While out for brunch recently with an Indian friend of mine and with my Finnish fellow, we got to talking about the weather, as conversations with Finns are wont to do. My boyfriend said that the weather in Finland is horrible (Finns love complaining about Finnish weather) and how that particular day was exceptionally nice for spring but a nice day like that would inevitably be followed by a string of rainy, cold days (another Finnish quality: to augment every positive statement with the negative side of the coin). My friend had a very good comeback to this speech that I wish I had come up with: “Yes, the weather is bad in Finland, but you guys have so much!” It then dawned on my how true her words were. What are some of these wonderful things that Finns get to compensate for the unpleasant and unpredictable weather? For one, there are the many benefits given to students, especially Finnish and EU students. Education in Finland is free for all EU students. Up until this year,