A peaceful July night, at a local harbour in Gerby, Vaasa.
Does your geographical location define your identity, and how? We all understand that people differ from others depending on where they live. The culture, religion and national politics along with mores and standards, all shape whom we become. An obvious certainty is that not only does the country that you live in shape you but also in which city you live in. Do you live in an urban part of your country or a rural? This has a big impact on you. I have lived my whole life in Finland, so I can only speak from the perspective of living here and answer the questions regarding the effect our nation has had on me. Most of the laws in Finland are shaped from the beliefs of Christianity. Many of them have changed over the course of history. Thus, even though most Finnish people tend to say that they don't believe in a god, we still unconsciously abide by the Christian mores and standards. These mores and standards that have developed within our society have been passed on from generation to generation. Finland was for a long time a part of Sweden, for over 600 years, until conflicts in 1808-1809 landed the future of the at-the-time none existent geographical area which today is Finland, in the hands of the Russian Empire. In the beginning, it was rather peaceful, and we were allowed to keep speaking Swedish (which still is the second most spoken language in Finland), we were allowed to keep using the currency that was used in Sweden at the time, the Swedish riksdaler. But after WWI broke out Russia started to take away more and more of the autonomy that hands had been shaken on in 1809. This has consequently led to a big influence on the Finnish people, something that is still with us today. The fear of Russia that is. One of the things that Finland is known and for which most of us are very proud of is our educational system. Everyone has the same basic education, no private schools or schools that have an attending fee. Every single student has the same opportunity to become something great if they want to, and we all have the same possibilities regardless of the economic status or any other outside factor that could possibly be a problem in other countries. This makes it possible for all of us to strive and dream of becoming whatever we want and gives us the possibility to do so as well. Something else that defines you is the culture that your language brings with it. If you are a speaker of a minority language you may feel secluded and realise that you have your own little society in with you live or that makes you, you. You may feel more at home with the others who speak your language and this subsequent society may completely shape you differently apart from the rest of the nation. But is there still a general brush stroke on all of the people in a country. Why are we so different in different parts of the world? There is a lot to factor in, and it is absolutely absurd to think that it is possible to cover all of it in a single blog post. So that is why I leave you with a few questions so that you can think about this yourself, and understand it from your own perspective. Open questions, no right or wrong answers:
Casper Rosenlöf - Vaasa, Finland
3 Comments
12/17/2018 16:18:06
In Belgium, there are two distinct regions. First and foremost there is Flanders, the industrial, Dutch speaking heart of Belgium, where the opinion of confederalisation and Flemish independence is incredibely dominant with the Flemish youth. While Wallonia is the rural, French speaking region that really wants to keep Belgium a thing, because they rely on the Flemish industry and it’s harbors and they don’t wanna be part of France either for cultural reasons. In Brussels the divide is way less visible because both parties live together. Brussels is also very diverse being the capital of Europe and is therefore way more tolerant than the rest of Flanders.
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Helena Santos, Maria Margarida Nunes, Henrique Rodrigues e Débora Sousa. Constância, Portugal
1/5/2019 22:46:41
Yes, we believe that geographical location defines part of our identity.
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2/28/2023 08:45:32
Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts! OCR Labs is focused on making identity proofing effortless through technology. We build intelligent tools that protect users from identity fraud while enabling a seamless user experience. Please get more info on identity verification.
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