AMA - seela

[seela]

This got long, sorry...

Your mislabeled map of Europe made me think of this question... From a semi-ignorant American perspective, there doesn't seem to be much difference between all the Scandinavian countries. They tend to get clustered together (at least they do in my head) as sort of all having very similar cultures, languages (I know Finnish is something of an outlier there), philosophies, political systems, etc.

What would you say are some of the biggest differences between those countries that a complete foreigner to the area might not pick up on?

Okay, first things first. Finland is not a part of Scandinavia, except for a little slice in the northern part, but Finland is a Nordic country. *mind blown* Scandinavia is Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and like I mentioned a slice of Finland geographically belongs to the Scandinavian peninsula too, but for the most part it's not a Scandinavian country. Another definition would be the three monarchies that are tied together by a very similar language, too. The Nordic countries include Scandinavia, Finland and Iceland, as well as the autonomous regions belonging to those countries. This is one of the most Finnish things about me... Finns always point out that they're not a part of Scandinavia.

Now, let's deal with Kalmar Union on a very superficial level, because I don't remember that much about it. Sorry Whiskeyjack, you'll probably have to google anyway.

It was a Union of three kingdoms - Sweden (that a large chunk of modern day Finland was a part of), Norway (that Iceland was a part of) and Denmark. It was in operation, so to say, in the 1400s and a bit of the 1500s and the union was tied to gain more power in the international setting. Commerce, war, whatnot. Without googling I don't even remember how it ended, but it did, sorry. I do remember the union wasn't super tight most of the era, because the monarchies were not very evenly balanced and their interests didn't always align perfectly.

Fun fact: some people have suggested that something like this should be formed again, because it would give the countries more influence than they now have.

And now to the actual matter in hand...

Disclaimer: When I say people from X country are like Y, I don't mean *alllllll* of them are. And this is just my opinion and based on the contacts I've had with people from those countries and what little I've seen and experienced traveling there, and also, in no small part, based on stereotypes. I had a Swedish roommate for a year when I lived in another country and she had many friends from Norway and Denmark, so I spent quite a bit of time with them as well. I think Sweden is the only country or people that I have a little better understanding and knowledge of which is why my answer seems to be mostly about Sweden...

Compared to Finland, one big difference I find dealing with people from Sweden is that they're very, very conflict avoidant. It's very important that everyone feels comfortable and that everyone is heard, things are discussed to death and it's better to leave negative things unsaid. I've encountered this especially in work settings, and sometimes it's frustrating to try to figure out what they really think, because if it's bad, they don't want to say it but rather try to amp up even the smallest positive aspect they might find. Finns are more frank and don't beat around the bush so much and I've found the same to be true for Danes as well. I'm not sure about Norwegians or Icelanders, insufficient data.

In Sweden and Norway people are more open to trying new things. Especially Swedes always seem to be interested in what's new and are early adopters of almost everything. I think in a way Iceland takes the crown in this regard. Every single Icelander I've known has been very open to trying new things to the point that they all have a thousand careers each and can do a million things. A heart surgeon come dog trimmer come glacier guide? No biggie, very Icelandic. Finns tend to be more of realists, I think. We approach things more cautiously, prepare for the worst rather than enjoy the ride and maybe that's why don't necessarily get very innovative. Sweden and Iceland especially are very forward-looking in comparison and willing to try things.

I find Finland, Sweden and Norway a bit more sticklers about rules (but I think Finland is the stickleriest of them all), whereas Denmark is a lot more chill and in Iceland everyone is like let's see how we can make this work.

Finland has a major little brother syndrome when it comes to Sweden and it shows everywhere here. If we beat Sweden in anything at all, it's almost a national holiday here. I find it embarrassing and annoying, but what can you do...

Then there are lots of smaller differences like in Finland almost all kitchens come with a drying cupboard that's above the sink so when you do your dishes you can put them there to dry without having to dry them or have a separate rack for them. That means in Finland the sink is rarely by a window. This isn't the norm in other Scandinavian countries.

Denmark is the only Nordic country where the state doesn't have a monopoly on booze. In Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland the state has a monopoly on selling booze stronger than a certain level. Roughly, beer is in regular grocery stores, wines and stronger in the booze stores, although there are mighty strong beers too which you need to buy in the specialty booze store. I went to Denmark on a school trip when I was 15 or 16, and was shocked that the kids were allowed to smoke inside the actual school building. There's also no age limit to drinking booze in Denmark (there is to buying though, 16 to beer strenght 18 to stronger stuff). In other Nordic countries the legal age of alcohol consumption is 18 and at least here you have to be 20 to be able to buy spirits. Beer, wine etc. you can buy at 18.

Sweden is obsessed with almonds and coconut in a way that other Nordic countries aren't. 90% of their baked goods involve almond paste. Well not really, but they use it a lot!

Those are a few things that popped into my head. It all varies person to person, though. Nations aren't monoliths.

I'd be super interested in hearing what Iris thinks about the question!


I hope Angela Lansbury is satisfied by this answer.

 

[HotBrand]

This got long, sorry...

I thought that was an AMAZING answer.

I've re-read it three times so far and I'm going to another couple of times.

The thought you put into your answers is just so wonderful - and everyone else who fires questions at you on here would most likely agree!

 

[IrisAlthea]

Those are a few things that popped into my head. It all varies person to person, though. Nations aren't monoliths.

I'd be super interested in hearing what Iris thinks about the question!


I hope Angela Lansbury is satisfied by this answer.

Well, I don’t really want to state my opinion, you know in case anyone gets upset…

I agree with most of what you wrote. The almond thing, I’ve never thought about but I love nuts, so I sure wouldn’t notice in a negative way.

As I’m traveling in Sweden, I notice once again how different the culture can be in different parts of the same country.
The southern part of Sweden belonged to Denmark for a long time. Architecture, food etc are more like Denmark and in part actually more like northern Germany.
The Sami culture is not really confined to a country as it excisted long before countries.

 

[seela]

Well, I don’t really want to state my opinion, you know in case anyone gets upset…

I agree with most of what you wrote. The almond thing, I’ve never thought about but I love nuts, so I sure wouldn’t notice in a negative way.

As I’m traveling in Sweden, I notice once again how different the culture can be in different parts of the same country.
The southern part of Sweden belonged to Denmark for a long time. Architecture, food etc are more like Denmark and in part actually more like northern Germany.
The Sami culture is not really confined to a country as it excisted long before countries.

The almond thing is something so completely Swedish from my point of view. As are saffron, coconut shavings, cinnamon, and cardamom. All the expensive, exotic stuff really. We were too poor for a long time for that type of stuff, so Finns notice.

I think it's interesting how the differences dilute into basically nothing when you zoom out far enough. Like you said, all of the Nordic countries are diverse and the culture is different in different parts and when I'm in Sweden, I really notice that. Now, when I'm in Finland and am in contact with people from Sweden, the differences between different parts of Sweden don't really matter to me, but there is certain Swedishness that strikes me. When I lived with the Swedish roommate, all of a sudden all I could see was how similar we were in so many respects. We would talk about which are our favorite lösgodis, how annoyingly unorganized things were where we lived etc. It was so comforting to to be around people who'd just know certain things.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

When I first started poking around the Lit boards I was expecting to get an education. But this is something else entirely Thanks for a very informative reply! The stuff about southern Sweden having a more Danish and northern German influence isn't something I explicitly knew, but it's not surprising. The stuff about the nuts and almond paste is something that never would have occurred to me in a thousand years.

And I promise I'll try not to call Finland part of Scandinavia again. Sorry!

 

[twister947]

Thank you for that Seela.

When I look at a map, the thing that jumps out at me is how Norway ended up with all of the northern Scandinavian coastline, along with the Fisheries Conservation Zone. How did that come to be?

 

[seela]

When I first started poking around the Lit boards I was expecting to get an education. But this is something else entirely Thanks for a very informative reply! The stuff about southern Sweden having a more Danish and northern German influence isn't something I explicitly knew, but it's not surprising. The stuff about the nuts and almond paste is something that never would have occurred to me in a thousand years.

And I promise I'll try not to call Finland part of Scandinavia again. Sorry!

No worries about the Scandinavia thing. It’s really not at all a sore point for Finns so no need to sweat about “accidentally” calling Finland a Scandinavian country. I think we like to pick and choose a little when we want to be Scandinavian and when not.

But it is true we tend to see ourselves as separate from Scandinavia, mostly due to language issues and history. “We’re not Swedish anymore, we don’t want to become Russian so let us be Finns”, as the saying goes.

 

[seela]

Thank you for that Seela.

When I look at a map, the thing that jumps out at me is how Norway ended up with all of the northern Scandinavian coastline, along with the Fisheries Conservation Zone. How did that come to be?

I don’t really know how that happened. Probably some old-timey wars? Finland lost the northern port and access to the sea to Russia in WW2.

Edit: Apparently the Finland/Norway border has been established more or less as it is now since the early 1800s. It was just decided that that’s where the border goes. Sweden/Norway border earlier than that. No one probably thought there might be anything worthwhile in the ocean. Norway wasn’t that rich until fairly recently in the 1900s.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Thank you for that Seela.

When I look at a map, the thing that jumps out at me is how Norway ended up with all of the northern Scandinavian coastline, along with the Fisheries Conservation Zone. How did that come to be?

Since the middle ages Norway belonged to either Denmark or Sweden, so others have had goid access to those shipping harbours for transport of goods as well as their own, until the 20th century.

As for cultural differences, seafaring and fishing are big in Norway, with lots of contact with Scotland, Shetland and the Orkneys. It was actually discussed when we had the Estonia sink. The ship sunk in a difficult place and the state chose to leave the bodies of the dead with the wreck, seal it and declare it consecrated. There was a lot of anger about it in Sweden and many felt that they were not allowed to get their loved ones a proper burial. It was pointed out that to Norwegians burial at sea was seen as more of a natural thing.

 

[gracie920101]

Uh...I saw Angela Lansbury go down a rabbit hole in Wiki over Kalmar Union.

maybe she'll be back later

 

[Primalex]

What shenanigans did you engage in this year?

 

[twister947]

What shenanigans did you engage in this year?

Ripped the words right out of my mouth.

 

[seela]

What shenanigans did you engage in this year?

I had forgotten this thread exists!

This year my shenanigan count is a big fat zero. In general all the fun, random things tend to happen during the warmer months anyway.

Once I ended up cooking mussels in the middle of the night with someone whose name I didn’t know and I’d only met once before and his friend that I met for the first time that night. I was waiting for the tram and they came to the stop as well and somehow I went with them to the friend’s place. It was a really fun night, but yeah, not exactly the paragon of safe necessarily. This happened in winter, so this was special in that way too.

Come to think of it, the person whose name I didn’t know… I still don’t know his name, but somehow we’ve shenaniganed several times since that winter mussel night, too. It’s weird. Our paths just cross. Originally we met on a sex site and just decided to grab a beer. No actual sex has ever happened between us. Ever since meeting that one time for beer we’ve just randomly bumped into each other at least a few times a year and it’s always fun. Maybe I’ll ask his name the next time we meet.

And once I ended up in Tallinn. (Which is in a different country, I’m case not everyone is familiar with European geography.) I guess that counts as shenanigans, too?

 

[IrisAlthea]

I had forgotten this thread exists!

This year my shenanigan count is a big fat zero. In general all the fun, random things tend to happen during the warmer months anyway.

Once I ended up cooking mussels in the middle of the night with someone whose name I didn’t know and I’d only met once before and his friend that I met for the first time that night. I was waiting for the tram and they came to the stop as well and somehow I went with them to the friend’s place. It was a really fun night, but yeah, not exactly the paragon of safe necessarily. This happened in winter, so this was special in that way too.

Come to think of it, the person whose name I didn’t know… I still don’t know his name, but somehow we’ve shenaniganed several times since that winter mussel night, too. It’s weird. Our paths just cross. Originally we met on a sex site and just decided to grab a beer. No actual sex has ever happened between us. Ever since meeting that one time for beer we’ve just randomly bumped into each other at least a few times a year and it’s always fun. Maybe I’ll ask his name the next time we meet.

And once I ended up in Tallinn. (Which is in a different country, I’m case not everyone is familiar with European geography.) I guess that counts as shenanigans, too?

Mussels should mainly happen in the wintertime.

With those kind of people you just happen to bump into and have a great time with, I’m usually afraid to try to make a more ”formal” contact, because I’ve had it klill the magic.

And the question:
Have you seen Torsk på Tallin?

 

[seela]

Mussels should mainly happen in the wintertime.

With those kind of people you just happen to bump into and have a great time with, I’m usually afraid to try to make a more ”formal” contact, because I’ve had it klill the magic.

And the question:
Have you seen Torsk på Tallin?

No I haven’t, but I see that Fredde/Johan Rheborg is on it so maybe I should see it. Might learn some more fun wordplay from it too.

 

[IrisAlthea]

No I haven’t, but I see that Fredde/Johan Rheborg is on it so maybe I should see it. Might learn some more fun wordplay from it too.

It was a wordplay, rather than a recommendation.
It does have Johan Rheborg though and you like Solsidan way more than I do, so it might be worth a look.

 

[seela]

Bumping this because BiBunny asked to, and I’m on vacation so plenty of time to answer silly questions should anyone have any.

 

[base10]

Bumping this because BiBunny asked to, and I’m on vacation so plenty of time to answer silly questions should anyone have any.

Will make this easy, where did you travel to?

 

[seela]

Will make this easy, where did you travel to?

I’m in Ireland.

 

[twister947]

I’m in Ireland.

Do they have Reese's?

 

[base10]

I’m in Ireland.

Any special to do items on the itinerary?

 

[seela]

Do they have Reese's?

Yes they do! But I haven’t had any. Instead I bought and cobbles down another chocolate treat that I love, which is the air bubble chocolate. They used to sell that in Finland when I was a kid but they no longer do, so it’s something that I tend to look for when I’m traveling.

Any special to do items on the itinerary?

No special items, I’ve been sort of winging it. I’m currently on my way to Belfast and have zero plans what to do there except buy pantyhose.

 

[BiBunny]

I read through the whole thread (which is fascinating, btw), so I'm hoping I don't accidentally asked something you've already answered, seela. If I do, I'm sorry!

My questions:

1.) Are you a theist, an agnostic, an atheist, or something else not covered by those three?

2.) Do you experience the ASMR response? (I put the link in just in case someone on the thread hasn't heard of it before.)

3.) What's another of your kinks besides humiliation/emotional masochism that you feel comfortable admitting to in this thread?

Thanks for bumping your thread for me!

 

[seela]

I read through the whole thread (which is fascinating, btw), so I'm hoping I don't accidentally asked something you've already answered, seela. If I do, I'm sorry!

My questions:

1.) Are you a theist, an agnostic, an atheist, or something else not covered by those three?

2.) Do you experience the ASMR response? (I put the link in just in case someone on the thread hasn't heard of it before.)

3.) What's another of your kinks besides humiliation/emotional masochism that you feel comfortable admitting to in this thread?

Thanks for bumping your thread for me!

You read through the whole thing? That’s dedication! If you’ve read through the thread, you already know I’m wordy, so brace yourself… And repeat questions are not a problem anyway, sometimes answers to certain questions change over time too. Or depending on the mood.

1) I’d say I’m a pretty solid atheist. I’ve never experienced anything godly and I’ve never really understood or had the need to explain unknown things with a god. Those gaps in understanding seem like too tiny a place for something so meaningful as a god as a concept is to live in, if you know what I mean.

If I did believe in god, or if I had to imagine what a god would be like, it would be an entity that gave a push to the universe, made the big bang so to say, and then left the universe to run its course. I’d find it very hard to believe in any sort of a god that would decide who’s good and who’s bad, or give ethical guidelines to live by, or make demands for that matter.

Because, at least for now, it’s not possible to detect anything beyond the big bang, I’m also agnostic. It’s not possible to gain knowledge of the existence or non-existence of the kind of a god that seems plausible to me.

Well this was an interesting question. I so rarely think about religion because it doesn’t feature in my daily life in any meaningful way beyond getting Christian holidays off from work. And for that I thank (the Christian) God!

2) I don’t get the ASMR tingles, no. I’ve experienced it with one person and it was my grade 7-9 PE teacher. A few times a semester we’d do relaxation exercises in PE, and when my teacher guides us through the exercise, I’d get the tingly feeling that I later learned is an ASMR response. It always started from the top of my head and then went through the body. I was very confused by it and asked the teacher what it was but she said that I was just probably going numb or something.

I’ve never experienced it since. Some ASMR vids are very relaxing, though, and I sometimes watch or rather listen to them if I need to calm down, but it’s rare. Sexy ASMR could be fun, too. Like whispering dirty, sexy things into someone’s ear or having them whispered into mine. I could be game!

I’ve sometimes wondered if I’ve managed to trigger anybody’s ASMR response like the teacher did mine. That would be fun to know.

3) Kinks. Hmm. There are plenty of things I’m into and I think most of my kinks are things I’ve talked about here before.

I’m really into orgasm control, mostly denial, edging, ruins. Fairly recently I had my first foray into high heels, and surprisingly I loved it, so that’s sort of been closer to the top of my interest list lately. It was such a simple but very restrictive way to limit my movement, and it turns out that with heels high enough even I look like I have legs. Cum is awesome too, in me, on me, around me. Breath play. Face slapping. Anal. Bastinado. There are lots.

I also really, really enjoy the service aspect, so doing laundry, cleaning, cooking and the likes as well as catering to sexual wants and needs. That’s what I’d say is my main kink, humiliation/objectification/emotional masochism come second.

 

[BiBunny]

You read through the whole thing? That’s dedication! If you’ve read through the thread, you already know I’m wordy, so brace yourself… And repeat questions are not a problem anyway, sometimes answers to certain questions change over time too. Or depending on the mood.

1) I’d say I’m a pretty solid atheist. I’ve never experienced anything godly and I’ve never really understood or had the need to explain unknown things with a god. Those gaps in understanding seem like too tiny a place for something so meaningful as a god as a concept is to live in, if you know what I mean.

If I did believe in god, or if I had to imagine what a god would be like, it would be an entity that gave a push to the universe, made the big bang so to say, and then left the universe to run its course. I’d find it very hard to believe in any sort of a god that would decide who’s good and who’s bad, or give ethical guidelines to live by, or make demands for that matter.

Because, at least for now, it’s not possible to detect anything beyond the big bang, I’m also agnostic. It’s not possible to gain knowledge of the existence or non-existence of the kind of a god that seems plausible to me.

Well this was an interesting question. I so rarely think about religion because it doesn’t feature in my daily life in any meaningful way beyond getting Christian holidays off from work. And for that I thank (the Christian) God!

Fair enough on the atheism/agnostic front. I think as much as we think we know, we really know nothing, so agnosticism is really the most intellectually honest position to hold.

2) I don’t get the ASMR tingles, no. I’ve experienced it with one person and it was my grade 7-9 PE teacher. A few times a semester we’d do relaxation exercises in PE, and when my teacher guides us through the exercise, I’d get the tingly feeling that I later learned is an ASMR response. It always started from the top of my head and then went through the body. I was very confused by it and asked the teacher what it was but she said that I was just probably going numb or something.

I’ve never experienced it since. Some ASMR vids are very relaxing, though, and I sometimes watch or rather listen to them if I need to calm down, but it’s rare. Sexy ASMR could be fun, too. Like whispering dirty, sexy things into someone’s ear or having them whispered into mine. I could be game!

I’ve sometimes wondered if I’ve managed to trigger anybody’s ASMR response like the teacher did mine. That would be fun to know.

I love ASMR, but I also get a lot of tingles. Only from certain people, though. There are a few ASMR YouTubers I really adore.

3) Kinks. Hmm. There are plenty of things I’m into and I think most of my kinks are things I’ve talked about here before.

I’m really into orgasm control, mostly denial, edging, ruins. Fairly recently I had my first foray into high heels, and surprisingly I loved it, so that’s sort of been closer to the top of my interest list lately. It was such a simple but very restrictive way to limit my movement, and it turns out that with heels high enough even I look like I have legs. Cum is awesome too, in me, on me, around me. Breath play. Face slapping. Anal. Bastinado. There are lots.

I also really, really enjoy the service aspect, so doing laundry, cleaning, cooking and the likes as well as catering to sexual wants and needs. That’s what I’d say is my main kink, humiliation/objectification/emotional masochism come second.

I am with you on the service aspect, except for me, it's more about personal service than cooking and cleaning because I hate both of those things, lol. I keep begging Daddy to let me put him in the shower and bathe him because I love to do that, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

High heels sound like fun, too!


I have more questions! (If you don't mind.)

1.) Coffee, tea, both, or neither?

2.) Since we're on the topic of drinks, I know you answered earlier in the thread about alcohol, but I'm curious about non-alcoholic drinks. Are you more of a water person, or do you drink sodas, too, or what?

3.) If you came to visit me in Alabama, what would you like to see, either here or just in the American South in general? (If you just want to say "Atlanta," that's perfectly fine, lol.)