Finnish from Afar Blog

When I left my job recently, I was touched to discover that my Finnish co-workers had clubbed together to get me a present: a pair of Reino...

The Finns are often portrayed as taciturn, but this has not been my experience: most Finns I know are quite talkative. However, pockets of ...

This week, a particular viral picture caught my attention. The reason it caught my attention is because it provides a perfect illustration o...

When I was last in Helsinki, just over a week ago, the Finnish flag was flying from every building in town. It wasn't in honour of my v...

It's been nearly a month since the last post to this blog, mostly because it has been a rather eventful month for me workwise. But fret ...

What do you call an 80 year old always full of alcohol? Alko. Yes, the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly in Finland celebrate...

Gerry Brownlee, the leader of New Zealand's House of Representatives and the centre-right administration's third-ranking minister,...

While reorganising my book-shelves, I came across a book about Dutch grammar, which I bought back in the days when I lived in The Netherland...

Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, there was a wave of anti-nuclear sentiments in Finland. The old " Nuclear Power...