O življenju v Idriji ima vsak drugačen pogled. Še bolj drugačen pogled imajo posamezniki, ki v Idrijo pridejo le za kratek čas in še bolj drugačen je pogled posameznikov, ki prihajajo iz drugih držav. Prebrali ste si že lahko dva zapisa dekle iz Francije in Španije, sedaj pa si lahko preberete še zapis Finca Ronija, ki v Mladinskem centru Idrija, opravlja evropsko prostovoljsko službo.
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Most Finns are people of the forest. Our ancient myths and legends came from swamps, lakes, forests and sauna. Still during modern days, those things are a huge part of Finnish everyday life; Wherever you go, the pure-ish nature is never too far away, so coming to Idrija and seeing a lot of green felt like home. Except here the forest goes straight up instead of forward. It was a nice change to see something so close to home, but still different. I instantly noticed that Slovenians value preserving nature by recycling and by supporting local manufacturers of food.
I’ve never lived in a small (6000 people) town, but I’ve always heard good things about the mentality of those towns. Sharing is more common than not, and relations are kept in good standing, most of the time. Walking the streets, you always see people you know so you get the feeling that friends are everywhere. In bigger towns people easily become invisible nobodies, but not here. It’s not uncommon that a one-kilometre walk takes half an hour because of the people you meet and talk with.
Even though I feel very welcomed to this community, it sometimes feels lonely. I do not speak Slovenian so communicating with people takes effort from both parties. When we’re sitting in the pub drinking barley juice, most of the communication takes place in Slovenian between natives and this doesn’t give me the chance to take part in the conversation as often as I’d like. In the beginning I found myself laughing with everyone even if I didn’t know the joke, but after a while it became a chore. I also spoke my native language all the time with Finns, even if there was a non-native in the company, but now I notice and feel it more clearly. So, to anyone reading this, if your English is good and there’s a non-native speaker with you, please include everyone in the loop, it’ll make a huge difference in their day.
The thing that I, as a Finn, miss the most from Finland is sauna. Sauna is the place where people go to socialize and relax after a hard week of work. Also, on the list are rye bread and salmiakki, which my parents luckily sent me from Finland with a bunch of books.
