Finland

The following is the transcript for a speech I did for our year level public speaking competition. This was in 2000. We had to deliver a speech about another country. I came third in the competition.

FINLAND

Hyvää päivää. Mina en ossa suomea hyvin. Good day. I don't speak Finnish well. And today, I'm going to tell you about Finland, the European country with a world full of charm.
    I may not have chosen to do Finland for a good reason. But it's important to me, nonetheless. I heard a Finnish person speaking English. I thought the accent was wonderful. And I want everyone to know just how wonderful the people and the country are.
    While some choose to vacation in the USA, England or Bali, others with a more exotic taste for life head to Finland for their holiday fix. And who could blame them? With its 60,000 lakes and chilly weather, it's not for the faint-hearted. Particularly in the north of Finland.
    The top third of Finland is called Lapland, because of the people who live there. Lapland is extremely cold due to its location inside the Arctic Circle. This means that from mid-May for 70 days and nights the sky doesn't turn to night. This is known as the midnight sun, at which this time the sun never dips below the horizon. Then there's a 50-day sunset, when the sky gets darker, followed by 6 months of kaamos, when it is night-time - even at noon.
    The streets of Finland are filled with the happy, cheerful and friendly people speaking the exotic and interesting languages of their country. It's a picture-perfect scene, the ideal place where dreams are made of. Whilst pure Finns are blond with blue eyes, there are some with darker features. This is because of the people from other countries mixing with the Finnish.
    The way Finnish society works is pretty straightforward. The residents call their country Suomi and the capital is Helsinki. They shop with their currency, Markka, and speak either Finnish or Swedish, which is used around the Gulf of Bothnia. In Lapland there are about 2000 pure-blooded Sami, sometimes called Lapps, who speak their own language. In the southern part of Finland, about 5500 gypsies have their own language, too.
    Helsinki replaced Turku as the capital of Finland in 1812. Alexander I, the tsar of Russia, personally supervised Finland's affairs before that, since 1809. To minimise Sweden's influence, Alexander encouraged building and development, and Helsinki was made the new capital. Finland was declared an independent republic in 1917. Two years later in 1919, the people of Finland elected their first president, K.J. Ståhlberg.
    The Finnish have a charming national anthem, known to us as "Our Land". It was written back in the 19th century by Swedish-speaker Johan Ludvig Runeberg. When you hear this anthem and Estonia's national anthem, you'll probably be able to spot the similarity. For the Estonian national anthem is the Finnish national anthem slowed down, although the lyrics will be different.
    In sport, Finnish people are quite talented. In particular, ice hockey. This year in the Ice Hockey World Championship, held in St. Petersburg in Russia, Finland came third, a marvellous achievement. The sport is on the school curriculum. Another sport they excel in is motor racing. Perhaps some of you have heard of Tommi Mäkinen, a World Rally driver. He can also be seen driving on the Mitsubishi ad to the song "Shuddup Ya Face". Or maybe you know of Keke Rosberg. He was the first Finnish drover in Formula One to win the world championship. This was in 1980. The current Finnish F1 star is 1998 and 1999 back-to-back double F1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen. Other rising Finnish F1 talent include Mika Salo and the rumoured-to-be-in-F1 star, Kimi Räikkönen. In other sport news, Helsinki hosted the 1952 Olympic Games. A famous Finnish Olympian is Paavo Nurmi, otherwise known as the "Flying Finn". He is a famous long-distance runner, now retired.
    In conclusion, I must say that my information doesn't half sum up the wonders of Finland. You really have to see it for yourself. Kiitos paljon - thank you very much.

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