(November 1, 2011 at 2:18 am)kılıç_mehmet Wrote: Finn or Swede?
Which one?
Oh dear, here we go.. *clears throat*
Right, so, I belong to a minority in Finland called the Finland-Swedes (finlandssvenskar in Swedish, suomenruotsalaisia in Finnish). We are most definitely Finns, but our ancestors are of a different descent than that of the Finnish speaking population. Finland-Swedes can/should be able to trace their lineage back to the vikings and the Finnish speaking population comes from a nomadic people in the east of Europe, sharing some traits with e.g. Hungarians and Estonians. During the course of time these genes mixed and nowadays there isn't much of a difference, only the language we speak as our mother tongues and some cultural aspects set us apart. But don't ever dare to call us Swedish, most of us (with the exception for Åland Islands, and who's asking them?!) take it as a deadly insult, we are Finns and darn proud of it!
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
