirakka
is a traditional pasty or pie originally from the region of Karelia.
It is a rye crust usually with a filling of rice porridge. The
original topping is egg butter. Karjalanpiirakka is eaten all
over Finland at all times and occasions from breakfast to weddings.”
Serious yum.
black gold (has to be chocolate!)
Finnish love — “Finnish love is
often quiet. Finns won’t shout about love to the world. Actions
speak louder than words. When we do love someone, it’s deep —
very deep.” (The old joke — about the couple who hadn’t said the
words “I love you” for over 50 years, because it had been said
once, and nothing had changed — comes to mind.)
Happiness — the feeling of
winning [over] our lovely neighbor Sweden in anything.
Iceman — the feeling of “Leave
me alone. I know what I’m doing.” “This Finnish attitude was made
famous by the Iceman himself, Formula 1 driver Kimi Räikkönen, who
quite nicely sums it all up.
Headbanger — the feeling of
banging your head. In Finland, heavy metal is mainstream. “There are
more heavy metal bands in Finland per capita than anywhere else.”
Unbreakable — “Finns are
tough, almost unbreakable. Finland has produced quite a bunch of
unbreakable and long-lasting items such as the old Nokia 3310 phone
which is famous for being, well, unbreakable.”
Lost hopes
— the feeling of getting your hopes up. Every time. “Finland is
notorious for its lack of success in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Each time we wait for a win but get zero points. So to get back at
them we entered a band of monsters in 2006 — and won.”
I need a bit of clarification to understand these better —
a trusted friend,
pusa
hispidi saimensis,
the voice, the conductor and the king.
Nikki
xmas.finland.fi
