GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: Finland, Sonkajärvi, sports, wife-carrying world championships, entertainment, streaming video
I am Finnish by ancestry, and I am in love with Finland, having visited this beautiful country three times now. However, I must warn you all that women who marry Finnish men are asking for a fair bit of humiliation. Finnish men like to indulge in a very peculiar sport: wife carrying contests, which are a modern day carry-over from the ancient pass time of wife-stealing. This is video from the 2009 event, which took place yesterday (5 July) in Sonkajärvi, which is smack-dab in the middle of Finland (if it had been closer to Helsinki, I would have been there, live-blogging, photographing and videoing this event for you) [1:31]
The prize? The wife's weight in beer, a bag full of wife carrying products (huh?) and a statue with a wife carrying motif. The second and third place couples as well as the most entertaining couple, the best costume and the strongest carrier are also awarded wife carrying products and statues.
And for my Finnish fans, here's another video in Finnish; Eukonkannon joukkuekisa [3:38];
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Comments
Finns are entitled to their little quirks. They invented the sauna after all.
Posted by: Romeo Vitelli | July 6, 2009 6:36 PM
That does seem like a particularly humiliating (and dangerous!) way to be carried.
Posted by: John | July 6, 2009 7:11 PM
The carry method is actually up to the teams. That strange upside carry allows the "wife" to hold really tightly without any help from the "husband". In the very beginning you can see a couple in the back doing the traditional piggy-back carry.
Posted by: unistrut | July 6, 2009 11:23 PM
Are you kidding me? I would love to participate in something like that! Sounds fun. ^_^
Posted by: IBY | July 7, 2009 1:29 AM
I think I'll skip that one. I couldn't even pick up a viking next door.
Posted by: MadScientist | July 7, 2009 2:43 AM
As indicated by unistrut, above, I wish to point out that the rules do not stipulate that the spousal unit be your own.
Hm. I should check how they accommodate for same-gender partnerships.
Posted by: Juuro | July 7, 2009 3:01 AM