Living abroad

By living in Finland I have learnt to love and hate Finland as I love and hate my own country: Spain. There is one reason why I have this mixture of opposite feelings: I feel Finland as an important place for me and enjoying the good things becomes as important as criticizing what you think is wrong. By living abroad you learn to appreciate those good things from your own country (that might have gone unnoticed for you so far) and realised those good things about the country in which you are living as a foreigner. Both countries (Spain and Finland) have numerous things to learn from each other. I have sometimes felt that a human touch is needed in some Finns. Nobody should be left behind and that usually happens in this country. It is not only receiving a pension from Kela: love, respect and dignity are more precious than money. Loneliness is so common that becomes sometimes a general rule. By living in Spain, Finns will find that Spanish hospitals are newer, cleaner and more comfortable than Finnish ones. The staff is in general kinder and everything is for free (totally for free: you receive prescriptions, never invoices!!!!). They might also find, to their surprise, that public transportation and some infrastructures in Spain are more advanced (Tv in metro, high-speed trains, more free high-way kms than anywhere else in Europe) while the cultural and gastronomic offer in this southern country is overwhelming. We have much more than beaches!!! And the state is not nicking us money in the form of extraordinary high taxes. Finns could learn that it is possible to work hard and become a good scientist in Spain. We are not dancing and drinking sangría all the time!!!! Finns could get used to smile more often, to not be afraid of showing feelings to their closest friends and relatives, to share, share and share, as a sign of generosity toward those you care of. Finns will find themselves like kings sorrounded by Spaniards who know nothing but creating generously a comfortable hospitality for the foreigner visitor.

Spaniards, on the other hand, would learn what is to have respect towards nature and every single living animal. We should learn from Finn's sensitivity towards mother earth. We have to learn that it is possible to enjoy natural resources without spoiling them (I have seen that in Finland! Believe me!). We have to learn that people's private lives are private and be respectful with that. In Finland, nobody is criticized because of the way they look, their outfit, their appearance, or their personal condition, whatever it is. A dose of honesty and sense of responsability is needed for most Spaniards and Finns can provide a bit of that to us. From Finns we could take that extraordinary ability for learning languages and still love their own language and culture. Finns should teach us how to live in peace and create a better country, without violence: a safe place like Finland. We have to learn from that: "take it easy". To find the beauty and the pleasure in the little things, like Finns know how to do. Spanish girls will be jealous at knowing that Finnish moms can dedicate full time to the new-born babies for three years without loosing their jobs. That the Finnish state takes care of children and their moms from the very beginning. A great part of the Spanish society is rotten and spoiled with absurd, disgusting and extremist ideas about nation, religion and unlimited greed. Finnish society is well-balanced and almost nobody knows what covet is. Nobody aspires to be rich and nobody dream of possesing mountains of useless things. In Spain that is usual and become rich by taking advantage of somebody else is not rare. Finns are enemies of taking what is not theirs and they show endless respect to other people's belongings and lives.

Mixing genes and cultures in a globalised world is the only solution for this puzzle.