Consul General Series – 駐香港及澳門芬蘭總領事Ms Johanna Karanko

Consulate General of Finland in Hong Kong and Macao

1. 芬蘭著名和獨特的節日或活動是什麼？

芬蘭是一個非常小的國家，我們有五百五十萬人口，但面積寬我們也算大。因此，芬蘭其實是人口稀少，實際上我們的文化很大一部分與芬蘭的自然環境息息相關，因為芬蘭是一個森林眾多，湖泊眾多的國家，這是我們文化遺產的重要組成部分，並且影響着芬蘭的文化和節日。

因此，其他影響芬蘭文化的是歷史，我們曾經有700年屬於瑞典的部份，然後我們曾經是一百幾年，102年屬於俄羅斯的部份，俄羅斯帝國，然後我們很快在12月6日便已經獨立了102年。因此歷史也影響了我們。芬蘭文化可以說很多是關於大自然的，然後是北歐文化遺產和歐洲文化遺產。當然，價值觀也有受到影響，影響了文化，

平等，在芬蘭有一種我們稱之為“人人享有的權利”。另外是公平，誠實，信任和謙虛。芬蘭人不喜歡吹牛，這些就是影響着芬蘭的文化價值觀。

什麼時候是最適合到芬蘭旅遊取決於您感興趣的內容。 當然，冬天與香港有很大的不同。 天氣很冷，我們下雪了，很多雪。 很冷，與香港有很大的不同。 當然，聖誕老人來自芬蘭，我們有很多燈火，聖誕節前後，這個國家真的很喜慶，有很多燈火，還有很多遊客去。 他們喜歡參觀聖誕老人村，聖誕老人，因此非常受歡迎。 聖誕節前後還會發生其他事情，因此在12月，實際上有很多事情發生。 然後在夏天，這也是另一個非常好的時機，天氣轉暖，但我在這裡總是說香港的冬天就像芬蘭的夏天。 夏天的芬蘭不太冷，但也不太熱。 天氣可能很溫暖，然後在這個夏天實際上發生了許多節日。

什麼時候是最適合到芬蘭旅遊取決於您感興趣的內容。 當然，冬天與香港有很大的不同。 天氣很冷，我們會下雪，很多雪。 很冷，與香港有很大的不同。 當然，聖誕老人是來自芬蘭，我們有很多燈飾，聖誕節前後，國家真的很喜慶，有很多燈飾，還有很多遊客去。 他們喜歡參觀聖誕老人，聖誕老人村，因此非常受歡迎。 聖誕節前後還會發生其他事情，因此在12月，實際上有很多事情發生。 然後在夏天，這也是另一個非常好的時候，天氣轉暖，但我在這裡經常說香港的冬天就像芬蘭的夏天。 夏天的芬蘭不太冷，但也不太熱。 天氣很溫暖，然後在夏天會有許多節日。每年都會舉行傳統節日，例如，仲夏節通常在6月21日左右，大約是一年中最長的一天。 在北部，太陽不會落山。 我們很快，實際上在香港，這週是11月底。 我們到了北方根本沒有太陽升起的日子， 它將在一月份再次升起。 在夏天，反之亦然。 即使在十一點，太陽仍然升起。 下班回家後，您還有額外的一天，因為這一天很長。 在北部，您幾乎有兩個月的時間是太陽不會落山，夏天是夢幻般的。因為白天很長，所以您有很多時間去做很多事情。 因此，芬蘭人喜歡在這段時間舉辦許多節日。

例如在北部的索丹屈萊，他們有電影節。您可以一周每分每秒地觀看電影。你只需要有入場證便可以觀看電影。還有其他節日，夏季會舉辦許多音樂節。因為我們喜歡充分利用那麼長的日子，那就是夏天，但是即使在夏天之前，也有五一假期，就像春天的狂歡節一樣，隨著冬天的結束和夏天的到來，許多年輕人都喜歡這個節日。對於音樂節，夏天充滿了音樂節。基本上每個村莊或城鎮都會嘗試舉辦一個節日，以展示出對他們來說特別的東西。因此，例如，您將會見到一個只進行雙簧管演奏的村莊，然後有另一個村莊或另一個鎮進行民間音樂演奏，或者可能是古典音樂，歌劇表演。我們也有體育運動，例如，背妻子世界錦標賽。或現在因為希望變得性別中立，實際上稱為背配偶比賽。妻子或丈夫，您可以隨身背哪一個，然後進行跑步比賽。然後還有其他體育賽事，我們稱之為瘋狂遊戲，例如沼澤足球，沼澤足球冠軍。在沼澤中，跑步非常困難，因此，如果您在沼澤中有足球或足球比賽，將非常困難。對鄉村來說，這是一個很好的宣傳，可以讓更多人來到參觀，也給那個城市帶來了一些聲譽。因此，尤其是夏天有很多節日。

1. What is the famous and unique festival or events in your country?

Well, Finland is a very small country, we have five and a half million people but area wide we are quite big. So Finland is very sparsely populated, a big part of our culture is actually connected to the Finnish nature because Finland is a country of a lot of forests, a lot of lakes, and so these are very much part of our culture heritage and have affected, influence the Finnish culture and also Finnish festivals.

So, and then other things of course also influence the Finnish culture is the history, we were 700 years part of Sweden, and then we were a hundred and partly some years, a hundred and two years part of Russia, the Russia Empire, and we have been independent for a hundred and two years very soon the sixth of December. So the history also affected us. So the finnish culture could be said many things are about nature, then there is a nordic heritage and a European heritage. And then also of course the value have affected, affected the culture, equality, there is something in Finland we called everyman's right. Another thing is fairness, and honesty and trust, and modesty. Finns don’t like to brag, so these are like the cultural values that affect Finland.

When is the best time to visit Finland it depends on what you are interesting. Of course, winter is very different from Hong Kong. It gets very cold, and we get snow, a lot of snow. Very cold and that is very different from Hong Kong. And of course the Santa Claus come from Finland, we have lots of lights, and around Christmas, the country get really festive, a lot of lights and many tourist go. They like to visit Santa Claus, the Santa Claus village, so this is very popular. And there are other things also happening around Christmas, so in December, there is actually a lot of things. And then in summer, it is also another very nice time, the weather is warmer, but I always say here that Hong Kong winter is like Finland Summer. It is not too cold in Finland in the summer but it is not too warm either. It can be quite warm and then there are lots of festivals actually happening in this summer.

You have traditional festivals that happen every year, for example, Midsummer, usually around 21st of June, that’s around the longest day of the year. In the north, the sun doesn’t set. We are very soon, this week actually in Hong Kong which is the end of November. We come to the day when the sun doesn’t rise in the north at all. And it will rise again in January. In the summer, it is vice versa. Even at eleven, the sun is up. After you get home from work, you still have an extra day because the day is very very long. In the north, you have almost two months of the sun doesn’t set, but summer is fantastic in that sense because day is very long so you have a lot of time to do a lot of things. So finns like to organize a lot of festivals in this time.

For example in Sodankylä, in the north, they have the film festivals. So you can watch films 24/7 for one week. You get a festival pass and you can watch films. And there are other festivals, a lot of music festivals take place during the summer. Because we like to take good advantage of the days being that long, and this is in the summer, but even before summer, you have May day, just like the spring carnival, many many young people enjoy that festival as the winter ends and the summer start. For music festival, the summer is full of music festivals. Basically every village or town tries to have a festival to bring out what is special for them. So you will have for example, a village that does only oboe, and then there is for example, another village or another town that does folk music or then might be classical, the music site, opera. We also have sports, for example, the wife-carrying world championships. Or now to be gender neutral, it is actually called the spouse carrying. The wife or husband, you can carry which one, and then they do a running competition. And then also other events, sport event, we call them crazy games, they are for example soccer in swamp, swamp soccer champion. In a swamp it is very difficult to run, so if you having a football or a soccer match in swamp it will be very difficult. It is also a good publicity for villages and towns to have something that will bring people to visit, and also a bit of fame for that city. So there is a lot of festivals happening especially the summer.

2. 你建議人們來到芬蘭讀書或者長時間逗留嗎？

為了學習，現時每年已經有大約超過一百多名香港學生去參加交換課程。 申請全日制學位的學生較少，但我們提供許多英語學位課程，因此對國際學生來說是一種促進交流的方式，很歡迎他們來到芬蘭。這裏有很多不同種類的課程，絕對不必擔心語言障礙。 芬蘭的技能學習以及教育系統當然是非常高質量的，雖然對於香港學生來說在芬蘭讀書未必是一個他們平常想到的決定，但這是一個很好的選擇，

當然，要移民到芬蘭很難，但現時有一個選擇叫做初創VISA，因此有志於創業的人可以選擇，除非他們在芬蘭找到工作，但這就有兩種渠道可供選擇。

首先，人們最好去那裡看看並享受一下當地的活動和經驗，或者是是文化活動，或者是交換計劃，首先了解該國，看看是否能忍受天氣等等。

2. Do you think it is good suggestions for people to think about to go to Finland to study or to stay longer time?

For studying, there is already about a bit more than a hundred Hong Kong students that go every year for exchange programmes. Less students go for full degree but we do offer many of the degrees in English so it is a facilitate access for international students and they are very much welcome so there are many programmes that they can look into and of course no need to worry about the language barriers definitely. This year we will just pass as having the best future skills so future skills learning and of course the education system is very high quality so in that sense it is a good choice to have a look at and maybe a bit out of their ordinariate for Hong Kong students.

For immigrating to Finland of course it is quite difficult but there is something call the start-up VISA so people who are interested in setting up their business that would be the option for moving unless they find a job otherwise in Finland but this would be the kind of two channels to up for.

First of all, better you go there to have a look and enjoy the events and experiences, the cultural things first, or maybe an exchange programme get to know the country first and see if you can bear the weather.

3. 你可不可以介紹一下芬蘭的設計，文化和小食？

芬蘭在建築和設計方面享譽多年。 對於我們來說，設計不是一些平常人在家中所沒有的東西。 在芬蘭，大多數人設計產品是非常地道的。 我們為設計感到驕傲，並且設計品可用於日常使用。 設計的產品並不太昂貴，因此大多數人都可以負擔它們。 舉例來說，阿爾瓦·阿爾托是設計該桌子，椅子最著名建築師，到目前為止，這裏所有設計都是由阿爾瓦·阿爾托設計的。 這些是在另一家紡織品芬蘭公司瑪莉美歌的東西，非常典型。 當我在70年代長大時，所有的孩子都會穿著瑪莉美歌襯衫。 對於我們來說，這些產品每天都在使用。

這是卡累利阿餡餅，它是傳統的快餐食品，實際上製作起來並不那麼快，但是食用起來很快特別是在芬蘭東部。這裡面有米粥的黑麥麵包皮。 最初，大米並不是芬蘭特有的，因此它們的材料曾經是土豆或胡蘿蔔，但是由於芬蘭的大米實際上是最受歡迎的一種。 如今，廚師通常將雞蛋和牛油，雞蛋和牛油混合在一起，然後放在上面。 這是一種非常典型的零食，如果您沒有時間吃午飯，您可以迅速購買兩到三塊，它們通常更大一些，今天這些比較小，然後再來兩三塊。 這種小吃的名字是卡累利阿餡餅。 卡累利阿是芬蘭東部的一個地區，卡累利阿餡餅實際上是在此製作。 但是如今，當然可以在任何地方購買它們。

3. Can you introduce the design, culture and snacks of Finland?

Finland has been known for quite a few years for architecture and for design. For us, design is not something that you don’t as a normal person have in your house. In Finland it is very typical for most people to have designed products. We are very proud of the designs and design is for everyday use. Designed products are not overly expensive so they are accessible to most people. Here for examples let’s say we have Alvar Aalto the most famous architect for that table, chairs so far, all the design by Alvar Aalto design. These are things that you used in Marimekko, another Finnish company where the textiles are from, are very typical. When I grow up in the 70s, all the kids will be dressed in Marimekko shirts. But for us, designer products are very much every day, use every day.

So this is the egg Karelian pie which is a traditional fast food from, it is actually not that fast to make, but that’s something very fast to eat from eastern Finland. So it’s a rye bread crust with rice porridge inside. Originally, of course rice is not endemic to Finland, they are used to be potatoes or carrots, but since rice in Finland is actually the more popular one. And nowadays, and the chef usually with egg and butter, egg and butter mix together, and then just put it on top. And this is a very typical snack, and let’s say if you don’t have time for lunch, you would buy them quickly two or three and they are usually bigger, these are the cocktails one, and then you will have two or three. The name of this snack is Karelian pie. Karelian is an area in eastern Finland where they actually make this and where they are from. But nowadays of course you can buy them everywhere.

4. 你覺得香港怎樣 ？

這是我第一次來香港，香港是一個非常有趣的地方，充滿活力和美麗。 我並沒有真正意識到有多少大自然的，對於芬蘭人來說，大自然非常重要。 大自然的數量非常令人印象深刻，易於找到。 我昨天才剛去完遠足。 在赫爾辛基，赫爾辛基是一個小鎮，約有100萬人。 我住在距離大海兩百米的地方，而且我也住在國家公園旁邊。 我離市中心有點遠，距市中心大約15或20分鐘地鐵路程。 對於芬蘭人來說，大自然非常重要，對於我們來說，我們希望大自然與我們親近。 實際上，許多芬蘭人在靠近湖泊的大自然中都有避暑別墅，夏天小屋。 家庭有一間。 因此對我們來說非常重要。

4. How do you think about Hong Kong?

This is my first time in Hong Kong and Hong Kong is a very interesting place ,very dynamic and very beautiful. I didn’t actually realize how much nature and for finns, nature is very important you have in here. The amount of nature part is very impressive and easily assessable. I went hiking yesterday. In Helsinki, Helsinki is a small town, about one million people. I live two hundred metres from the sea, and I also live very next to the National Park. I am a bit outside of the centre, I am like fifteen, or twenty minutes by metro from the city centre. For finns, nature is very important and for us, we want to have the nature close to us. Many finns actually have a summer cottage, summer house somewhere in the nature close to lake. Families to have one. So it is very important for us.

5. 你覺得香港的菜色怎樣？

我其實，嗯，中國菜有很多種。 因此我很享受。 對於香港，我喜歡點心，叉燒包，燒賣，我認為它們很美味。實際上，我上了一些關於製作餃子的課程，我參與了一個課程，那是餃子。 大約是去年四月，在節日之前，但是學習如何製作它們卻很有趣，因為實際上，我想到的是卡累利阿餡餅和餃子，兩者在一起有些相似之處。

5. How do you feel about Hong Kong Cuisine?

I actually um, there is a versatilities of Chinese cuisine. And so I am very much enjoyed. For Hong Kong, I like the dim sum, barbecue pork bun, siu mai, I think they are delicious. Yes. And I actually did take a course on making some glutinous rice, I took a course and it was dumplings. This was during kind of some times in April last year. Before the festival, so many of them are actually more sweet and but it was interesting to learn how to make them because actually I was think about the Karelian pie and the dumpling they are there is some similarities in together.

6. 芬蘭的國花是什麼？

芬蘭國花是鈴蘭，是比較細和白色的，有毒的。 一旦花朵變成紅色野果，它就是非常謙虛的花朵。 我認為這與芬蘭有關，因為芬蘭人很重視謙虛，所以花朵也是。 它非常漂亮，也非常謙虛，經常用於香水中。

這裡有花園節，特別是在夏季開始的五月，人們喜歡園藝，我的愛好之一就是園藝。 因為我有花園，所以在芬蘭也會有夏季別墅。雖然稱不上真的是一個花園節日，但也會有很多攤檔市集你可以去，雖然不算是很大，花園也稱不上是令人印象深刻，但可以看得出我們是一群熱愛大自然的人。

6.What is the national flower of Finland?

The Finland national flower is the lily-of-the-valley which is small white flower, it is poisonous. And once the flower they turn into red berries, it is a very modest flower. I think it is related to Finland as Finns are valued modesty so also the flower. It is very beautiful but very modest, used lots in perfume. Well, there are garden festivals especially in May when the summer season start and people like to do garden one of my hobbies back home is gardening.

Because I have a garden, it is popular and many people have this summer cottages which they like to. There is not really a garden festival but there are fairs where you can go to, go to but not that big idle but basically maybe the garden are not so impressive, we are more a forest people.

7.可以教我們一些芬蘭俚語嗎？

我們由你好開始說吧。有一些比較口語現代的方法去說你好是比較容易，因為，我先說幾句有關芬蘭語，芬蘭語是一種困難的語言。這不是歐洲語言。所以，打招呼說你好，那就是Moi！那很簡單。說再見就是moi dor。因此和你好是同一個字來的。但這只是口語。如果你想說祝你有好的一天，你可以說hyvää päivää，是比較困難的，因此很多時會簡化只說 päivää。再見就是moi dor，如果你想說再見在一個正式的場合，那就是Näkemiin,，很不同的。Näkemiin,意思是我希望再次見到你。但是芬蘭語是很長的，因此舉例說Näkemiin,只是一個字，但英語來說便是幾個字就是希望再次見到你 (see you again)，我們來說只是一個字，因此比較困難去書寫和記着芬蘭的文へら字。