About the blog
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This blog is meant to serve the Finnish-American community and enlighten the rest of the world about Finnish-American culture, history, people and places. Through fun and engaging short video and multimedia stories I will show why we Finnish-Americans are so proud of our heritage and what we are doing to preserve it for generations to come.
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about me
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My name is Kristin Ojaniemi. My great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Finland in the early 1900's, making me 100% Finnish. Other family names include Nurmi, Haataja and Kreeka (Anderson as it was changed to in the U.S.). I grew up in the very Finnish-American community of Bruce Crossing, Michigan. Actually Paynesville but there hasn't been an actual town of Paynesville in decades. Paynesville is still my home, living near the farm my Great-Grandfather John Ojaniemi settled.
I recently completed my first Finnish-American documentary film "Co-operatively Yours" and I realized how little I know about my heritage and Finnish-American history. I decided it is now a mission in my life to learn as much as I can and share it with the rest of the world. Visual storytelling is my passion. I am most comfortable with a video camera in my hand, capturing the world around me. My first documentary film "Up a River" was a passion project. It screened at a few festivals in Michigan and was nominated for best documentary at the West Michigan Eclipse Awards in 2015. You can watch it here. I hope this blog teaches me more about who I am as a Finnish-American and as a person whose heart is now in two countries. I traveled to Finland last spring (I will blog about at some point soon) and I cannot wait to go back. |