I just found out that Finland is not Scandinavian.

Off-topic
1

I always thought that Finland was part of Scandinavia.
I was very suprised to find out it is not.
Especially since it used to belong to Sweden for 500 years, but oh well.
I mentioned this to two girls.
Both of them seem to think I’m an idiot.
One of them seemed to think it was obvious (maybe it is, I might just be an idiot…)
One of them thought I was a total idiot because she did not believe me when I told her that Scandinavia was not an independent nation.

There is a wide range of intellegences and geographical knowledge at my University.

So far no one else has admitted to having also thought it was part of Scandinavia.

Any thoughts?

2

From http://www.answers.com/scandinavia

3

Well I think that Finland is not part of Scandanavia in the same way that England isn’t part of Europe.

4

Yeah, I did quite a bit of reading on it when I first discovered it, and basically, Finland doesn’t consider themselves Scandinavian, and Denmark, Sweden, and Norway don’t consider Finland Scandinavian, and really, they’re the only people who matter IMO…
I’m German, and German does consider them Scandinavian (but not Denmark.)
It is definately not located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, but then neither is Denmark…

5

How is England not part of Europe?
As an English Citizen*, I’m a bit suprised by this comment…
Politically, it’s certainly more “European” than, say, Norway.
Geographically, it’s certainly more “European” than, say, Turkey.
And Ethnically, it’s certainly more European than say, Hungary.

(Yeah, I’m a dual Citizen, English & German, before you all get alarmed about my previous post…)

6

If you are German and English, why do you live in Virginia?

Alot of English people don’t consider themselves part of Europe.

7

Why not?

I’d disagree with that–some might not, but the vast majority do. It’s EU, which is pretty much makes it definate as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t be suprised if it’s not too long before the Euro starts gaining favour…but that’s just a personal speculation.

8

Don’t worry about it. I just found out that New Jersey is not really a garden state. :frowning:

9

According to my 9th Grade geography(Georgia) teacher, they don’t grow corn in Minnesota. Imagine my suprise. I am still trying to figure out what that crop was that grew on the family farm. The crop that I spent weeks driving through with a Combine. I also can’t figure out why Green Giant goes to the trouble of packaging corn in MN. Learning can be so confusing.

10

…and yes, there is a West Virginia, not just a western Virginia. According to my sister’s third grade teacher in downhome Tornado, West Virginia back in 1975, the word ‘door’ is a two-syllable word. She even clapped out the syllables for the class.

11

England is NOT part of Europe. It’s part of Britain, an island off the coast of Europe.

12

Abso-bloody-lutely old bean.

And on the subject of Finland:

Finland - Monty Python
Chorus: Finland, Finland, Finland.
The country where I want to be,
Pony trekking or camping,
Or just watching TV.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
It’s the country for me.
Verse: You’re so near to Russia,
So far from Japan.
Quite a long way from Ca
iro,
Lots of miles from Vietnam.
Chorus: Finland, Finland, Finland.
The country where I want to be,
Eating breakfast or dinner,
Or snack lunch in the hall.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
Finland has it all.
Verse: You’re so sadly neglected,
And o
ften ignored,
A poor second to Belgium,
When going abroad.
Chorus: Finland, Finland, Finland.
The country where I quite want to be,
Your mountains so lofty,
Your treetops so tall.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
Finland has it all.

Repeat: Finland, Finland, Finland.
The country where I quite want to be,
Your mountains so lofty,
Your treetops so tall.
Finland, Finland, Finland,
Finland has it all.

Fade: Finland has it all…

13

We usually destinguish between Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) and the Nordic Countries (Scandinavia + Finland, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands).

Teachers shouldn’t let give in to facts and reasoning. That would undermine their authority.
My former music teacher insisted that since holding down a key on the piano made the note longer, resting the mallet on the bar of a xylophone had to have the same effect. Mere proof of the opposite failed to convince her.

14

I just had an overwhelming urge to listen to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius. So it’s in the CD player right now.

15

I believe I’ll have a little spot of Finlandia vodka along with my birthday cup of tea.

16

That makes a lot of sense. :slight_smile:

That is amazing. Some people… :thinking:

17

Isn’t the language (Finnish) also one of those strange ‘island’ languages in the sense that it has almost nothing in common with the languages surrounding it?
Where’s that Ayelsbury chick?

18

Finish was originated from Hungarian, which originated from Korean. Scandinavian languages originated from old German.

19

I always thought it was more Turkish in origin?

20

Hmm…maybe I was wrong about that…I seem to remember my father saying something about it being Korean, and he’s pretty much always right about geography. I’ll have to ask him.