Mission: Make My Husband Fall In Love With Finland

After dating for 2.5 years, being married for 1.5 years and having a baby on the way, finally I’m taking Alan to visit my home in Finland! I’ve been experiencing China for more than 5 years, but my husband’s Finland experience has been restricted to me, meeting my family once and an occasional meet-up with a Finn here in Guangzhou.

As moving to Finland might be in the cards in our future, this very first visit to Finland will be crucial. My whole family is plotting a plan to make my husband fall in love with our country! Alan only has one week in Finland (I’m gonna stay two weeks), so the mission is not easy.

First of all we are going to experience the Summer in Heinola, a small city in Southern Finland I call my hometown. I hope the temperatures will be enough for dipping in the river and exploring the woods as nature is something I want Alan to fully experience. If I wasn’t pregnant, I would take Alan horse riding!

Our week will also include two other destinations, the capital Helsinki and Tampere, a city where I used to live for years and where most of my friends live. We’ll start with Helsinki that very well might be our new home someday in the future (but not in the near future probably). Lets see if our capital is big enough for a local Guangzhounese.

Next destination is perhaps the best city in Finland, Tampere. The city where I moved from home, started my history degree (never finished though) and kind of grew up. I’m going to take Alan to the Spy Museum where I used to work because he translated the Chinese guidebook there. Alan also want’s to visit a Finnish university, so I’m giving him a tour at Tampere University. Might feel a bit small though after these huge campuses in China.

Meeting friends and family is of course big part of our tour as well. Until now Alan has only met with my mother, little sister and her boyfriend and one of my little brothers. I’m sure he’ll get along well with my dad and his wife, my other little brother and relatives that we meet along the way. I’m especially looking for a big feast at my aunt’s place as she is an amazing cook! Alan has been laughing at me how my stories of Finland always include food!

When you are in a multicultural marriage like me and Alan, it’s important to understand each other’s background. A week is of course not a enough, but it’s a start for Alan to see the world from my point of view. Perhaps he’ll realize that I’m not weird, I’m just a Finn!

I’ll be sharing more after our Finnish holiday and I’ll let you know if our plan to make my husband fall in love with Finland worked or not. Our mission starts this Sunday!