Finland N'existe Pas

Huttese?

Continuing the discussion from Moomin — eccentric comic masterpiece from a legendary children’s author:

I like Moomin. I have a volume; looks like this is a larger collected edition. Awww. I hate duplicating stuff. Well, it’s not like I can afford it, anyway.

Moomin’s from one of those Scandahoovian countries, innit? The tv version was Polish.

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Tis not from a scandihoovian country… :wink:

It has been ages since I have looked at the Scandinavia and the World comic… I see that he has a constant theme of Sweden being secretly gay:

I’m a little embarrassed by this, but I sometimes get Norway and Iceland’s flags mixed up. It’s because they’re basically a color inversion of each other.

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The first thing Finns do, wherever they go, is build a sauna - even in military/peacekeeping operations. First sauna, then the rest of the buildings. It’s a necessity! Where else would you give birth to a child, or drink beer? I mean, sheesh.

Oh my god, how come I haven’t heard of this? Rare Exports was awesome, and now they basically have all the same people (even the kid!) involved… AND Samuel L. Jackson?

Do you have the comics only? I suggest getting one of the books or picture books.

Well, Tove Jansson wrote it in Swedish, the stop motion was Polish-Austrian, the animated series and movies are Japanese-Dutch and there were even some obscure Soviet-era serials… but I swear it’s Finnish!

Told you!

Speaking of Scandinavia and the World, I love that comic. It captures our drunken spirit so well.

(The lion is because of of our “special” coat of arms.)

Also, we like to punch reindeer in the ass:

True story:

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Salmari! I must be the only one south of Helsinki who likes that stuff, based on my privately administered taste tests.

Also, the “terva snapsi” samples I sometimes manage to sneak into such tests, now that gives some nice reactions! :smiley: The taste LINGERS!

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He seems to have such a weird taste. Some things he praises are just gross in my opinion (like all the things that combine salmiakki and chocolate), and then he doesn’t like some of the best candies (like the delicious Dracula pillerit or this delicious assortment) Also, how is it possible that he hasn’t reviewed the best salmiakki of all - Lakritsal, salmiakki at its purest!

But really, it’s an an acquired taste. If you’re not used to salty candy, it will just be gross. When I brought Finnish candy with me to the States, I only brought different kinds of salmiakki so I could laugh at how much they hated them and then ate them myself.

Terva (wood tar) shots are my favorite! If you want a salmiakki shot, the best one is a “fisu” - vodka with a very strong salmiakki candy called “Fisherman’s Friend” added (fisu means fish).

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How is sauna pronounced?
I grew up saying sow-na, but I mostly hear saw-na…

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Anything like pine tar? I love pine tar soap and shampoo, and once found a pine tar cough syrup that was divine.

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Sow-na or saw-na is how foreigners pronounce it. The Finnish pronunciation is something like “saw-uh-na”. Like you’re starting to say the word “sound”, but drop the d and say “nah” at the end instead. Soun[-d]ah.

Yes, it’s usually pine tar. It’s a common ingredient in things in Finland. It’s often used as a scent in sauna (a little fragrance you put in the water you throw over the stones in the stove). Add that lovely smell to the smell of the fresh birch boughs (vihta/vasta) that you can beat yourself with while you relax.

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Oh, G-d, I wish Finland existed, just so I could move there.

Of course, I’d totally change the weather, I’m already sick of snow.

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Actually, that is how we would say it (was going to mention that there is an odd little “swallow” in there)… When surrounded by old Finns, one tends to pick a few things up.

Sometimes you just have to admit that ya can’t beat the Ruskies:

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Bonus line: CANDLES IS STUPID

They speak Finnish so badly that I had to focus really hard to understand it.

But Finnish is easy. We have words like “lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas” and “epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän” - what’s so hard about that?

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I like those words so much, I’m going to take them out behind the high school and get them pregnant.

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Reminds me of Sanskrit, people don’t mind condensing whole sentences or even paragraphs into new words!

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Get a handle on this helluva Finnish palindrome: “saippuakalasalakauppias” literally “black-market soap fish salesman.”

I think I could interpret that as meaning my Norwegian grandfather who probably illegally would foist lutefisk on me as a kid. Lutefisk while literally “lye fish” is called “soap fish” as well, since that’s what the lye turns the fish into.

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Despite growing up in South Dakota and going to college in Minnesota, I have not yet experienced lutefisk.

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