One post in Finnish

Jotain omituista tapahtui tänään. Olin koneella, Facebookissa kuten normaalisti ja sain viestin mieheltä, jolle en ole puhunut vuoteen.
Jonka oikeastaan jo unohdin. Joka on naisia vihaava ylimielinen rasisti. Jolle en halua puhua. Jolle sanoin todella pahasti. Joka bannasi minut Facebookissa.
Pyysi kaveriksi.
Kysyi miten menee.
Mitä vittua.

In English ....and in Finnish?

I got asked on Facebook if I'm really a Finn and could I maybe write in Finnish as well.
So here's the answer:

1. I am a Finn, but only half so, my other half, from dad's side, is from Switzerland, you know the country with the national votes, the mountains and the chocolate. I'm at heart Swiss, rather than Finnish, but let's not get into that now.

2. I write in English because I'm so used to using English in everyday life since many many years now. I think in English so why not write in it? However, I can write Finnish and if it makes you guys happy, I can add a little something in Finnish after every post. I won't write the entire post in Finnish as well, because the sheer workload would make me want to kill myself, not quite literally, so yeah...
I grew up with two languages, Finnish and Swiss German. I can speak five languages. I can write in any of them, though my written High German ssuuuucccks.

Sain kysymyksen Facessa, että voisinko kirjoittaa postaukseni myös suomeksi, koska kaikki eivät osaa englantia niin hyvin. Tottakai voin, mutta en aio kirjoittaa kaikkia postauksiani läpi myös suomeksi, koska se on kauhea määrä työtä ja koska ajattelen sekä kirjoitan luonnollisemmin englanniksi kuin suomeksi (vaikka se äidinkieleni onkin) niin en aio muuttaa tätä tapaa kokonaan. Minulta myös kysyttiin syntyperästäni ja siihenkin on yksinkertainen vastaus - minulla kaksoiskansalaisuus Suomen ja Sveitsin kanssa. Olen isän puolelta puoleksi sveitsiläinen ja sydän onkin sielläpäin vaikka koti täällä Suomessa onkin. 

Ilari Lehtinen

All photos from Tumblr

The Finnish Day of Independence!

So today we're celebrating our national day, and though I am glad I put Tampere behind me for a while at least, I am sad of not getting to see the gala close by. I live 40 km outside of Helsinki so that would be doable, but travelling 200 km while still sick....yeah not gonna happen.

But I will have my wonderful ex coming for dinner, we'll eat raclette, which for me as Swiss isn't all that interesting and I do prefer a good cheese fondue, but raclette is a wonderful party food. It's really a conversation piece and it's so much fun asking people to give you your things off of the hot plate.

I didn't get a blue and white candle this year. I didn't get one last year either. I don't really celebrate the 6th. Not because I don't feel it important, I am Finnish as well as I am Swiss, but the 1st of August means more to me than the 6th of December. Possibly because my mother passed away on the 7th five years ago.

But I wish you all a wonderful national holiday and a great time partying and checking out the dresses of all the guests on TV!