Why am I learning Finnish? People ask me that all the time, but I think my relationships with Finland started rather obvious. As a teenager, I was crazy about hard-rock music and metal. Once I realized that about 70% of my playlist were taken by Finnish rock bands. That fact pushed me to learn more about this country. I thought that it must be something special there -- and it was. Finnish lifestyle and culture, its famous architects and designers, combined with my favorite music bands, made me fall in love with this country. I wanted to go there since I was fifteen and did it for the first time only a year ago when I was twenty-four. I guess, there's a time and a place for everything. For some reasons, it took me almost ten years to visit my dream country, but I believe it’s for best. When I finally made it to Helsinki I had a chance to live with a Finn and experience real Finnish lifestyle for a whole week. Before the trip, I was worried that Finland might be not as perfect as I imagined it, but all my concerns turned out to be for nothing. During that amazing week, I was stunned by Helsinki and the people I met there. The city amazed me with its stylish architecture and authentic places while Finns impressed me with their open-minded and healthy attitude to life. I’m planning to go there again this summer, and my goal is to be able to maintain a simple conversation in Finnish at that time. The thing is that Finnish is not simple at all and it’s also tough with work and time. But I do my best and hope that my next note about Finland would be written completely in Finnish :)