A view of Helsinki city

Helsinki is very different to where I live. Most cities in Finland are somewhat different from the others. It is quite interesting how much variance there can be though, for example, in dialect. There are vast differences in accents throughout Finland considering the distances are relatively small. In some cases, they use different words for the same things.

I am guessing that this is because historically, Finns didn't have to move so much for trade with each other but the western edge traded with Sweden, the Eastern Russia. This can even somewhat be seen through the language ad although not scientifically proven, I think it has also affected the personalities of regions. There are also about 6 percent Swedish speakers and where they dominate, the accents change also.

I live within the centre band where they would have only have been required to trade with other Finns to get goods either from east or west. In my region, people speak more slowly, are quieter and more reserved in comparison to the edge regions where they are more talkative, open and more 'service orientated'.

Service in Finland in general is quite poor from an international standpoint but has been slowly improving which I figure is due to both Finns travelling much more in recent decades and tourism slowly becoming a larger industry here where many are coming to ski ad visit Santa. But, considering that Finland is 1/27th the size of Australia, the regional populations vary significantly.

These photos are from a sunny day in Helsinki when I had the time to wander alone and get better acquainted with a city I rarely travel to with a camera. I hope you enjoy.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]