British guys looking at a Finnish kebab shaped church in Kamppi, Helsinki.
Last summer, two of our British friends came over to spend a glorious Midsummer here in Finland with us. Out of a tourist day in Helsinki, a roadtrip to Koli National Park, midsummer traditions in the Lahti lake district, a day in Savonlinna and a lovely night in Rantasalmi, a photo project was born: British Guys Looking At Finnish Things.
Now that we celebrate the 100th birthday of independent Finland, I thought it would be a good time to look at and appreciate our beautiful country through the outside eyes.
To us, many Finnish traditions and our language aren’t in any way peculiar. After all, we’ve grown up with them. We learn the (second hardest in the world) language as our first language and are constantly surrounded by all these very Finnish things like our traditional food, our national holiday traditions, the people and the sceneries.
However, through the eyes of other travelers who are not familiar to your country’s customs and ways, you get to see it all from a very different angle. And frankly, at least where Finland is concerned, you soon realize how funny, peculiar or in the best cases, extremely beautiful and unique.