Shh!

Finland is a country-sized library.

It is organized, controlled, full of knowledge and advanced (technology). It also has you keep your voice volume at a near a whisper.

You know you have been in Finland, perhaps a little too long when you associate a loud voice with drunkeness.

Of course most of the time you are right or the person is a Foreigner. Yes, oh my god, a FOREIGNER.

So loud voice equal Drunk or Foreigner.

Children on Buses

I continue to be surprised by things here in Finland.

There are little children riding buses here. Without adults with them. These kids are at most eight years old!

They go on buses all the way from the Finnish equivalent of suburbs to the Helsinki centre.

Finns are perfectly comfortable letting their kids on public buses.

But would a Canadian? Sure I have seen 12 year olds and up, but generally anyone younger has always, always had an adult or an older kid with them.

My relatives constantly warn me of the dangers of Helsinki and riding on the bus. But it is almost laughable when you think that they let their 7 year old ride the bus alone and walk 40minutes home from school by themselves.

Of course when they are warning me it generally has to do with me being out late and Finnish drunkeness or scary foreigners.

But really, would a parent from the USA or Canada be comfortable letting their kids ride the public bus at such a young age? To walk such far distances?

Really, it really makes you pause.

Oho!

Finns have a way of being very modest and understating pretty much everything. Finn wins a gold medals; “Oho! Well I would been just as happy in fourth.” Finn has an all night drinking binge, “Oho, it was just 15 beers.” Finn knocks you down on the street and you twist an ankle, “Oho! Just a little bruise”.

Like in my previous post about lack of expression you can see it here. Finns tend to be so modest, refusing at any point to brag or even acknowledge the greatness of any accomplishment. Oh you cured AIDS? Oh that was just a little thing but I should have done it five years ago.

Watching medalists and commentators on sports shows is funny because they put everything a little down. Oh, he won a gold, but he still could have done better. Got a silver, he’s perfectly fine with not winning a gold but he should have done better.

In every compliment or acknowledgment of something this is that little “but”. I am noticing it more and more now as I pay attention to it. They always add in that “but”. She aced her exam, but she studied to hard or should have finished it faster.

I can get modesty and humility, by why not revel in a victory just a little? Enjoy that feeling of accomplishment.

I’m sorry, getting drunk and doing that does not count in my book.

Perhaps I’m just too Canadian…

Snacks

It’s interesting to go shopping with a Finn before a night out. They go to buy snacks. To me snacks mean cookies, chips, popcorn and other bits and bites. To a Finn apparently that includes various types of alcohol from straight up vodka to ciders.

It seems that Finns start drinking about 1-3 hours before going out and do not stop until they are flat on their faces either in bed or on the bathroom floor.

The snacks were explained to me. Alcohol is expensive in bars so Finns get as wasted as possible before they even leave the house. I’m sure this is done in Canada, but I kind of think it’s not pushed to this extreme since at least one of the people will be driving to their destination because the GTAs (Greater Toronto Area) transit system is just awful. So really, really awful it
just doesn’t even bare thinking of when compared to Finland’s.

My belief is that the drinking is a way of cracking the reserve most Finns cover themselves with. Finns tend to come across as very… sober most of the time, rarely cracking a smile or joke. It is generally very quiet. Helsinki reminds me of a U of T library! Even the trams and buses are hushed!

The times Finns get noisy are when they are drunk. It’s like they have a completely different personality. Drink frees them to express themselves in ways they feel they normally can’t.
Finns are also very socially conscious people. Always spying, I mean aware of what their neighbors are doing, buying, saying… So it takes quite a lot to crack that reserve.

Me, being from Canada, most come across as a little crazy, I don’t have that kind of reserve, though in Canada I come across to others as practical, quiet and reserved. Here I come across as unreserved, open, loud and a little crazy. Maybe they think I am drunk all the time?

Or maybe I am misreading their reactions to me and they see me as just a rather extroverted foreigner that happens to be Finn at the same time…

Culture Clash? Babies in the Cold

I have recently been staying in Finland and have noticed something, that I at least, find rather strange.

Perhaps people in Canada do it as well and I have just never seen it happen?

What I am talking about is the habit Finn's have of leaving babies outside in strollers or those little carrier seat things.

Are you surprised? If yes, that's good because then I am not the only one. If no, then how could I have missed it? Sure I'm not around babies all that often but I never thought that it was a common occurrence to put one's child on the deck or at the front door.

I will now just go on writing like perhaps this is only common in Finland, and perhaps other EU/Scandinavian countries.

Is this a way for the little tyke to get fresh air? To give some peace and quiet for the parents? I have noticed that they often put a baby monitor in with the kid. Do they sleep better out in the cold? And by the way yes it is cold out from -1 to -12 that I've seen these kids out.

Is it to make them adapt? Is it something that has always been done and never considered why?

I am not outraged on behalf of the baby, just puzzled as to why. I'm all for giving the kid fresh air but it seems odd since I'm so used to seeing babies bundled up and treated like the most fragile of crystal ornaments.

I figure it is probably little different than taking the baby for a walk in a stroller or going from point A to B.

But still... is it just that I'm Canadian? Raised with a western view? Unobservant that they do this in Canada and the USA as well?

I think what struck me the most was when I saw the babies in the strollers on the front door step and not an adult in sight. Frankly, if I was in the states and some areas in Canada I'd be too paranoid to do this, afraid someone might snatch my kid. By the way, no I don't have any kids.

Is it that the West is more dangerous?

I don't know... I'm going to have to ask a Native Finn about this, because all I can think is "Huh...?"