Everybody who has ever travelled knows that every country is a bit weird. Everybody who has been to Finland knows that this country is a bit weirder than others.

This book takes you beyond the sauna and beyond Sibelius, right into the heart of Suomi. The author, Roman Schatz, moved here from an abolished country called West-Germany thirty years ago and is now the whole country's darling and an inexhaustible expert on Finnish fun facts. The illustrations are provided by Finland's best-loved cartoonist Pertti Jarla.

Welcome to the land of almost 200.000 lakes, the home of rubber-boot-throwing championships, the promised land for single mothers, welcome to a language that doesn't have a word for please, welcome to the land of almost eternal light and darkness, welcome to the cradle of civilization, culture and sophisticated humor, welcome to Finland!

Everybody who has ever travelled knows that every country is a bit weird. Everybody who has been to Finland knows that this country is a bit weirder than others.

This book takes you beyond the sauna and beyond Sibelius, right into the heart of Suomi. The author, Roman Schatz, moved here from an abolished country called West-Germany thirty years ago and is now the whole country's darling and an inexhaustible expert on Finnish fun facts. The illustrations are provided by Finland's best-loved cartoonist Pertti Jarla.

Welcome to the land of almost 200.000 lakes, the home of rubber-boot-throwing championships, the promised land for single mothers, welcome to a language that doesn't have a word for please, welcome to the land of almost eternal light and darkness, welcome to the cradle of civilization, culture and sophisticated humor, welcome to Finland!