Mahatma Gandhi

1. I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. MahatmaGandhi INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE: DESPITE THE DIFFERENCES Russia- Finland Authors: Kazachkova A. Chistyakov N. Form: 9 Helsinki, 2011

2. Introduction The following project will present a view on the importance of intercultural dialogue. In recent years practitioners in a wide variety of fields—scientific cooperation, academic research, business, management, education, health, culture, politics, diplomacy, development, and others—have realized just how important intercultural communication is for their everyday work. This project is about a country on the top of the world - full of pure and breathtaking natural surroundings, interesting people, places and contrasts. It’s a country especially for people who are searching for something completely different. If you think you have seen everything, think again. The complex task of our project is to study the roots, the forms and the development of cultural relations between Russia and Finland and their modern contacts. Fast travel, international media, and the Internet have made it easy for us to communicate with people all over the world. The process of economic globalization means that we cannot function in isolation but must interact with the rest of the world for survival.

3. We welcome you to become a friend of Finland! At first, you may be wondering what Finland is like. Who are these Finns and what are they like? How do they live, and what are they interested in?

4. Where On Earth Am I? FinlandandRussiahavebeenneighborsforhundredsofyears. Ourrelationshiphasdevelopedgraduallytowardsthepresentstrongandbalancednormalrelationsbetweenneighbors. Diplomaticrelationswereestablishedon 31 December 1920, whentheFinnishdelegationexchangedinstrumentsofratificationfortheTreatyofTartuwithrepresentativesofRussiainMoscow. Onthe 31 December 2010 the 90th anniversaryofdiplomaticrelationsbetweenFinlandandRussiawascelebrated.

5. Republic of Finland Russian Federation

6. Pure By Nature Finlandisbasicallyonebigpark, coveredwithforestsandfields, crossedbyriversanddottedwiththousandsofpurelakes. A fewvibrantcities, ofallshapesandsizes, aresprinkledhereandthere. Sowhereveryouare, escapefromurbanlifeisalwaysjustafewstepsaway. ThebestthingaboutFinlandisacottagebytheseaoralake. Thestarryskiesonfrostywinternights. Andthequietthatsetsuponthelakesidecottagesintheevenings. FinnsarenotexactlyIndians, buttheydohaveacertainkindofprimevalconnectionwithnaturedespiteurbanization. Peoplefindtheirwaytoparksandtheirsummercottagesandliketobeoutdoors. Tomakeenjoyingnatureeasier, thereisaclauseinthelawcalledEveryman’sRight. Itmeansthatyou’reallowedtogoalmostanywherewithoutspecialpermissionfromthelandowner.

7. From 100 to 0 in a Few Seconds Somepeoplelikeheat, otherscold. Somepeoplelovelight, othersdark, somelovesummer, otherswinter. SinceFinlandistrulypackedwithamazingcontrasts, it’ssafetosaythatthere’ssomethingforeveryone. Itisreallyquiteunbelievablehowinasmallcountrylikethisyoucanmeetsuchdifferentpeopledependingonwhereyouhappentobe. Althoughit’sageneralization, inexperiencethecountryisdividedmoreorlesslikethis: inwesternFinlandlivethesophisticatedSwedishspeakingFinns, inthesouththetrendycareerpeople, intheeastthemerrystory-tellersandinthenorththegenuineandjovial. Theyareallsodifferent, butallequallyandoriginallyFinnish. EverythingthatFinnsdo, theydoqualitativelyandproductively, butthewholeprocessisrepresentedasabeautifulandlongonesimultaneously. «Wewillsitdownandwewillallowhastetopassby» - thisisaboutthem.

8. HelsinkiRussialinks “The best thing in Helsinki city is that whenever you need to go somewhere you just have to use your legs. All the good parks, galleries and pubs are so close to each other.” The German-born architect who designed Helsinki’s central Senate Square admired St. Petersburg more than any other city, and he planned the central cathedral, the sweeping square and the classical buildings in its image. The resemblance made Helsinki a convenient stand-in during the Cold War, when it was used as a location for Russian-set dramas such as “Gorky Park” and “Doctor Zhivago.” While Helsinki is very much a Finnish city too, with its distinctive Art Nouveau architecture and contemporary buildings, the influence of the Russian period of its history is still easy to see. Statues and monuments still commemorate the tsars, as does the central Aleksanterinkatu street, which is named after Alexander I. Alexander I is depicted on a frieze on the top of the classical House of Estates, which dates to the 1890s. It shows him with representatives of the aristocracy, clergy and bourgeoisie at the 1809 Porvoo Diet, which set the terms of Russian rule of Finland. Tsar Alexander II, is commemorated with a statue on Senate Square, which was put up in the 1890s, after his assassination. It’s dated 1863, when Alexander II visited and decreed that Finnish was the national language.

9. Helsinki’s classic Russian-style buildingsinclude the former officers’ casino on the harbor,a green-painted building that’s now a restaurant. The city’s baroque Natural History Museumwas built as a boy’s school by Russian architectsand was originally named after Tsar Alexander II. More mundanely, the city’s main brewery,Sinebryukhoff, is an omnipresent reminder of itsRussian heritage. Now part of Carlsberg, it wasstarted by a Russian émigré, Nikolai Sinebryukhoff,in the early 19th century. A strange leftover from the Soviet era is a wistfulstatue of a woman in a windswept part of theharbor. Its inscription says that it’s a monumentto Soviet and Finnish friendship dating from 1968. Helsinki’s most distinctively Russian buildingis the brick Uspensky Cathedral with its elaborategreen roofs.Inside, believers flock to the “Kozelshchanskaya”icon of the Virgin Mary, which is consideredto be miracle-working.

10. If you can’t find inspiration in Finland, you probably can’t find it anywhere. Thanks to the unique, mind stirring culture and natural surroundings, Finns have always been full of creative cultural and technological ideas. Here high-tech engineers and bohemian artists live happily side by side. Everyone always talks about Nokia phones when the conversation turns to Finland. I think the outer archipelagois much more astonishing than some piece of plastic you can talk to. You’ve probably sat in a nice Finnish chair, admired fresh Finnish graphic design or been in a building designed by a Finnish architect without ever having been in Finland. Finnish design has been world famous for decades.

11. LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW! There aren’t many places that can give you a 100% snow guarantee in the winter. This true Christmas wonderland can. Known as the home of Santa Claus and hundreds of thousands of reindeer, Lapland is a place you have to see for yourself. No matter what the season, the arctic ridges and national parks take your breath away. And nature’s own fireworks, the northern lights, dance 80 kilometers above the rugged wilderness.

12. HISTORICAL HIGLIGHTS With a common border more than 1,300 kilometers long, Finland has always been closely tied to its eastern neighbor The territory of present Finland was the theatre of war between Russians and Swedes for centuries. Finland became part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy following the War of 1808-1809. This status gave Finland broad autonomy. It had its own unicameral parliament, currency and customs border with Russia. The Finnish Language along with Russian and Swedish received an official status, which accelerated the formation of the Finnish nation. Following the October Revolution in Russia, the Finnish Parliament adopted on December 6, 1917 a declaration of state independence, but attempts to seek its recognition without the Soviet Government's authorization were in vain.

13. Soviet Government adopted a decree on the recognition of the state independence of the Finnish Republic on December 31, 1917. There were a lot of obstacles in relations between the Soviet Union and Finland, which had only just received independence. The countries waged two wars against each other: in 1939-40, and in 1941-44, as Finland allied with Nazi Germany. Following the Second World War, the Soviet Union received the Karelian Isthmus, Vyborg, the western Bay of Vyborg, lands to the west and north of Lake Ladoga, a group of islands in the Gulf of Finland, a part of the Rybachy and Sredny Peninsulas in the Barents Sea, and the Pechenga area. Over 400,000 people moved from these territories to Finland. The present Russian-Finnish border is specified by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Also, the two countries concluded an agreement on the Aland Islands demilitarization. In the post-war period, Soviet-Finnish relations became an example of a peaceful coexistence policy; they were characterized through an intensive political dialogue and trade, which in the mid-1980s reached 25% of Finland's foreign trade volume.

14. Karelia question Fromtimetotime, theFinnishmediabringupthequestionofdemandingthatRussiareturnlandsformerlybelongingtoFinland. However, theFinnishGovernmentbelievesthattherearenoterritorialdisputesbetweenthetwocountries, withthepresentRussian-Finnishborderspecifiedbyinternationallegalacts. OnDecember 30, 1991 FinlandrecognizedRussiaastheSovietUnion'ssuccessorstate. InJanuary 1992, RussiaandFinlandconcludedtheAgreementonBasicPrinciplesofRelations.

15. Nowadays relations • Russian and Finnish officials have developed stable political contacts at the top and high levels. Finnish President Tarja Halonen paid an official visit to Russia at the beginning of her first term, in June 2000. • In September 2001 and in August 2005, the Russian President paid official visits to Finland. • In 2007, the two heads of state met twice, on July 19 in Saransk, the Republic of Mordovia, and on September 30 when Tarja Halonen was on a private visit to Moscow to participate in theatre director Yury Lyubimov's birthday celebrations. • On June 28, 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held his first meeting with his Finnish counterpart after assuming office at the Fifth World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in Khanty-Mansiisk. On April 20-21, 2009 President Medvedev paid an official visit to Finland. • On June 5, 2009 Halonen attended the 13th St Petersburg International Economic Forum. On August 11, 2009 Medvedev and Halonen held an informal meeting in Sochi, where Halonen also met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Medvedev and Halonen spoke by telephone on August 11 and 16, 2008, on December 26, 2008 and on October 6, 2009.

16. Trade Russian-Finnish trade is mutually beneficial. In 2010, Russian-Finnish trade reached about $12.5 billion, with exports totaling $8.5 billion and imports reaching $3.8 billion, while in 2008, trade reached $22.4 billion. According to Russia's Federal Customs Service, from January through November of 2010 trade turnover between the two countries totaled $11.6 billion, showing an overall decrease of 44%, with Russia's exports at $8 billion (a 44.7% decrease) and imports accounting for $3.5 billion (a 42.7% decrease).

17. Culture • Friendshipsocietiespromoteclosercontacts, withculturalcooperationdevelopinginvariousareasaswell. Since 2000, theRussian-FinnishCulturalForumhasbeenheldannually. • The two countrieshave over 150 pairs of twin towns and villages. • Contacts between Finno-Ugric peoples, including Karelians, Veps, Komi, Mordvins, Mari, Udmurts, Khanty, Mansi and Komi-Permyaks, have been developing successfully, with Finland fostering these ethnicities' national and cultural development. The two countries cooperate to preserve the national and cultural identity of Russians that live in Finland and to help them develop ties with their historical homeland.

18. Conclusion TheFinnsandRussiansaren’tthatmuchdifferent: Bothsurviveinextremeweatherconditions, bothhaveapoorbackground, bothlovetogetblindedonaFridaynight. RussiansareEuropeans, andFinnsareAsianswhobecameEuropeans. Basedonthelanguageandhistory, FinnscameoverfromcentralAsiaandnorthernRussia, andlosttheirgeneticsduetoRussianandSwedishpresence. RussianscameoverfromCentralEuropeasSlavs (Poleswerethere, Czechs, Serbians, alltheawesomeSlavs), andwerediscoveredbySwedes. Hencetheconnection. FinlandjusthappenedtobestuckbetweentwoEuropeanpowers. Andifwecomparethenationalmentalities, FinnsdohavealotmoreincommonwiththeRussiansthanwiththeSwedish. BothFinnsandRussiansarestereotypicallysomewhatmelancholic, introverted, and, hardworkingwhileenjoyingdarkhumor. Becauseofthesesimilarities, Russianpeople, wholiveinFinland, havehadaneasiertimetoassimilateintotheFinnishsocietybecausethedifferentlanguageandreligionhaveremainedasmerelyaestheticdifferences.

19. How can intercultural dialogue be realized, in spite of the differences? Interculturalcommunicationcannotbeachievedonlywithmasteringforeignlanguages. Itneedsovercomingoftheculturalbarrier, too. Thisbarrieris “invisible” andisonlyfeltwhenthereisaclashoftwoormorecultures. Theculturalmisunderstandingcancausegreatconflicts, evenwars. Insuchconflictspeoplestarttounderstandbettertheirnationalculture, theirvisionoflife, theirboundaries, sothattheycanacceptthe “otherness”. Interculturalcommunicationisacrossingpointofcultures, which, ontheotherhand, presupposesacultureofcrossinglines. TheRussianproverb “В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят” isstillvalid. ItsanalogueinEnglishexpressesthesamethoughtinotherwords: “WheninRome, doasRomansdo”. Inbothlanguagesthewisdomofthepeopletriestoavoidculturalclash.

20. References: 1. Ter-minasova S.G. Language and intercultural communication. – Moscow, 2000. 2. Bergelson M. Intercultural communication //www.countries.ru/library/intercult/mkk.htm 3. Koleva A. Trakia, Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2008 47 4. Finland–Russia relations.Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland/ 5. Visit Finland - The Insider's Guide.//www.finland.fi/