Archive: June 2005
A Blond Nation, in a Bind on Immigrants
During his travels in Finland earlier this summer, Robert G. Kaiser discussed the delicate issue of diversity with his Finnish hosts. "Finland is Europe's most homogeneous society, a nation of mostly blond ethnic Finns whose declining birthrate creates the classic...
By | June 11, 2005; 10:30 PM ET | Comments (34)
Farewell
HELSINKI -- Hard to believe our trip has come to an end. When we plotted it out, three weeks in Finland seemed like a major enterprise. Now that they're over, we can only wonder how it passed so quickly. We...
By | June 10, 2005; 4:30 PM ET | Comments (407)
Porvoo's Bar Mary
PORVOO -- A band invited to perform at Bar Mary in the beautiful historic town of Porvoo, just 30 miles outside of Helsinki, is in for a real treat. Before going on stage the musicians first take in the sauna...
By Lucian Perkins | June 10, 2005; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (44)
Kustom Kars on Helsinki's Streets
HELSINKI -- You won't see many SUVs or four-wheel-drives in Finland even though the driving in the winter can be quite treacherous here. The majority of the cars we've seen are small European ones that are comfortable and easy on...
By Lucian Perkins | June 9, 2005; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (215)
The Precocious Young
HELSINKI -- One impression will stick with me for a long time from this trip: Finland has a lot of talented, precocious young people. They pop up in all sorts of places. The leader of the country's third-biggest political party,...
By | June 8, 2005; 5:00 PM ET | Comments (137)
Finland's Classy Design
HELSINKI -- You don't need to go to Finland to appreciate its style and design. Finnish glassware and Arabia pottery, Marimekko fabrics and modern furniture, and its great modern architecture are all famous around the world. But it is still...
By Lucian Perkins | June 8, 2005; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (155)
Down but Not Out
HELSINKI -- Finland is prosperous, and abject poverty is essentially nonexistent here. This does not mean, however, that everyone is happy or well-situated in life. There are people out of work (about 10 percent of the workforce) and people employed...
By | June 7, 2005; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (108)
Live Discussion
Robert G. Kaiser and Lucian Perkins will be online Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET to chat about their experiences in Finland, a fascinating if little-explored country of 5.2 million people. Kaiser, associate editor of The Washington Post, and Perkins, an...
By | June 6, 2005; 5:44 PM ET | Comments (207)
Finnish School, And Party Later
A tale of two Helsinkis, on the occasion of national high school graduation day: Scene 1, at the Itakeskus high school in the eastern part of the Finnish capital. Members of the senior class, who are 18 to 20 years...
By | June 6, 2005; 8:02 AM ET | Comments (100)
A Grand Capital City
HELSINKI -- Our road trip has ended, and we've taken up residence in a comfortable, high-ceilinged apartment on Helsinki's Tehtaankatu, or Tehtaan Street, in a charming, old section of the city. We look out our third-story living room window down...
By | June 3, 2005; 11:57 AM ET | Comments (115)
The Finnish Sauna
HELSINKI -- The small sign marking the location of the Harjuntorinkatu sauna on the side of the apartment building where it is housed was easy to miss, but you couldn't glance past the nearly naked men lounging out front next...
By | June 3, 2005; 10:45 AM ET | Comments (126)
Rich in Higher Education
TURKU -- Finland is rich in colleges and universities -- probably a little too rich, according to Keijo Virtanen, rector of Turku University. "We have 50 [colleges and universities] for 5.2 million people. It's not very efficient," he said in...
By | June 2, 2005; 4:00 PM ET | Comments (140)
A New Baby Is Coming
LEMPAALA -- Paavo and Elina Suikki, both medical doctors, are about to have their first baby. Elina, 31, is an obstetrician, so it's been easy to watch her baby grow with the sonogram in her office. "It looks like a...
By | June 1, 2005; 10:06 AM ET | Comments (282)
