Back in Blighty....

So we have returned to the UK for another year. It's amazing the differences we notice immediately on our return, which has also led me to reflect a little more on our time in my favourite country.

Whenever we return, even coming into land, you can see how much the landscape of Britain has been raped and plundered. Everything is so....flat. Not many patches of forest, lots of ploughed field separated by scrubby hedges; and of course lots of houses. I had to drive to the supermarket today after our month away and was taken aback by the amount of cars EVERYWHERE. But then, you must remember that while Finland is about 3.5 times the size of the UK, they also have a population of a mere 5 million people, compared to the 65 million or so residing in the UK. I realise that if Finland had 65 million people, things would look a lot different. It also leads me to wonder, why isn't the population larger? You would think in the Winter, there wouldn't be much to do!

I was also struck by how much 'fear' we live our lives in, in Britain. When we first arrived in Helsinki this year, I accompanied my friend and her 2 year old child to a local park. Whilst there, a boy on a bike came over to chat to us and remained with us for some time. He showed me things in the park and chatted to other passers by. To be honest, I felt a little uncomfortable. Had an unknown adult tried to strike a conversation with a child, immediate cries of 'paedophile!' could be heard in your head and probably the child's too. When we visited and stayed with a family in Lapland, their 7 year old was off at a skate park and had been all day while they were at work. He didn't return home until around 7.30pm, under his own steam. No parent felt the need to go and collect him.

This led me to cast my mind back to when I was a child in the 1970's. It was a similar situation as Finland today. A whole gang of us who lived in the same road used to be out in the Summer from after breakfast until we would magically appear in time for dinner. And our parents didn't know where we were. And they didn't worry either. It's very sad that these days have gone.

On the return journey, I composed a list of things to bring next year that I can't seem to find in Finland. I expect it will get longer....

Wooden spoons
Marmite
Jungle Formula insect repellent
Decent cheese grater
Milton sterilizing fluid