Culture tips - Finland Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
Finnish people don't do very well with small talk. We're not a nation of oh what's up, that kind of a thing. If you want to have a conversation you have to talk about meaningful things. Saying how are you without intending to listen what the other person is saying can be considered very rude. I personally don't like to be asked how are you if you're not willing to have a time for me to explain how I've been. For us how are you is not the same as hello. It literally means that I'm telling you what is going on with my life, how am I, what I've been doing. So that is my number one tip for everyone visiting Finland.
Video 2 Transcript
Fun culture tip is learn how to use a fork in the left hand and a knife in the right. That's the traditional way that Finnish people eat their food. It's actually superior if you learn the technique right. It's pretty fun, but also just have fun with it. Finnish people can be a little bit stoic. Maybe not the most outgoing right off the bat, but you just kind of have to learn to be patient and honestly just be your American self and show love to everybody because once you make friends with Finnish people, then you make friends for life and that's just a fact and Finnish people know it too.
Video 3 Transcript
Something important to know about the Finns is they don't accept help usually. What I found is that though they're not willing to accept help, they're always willing to give help. If you can find some way for the Finns to help you, that will open the door to you developing a relationship with them and in some ways also to help them too because then they'll have things that come up that they need help with.
Video 4 Transcript
I think my biggest cultural tip would be just to be yourself, because I think what Finns are good at doing is knowing if somebody is genuine or not. Finns are a little shy, and so, but don't be afraid of that shyness. They're still okay to talk to you, and I think smiling with teeth is something that they don't see every day, and so they would just love it.
Video 5 Transcript
One culture tip that comes to mind is volume of voice. We would be on the trolley going around Helsinki and when we get close to the embassy Americans would pop on to the trolley and you could tell immediately because we just as a culture here in the United States speak so much more loudly than the Finns do, especially on public transit. So just be cognizant of that, tone it down a little bit. You'll get it there after a few months. You'll start doing that by nature and it will really stand out to you as to the volume differences. But that will be one thing to kind of keep track of is that they're very quiet people. Wonderful, lovely, friendly people but quieter than maybe what you're used to if you're coming from the States.
Video 6 Transcript
Don't be surprised if people act a little bit not super warm to when you're when you're talking to them because the Finnish people they want to be your friend but at the same time they want to know that like when you're when you're their friend that you're really their friend and then they'll open up a ton so never be afraid that people don't like you or that you may have made a language mistake so they don't like you just people really want to be your close friend and once they are man they'll open up in crazy ways to you another like another culture tip is which when you're at dinner appointments or kind of formal gatherings especially the elderly people there they really respect when you have high quality manners so just keep an eye out for that
Video 7 Transcript
I really learned to love the Finnish culture and the Finnish people. One thing about Finns is they're pretty shy and they're pretty reserved. They're not very open, but once you build trust with them and get to know them, then they'll really open up with you and be honest. So a big tip I have is to really get to know people, but you need to build the relationship first because Finns are really shy.
Video 8 Transcript
One thing to know about Finnish people is that Finnish people are very humble. We don't want to be fussed around and we don't like to be the center of attention. Oftentimes a Finnish person's mentality goes to the nature. We like to go and spend time in the summer cabins and be somewhere by the lakes or forest just to have a peaceful moment. It's very common for Finnish people to have their summer cabins, we call them kesämökki, somewhere by a lake. There you go. For a swim or sauna, sauna is also a very, very important part of the culture. We actually have very many saunas per capita, probably more saunas in Finland than people in general. Sauna is a serious thing.
