People ask all the time were we are from.Some believe we are from Germany or Sweden and some believe we are from England or US.
I am a Finland-swede and I was born on the west coast of Finland in a village called Petalax.
My parents still live there. I have got two sisters and one brother and I am the youngest one in the family.
Clas is also from Finland and grow up in Singsby, an other village about 50 km north of Petalax. His mother is alive and he has two brothers and one sister of which he is the oldest one.
Before we moved down to Tenerife we lived in a place called Sundom that is in between our home villages. Sundom is at the red spot on the Finnish map here by.
Our mothers language is Swedish even when we are born in Finland. Finland is a bilingual country and there is about 300.000 people who are talking Swedish as their mothers language.
Many times when we say we are from Finland there is a murmur of surprise going through the audience. Cowboys from Finland?
For many it sounds very eccentric.
We were living in Florida 1996-97 and that's where we got the American spirit and were so brainwashed with Country music that it really became our lifestyle later on.
We love America and the people we know there. I would like to be like them!
They think big, do big things, have big hearts, live in big houses, sleep in big beds, have big cars and are open minded to everybody. When they sing they many times sing straight out from their hearts and I like it so much. They are allowed to be bold!
Every culture has of course it's fascination, but I think America is just the opposite of the `jante law´culture of Scandinavia which I'm so tired of.
To be into Country and Western music is like having a piece of America in your heart and I like that.
3 comments:
Hej Susanne -
I was intrigued to find this entry while searching for information on my family members from Korsnas (Grandfather's side), Petalax (Grandmother's side), and elsewhere in Finland (Tojby, Narpes, others) and Sweden (Harnosand, etc.)....someday soon I plan to visit where they were born and sisters/brothers were buried near Petalax church.
Then to find out you have been to America and acquired a taste for country music and also singing music for church! I will be interested to follow your blog in the future. Well wishes to both of you!
J. Mattson
Stillwater, Minnesota, USA
Dear J. Mattson,
Nice to hear from you.
I hope we'll meet some day. That would be nice!
My dad is from Taklax, Korsnäs and my mom is from Petalax.
I was myself as a child grown up in Petalax.
It would be interesting to hear more about you and your family.
All the best,
Susanne
Since writing my initial comment to you I have been in communication with a distant cousin (my grandmother was a cousin to her grandfather) who works in Vasa and lives in Molpe. I am planning to go visit next summer (2010).
Do you ever go back to visit, or do you find it too difficult to leave the warmth of Spain these days?
I was interested to read about your opinion of Americans, as it seemed more positive than some other Europeans I've known. Every culture has it's positive and negative aspects.
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