Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat covered the discussion on Finland at the US vice presidential debate on Tuesday night between Republican candidate JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz.
On the subject of school shootings, Walz brought up his experience visiting Finnish schools.
“I’ve spent time in Finland and seen some Finnish schools. They don’t have this [school shootings] happen, even though they have a high gun ownership rate in the country,” Walz said on the debate stage.
Walz said he and presidential candidate Kamala Harris were both gun owners and stressed that it was the responsibility of policy makers to ensure the safety of children.
He also spoke about how he was affected by meeting the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Walz emphasised that change can be made without taking away Americans’ guns.
Vance, however, advocated for improving school safety by reinforcing doors, windows and other security features. He also said schools should be given more resources.
“I appreciate what Tim [Walz] said about Finland, because I do think it illustrates some of the weird differences between our own country’s gun violence problem and Finland. First of all, we have way higher rates of mental health substance abuse, we have way higher rates of depression, we have way higher rates of anxiety. We unfortunately have a mental health crisis in this country,” Vance responded.
HS also noted that Walz is the current governor of Minnesota, a state with a large population of Finnish ancestry, and that a photograph of him wearing a Finland beanie previously circulated online.
Despite the rhetoric praising the Nordic country, Finland suffered its first school shooting in over a decade earlier this year.
Gold going up
Rural-focused newspaper Maaseuduntulevaisuus highlighted that the global price of gold has surged to new highs. Current prices are reaching near 80 euros per gram, compared to under 10 euros in 2000.
While this has not yet triggered a gold rush in Lapland, there has been notable interest from foreign prospectors.
Mechanical gold mining has ceased in areas like Lemmenjoki National Park, cutting production to a third of previous levels. However, Europe’s largest gold mine in Kittilä produced seven tonnes of gold last year.
Kai J. Rantanen, head of the Lapland Association of Gold Miners (Lapin Kullankaivajain Liito), said that social media and foreign television reality series about gold miners created a movement even before the price had risen.
“Many have since discovered a reality of gold mining that may not suit their own psyche and physique. It requires a strong back,” Rantanen said.
Despite strict environmental regulations, Lapland continues to attract gold prospectors, including from countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany.
However, only about 20 of the region’s 2,000 prospectors earn a significant portion of their livelihood from gold.
Learning Finnish on the job
The story of Saudi Arabian Mahir Ashraf Khan learning Finnish made it into Tampere daily Aamulehti.
Khan moved to Finland about two years ago, and while the words in his Finnish sentences are at times out of order, his fast and confident speech is easy to listen to according to the paper.
Over the past couple of years, Khan’s Finnish language skills have improved from non-existent to conversational. Khan learned the basics of Finnish in a beginners’ course at Tampere University as soon as he arrived in Finland.
However, he conceded that his goal of effortless conversation is still a long way off.
“It would be great to be able to think in Finnish as well. Now I might be able to, if I concentrate,” Khan said.
Having grown up in Saudi Arabia, Khan knew he wanted to study abroad as soon as he finished high school.
Out of several options, AL wrote that he chose Finland for a somewhat surprising reason — in Finland there are bidet showers even in public toilets. That’s important for someone from the Middle East, laughed Khan, who moved to the Tampere district of Hervanta in autumn 2022.
Earlier this year, our podcast All Points North had an episode on learning Finnish. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
How important is learning Finnish?
How important is learning Finnish?
Khan recommended would-be Finnish learners to join a hobby group, speak even if you aren’t sure about grammar, tell people you want to learn the language and learn a few proper sentences everyday. Khan added that he also has another trick in getting a Finn to speak with him.
“You can always get a conversation going with a Finnish man if the subject is the army. I can say aamuja, monni, huomio, asento, and other military terms,” said Khan, chuckling.
Perhaps the greatest aid to Khan’s language skills was finding a job where he had to speak.
His first job, and a breakthrough in learning Finnish, was at a McDonald’s fast food restaurant, where Khan learned not only restaurant vocabulary but also from conversations with other employees in the kitchen. Learning Finnish wasn’t Khan’s goal, but being comfortable in the workplace required language skills.
“I’m a social person and I like to talk to people and make friends. I tried to pick up repetitive phrases I heard and join in the conversation.”
Now Khan works as a fundraiser and initially spoke English when he started. After following his colleagues around for a while, Khan asked them to teach him a short sales pitch in Finnish.
For others integrating into Finland, Khan encouraged them to focus on success.
“It is inevitable to face rejection. Therefore, focus on those moments when you are accepted.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-01 23:14:00
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