I really enjoyed the time in Finland but I’m also really looking forward going home. I really miss my family and friends. I looking forward to eat typical Swiss food again for example good chocolate and chees (typical stereotypes of Switzerland (; ) and be together with my loved ones. I really missed the weather and the temperature at home. I’m happy to go home. Of course I will miss some things for example to have my own flat and my new freinds but there are more things I miss about home. I’m really happy that I grew up and still live in Switzerland. ❤
Professor Hofstede’s framework was designed to help understand how, on average, people from different nations view and solve basic problems.
Large vs. Small Power Distance
The extent to which members of a society accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed.
People in Large Power Distance societies tend to accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a „place.“
People in Small Power Distance societies tend to strive for power equalization and demand justification for inequalities.
Individualism vs. Collectivism
Individualism stands for a preference of a loosely knit social framework in society where individuals are only supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families.
Collectivism stands for a preference for a tightly knit social framework in which individuals may expect their relatives to look after them in exchange for loyalty.
Fundamental issue: people’s self‐concept of „I“ or „we“.
Masculinity vs. Femininity
People in masculine societies tend to place more value on achievement and success. Males generally dominate a significant portion of the society and power structure. In general, the female population is likely to be more assertive and competitive, with women shifting toward the male role model and away from their female role.
In feminine societies, caring for others and quality of life are considered more important.
Sweden is the most feminine country one of his research.
Strong vs. Weak Uncertainty Avoidance
The degree to which members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.
Strong Uncertainty Avoidance countries tend to maintain rigid codes of belief and behavior and are generally intolerant toward deviant persons and ideas.
Weak Uncertainty Avoidance societies maintain a more relaxed atmosphere in which practice counts more than principles, and deviance is more easily tolerated.
Long Term Orientation vs. Short Term Orientation
A final dimension was added to Hofstede’s original framework. The fifth was found in a study among students in 23 countries around the world, using a questionnaire designed by scholars from China.
It explains the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic future oriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short term point of view.
Asian countries scored the highest on this dimension. In general, these countries believe in many truths, have a long term orientation, easily accept change and have thrift for investment.
Cultures scoring low on this dimension (US was the lowest) believe in absolute truth, are conventional and traditional, have a short term orientation and a concern for stability.
I met a lot of people from all over the world in the University and got to know their culture. At first, it was totally interesting to see how they do things that I would do totally different at home. But after a while, I got unsure about how I normally do things. I didn’t want to show them, because I was a little bit embarrassed sometimes by my habits. After this time passed, I really got annoyed of the “weird” habits of the others because a lot of times I thought my way of solving this problem would be better. And now I read about exactly these phases in this theory.
I think it is really interessting to think about these 5 Dimensions. But it is also hard to really find out where the countries are standing on these points. I really want toget to know and learn from other cultures and their way of thinking and solving problems.
Turun linna: is a really big and old castle with a museum about it’s history.
Forum marinum: exhibition about how they started building ships in Turku.
Kauppahalli: nice food hall with fresh food, especiall the fresh fish is nice
Aura river: is the river through Turku it looks nice all around the year but especially in spring when everything is coming to live it’s nice to spend the time there. There are also a lot of nice restaurants and coffee places next to it.
library: is a nice place to study or just to visit
restaurants/ cafes: there a lot of them in Turku especially close to the senter and along the river
naantali and ruissalo: nice natural places to visit in good weather
This weekend we were in Gdansk in Poland. I visited it with tree of my friends. It is a cute little city. I especially liked the oldcity houses. There are some canals through the city that makes it even nicer.
One day we went to the world war II museum. Me and one of my friends spend almost 4 hours in there. I’m really interessted in history and especially in the world war II. It was interessting to hear more about it form the view of Poland/ Gdansk. Poland sufferd a lot through this time. The biggest KZ was located in Poland (Auschwitz). We sould learn from the past that we don’t do the same mistakes again.
Last week I visited St. Petersburg with a group of friends.
St. Petersburg is a impressive city. I really enjoyed the stay there. We were really lucky with the weather and did a lot of fun stuff. We visited some of the famous orthodox churches. I was especially impressed by the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood. The church is nice form the outsied and even more from the inside. Inside it is full with Mosaiks. I can’t imagine how many hours of works they have put in there.
One of my favourite things I did there was a river crouse by night. We were on a bout floating along the canals around sunset. We hade some spectactular views on the sights of St. Petersburg.
We tried also some of the traditional russian foods. They are different but I liked it. I like to try new things.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Finland and many Finns visit different sporting events regularly. Pesäpallo is the national sport of Finland, although the most popular forms of sport in terms of television viewers and media coverage are ice hockey and Formula One. In spectator attendance, harness racing comes right after ice hockey in popularity.
The most popular recreational sports and activities include floorball, nordic walking, running and skiing.
Pesäpallo
Developed by Lauri „Tahko“ Pihkala in the 1920s and often considered as a national sport of Finland, pesäpallo has a steady popularity around the country, especially in the Ostrobothnia region. The main national league, Superpesiss, has an attendance average of about 1,600 in men’s and 500 in the women’s league.
„Nest ball“, also referred to as „Finnish baseball“ is a fast-moving bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other countries including Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada’s northern Ontario (the latter two countries have significant Nordic populations). The game is similar to brännboll, rounders, and lapta, as well as baseball.
Pesäpallo is a combination of traditional ball-batting team games and North American baseball. Pesäpallo has changed with the times and grown in popularity.
The basic idea of pesäpallo is similar to that of baseball: the offense tries to score by hitting the ball successfully and running through the bases, while the defense tries to put the batter and runners out. One of the most important difference between pesäpallo and baseball is that the ball is pitched vertically, which makes hitting the ball, as well as controlling the power and direction of the hit, much easier. This gives the offensive game more variety, speed, and tactical aspects compared to baseball. The fielding team is forced to counter the batter’s choices with defensive schemes and anticipation; Pesäpallo becomes a mental exercise.
The manager has an important role in pesäpallo, leading the offense by giving signals to the players using a multicoloured red fan. The defensive team play is directed by the manager’s orders and hand signals by the fielders.
Pesäpallo was a demonstration sport at the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey is the most popular sport in Finland. The Finnish main league Liiga has an attendance average of 4,850 people. Ice Hockey World Championships 2016 final Finland-Canada, 69% Finnish people watched that game in TV MTV3-channel. The Finnish national team has won the World Championship twice, in 1995 and 2011, and is considered a member of the so-called „Big Six“, the unofficial group of the six strongest men’s ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Ruissa, Sweden and the United States. Some of the most notable Finnish players are Teemu Selänne, Jari Kurri, Jere Lehtinen, Teppo Numminen, Tuukka Rask and brothers Saku and Mikko Koivu. Finland has hosted Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships in 1965, 1974, 1982, 1991, 1997, 2003, with Sweden 2012 – 2013 and will host it again in 20222.
Harness racing
Harness racing in Finland is characterised by the use of the coldblood breed Finnhorse along with modern light trotters such as the Standardbread. In lack of gallop racing culture, harness racing is the main equestrian sport in Finland. Horses used for harness racing in Finland are exclusively trotters.
Racing back home from church had been a tradition long before the first organised race was held in 1817. Modern racing started in the 1960s, when light breeds were allowed to enter the sport and Parimutuel betting gained foothold as pastime. Nowadays harness racing remains popular, with the main events gathering tens of thousands of spectators in the country with a population of some 5 million.
Finland is a heaven for library lovers. As far as I know there are 12 libraries in Turku. I really like that here in Finland libraries are meeting points for young and old. I was in the main library and there are always a lot of people in there. Turku City Library is an elegant building that combines modern and classic architecture. I really like the building. There are some tables where are always some older man reading the newspaper. I think it is nice to have a place for them to meet each other. At home the libraries are all too far away so I’m normaly not going there, but here I really like to learn in there.
Two weeks ago a friend from Switzerland was visiting me. Together we went to Naantali, it is next to the Archipelago. It was a sunny day and the village is really cute. Sadly the most of the caffes are still closed but I think they will open soon. It was windy because of the sea. We walked along the cost to the moomin world. I really like the colourful old houses. They are tipical for Finland. They are really cute and I would love to have houses like that at home. My friend really liked it. I would like to go back in summer when all the shops are open and it is a little warmer.
Last weekend was beautiful weather so me and my friends decided to make a trip. We decided to go to the island Ruissalo it is 30 minutes from the center away. We took the bus and stopped in the middle of the island at the botanical garden. There they was some nice statues. What made me really happy was that I saw some flowers, that’s the sign for me that spring is coming. We went to a little house next to the sea. It was a beautiful place and the owner told us we can go down there. We were eating there and enjoing the sun. It was a nice day and I really enjoied the walk around the island with my freinds. We went to the harbour of Ruissalo and we walked though the woods along the wooden paths. I would recommend to go there on a sunny day. It is a really nice place to stop by.
We went in the end of January to Lapland. I think that was one of my best experiences in Finland. I went to that winterwonderland with great company. I have so many good memories about that. We went snowmobile driving, huskysledding, we saw some reindeers. Me and my friend went with two cars up to the coast in Norway to do ice swimming and of course sauna that can’t lack. We went to the Santa Clause village. One of the most impressing things were of course the Aurora Borealis. I will never forgett this trip it was amazing!
Annina in Finland 