​I am a mom. A mom in an intercultural family! A mom with a partner and 5 children + a big dog. A family where we speak 3 languages between us, but Not a single person of us can speak all the languages. That is my family, even though not all the children are biologically mine, but mentally they are mine and will always be. I also have a big dog now. It is funny how love has “given” me all these bonuses, because I never wanted many kids, and I am terrified of dogs. Anyway I am in love with my partner and I also got to a point where I appreciate my bonus dog. I see myself as the luckiest ever, to have all my kids. How I was brought up, it is normal to get none, one or two children. Not five!

​For Mother's Day in Finland, I would like to share reflections and experiences about the maternity package and neuvola services in Finland. If you make a quick browse online, you will read that ” The maternity package (in Finnish: äitiyspakkaus,) known internationally as the Finnish "baby box," is a kit granted by the Finnish social security institution Kela, to all expectant or adoptive parents who live in Finland or are covered by the Finnish social security system. By neuvola services I refer in this blog to the prenatal care offered by public clinics of the Finnish healthcare system.
What is the paradox that I want to tell?

International Workers' Day is meant to celebrate the fellowship between all workers, in Finland and worldwide. For this day, I would like to share my recent personal experience with attempting to change my career. I hope that my experience, and the tools I used to go through it, will strengthen and empower fellow workers, particularly from intercultural families, who struggle with their own work situations.

​Throughout my life, I always wanted to be an academic researcher. Already when I finished elementary school, at the age of 12, I asked to write in the yearbook that my dream is to research history and foreign cultures. As soon as I could, I started my academic studies, first in Israel, then a Master’s in Helsinki and a PhD in Turku.

​We most likely all agree that good communication is one of the key factors to any successful relationship. Communication with our partner happens daily, whether it is verbally or non-verbally. We are in constant interaction with other people, especially in our romantic relationships. Now what happens if our ways to think, feel and speak are very different from out partner’s? What if we use words and expressions differently? What if our views, values, practices that are familiar to us seem contrary to the ones our partner has? Differences easily lead to misunderstandings, frustration, disconnection and conflict. 

We currently live in a globalized, interconnected, multicultural world.  Societies are shifting towards environments where people from different cultures, nationalities, languages, beliefs, and customs live together in one community. Increased intercultural contact is more likely, and therefore new social interactions are constantly settled.
​
Intercultural friendships represent a complex intimate intersection of different variables, aspects, and processes. They are unique in a way that individuals most surmount challenges such as overcoming stereotypes and negotiate cultural differences. On the other hand, intercultural friends can benefit from expanding cultural knowledge and broaden their perspectives. 

Hello everybody! I’m Melis, a graphic designer from Istanbul, Turkey. I started volunteering for Familia last year soon after I joined the Finnish language course of the organization. I love how Familia supports and helps us to get to know about diverse families and cultures in Finland. I myself like Finnish culture and Finland a lot. Even though I only visited Helsinki once, It felt very welcoming with the multi-cultural structure and comfort that I saw in peoples face. I’m still learning a lot about Finnish culture; and hearing from the diverse people living in Finland, I understand more and more everyday. That’s why I feel very lucky to be a part of this community as a foreigner myself:) ​

It is holiday season, and this time of the year is a perfect occasion to put into practice the intercultural richness of our family. My husband is from Finland, and I am from Nicaragua. Together we are raising a trilingual 4-year-old girl who has big expectations for Christmas. But how do we reconcile two cultures in a festive tone? Christmas is not always nice and fun, but this blog is a photography of our life situation in December 2022, and if you relate to it, you might also be in an intercultural family.
              
Christmas started early with a generous amount of snow that fell and never went away. Back home there is no snow ever, so I find amusing to see my daughter play and eat the snow that announces that Christmas is near. A Christmas calendar with little chocolates to open day by day is a new experience for me: this time my daughter chose herself the type of calendar she wanted to have.

Our family playlist includes songs such as “El burrito Sabanero”, “Last Christmas” and “Tonttujen jouluyö Tip Tap (Soihdut sammuu)”. My daughter makes her own version of the lyrics in Spanish, Finnish and English, mixing all the songs. Yes, Christmas carols are part of our repertoire and that is where things get a bit intercultural.

Have you heard about children's rights on November20th? No?  Then let me tell you a little about it! 

Their very origins go back to the US in 1857, from a pastor who appreciated children a lot, and facilitated the first “rose day”. This tradition later changed to children's day. In December 1954, the United Nations General Assembly invited all countries of the world to establish the Children’s Day, to make the rights of children visible, to exchange and promote understanding towards children, the need of their welfare, and start actions to promote the vision and goals of the UN Charter.

In Familia, one of the many things we do to honor this day is promoting the rights of multilingual families and their children.​

This year the world mental health day falls on the 10.10.22 and the theme is “Make mental health and well-being a priority for all”. What does it mean to all of us, especially intercultural families who have challenges integrating to a new society?  Mental health issues are on the rise especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic crisis which affected many people globally where they had to be confined to homes, lost their main source of incomes, lost their loved ones and a complete shutdown in their everyday lives. When Covid-19 struck, we had to learn to fast track to deal with mental health and wellbeing issues all of a sudden , unprepared like a bunch of kindergarten children on the first day of school. I am no exception to them. Here is my transition story moving from a big city, Kuala Lumpur to a quiet town of Sipoo, 30 km east of Helsinki a year ago.

I come from an intercultural family where my Finnish husband speaks Swedish and Finnish; and on my side, my mother tongue is Cantonese and I learned Bahasa Malay, English and Mandarin in my formative school years. Our common household language is English with our children.