Yesterday, I talked to a Finnish in a social event held every Tuesday and Friday in my university. That social event is aiming to provide an opportunity to talk in English by having a lunch together with foreign students in the university. Because there are many foreign students from many different countries all over the world, I really enjoyed talking to them especially learning different cultures, aside from English.
Anyway, the Finnish I talked to has a deep knowledge for Japanese culture. He has been living in Japan for two years. He is practicing Kendo, a Japanese-fencing style, and loves traditional Japanese architecture. When we talked about the Winter War, which is a battle between Finnland and Russia, I asked him about a legendary Finnish sniper fought in the Winter War named Simo Häyhä. But I was surprised that he was not familiar with Simo. He is an icon in Japanese internet society. Many Japanese internet enthusiasts appreciate his transcendent shooting ability. But to my surprise, he is not famous in his country.
In conclusion, I am shocked on how information is limited from different countries. Simo is not a special case. For example, Jean Henri Fabre, who specialize in insects is well-known all over the world except for his country, France. With internet there seems to be more such cases. The internet is a place where information is magnified quickly and is available to all.
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