Advent Calendar, Day 8

statue of jean sibelius
Statue of Jean Sibelius, Järvenpää, Finland

Today one of the Finnish treasures of the century is celebrated, the composer Jean Sibelius. It’s also a day for Finnish music. He’s one of the best known people abroad. Especially for classical music lovers. He composed ‘Finlandia‘ which is usually played on special occasions. You can hear the song in ‘Die Hard 2: Die harder’ and other places as well. This is a flag day to remember the day he was born.

His home is ‘Ainola‘ where he and his wife Aino lived. There’s more about the place and photos in the link. Very interesting reading I must say.

Here’s a few photos I took when I was there in summer 2012. I used to study in the same town but only walked past it. I wanted to show my parents the town so we went to see this a bit closer on the same trip.

ainola_tuusula
Ainola, home of Jean Sibelius
sauna
The sauna
inside a sauna
Inside the sauna

Ainola was a really nice place. It was in the middle of a forest. It had a big garden with flowers. I could imagine how they would had walked there everyday. Maybe entertaining guests. I could definitely live in a place like this. Peaceful and quiet. So if you’re want to see Finland in the summer, visit this place. I wish I could have went inside the house that is now a museum but unfortunately we didn’t have time.

Advent Calendar, Day 6, Independence day

google logo with Finnish flag
Google remembers Finland

Today it’s Independence day of Finland. 99 years of those. Next year it’s 100th. This post could go on and on about what independence means to me. But it’s not. I should actually be working on a website for a client so I don’t have time for a longer post.

I’m just gonna say this.

Happy Independence day Finland!

Hyvää Itsenäisyyspäivää Suomi!

Glad Självständighetsdag Finland!

Advent Calendar, Day 2

snow view
From winter 2014-15

Living in Finland means snow in the winter. In the south there’s not much of that anymore. It melts which is the saddest thing. Some people find snow cold and depressive but I love it. If there’s no snow, I won’t call it winter. This winter we already had some but it rained away. You can’t ski on it but it’s still white. It’s darker without it. At this moment there is some snow but it’s gets dark so soon so I haven’t had time to take new photos of it. It will probably melt again soon. The weather in Finland can be unpredictable. One day there’s rain and the next some sun.

Every Christmas there’s a question, will there be a white Christmas? If you want snow, it’s guaranteed you get that in the Northern Finland. The higher you get, the better there’s a lot of it. I won’t be home at Christmas so it doesn’t really matter if there’s snow or not. Snow is always welcome no matter where I’m going. It’s refreshing to see it during December though. Especially when it’s dark outside. Otherwise it would be grey and dull. I don’t understand those who complain about the cold. Have they never heard of jumpers and winter boots? That’s what makes it so unique to live in a climate with different seasons. There’s not a dull moment. Having snow is even better. Putting layers of clothes on is like wrapping presents. Love yourself and that also goes for covering yourself with clothes to keep warm. So let it snow. Kids love it so why not adults too.

Construct

Ps. This is my post-milestone-500-2xth post

Tallenna

Tallenna