The book has been written to tell our experiences of 15 years in Finland and to give a little taste of this country to people who do not know it. It is not a view from a short time visitor. It is a love and affection that has developed by spending half a year in Finland for a long time, through beautiful Summers and very harsh Winters, living in a small community where the sense of its past is prevailing. The purpose of the bood is to make Finland better known and appreciated by the world at large but foremost to have the Finns understand themselves and their country, overcoming their fundamental shiness towards foreigners, despite their technical achievements in the modern society and the ggeneral respect they enjoy as a Nation on the global scene. This is not a travel book. It is simp,ly an analysis of the character and the habits of the Finns and an attempt to capture in words the natural beauty of a land at the edge of the world.