My Geek of the Week week is over, and I've chosen my successor.

All rise for Mikko Sari!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/msaari

Here is Mikko's biography:



Mikko, a few questions for you.

1. Congratulations on the recent birth of your son. What is his name?

2. I've never done any live action role playing, but have nervously
watched people with swords running around conventions.
What sort of live action roleplaying did you do?

3. Was there a boardgame that was the "trigger" that moved you into
euro board gaming?

4. I see you have Antiquity in your BGG "hot 10" at the moment. I
think this is a marvellous game that deserves more exposure. Are there
any other games that you consider "hidden gems" that deserve more
exposure. Any games of Finnish origin?

5. You say Finnish boardgaming is strong? How strong? How many would
attend your local club on a typical evening? What are the popular games there at the moment?

6. I worked with a Finnish lady for several years and she used to
bring in snacks from Finland. I remember something she called
"mocassins". If I were a guest for dinner in Finland, what would be a
typical meal I would be served?

7. I love watching motor racing, especially formula 1. Kimi Raikonnen
and Mika Hakkinen are both well known. What other sports stars are
famous in Finland?

8. I have my recently viewed games listed on my Boardgamegeek front
page. Do you? What are the games you've most recently viewed on BGG.

9. Please tell us two truths and a lie.
You can reveal what is the lie at some point during your week

Enjoy your week, Mikko. Have fun!

Hi, Mikko.

I keep promising one of my friends that I will visit them in Norway (near Oslo) some summer. How much time and money would it cost to get to you and what would we play?

Yehuda

It's either about 600 euros and few hours for a direct flight from Oslo to Tampere, or probably slightly less money and 15 hours for car and ferry.

We'd play Puerto Rico with your expansion buildings. I haven't even tried the official expansion yet, so that would be hot on my list. Looks like Age of Steam, Euphrat & Tigris and Go would be good options, too. What's your Go rank, could we get a meaningful game going? I'm somewhere between 12k and 17k...

Go rank: no idea. Most of my games have been on a 9 x 9 board.

Hey Mikko,
Congratulations on the birth of lttle number 3...and on being the Geek of the Week.
I noticed you wrote that a traditional or common Finnish meal included venison. (as for lingonberries-Ikea cafes are the only place in Australia where I have found them unfortunately) What little I know of Finland's history includes the importance of reindeer to Finnish culture. What are some of the cultural traditions or festivals that people who know almost nothing about Finland (like me) wouldn't know about? I have also heard that Finnish is a very difficult second language to learn... even compared to English. Is Finnish education all done in Finnish (apart from the learning of foreign languages)? What other languages are common there?
I actually have three adopted cousins, Jukka, Marco and Mika, who are half Finnish (their Grandmothers were in Finland and I think Malaysia, so they adopted my Grandmother as their Grandmother) but we have never really talked about Finland. Actually Jukka is a regular in my gaming group. I know that their names are Finnish. Are they common names there? I have taught 5 Finnish girls from two other Finnish families also, Jarvinens and... I forget the other surname (9 years ago is my excuse). Are all Finnish people so cheery or am I just lucky to have met 13 Fins who were all just the most warm and friendly people? I know this is all massive generalisation but how do Finnish people perceive themselves...what personality traits do you see as representative of the national culture? Also are there particular countriues that people you know have emigrated to? What country would you like to live in if you weren't living in Finland? (and why is that?)

Finland, Finland Finland
The country where I want to be
It's mountains so lofty
It's tree tops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all.

Reindeer is actually more part of Sami culture, which is not same as Finnish. The Sami were the original inhabitants of Finland - we Finno-Ugric folks are the newcomers, who have since pushed the Sami people far north to Lapland (in larger sense, combining areas in Norway, Sweden and Kola Peninsula in Russia).



Hmm... The main events in Finland are the New Year (fireworks, champagne), Easter (chocolate eggs, old pagan traditions), May Day (drunken stupor, originally a day for the working class, now celebrated by all in general and students in particular), Midsummer (drunken stupor, bonfires) and Christmas (gifts on Christmas eve).

Basically nothing happens in Winter, but Finnish summer is full of all sorts of events. There's sane stuff like rock festivals (pretty much every weekend) and art happenings, but also crazy stuff like the Wife Carrying world championship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife_Carrying).



That depends. Finland is pretty hard, because it's quite unlike most other languages. Estonian is very much like Finnish (perhaps a similar relationship as with Dutch and German?) and Hungarian is also related, but that's about it - some nearly-extinct languages somewhere around Ural make up the Finno-Ugric language group.

Finnish language has its curiosities, but I don't know if it's really that hard. Wikipedia says it well: "It has a reputation for being difficult to understand and learn. This, however, is probably better understood as a matter of difference rather than difficulty, per se. The supposed difficulty of Finnish is due not to any inherent features of the languages but rather to the degree its grammar and vocabulary differ from those of the native languages of most people who study it as an additional language."



The three official languages of Finland are Finnish, Swedish (minority of <5%) and Sami (<1%). Swedish is mandatory for all in schools, it's typically the second foreign language. First foreign language is English, though German is possible (it used to be the first choice earlier) and Russian is gaining popularity for a good reason in the Eastern Finland.

All basic education is in Finnish, but after high school it's hard to survive without English. University studies require reading lots of English textbooks (well, unless you're studying Finnish or a language other than English, I suppose).

I still wrote my master's thesis in Finnish, though it might've been a good idea to write in English. If I did a Doctor's thesis, it would be in English, I guess. At least I'd have to write articles in English.



I think that's pretty much the truth, though if you ask a Finn, you'd probably get a different answer. We see ourselves as reserved, hard-to-reach people. Finland does have one of the highest suicide rates in the world and we're not the most outreaching people, but I suppose Finnish people are warm and friendly, if you get to know them. Which might be a bit hard.

We're kind of like English in some ways (based on Kate Fox's excellent book Watching the English), like in our reluctance to talk to strangers. Enter a crowded bus in Finland and you might not hear a word. People who come to talk to you on the streets are typically drunk or otherwise scary.

Certain pessimism and expecting the worst is also important. Even though it's Swedish, Tomas Ledin's Sommaren är kort is a perfect Finnish summer hit, as the chorus line goes "Summer is short"... Like, after all, it's almost Christmas already. Finnish summer is short but cold.

Unfortunately Lordi's success in the Eurovision Song Contest destroyed a national institution of moaning and bitching about the ESC. Of course, a typical reaction in Finland to success is bitter jealousy and suspecting that the successful person is "full of it". Showing your wealth and success is considered tasteless, being modest is very important.

A typical Finnish publication is a tax-calendar. Basically it's a magazine published once a year and it lists the taxes people pay. Not everybody, but celebrities and the wealthy. Thus, you can check how much your neighbour makes and who are the wealthy people in your area. That way you know if you should be jealous. "SEE HOW MUCH YOUR NEIGHBOUR EARNS", that's how they're advertised. Of course, asking that directly is totally out of question. No way you could do something like that.

Here we're descending to the low stereotyping, but we're also a nation of drinkers. While the Finnish alcohol consumption level is pretty typical (and less than in the heavy beer-drinking countries), the Finnish alcohol use seems to be a bit more messy... perhaps more focused? You'll probably see more drunks and reckless behaviour in Finland, particularly in the summer.

What else? Finns can be stubborn and proud of their sisu, a near-mythical national trait consisting of stamina and tenacity. The Spirit of Winter War lives strong (Finland held against Soviet Union, who outnumbered Finnish four to one).

Finland has an interesting relationship to USA. Finland is sometimes called the most American country in the Europe: many features of American culture are well-received and celebrated... like Disney: Donald Duck is the best-loved comic in Finland, and it's definitely Donald Duck and not Mickey Mouse who the Finns love and connect to. There's a thriving 50's rock'n'roll and car culture, too. Still, in many situations, there's certain dislike and distrust towards American openness and grandeur.



Sweden was big in the 70's, when work was scarce in Finland (both of my parents used to work in Sweden for a while, but many people remained there). In late 19th century and early 20th, many people emigrated to USA. The northern states in particular used to have strong Finnish communities, places like Minnesota and Vermont - Finnish people used to work in the wood industry, that's what we know well in Finland.

I'm not fond of exotic countries, I love the comforts of Western civilization too much. I mean, even in England I would miss the proper water taps and dish-drying cabinets. Still, UK is where I'd head, just for the language and the culture. New Zealand seems nice, too, for some reason, though it's perhaps a bit too far from everywhere. If I were more fluent in the language, I could see myself living in Sweden, Germany or Netherlands.



Highest point in Finland: whopping 1300 meters above the sea level! There's an entertaining mountain range in southern Finland in the new Hasbro Diplomacy map - the highest point there should be just few hundred meters above the sea level...

Oh, you edited your message while I was replying... Yes, Jukka and Mika are very popular names (and both are male names, despite the -a in the end). Marco is too, but it's usually written as Marko. Marco with c isn't really Finnish, but you see foreign influence here and there (and it could be Finnish Swedish influence, too). Järvinen is, by the way, one of the most common last names in Finland. Instead of last names derived from professions, most Finnish last names are related to family (Järvi means a lake, thus Järvinen is someone from a lake; Saari means an island).

Thanks Mikko.
Yes Marko is spelled with a k not a c. OOPS.
I am not surprised that you like the sound of New Zealand. It is a beautiful country and from what I have heard bears some strong similarities to scandinavian countries as does my wife's state of Minnesota. Her family heritage includes Swedish woodworkers who immigrated to the US.
The Fjords in the south Island I think are called Milford Sound. If you ever go to New Zealand I absolutely recommend seeing them and the glaciers and mountains (well for an Aussie who rarely sees snow they are amazing anyway). Oh who am I kidding most of the country is very beautiful.
I would like to travel more in Europe and would definitely want to trace my own roots in the UK and my wife's relatives in Sweden.
I don't know why but I am more interested in visiting northern europe than the mediterranean areas. If someone was visiting Finland are there particular things you would show them?
What are the old pagan traditions at Easter that you mentioned?