I'm still thinking about my trip. Some interesting things I haven't mentioned yet:
- Finland has a female president (who my cousin met when she recently visited MN for Finnfest 2008 - http://www.justcoffeeart.com/announcements.html)
- Every Finnish man has to serve in the military or do some sort of civil service work for a year or more (women aren't required to do so but are able to if they so choose)
- When you have a baby in Finland the government encourages you to stay home in the first year by giving you money to do so (and guaranteeing that you still have a job to go back to if you are working).
- They have dual flush toilets everywhere, even in public restrooms (Finns seem very conscious about sustainability)
- Their diet is really very healthy - a typical breakfast would be rye bread with butter, topped with tomatoes, cucumber, and possibly cheese. There were some salad toppings that I considered a bit odd--one day I reached for little red chunks that I thought were tomatoes to put on my salad and they turned out to be watermelon!
- Despite the fact that the national languages are both Finnish and Swedish, Finns really don't hide their dislike of Swedes
Below is a menu in the elevator of our hotel - the translation really cracked me and Laura up. We weren't brave enough to try the game balls though.
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