Iittala – a Finnish design brand

In Finland, there are quite a few different famous and popular design brands of different products. In this entry, I thought I’d introduce the Iittala products a bit. Iittala mostly focuses on tableware, glassware, and silverware.

Iittala brand has several product families. I myself don’t really have anything design or brand at home. I’ve never really been so fond of such things. My tableware, glassware, and silverware just like my clothes and most anything else are basic stuff, so-to-say. But last week I bought a set of plates that belong to Iittala’s Teema family. The word is “theme” in English but because it’s the name of the product family it’s a proper noun.

And I’m all over excited about them. The plates are suitable both for dining and serving. They aren’t exactly bowls but they are a bit wider. The diameter is 21cm / 8.2 inches. They’ve been designed by Kaj Franck. What makes them more special is that unlike normal plates, they can be used in cooking even in the oven.

I did think twice though before buying them because, as we all know, brand and design products cost money. The set has six plates – I always want to have six (or twelve) of whatever tableware, glassware, and silverware. One plate costs €16.20 / $21.49 in Iittala Shop. But I found the set of six plates with €75 / $100, as they were on offer. Though, it is still quite a bit just of six plates. But I never waste money. And I believe that if one really wants something and has considered it they should go for it.

My mother has some of the Ultima Thule glassware family and I think they are really beautiful too. Iittala has several beautiful product families. All the products are simple, timeless, but yet they look stylish and they would fit to most kitchens.

I could share dozens and dozens of photos of the products but it’s easier just to share the link of the web shop where all the products are available with photos.

Iittala Web Shop: https://www.iittala.com/home

There’s also a brief introduction about Iittala on Wikipedia, as I didn’t really get into it so much in this entry. Teema and Ultima Thule are my favorite Iittala product families which is why I included them to this entry. But like I said, there’s much more.

Iittala on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iittala

We Finns are introvert and anti-sociable!

Helsingin Sanomat (the national Finnish newspaper) has published an opinion piece that is agitating and bringing up discussion especially in social media. When I read it I was left both speechless and embarrassed.

“Finns’ strange mannerism made an American family leave the country. Finns don’t greet each other. Why is it so difficult to them even if it’s part of good manners?,” the man writes in his opinion piece.

A half Australian and half Finnish man having lived in Finland most of his life says that there was an American family living next door to him for three years. Finally they decided to move back to the US. The reason they had was that they got fed up with the Finnish mannerism – strangers not to greet each other.

The man writes that in the farewell party he asked his neighbors what they think about Finland. The answer was harsh – they could not have warm memories about a country where people don’t greet each other. The Americans first thought Finns behaved in the way because they were foreigners. But in time it came out it was just part of the game with everyone – even between Finns.

The man considers the issue from an Australian view point. “If you walk in a park in Australia and pass people and don’t greet them you’re considered all over weird. Occasionally, it’s also common to stop to swap a few words about the weather or something like that. If someone doesn’t greet you they are considered weird and even dubious.”

The man says that he’s noticed that if one greets strangers in Finland s/he is considered weird and greeting a stranger brings up suspicion. He’s surprised it’s totally upside down in Finland compared to other places.

Unfortunately, I cannot doom his opinion piece completely. One of the Finnish stereotypes is that we Finns are shy, introvert, and anti-social. Let’s take an example that you take a bus somewhere. People sit on the bus and either look out of the window, have their eyes stuck to their phones, read books or magazines, or if there’s nothing else to do they look at their hands lying on their laps. But they hardly even look other passengers into the eyes.

If one starts chatting with a stranger on the bus s/he’s considered weird. People might even try to end the chat – not in a rude way, of course, but just to let it die out. We don’t lack all the manners after all.

I will never forget the feeling I had when I spent a month in England in 2003. I was in a language course and I lived in a small town on Isle of Wight. It was a cultural shock when I went to shops and other places like that and the staff came to me, nearly gave me a hug, and said, “How can I help you, my dear?,” or, “What can I do for you, darling?” If I called a stranger “my dear” or “darling” in Finland they’d most probably call the white-jacket guys to take me away.

But it’s quite sad really. When I came back to Finland I was in shock again because I realized how introvert we Finns really are in a way. At the cash desk in the supermarket, the seller mostly tells the price to you and may wish you a good day – but only ‘may’. It doesn’t happen each time.

So, in a way I sympathize with those Americans. And to speak my mind, this is the type of cultural thing I’m not proud of. We Finns don’t know how to do “small talk”. It’s just not part of the culture.

And the idea of this entry is not to mock my own country or culture. It’s a cultural thing. But every time it’s brought up by foreigners it simply feels quite… umm... well, it’s even hard to find a proper adjective to describe how it really makes me feel!

Maija’s Name Day – Name Days in Finland

MAIJA

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Finnish

Meaning & History: Finnish variant of Maria, Latin form of Greek Μαρια, (see Mary).

Maria is the usual form of the name in many European languages, as well as a secondary form in other languages such as English (where the common spelling is Mary). In some countries, for example Germany, Poland and Italy, Maria is occasionally used as a masculine middle name.

Source: http://www.behindthename.com/

Name Days in Finland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finns celebrate their name days (Finnish "nimipäivä") according to their given name on the date given by the calendar published by the University of Helsinki Almanac Office. Every day except New Year's Day, Christmas Day and February 29^th is a name day. For each day there are names in both Finnish and Swedish; the names are frequently, but not always, cognates.

Women are slightly underrepresented in the calendar: approximately 45 percent of name days celebrate only women while some 49 per cent are name days of men. The rest are those of names that may be given to either sex, such as Rauni (July 15^th), or have both a man's and a woman's name, such as Oliver and Olivia (May 29^th).

Many traditional beliefs attach to various name days, especially involving the weather and the appropriate times to perform seasonal agricultural tasks such as planting some particular crop. For example there is a saying that “Jaakko (James) casts a cold rock into the water”, meaning that on Jaakko's day, the 25^th of July, the waters start getting colder, which is not far from true on average.

The seven days from July 18^th to 24^th, being all women's name days, are known as the Women's Week. It is popularly believed to be an especially rainy week, and this is to some extent supported by statistics, as late July and early August are the rainiest time of the year in Finland.

The Almanac Office reviews the lists at intervals of 5–10 years, adding new names as they gain popularity and striking others that have faded into disuse. The university owns the copyright to the lists of names and their corresponding dates.

Tiina’s day happens to be the 24^th of July that ends the Women’s Week. My middle name is Maija, so today is also my name day. Though, I have sort of twisted my middle name a bit, as I use Maya online. It has nothing to do with the Maya civilization though. In Maya and Maija, the ‘y’ and ‘ij’ sound similar which is why I’m using Maya online instead of Maija.

By law, a Finn can have three first names at most. The common amount is two. Some names have been joined together with the hyphen. For example, my grandma’s name was Maija-Liisa. As the double vowel is very common in the Finnish language, international names such as Nora, Eva, Lisa, Ida, Sara(h), Maria, and Mona would be spelled as Noora, Eeva, Liisa, Iida, Saara, Maaria, and Moona. With Sara(h) and especially Maria, there are naturally several other variations too.

Some Finns celebrate their name days but not all do. Name day isn’t as big as birthday but it’s at least very common to wish people happy name day, just like people wish each other happy birthday. Flowers or little presents may be common too. Because my grandma’s and my name day is on the 2^nd of July, grandma always baked a cake at the summer cottage if I was there at the beginning of June – and we celebrated by having it with coffee on the porch.