“Scandinavia…actually consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden!” wrote a lady, working in an agency named Lila Travelpartners, to us some weeks ago.
The mail continued:
“Dear editors,
Times of 3 country Scnadinavia are definitely over…
The world has shrunk..
After working 30 plus years sending Americasns et all to all over.
The Scsndinavian tourist bureau comprised all 5 countries..
Do not shoot in your own foot by trying to promote just the three countries.
For instance Lapland continues till Russian border over Finland.
Even
You tube is full of Aurora borealis videos from all over Lapland.!!
..or
are you funded by SAS airtlines?
Most respectfully
(to be polite we have omitted the name of the sender, but not corrected the spelling mistakes.)
… and we could not hesitate to send our reply to the sender:
Dear xxxx,
I am sorry, but you are wrong. Scandinavia consists of just three countries, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Please refresh your geography lessons,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia
As a Scandinavian I should know. Citing my British journalist friend, “The Finns have, however, reserved the right to opt in or out of the old marauder’s club as and when it suits them, and we don’t think the Icelanders would be too upset to be labelled Scandinavians either.”
If we are going to lump all five countries together we really ought to use the term “Nordic.
Thank you for your interest in our online magazine.
Yours sincerely
Tor Kjolberg, PhD, MNJ
Editor in Chief
(Both the Letter to the editor and our reply are authentic communication.
Illustrations: Graphic Stock