Personally I don't have a problem with Swedish people, or at least all of them. However, I do have a problem with the Swedish National Party which is a party in the Finnish parliament. Yes, you foreigners, Finnish-Swedes have their very own political party with members in the Finnish parliament, a minister in the present government and even a MEP.

This party forces all Finns to learn to speak Swedish in the school when they are young. Even in the university there is a forced Swedish course which one has to pass in order to graduate from there. The dialect of Swedish that is spoken in Finland isn't even that close to proper Swedish which is spoken in mainland Sweden but still this minority has a special status in Finland.

Finnish-Swedish people also have their own universities in Finland (!) where everything is tought in Swedish and it is easier for Finnish-Swedes to get into those. Finnish-Swedish families also have a lot of inherited property in Finland which dates back to the times when Finland was a colony of Sweden.

Åland is the island roughly between Finland and Sweden (closer to Finland though) which has a Swedish speaking majority. They have no obligations to give service in Finnish although Finns live on that island too and the island is a part of Finland. Åland has a special status though giving them tax exemptions and also men from Åland don't have to go to the Finnish military.

When there is talk about making the position of Finnish-Swedes any worse Sweden also comments on the issue in favour of the Finnish-Swedes. So I can't say I like the Finnish-Swedes or Swedes too much I'm afraid.

You speak from the heart!
 

My reality is the finns are reasonable and have straightforward and this are sometimes rare.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you are trying to say.

They are heplful..
 

and have good engagement everywhere.

Speaking of Åland, there was/is a news bit on tellytext saying that Åland is starting to lean towards independency or breaking off and joining Sweden if the status of swedish education etc. keeps weakening in Finland. :yeah:

I'll go for Finland, thank you very much.

http://chickencrap.com/images/1472.jpg

I think that is linked to some corruption within the Swedish National Party. Their minister has been living in a cheap house that is owned by some closely linked organisation.

Maybe we should sell Åland to the Russians, I'm sure they'd get a better deal with them. Swap it for Karelia.

Stealth Hunter,

I wish Finns would base their sense of national pride on something else then remembering the World War 2 and our time as co-belligerants of the Axis nations.