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Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Finland in Russia speaks about Finnish Happiness at UdSU

Each of us might have wondered from time to time: “What is the secret of happiness?”

It turns out that happiness for Finnish is associated with working hours till 4 p.m., a little bit of licorice and salmiac (salty licorice) and a lot of sauna time. Add to it personal privacy combined with “events for everyone” where you can meet a lot of new friends – and you will get the perfect happiness recipe from Finland, the happiest country in the world! (According to UN World Happiness Report 2018).

On November 27, Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Finland in Russia, Henriikka Ahtiainen presented Finnish culture and its peculiarities to UdSU students and professors in a quite outstanding way – in the form of a lecture on daily routine aspects of Finnish people, which form their national character and positive state of mind.

The audience learned about sisu (a specific Finnish feature appearing as determination and willing to reach an impossible goal), ideas of eco-friendliness, and specific concepts of national politics and business.

The lecture caught attention of the audience and a lot of interesting questions were asked in return, including questions on the prospects of the future cooperation of Russia and Finland. The Counselor outlined that Finland has interest in more active cooperation with its Russian partners. Also she highlighted the importance of developing youth cooperation and joint cultural events.

Answering the questions, the Counselor shared her positive attitude towards Russia and its culture. For example, it was interesting to learn that her favorite book is “Peace and War” by Lev N. Tolstoy.

It should be mentioned that the Counselor was positive about the UdSU experience in teaching Finnish and work under the programs of academic exchange with the leading HEIs of Finland: University of Helsinki, University of Turku, and Abo Akademi University.

Additionally, in the framework of the Counselor’s visit to Izhevsk, the concert of Finnish musicians took place at the art-gallery “Grifon”, where UdSU students and professor learning and teaching Finnish were invited.

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