This is a story about an international couple raising and home educating three young boys on a small island in Japan, half living in buses, engaged in organic, self-sufficient farming in the middle of a mountain forest while dealing with climate, cultural, and personal challenges. These pages are about pretty much anything and everything all guided by our family motto, Taking Chances, Making Changes, Being Happy. Thank you very much for joining us on our ongoing crazy adventure.

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Why Finnish Folk Music?

Well to tell you the truth, I really have no idea what got me into this. Most likely it had something to with my old friend Bjorn who lived up in the mountains. Pretty sure he was playing some type of "off the wall" online music station as usual and they played a Värttinä song which caught my attention. I wrote down the name of the group and found them online and then binged on the songs of this group for a couple of weeks. No idea what the songs mean but simply like the sound of the music.
Finnish Folk Music

The music of Finland can be roughly divided into categories of folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.

The folk music of Finland belongs to a broader musical tradition, and is closely related to the Karelian musical style, sung in the so-called Kalevala metre. Though folk songs of the old variety became progressively rarer in Finland, they remained common in Karelia. Thusly, Karelian heritage has often been conceived of as the purest expression of Finnic myths and beliefs, thought to be spared from Germanic and Slavic influences. In the west of the country, more mainstream Nordic folk music traditions prevail. The Sami people of northern Finland have their own musical traditions, collectively Sami music. Finnish folk music has undergone a roots revival in the recent decades, and has also become a part of popular music.

Source: Wikipedia - Music of Finland
Värttinä

Värttinä (Finnish for spindle) is a Finnish folk music band which was started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then. Värttinä shot into fame with the release of their 1991 album Oi Dai. As of 2009, the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by three acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian language of Finnish Karelia.

Source: Wikipedia - Värttinä (link not working)
Äijö
Käppee
Kiiriminna
Linnunmieli
Oi dai
Riena
Seelinnikoi
Travuska