You'd love Finland! Do go in summer though - while it will not be warm, it will be less cold. But still charming. There's so much nature going on!
And there's nothing *wrong* with being Eastern European. It's just... different? The people, the way they interact, the way we react to things. How huge the gap between rural and urban is, and how poor, almost primitive some of the rural areas are. Yup, the poverty. The road back from the airport in Helsinki vs the one in Bucharest. The way the cities look, the fact that we still have wild animals roaming the streets like it's no big deal (the packs of stray dogs - some killed a 4 year-old boy in a park in Bucharest a few years' back. And then there's the brown bears that regularly go dumpster diving in mountain cities). The way how that issue could be easily solved if we weren't so corrupt. I mean, there's nothing inherently bad about being Eastern European, but it becomes so apparent when you come from one of the "civilized countries" as everyone here calls it. Coming back to Bucharest felt a bit like going back in time. :\ Plus, everything was cleaner (although not everywhere, of course), people recycled, they were more honest (at least with the public transit - subway access without turnstiles? As in expecting people to be honest? That failed so bad here with buses.) Just... differences.
I'd love to see more of the world, though! Even though I'll certainly go back to Finland, I'd love to go visit other countries. We actually thought of Netherlands for next year but nothing is set yet. I mean, I can't ride a bike very well, so I'm not sure they'd even allow me into the country! :P
And there's nothing *wrong* with being Eastern European. It's just... different? The people, the way they interact, the way we react to things. How huge the gap between rural and urban is, and how poor, almost primitive some of the rural areas are. Yup, the poverty. The road back from the airport in Helsinki vs the one in Bucharest. The way the cities look, the fact that we still have wild animals roaming the streets like it's no big deal (the packs of stray dogs - some killed a 4 year-old boy in a park in Bucharest a few years' back. And then there's the brown bears that regularly go dumpster diving in mountain cities). The way how that issue could be easily solved if we weren't so corrupt. I mean, there's nothing inherently bad about being Eastern European, but it becomes so apparent when you come from one of the "civilized countries" as everyone here calls it. Coming back to Bucharest felt a bit like going back in time. :\ Plus, everything was cleaner (although not everywhere, of course), people recycled, they were more honest (at least with the public transit - subway access without turnstiles? As in expecting people to be honest? That failed so bad here with buses.) Just... differences.
I'd love to see more of the world, though! Even though I'll certainly go back to Finland, I'd love to go visit other countries. We actually thought of Netherlands for next year but nothing is set yet. I mean, I can't ride a bike very well, so I'm not sure they'd even allow me into the country! :P
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