Finland vs. The World
I've gotten a lot of questions about a few things surrounding Finland culture. Some of those questions include curiosities about whether or not I'll teach out here (I'm working on it!), general questions about the people, food, going out life, etc. So I'm gonna break down some of those questions and hopefully help you get to know a little bit more about life here, from a 24 year old, white, American, girl's (woman's*) perspective.
1. Have you tried any Finnish food?
I am convinced, there is no 👏 such 👏 thing 👏 as "Finnish food". You want some pizza? Got that. You want some sushi? For sure. Do you want literally any food from any culture ever? Then walk down any street and you'll find it. I don't think that there is even such a thing as a 'Finnish restaurant', they genuinely do not exist. But you can definitely get some Finnish dishes; ie. seafood, potato pastries (have tried these), and reindeer (yet to try).
*I googled Finnish food though, and the results were interesting. Check it out here.
2. What are Finnish people like?
Disclaimer: I'm going to speak to this as a bystander and general people watcher. It's worth noting, that David's teammates are very kind and chatty with me. They are very cool and polite and don't necessarily apply to what I'm about to say next.
But some* Finnish people are so weird. Weird in the sense that you can see at least 1 in 5 people with rainbow colored hair, 1 in 50 are some kind of emo/punk, and the rest are just super reserved and quiet. So far, at every bar or restaurant I've been to, I will normally find almost nobody talking to each other. This is not an exaggeration. But also nobody is on their phones either. Small talk is not a thing here. If you don't have anything to say, sitting in silence is better than "shooting the shit" as we say in the United States.
Now, I personally think that this is kinda cool, considering I'm not a big talker myself. You don't have anyone here asking, "Are you okay? Are you having fun?" like I'm used to getting at home. Americans are very exuberant, and have a need to be social. But if you're not that way, especially in a social-drinking setting, people often assume something is wrong. If you're not up, dancing, talking, or what have you, it's safe to assume you're not having fun. Long story short, I appreciate the low key-ness of Finnish people, and can 100% relate to them on this, but other Americans may struggle with enjoying themselves in silence.
3. Do they speak English? Can you learn some Finnish?
I'm going to answer the latter, first, there is absolutely no way I could learn enough Finnish to have a full blown conversation here. I've included some pictures of things I've seen, and I invite you to try and pronounce the 500 extra vowels they have in every word. And as if you couldn't be more confused, Finnish and Swedish are included on many/most things. I've included some fantastic examples below.
There are also five-ish different words to say, "Hi", just hi. And I've also been told that there are OVER FORTY different words for snow. I feel the need to type this in caps because underlining, italicizing, and bolding are just not enough for this. Like what? Forty words? Who made up this language and thought this was a good idea? To whoever said English was the most difficult language to learn, I beg you to listen to 2 people having a conversation in Finnish. It's gibberish, and I'm over it.
But yes, they do speak English. Except apparently Finns are perfectionists and they are very self conscious about speaking English. However, they're not self conscious because they don't know how to speak English, every Finn has told me they want their English to be perfect or they get nervous. See? Finnish people are weird.
Final Thoughts
All jokes aside, it has been very entertaining to be here. To see the differences in culture and general life experiences not only has made me appreciate my own upbringing, it's helped me discover my inner extrovert. I'll be back with more once I find other things that culturally enlighten me about this perplexing place. In the meantime, I invite you to watch this hysterical sketch from Finnish stand-up comedian, Ismo.
Until next time... xo
1. Have you tried any Finnish food?
I am convinced, there is no 👏 such 👏 thing 👏 as "Finnish food". You want some pizza? Got that. You want some sushi? For sure. Do you want literally any food from any culture ever? Then walk down any street and you'll find it. I don't think that there is even such a thing as a 'Finnish restaurant', they genuinely do not exist. But you can definitely get some Finnish dishes; ie. seafood, potato pastries (have tried these), and reindeer (yet to try).
*I googled Finnish food though, and the results were interesting. Check it out here.
2. What are Finnish people like?
Disclaimer: I'm going to speak to this as a bystander and general people watcher. It's worth noting, that David's teammates are very kind and chatty with me. They are very cool and polite and don't necessarily apply to what I'm about to say next.
But some* Finnish people are so weird. Weird in the sense that you can see at least 1 in 5 people with rainbow colored hair, 1 in 50 are some kind of emo/punk, and the rest are just super reserved and quiet. So far, at every bar or restaurant I've been to, I will normally find almost nobody talking to each other. This is not an exaggeration. But also nobody is on their phones either. Small talk is not a thing here. If you don't have anything to say, sitting in silence is better than "shooting the shit" as we say in the United States.
Now, I personally think that this is kinda cool, considering I'm not a big talker myself. You don't have anyone here asking, "Are you okay? Are you having fun?" like I'm used to getting at home. Americans are very exuberant, and have a need to be social. But if you're not that way, especially in a social-drinking setting, people often assume something is wrong. If you're not up, dancing, talking, or what have you, it's safe to assume you're not having fun. Long story short, I appreciate the low key-ness of Finnish people, and can 100% relate to them on this, but other Americans may struggle with enjoying themselves in silence.
3. Do they speak English? Can you learn some Finnish?
I'm going to answer the latter, first, there is absolutely no way I could learn enough Finnish to have a full blown conversation here. I've included some pictures of things I've seen, and I invite you to try and pronounce the 500 extra vowels they have in every word. And as if you couldn't be more confused, Finnish and Swedish are included on many/most things. I've included some fantastic examples below.
 |
| The top name is in Finnish, the bottom in Swedish. Roughly translates to "long grain rice" |
 |
| Try reading this street sign yourself first. Then plug it in to your Google Maps to pronounce and proceed to be entertained. |
There are also five-ish different words to say, "Hi", just hi. And I've also been told that there are OVER FORTY different words for snow. I feel the need to type this in caps because underlining, italicizing, and bolding are just not enough for this. Like what? Forty words? Who made up this language and thought this was a good idea? To whoever said English was the most difficult language to learn, I beg you to listen to 2 people having a conversation in Finnish. It's gibberish, and I'm over it.
But yes, they do speak English. Except apparently Finns are perfectionists and they are very self conscious about speaking English. However, they're not self conscious because they don't know how to speak English, every Finn has told me they want their English to be perfect or they get nervous. See? Finnish people are weird.
Final Thoughts
All jokes aside, it has been very entertaining to be here. To see the differences in culture and general life experiences not only has made me appreciate my own upbringing, it's helped me discover my inner extrovert. I'll be back with more once I find other things that culturally enlighten me about this perplexing place. In the meantime, I invite you to watch this hysterical sketch from Finnish stand-up comedian, Ismo.
Until next time... xo
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