We visited Finland for the first time in six years. It was a short combined business and tourist trip. Our publisher Atena Kustannus invited us over for the book launch of Päivi’s newest book Elämäni nomadina (My Life as a Nomad).
The visit was pretty hectic because of interviews, but fun. We also had an opportunity to visit our family and many of our friends who had invited us over.
Finland hadn’t changed much, but after India the contrast was huge: the cities were empty, the streets clean, we could drink tap water, and the nature was prestine. The level of hygiene was so different that Santeri got a three-day traveller’s diarrhea. Of course everything was very expensive, too, many times more expensive than in India, or more generally in Asia. For example a 180-kilometre train trip from Helsinki to Tampere costs 40 euro, more than flying from Finland to Germany or Italy.
Helsinki, the capital, had become more international. There were more tourists and more foreigners. The foreigners we saw worked in low-paid jobs such as bus drivers and cleaners just like everywhere in Europe. Hopefully next time there will be more foreigners also in higher positions opening Finland to the world.
