What if we want to stay? Can we stay at his house? Will he at least invite us to dinner one night?
Amazing and unique!
Short video account by the President of Finland of his visit to the White House— LaetitiavandenAssum (@lvandenassum) October 5, 2019
He says nice things about us, but I suspect he’s had about enough Americans for now.
Here’s a list of words that mean the opposite of “diplomacy”. It’s amazing how every single one of them applies to Donald Trump.
No politician would be so undiplomatic, of course*. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual Finnish President agreed with the sentiment in private.
*Except President Trump
I so do love Rob Paulsen :P https://twitter.com/yakkopinky
It amused me when during the spleen venting, Trump tried to put his hand on Niinistö’s knee and was duly swatted away.
I understand that from a Finn’s perspective coming with ten feet is considered invading personal space unless you know someone very well.
As the great Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki put it when asked about the Finns’ famed lack of small talk; “foreigners often ask me how I am, but before I have had time to think about it properly, they have usually gone away”.
@mailliw #3:
This is the Aki Kaurismäki who, when relocating Shakespeare’s Hamlet from medieval Denmark to a rubber duck factory in 1980s Finland, expressed the national character by compressing the entirety of the first two scenes of Act I into the words “I saw yer dad”, responded to with a grunt.
(I think I’ve remembered that right. It’s been a long time since I last watched it.)
There’s a hoary old Swede-Finn joke about small talk.
One Friday night a Swede and a Finn get together to crack open a bottle of vodka. The Swede pours two glasses and says, “Skål!” The Finn just looks at him and they both down their shot. The Swede pours another two and says, “Skål!” again. Same thing happens. The third time, just before the Swede has a chance to say “Skål!” the Finns says, “Have we come here to drink or talk?”
about the only things I know much about Finland are Jussi Vares ( a really good hardboiled detective) and “beyond the press” on youtube
from that looks like a little funny with a slightly dark side but a low tolerant for BS
uncle frogy
@Rich Woods #4
I can thoroughly recommend Kaurismäki’s last two films Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope. Both beautifully humane stories about ordinary people helping refugees in trouble and delightfully and ironically humourous.