Miss Finland

Nina Johanna Tikanmaki

Where did you grow up? Tell us a little about your home town / city and family
I was born in the city of Turku (former capital of Finland) and lived there until the age of 7 when my family moved to the near by smaller town, Naantali, which is my present hometown. It is a small town (13,000 inhabitants) on the S-W coast of Finland and a well-known tourist resort. The most popular attractions are the President’s Summer residence, the Medieval and in its time unusual convent/monastery church, the annual classical Music Festival, the Moomin World theme park for children (especially loved by the Japanese) and one of the finest Spa Hotels and ship hotels in Scandinavia. The atmosphere in my hometown is cosy and charming with the old part of the town, closeness of the sea and nature – and friendly people.

My family consists of my parents and a younger sister. My father is a lawyer and a realtor running his own business with my mother who used to work in exports until I was born. My younger sister is 16 years old and preparing to leave for her student exchange over to Australia in late August 2004. International relations have always been highly appreciated in our family. My extended family is widely spread all over the world because we have hosted several exchange students and other visitors from e.g. USA, Australia, Taiwan, Mexico, Germany, Holland, Israel, Argentina and Thailand. My family also likes to travel whenever possible, so I have been to several countries all over the world. I like to learn about new cultures and widen my horizons My foreign contact and travel experiences have helped me to understand situations in other countries and to appreciate my good life in Finland.

What jobs have you done? What was the most interesting / bizarre?
Besides school and hobbies I have not had much time to gain work experience. In my younger years I was a baby sitter through a nationwide childcare organization. I have also worked three summers at a small hotel and alongside school at my parents’ office doing routine paperwork and cleaning. Right now I am working at a local supermarket for the summer. I was also a fashion show model as a child. At 16 I started modelling again but quit it because I wanted to graduate from school at first. After graduation this Spring I took up modelling for the third time.

I liked working at the hotel because the work was very varied and I got to use my language skills. It was also very socially active working place and taught me to be friendly and helpful with customers, even when they were difficult. Modelling has also been very nice and I am lucky to be working through a very reliable and decent agency which is one of the best known in Finland. Nothing very bizarre has ever come my way.

What is the proudest moment of your life? (Not including winning your national title)
Graduating from High School this May with good grades is naturally one of the highlights in my life. It makes me proud to know that I have done a good job either in studies or at work. Especially if I manage to turn a dissatisfied customer (at the hotel) into a happy one in the end and see him come back for this holidays the following year. When I was younger and still competing in group gymnastics on the national level, it felt great to win a trophy for our team, although we never quite made it to the first place.

What was the funniest / most embarrassing moment of your life?
There is no one single funny moment I can think of. The funniest and best time of my life have been with our exchange student, teaching them Finnish or to ice skate. We have had lots of good laughs both ways about learning foreign languages. I have found it most embarrassing at the hotel, if the rooms have been overbooked and I had to find other accommodation for the poor tourists who had come a long way to stay with us.

How has your life changed, since winning your national title? Tell us about an interesting event you have attended, or person that you have me.t
After winning the title it has been amazing how an ordinary girl suddenly becomes very popular: articles in the press, people asking for autographs and sending letters, taking photographs etc. The best part is that as a public figure I am now able to do more good in terms of charity and fundraising. There has also been more work offered to me. I have enjoyed every moment of my short celebrity period so far. Through the performances and my modelling jobs I have been blessed to meet many wonderful people from all walks of life, whom I probably would never have met otherwise.

I am the goodwill ambassador for the cancer children in South Finland. The events where I am present are arranged by the leading Cancer Society including e.g. sports events and fashion shows for fundraising and visits to the hospital to lighten up the days of the young patients or taking some of them to places of interest. Although this work has just newly begun, I find it very rewarding to work for the children. On a personal level, I am also used to helping and looking after elderly people who are no longer able to manage by themselves, because we have such people in the close family circle. Their appreciation for my efforts is really heart-warming. The number of elderly people in the developed countries is increasing rapidly and something has to be done to help them cope in everyday life and to relieve the pains.

What would you like to do, if you become Miss World 2004?
If I was the lucky winner for the contest I could visualise myself visiting hospitals and orphanages and participating in the events connected with charity in different countries. I would also like to influence the TV, movie and game world to produce less sex and violence. Young people are easily affected by this overflow of unrealistic material and I believe it changes their patterns of behaviour. I would also try and improve the situation of girls and women in some countries e.g. through better education. They would thus be better able to help themselves.

What are your career ambitions, and how do you plan to realise them?
At the moment I plan to take one year of from studies to fulfil the duties of the title Miss Finland. My father hopes that I would follow his footsteps and become a lawyer, but I hope to study international business and hotel management either in Finland or in Switzerland. To study in one of the famous international hotel management schools in Switzerland would be a great challenge. During the following year I hope to improve my language skills in English, French and German, in case I get to go to Switzerland.

If you had to have a personal motto, what would it be? Turn your face to the sun and leave the shadows behind. This is the idea I would like to bring into everybody’s life. Brooding over the sad things and difficulties of the past just creates negative energy … much better to look ahead and open new doors that can lead to a better tomorrow.