Community Chat

[Noel7]

"The annual World Happiness Report is out, and it’s not great news for the U.S., which fell four places to 18th this year."

BUT!  Who are the world's happiest people?  The Finns!  Finland!

Is anyone here Finnish?  Full Disclosure:  I was surprised to discover my ancestry report gives me a healthy dose of Finnish

**************************************************

"Finland inched out last year’s winner Norway to take the top spot. The tiny country of 5.5 million people tucked into a northern corner of Europe has long received accolades for its quality of life. The World Economic Forum judged it one of the best countries in the world for gender equality, and it made the top 10 of the world’s most environmentally friendly countries in Yale and Columbia universities’ Environmental Performance Index. Finland also has an estimated 2 million saunas and the densest forests in the world."

"Finland placed well across all indicators – income, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, trust and generosity – in the United Nations report, which ranked 156 countries on happiness levels using data from Gallup World Poll Surveys from 2015 to 2017."

[Noel7]

[Noel7]

Finland's Artist Haven

[Noel7]

[proudlyfromNJ]

Yes, my brother in law is Finnish. His family moved to Australia when he was a 10. They had to spend a few years in a center with other families moving into the country. He still has many relatives in Finland and does visit them. He has kept all his Finnish upbringing habits like saunas every day.

[RoughDraft]

All things considered, I wouldn't mind being Finnish right now.  

[Noel7]

---

@proudlyfromNJwrote:

Yes, my brother in law is Finnish. His family moved to Australia when he was a 10. They had to spend a few years in a center with other families moving into the country. He still has many relatives in Finland and does visit them. He has kept all his Finnish upbringing habits like saunas every day.

---

@proudlyfromNJ

Thanks for commenting, I love the part about daily saunas!  You might be interested to know that Australia is also among the world's top ten happiest countries.

[Noel7]

---

@RoughDraftwrote:

All things considered, I wouldn't mind being Finnish right now.  

---

Nodding in understanding...  @RoughDraft

[Noel7]

I bought a couple of Finnish cookbooks after getting my ancestry report, also a couple from Sardinia, my other surprise genetic link. Not a fan of "traditional" Finnish food, but apparently they've upped their game and have great restaurants nowadays.

One thing... Finnish families are always ready to put out the "coffee table" for guests.  That means loaded with at least seven plates of delicious food to share, mostly home made bakery items.

[GingerPeach]

---

@Noel7wrote:

Finland's Artist Haven

---

Good day, @Noel7!

The Finnish artists' haven setting reminds me a little of this small home community near Seattle. (They call them "tiny" but they're not all that small.)