Lovely Lonely Planet

nobody@vox.com(Jenni) — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:45:37 -0700

Yesterday we went to this sports-outdoors-camping-diving-shop called "Equipment". I was mildly amused since uri-bags and dried food isn't my thing, but then I glanced over at this one shelf in the back.

I was in Lonely Planet Heaven.

I tried to argue why we need the complete series at home, but eventually Sami won and we decided we could start buying Lonely Planets according to where we travel. So I left with Lonely Planet Maldives and Finland (just for the hell of it). I've been reading the latter and it's really, really good.

They even have a part called "The national psyche". Of course there's a lot of talk about sisu, roughly translated as "guts", which was anticipated since there isn't a guidebook out there about Thousandlakez that wouldn't bring up this issue.But there are also parts I love here, and parts that better explain finns than I have been able to. Like this:

There's a depressive streak in Finns, more so than in Swedes or Norwegians. Even Finnish summer pop hits can sound like the singer's just backed over their dog or worse, and themes of lost love or melancholy are favoured.

True. If you wanna sing karaoke about anything nice and sunny, you better bring your own tape. It was funny because I recognized myself in some parts after wondering why the author would write about such obvious things. One of my other favourites was this:

While the "silent Finn" stereotype has been exaggerated over the years, it's certainly true that nobody gets nervous if there's a gap in a conversation. Sitting in a sauna for 20 minutes with your best friend, saying nothing, is considered perfectly normal.

Here I thought why would anyone think they'd need to yap on about... oh, right.

Roman Schatz discussed this topic in his book too, although from another point of view:

The secret is simple. The Finnish concept of politeness works differently than in most other countries. In most cultures it's considered polite to communicate. In Finland it's polite to leave people alone. Why bother with a little joke on a monday morning? They're having a rough enough time already, just like you. Why ask your friend how his kids are? If there's something wrong with them, he'll tell you, he's your friend.

There are parts that never struck me before, like how the need to not pussyfoot around issues might be visible in institutions. like the part where strong beers and spirits are sold by the state network, the beautifully named Alko.

They issue the almost 3 months long day (welcome to Nuorgam!) in the summer, but don't mention what Roman Schatz calls The night between Nowember and February in his book "From Finland with love".

Lonely Planet also, to my great joy, brought up the topic of Rally-driving and F1. They only explained the phenomenon, and didn't try to find the reason behind why finns love cars. Schatz refers to why finns are good at, say f1, as a national tendency to be suicidal. We are good at anything that one can do alone and that might kill you.

'Nuff said. I haven't read all of Lonely Planet Finland yet, but I think I'll take a break to check out what they have to say about The Maldives. If you ever get a chance to read either author's books about Thousandlakez you'll probably enjoy yourself. The Schatz book is a funnier but equally true.

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Lovely Lonely Planet