Roxie Aho:
- I've never been to Finland but noticed a few items in the news recently. I admit they may not relate directly to culture.
- The results of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)study of 15 year olds for reading, math and scientific literacy:
Reading - Finland 1st in world
Math - 4th behind Japan, Korea, New Zealand
Scientific - 3rd behind Korea, Japan - Finland ranked first among 142 countries in the Environmental Sustainability Index, a study conducted by Yale and Columbia.
- Transparency International ranked Finland the least corrupt nation in the world.
- Finland is No. 2 to the United States in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness ranking. The year before it was No. 1 with the U.S. second.
- Finland was first in the Forum's Global Technology Report "Readiness for the Networked World" with the U.S. second.
- Not all is well, though. A Belorussian won the women's division of the annual sauna sitting contest.
I'm afraid to see the results of the next wife carrying contest.