Brit Reacts to 10 CULTURE SHOCKS IN FINLAND
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- Опубліковано 29 лис 2024
- Are these things really common in Finnish culture?
Let me know in the comments section below.
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It is not rudeness that we don't talk to strangers. It is that we respect each other's personal space and privacy.
And our personal space is large, witch is why we do not like people be too close to us.
this just this
And while we all know there are either two or three vacant urinals in a row of five, in Finland there is either one or none. One if the entire lavatory is empty. None if there's a single soul with you.
Im just straight up putting it bluntly
"Some might think I'm unhappy because I'm quiet. I'm just trying to enjoy the silence in a world that never stops talking." -random Finnish person
Juuri näin😂
Exactly thanks you i got into the culture and i been here in the states and i will put it bluntly your actually 100% correct your not wron at all. I got into the culture pretty heavy and everytime id visit family id just be in my room playing games or something quietly and thry just think im depressed and shit its fucking irritating.
It is called “comfortable silence” which can be very uncomfortable for foreigners 😂😂
It's called "a Finnish moment"!
In Finland the palstic bags are used to carry the stuff home and then put in carbage pin to use as carbage bag, It has two functions. No need to use separate carbage bags.
Saves time, money and nature. Because some of these shopping bags are recyclable. In addition, we have durable bags available, which are really good, colorful and really durable. They can transport a lot of stuff at once. But if you don't want your hands to hurt, then a shopping cart or a basic backpack is a good addition, so everything can be transported home without it being heavy. However, we also have home delivery available, which means you can order the goods online and they will be delivered to your door. And here it is not done that the messenger goes and claims that no one was there, because the customer can and is allowed to monitor where the messenger goes and how long it should take to arrive, and there are also no porch thieves, at least not as far as I know, or it's just really rare here. Which is good and almost the same if you order larger packages, although the packages are usually picked up at the post office or at a suitable point (we have pick-up points in e.g. stores), if this has been agreed upon and no separate delivery to the door has been requested.
yes...we are very serious about punctuality. But we are also VERY understanding if someone calls BEFORE that they will be a bit late :)
Part of punctuality is notifying others if you are late.
Try Kuopio area and you will find yourself looking for emergency exit while bus driver is continuing his/her 15 min answer for your "Good Morning, how are you"
We absolutely love British humour in Finland. Shows like Monty Python, Paul and Harry, The Fast Show, Fawlty Towers, Little Britain and so on...absolute classics :)
Smack The Pony
Hugh Laurie's entire filmography.
I grew up watching On The Buses and reading Enid Blyton.
Life in London has been disappointing.
That's numberwang!
I don't know of Finland in this regard, but here in Sweden we've been exposed to British humor for a long, long time, and it seems to fit us very well. British comedy sells very well in the Nordics. I have only followed very few Finnish comedians, but they seem to have similar type of humor to Swedes, so... I guess a brit wouldn't find it too difficult.
British comedy is hugely popular in Finland and even the "hard to translate jokes" will often work quite well in both directions.
@@Narangarath Good. So that's about the same all through the Nordics it seems. British humor fits our worlds very well somehow.
Finnish sense of humour is darker than the other Nordics or even the British. It has similarities with super dark east-european sense of humour.
Denmark too.
We try to explain it to foreigners (non-Nordic 😉) by telling them about the Law of Jante.
It originates from a novel by Aksel Sandemose, where he mocks the Scandinavian humbleness by showing how we "keep each other down". He sums it up in "the 10 commandments" of his hometown.
It must be some of the most opposite, to the culture of US, you can find:
Rule 1 - Do not think you are anything special
Rule 2 - Do not think you are as good as we are
Rule 3 - Do not think you are smarter than we are
Rule 4 - Do not imagine yourself better than we are
Rule 5 - Do not think you know more than we do
Rule 6 - Do not think you are more important than we are
Rule 7 - Do not think you are good at anything
Rule 8 - Do not laugh at us
Rule 9 - Do not think anyone cares about you
Rule 10 - Do not think you can teach us anything
Peace, love and hygge
It is not for you to think that you are better, it is for _us_ to tell you...
@@bodan1196 Exactly!
If you deserve praise, WE will give it!
Though when coming to Finland, don't praise yourself or expect that from others either. You should be humble and hide your happiness etc. 😅
Many think that these rules only applies one way, so that the meaning is that everybody should not think themselves better then anybody else.
However a very important key aspect of these rules is to not accept that anybody that think they are better then you, being more worth as a human being then you, entitled to more special treatment then you.
So it is less about constantly downplay oneself and more about refusing to accept braging, arrogant bullies.
It is also a reminder (that is lost in translation) that "we" (the collective) will stand together united against "you" (singular individual) if you are showing such behaviour no matter your social ststus and wealth.
I do not think that about every old Scandinavian regional law starts with "Land shall with law be built" as the remaining phrase is ..."and not trough violence". This was back when each region had their own (semi) democratic assembly to solve issues (aka "peasant republic").
I also think that this attitude comes from the "odal-right" which meant that if you could prove that the land you lived on had been inherited through 6 generations you were sovregin on your own land with no overlord other then by your own choice. In the Holy Roman Empire someone with odal land had the same social status as a prince, no matter the wealth or size of the land. Scandinavia had a shit ton of people owning odal land or who were part of a family that did. In Norway still over 80% of all farms are classified as odal farms.
So if you for generations grew up thinking yourself equal in worth to any prince no matter the wealth or power; that breed a certain attitude. Lets just say that there is no coincidence that Social Democracy became so popular in the Nordics. It is also not a coincidence that the elite tried on several occasions to bring in feudalism in Sweden (who had much land and few people) and failed misserably every time. If you are a prince it is up to you to accept your supperiors, not for them to demand that of you do.
That is the other, but in my mind just as important, side of the Jante law.
@@bodan1196 spot on!
Punctuality means ON TIME, not early, not late. I remember once having an apartment-warming party here in Helsinki and an American friend telling me that he and his Finnish wife hung around outside for 10 mins because they arrived too early!
There is this illusion that it's always cold in Finland. Yes, it CAN be cold Outside, but it's very rarely cold inside. If you live in an apartment block you often have limited control over your apartment temperature. The apartment we used to live in was nearly always at least 24°C. In winter. In summer it could be 28-30°C and we frequently used a fan and portable AC unit. I would have loved a ceiling fan!
About the punctuality, YES! Showing up early is even worse than being late, though naturally how bad being late is depends on what you're going to and with whom. Dinner is one of the worst ones to be late for, because the people you're visiting will have done their best to time it so that the food is ready either just before or just after you're supposed to show up. Something that requires less time coordination, being a bit late isn't as big of a deal as long as you let the other person know asap.
Well yeah, it might be cold outside but we are trying to keep our houses over 20 C inside. And we succeed at that.
I think the minimum temperature is mandatory by law for health reasons, sanctions if some if a private residence or housing company does not fulfil its legal obligations. Usually all houses are so well insulated that they hold the warm inside. Finland, the promised land of rules and regulations, and there is ever lasting list of the most amazing regulators for basically every issue stricter and stricter rules for the construction of windows, walls, toilets, electric security etc.. etc. in apartments. in buildings on insulation and energy efficiency in general, Ex. Finland is the only country where triple glazing is mandatory in the windows of residential apartments. Order 1992 in the name of energy saving. Even stricter laws about energy efficiency for insulation level of buildings was recently updated.
@@profittaker6662 Yes, the apartment building we just moved to is brand new and insulated so much that they have fitted special glass with an integrated antenna matrix to boost mobile phone signal. No signal (or very little) gets inside without them (Pihla Antennilasi).
@ChristianJull Beign early: I'm Finnish, for reasons not going to explain(long one) but I "borrow" a dog from a friend for a day or two (or their vacation) every now and then, and if I am driving or going by bus (once in a looong while) I do wait 2-5 minutes in order not to be too early [I mean I stop my car for 5 mins on a bus stop near their house and check phone or listen to music].
I mean, yes, it's about 14-20 minutes by car, I stop the car nearby and check phone/youtube if I'm that 6 minutes early in order not to bother them to hurry up. More than 5 minutes late I message, say, at 6am planned, I msg 5.59 a txt 6.12 - not explaining, they don't ask questions, I just tell and if we take cup of tea while I borrow dog I may say someone hit my car on the way or something. Usually not, nobody asks why I'm late as long as I just send "+12 min" or such... Early, well, it's agreement we DID earlier, if I am going to appear early I AM intruding on her/his private spacetime, changing deal AFTER deal is done. Get the idea ? They need to rearrange their showering, makeup w/e in order to suit MY needs instead of theirs. [sorry for long repeated explanation]
Probably me, usually 5/10 mins not a big deal for most, they don't bother, but 20 mins - insult, the other person doesn't respect MY time at all. If I go early I intrude on their personal space (note the image, people do like to be 5 meters apart in bus-stop!) spacetime, anyone ? :D
I know that silence makes you listen your own thoughts, it might be scary at first but you will get used to all the crazy ideas :D
The funny thing is, I'm Finnish myself but I've always struggled with this characteristic of many Finns. It's not that I don't like silence, it's just that I don't like it when I'm in a social situation, because, in my mind, the whole purpose is to be social. I love spending time in silence alone, but what's the point of meeting people if you're just going to be silent??? Have never understood that.
Just chilling with a close friend silently doing your own things is different. But going for a coffee with a new acquaintance? Nah, it's incredibly awkward if they're not talking or really responding. I end up feeling like I need to carry the whole conversation since they don't seem interested in participating. Which begs the question... why did they want to meet me if they don't want to talk with me? It feels like they're bored and I feel exhausted and probably don't want to see them again if it's just the two of us. As a person who likes to talk and really get to know people properly, I find these overly quiet people socially exhausting.
I'm an introvert. And a Finn. Still don't understand people like this :D Oh well.
I know that voices in my head are not real but damn they have great ideas😅
@@naniyodesuCoffee, like Sauna, they're kind of situations where we can talk about everything and it doesn't really leave the place. We do deals (business contracts) in sauna, though sign in offices. General lines are done in these private conversations (yeah, coffee/sauna may have 10 other people who can listen or very rarely give input). Yeah, think as a Finn, when did someone tell someone else what was said in sauna ?
Never, unless all persons present were in that sauna session with you. If you do it once, it's forever outsider for you.
Same with friendships, it's very hard for a Finn to get friend but once you're friend, it's possible not to talk to eachother for years and just continue conversation from last time you saw the person. It's not rude to change subject, I think my longest was 18 months when I did see the person alone but still hadn't figured out (thought throughly) what the person said, but after 18 months I said "when you stated X in sauna in Nastola(suburb of Lahti) more than year ago, I've been thinking about it and I think ...". Really.
Not sure about current generation (you newbs), I'm 50 yo now this happened when I was 28.
@@naniyodesuim the bipolar opposite. Americans are the dumb ones for being so talkative. Its more or less let things happen naturally then force it. In america going out and being normal to Americans is just forced when your in country it so dumb and you can't really have an opinion or be yourself here in America. My self doesn't understand America. But family and shit want me to be like the rest of America since i came to live here its like if i cared that much for being America id just out right forget what i learned. That shit doesn't make any sense yo me
I a blunt ass person dont take it as an offivense. Cause honestly you Americans get but over the smallest shit thats not even wurth getting butthurt over.
Even tho I've always lived in Finland you never really get used to the darkness creeping in, I just think we accept it faster than people who aren't used to it. As you said it's really nice during xmas time with all the lights glowing but if you have job that's totally on the inside and you don't get of until 4 it will be pitch black and you will not get any sunlight that day. Where I live it's light outside between around 10am to 3pm during November and December (probably January and February too if I'm being realistic) so that's your window to soak up sunlight, and if you're at work or at school during thoes hours...well, sucks to be you.
I personally just notice some times that "oh its already dark outside" or opposite in spring, but what i have heard from foreign coworkers its facinating for them they stay up late just to see when the sun starts to set.
As a northern Sweden I can only agree: the darkness sucks.
However the snow helps more then one might think as it reflects the little light there is. In the south of Sweden, espessially along the coasts, it is still dark during winter but much much less snow and the little that are there quickly get dirty or get to slush. This means less light is being reflected so even if it is slightly longer period of daylight it is actually even more depressing. I hate november as is dark, cold and wet. But I hate even more the three months of november that is called winter in the south. I take -25c and a meter of pure white gnistering snow to +1c and slush any day of the week no matter the length of daylight. The latter one is way more depressing to me.
But hey; that is just personal preference.
27:23 That’s not just in Turku, though. It’s all over Finland (excepting maybe Eastern Finland, Savonia, (the Finnish side of) Karelia, etc.). 😅
In summer it can get very hot in Finland, and we really dont have AC in homes. So fans are a must, though ceiling fans were pretty much like 80s thing.
Speaking to strangers thing is more common in smaller towns in Finland. When you travel just a little north or east from Helsinki, you start to notice that people are warmer, more welcoming, and greet you more often. In Helsinki, people are busier and tend to mind their own business, similar to larger cities around the world, I think.
I always like to advice every foreingers, that if you truly (from bottom your heart) don't want to know how I feel, don't ask. That, because we finns don't do small talk. If you really want to know how I feel, prepare youself also hear that. We tell you, no doubt of that, but you could hear quite scary things. That because we are honest.
There has been so many "foreigners" speaking about their experiences living here in Finland and reacting to our "weird" stuff in these past few years it's kinda heartwarming. It's very educational for me to learn how the rest of the world thinks about things that are very normal to us finns. Especially american point of view is usually unintentionally hilarious because of all the opposites in our respective cultures.
When i went to Florida for a holiday i met with a nice older couple from Canada and they told me that they live in a town full of ethnic finns(can't remember the name of the town) and some of the finnish habits kinda rubbed off on them over the years. We spend like two hours over drinks chatting about finnish culture vs. american culture. It was very fun :)
Wise men once sang:
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
(Simon&Garfunkel)
..silence is not quiet or awkward at all, matter of perspective 😊
23:53 Well, we have table fans, for those really hot (+30+°C) summer days. 😊
I have never understood, why people don't take shoes off inside...
Yeah, you and me both. It makes no sense at all. lol!
Is there any country in Europe, where people wear shoes inside the home?
My current apartment (I’m a Finn) has 30m², 9m² of which, is bathroom. I’m happy with it. 😅
I think older people are more offended by someone not being punctual than younger people these days. I can forgive someone being late 10-15min if they text or call about it, but if it happens all the time with the same person, then i start to get mad, because i'm very punctual myself. BUT if someone is late from a thing that costs money, then I am SUPER MAD immediately haha.
also i agree with you about europeans in general having a dry sense of humour. finnish humour can be quite self-deprecating and we can joke about really dark themes.
Was going to say this about the punctuality. Obviously people are different etc., but if you just let others know that you're running late, it's ok. And also yes, if it's a habit, it's annoying, but people also start to take it into account and plan things so that even though you are "late", you're actually on time with their real schedule 😂
And like I saw in another comment (didn't have to say that either), Britcom is quite popular in Finland and apparently in the Nordics in general.
@@Garbox80 It's also a-ok to ask if it's ok to be a little early, if one is worried about whether they'll be there exactly on time. Maybe you're planning on taking the bus, but the bus will take you there either 30 minutes late or 30 minutes early.
If it's something like a house-warming party, if you come early it's good manners to help with setting up everything. You'll become the guest when the event starts.
@valveillen to be honest sounds like your a corporate twat.
@valbeveillen have you even considered looking at how dry the America humor is? Sounds like you haven't to be frank.
Did you know fins are the biggest thing for video games dude and other things?
We just got a ceiling fan last year. Love it. Our buildings are built to keep the warmth in. Year by year, summers get hotter here, and we don't need many hot days to get the buildings hot...
Yeah that's the same as the UK. Our building are built with insulation so it gets super hot in doors if we have a warm summer. And no air conditioning, so a fan would be great.
Ronnie James Dio sang "Don't talk to strangers". Perhaps he visited Finland before writing the lyrics of the song.
I remember a time we invited my Spanish friend to eat with our family and friends, when after the dinner we went for a cigarette he asked me that what is wrong?
I was bit puzzled with his question and asked him to elaborate, and he told me that if it was that quiet in Spanish dinnertable, someone would be likely to get killed soon.
He was genuinely alarmed by the situation and I had to explain him these little differences, next time he felt alrady lot more relaxed😅
It's not called Fika in Finland. Not even by swedish speakers in Finland. But the culture of it is similar.
I live in a small swedish speaking city in the west coast of finland and here we say fika
I'm pretty sure the sales tax is separate in USA, not because it's difficult technically or conceptually, but because the stores want to MAKE A POINT that HEY, IT'S NOT OUR FAULT, IT'S THE GOVERNMENT that the prices are a bit higher - shifting blame and pointing fingers is what it is.
Its both government greedy twats and corporate greedy twats not either or.
About seasonal long days / nights: I just returned from my first ever trip to Australia and the biggest adjustment my brain needed was for the summer time weather with dark (and early) nights. Even if I knew that my lifetime experience is the exception in global scale, my brain had hard time handling sun setting at 6pm when it was 25C outside. It just felt *wrong*.
And also bare wood floors are also easy to clean if you got pets like dogs or cats as well cause it doesn't stick to the carpet and shit like that around the house other then like a couch or your clothes.
Our winters are COLD, but our summers can be HOT AS HELL.
At least we like british humor here in Finland. Monty Python, Hale & Page, Mr Bean, Benny Hill, Simon Pegg movies, Coupling, Keeping Up Appearances, Man Behaving Badly... for a few examples that popped my mind.
That's definitely accurate, Finns for the most part are stupidly hung up on punctuality. If we're invited somewhere for 3 o'clock, we will show up between 14: 57 and 15: 03, most often right on the dot, unless it's a large gathering. While I'm more a +/- 8 minutes kind of a rude person myself, my mom, for example, is the type who will be on location 15 minutes early just in case there's more traffic than expected and then sit in the car for 14 minutes before going up to the door to ring the bell at 15: 00 sharp. It has always driven me insane, but not nearly as much as my chronically late Canadian husband. 🙄
We Finns suffer from SAD too, but the lights available these days are apparently getting pretty great. I'm very much a night person, so I start getting the symptoms when spring rolls around. 😂
100%. My commute is quite literally 2 minutes. Yet I leave for work 30 minutes early everytime 😂
@@TheShad0w3735in my last workplace we had 3 people(I was one of them)who would come 45-30minutes early just to chat, drink coffee and see how it was going.
(Edit: for refrence it was a restaurant kitchen with 8 fulltime employees)
Oh, i remember her. Really nice person, lived an interesting life too, it is a bit sad that she stopped making videos but hey, life is funny sometimes. And i got a good anecdote about Finns and small talk. I have lived in this apartment for 13 years now. My neighbor was already living in the building. I talked to him this summer the first time.
So, it seems that you got to know each other relatively quickly, in Finnish timescale.
😄
Yeah that is like normal answer in Finland you asked small talk "how is you day" answer could easily be, like the Rachel mentioned: "I have had, better day", "Not the worst day of my life", or "Should have stayed home today and not gone anywhere.", Or just "It's been terrible as usual!", or "Same shit like every day".. "Everything has gone wrong today, how about yourself" or "It's not such a small thing that it doesn't fuck up today.." So those kind of answers might be more than awkward for super exited American, who do not understand the fine art of sarcasm and dark humor.
LOL! Yeah I get why Americans wouldn’t get it. Sarcasm and what the Brits call a dry sense of humour is very European. Americans don’t get it, although I think they’re getting better at knowing now.
Here I'm vibing with this guy like "yeah americans, weird right?" 😆
I'm from Finland, and I always use a fan indoors. The temperature inside the houses is 21 degrees, but 16 would be suitable for me.
in finland we often answer "how ya doing" with "well, it's not the shittiest day ever"
and that means good.
The dry humor and sarcastic feeling is because in USA "How are you?" is an empty question that means nothing and you are not meant to really answer that, but in Finland people answer that very honestly.
I live in Turku region (and in Finland of course) it's not rude or depressive thing to say "I've had better weather or days". It's not like we are depressed or "down the weather". It's just the "small talk". Every American i've met seem so positive and full of live, just the way they talk.It's like we are not the same. It's weird if someone starts to talk with you on a bus stop or in a bus or in a train. I myself start to think "Is this guy tryin' to hit on me or is he tryin to rob me?". Different cultures, it's funny.😂 And it's not rudeness if we don't talk back the "small talk" -rules. I guess it seems like that for other countries. We don't learn "The talk", but of course younger people do more than our parents. It's just in our nature not to talk b*llshit with everyone.
It's not plastic in general. It's single use plastic that's really bad. Plastic degrades really slowly, that's pretty much the main reason why plastic is so great and awful. How many plastic things from the 90s, 80s and even 70s are still usable, because they were made from plastic? I think there's an important distinction to make when talking about how plastic is bad. Because plastic has enabled so many good things as well.
Agreed, single use plastic is the devil. It should be eradicated from the planet. There's so many alternative bags that are reusable. America and Asia as well need to catch up with the rest of Europe.
Her Finnish pronunciation was excellent.
It's not as dark in winter as one would straight up imagine. The snow brings an insane amount of light by being a reflective surface on top of something that naturally is not reflective (as in roads, ground, etc). The more north you go, the easier the winter time is even if there's no sun, because there is snow for a longer period of time. Southern winters are definitely the worst experience in Finland for the darkness
Being late from meeting a friend is not as bad then meeting for something important.
Thank you for a great reation, bro! Yeah, dry/dark humour is a veru European thing, that people from US have a hard time to get grip of. Subbed, keep up the good work
I love this. All of this is real and correct: from original video, and from Dwayne's View. I have been living in Turku and near Turku, Finland for 40+ years. Enlightening to see the Texan way! Things just are different, it seems. Good reporting, good reflecting. I also can't wait how things are going to progress in Texas (and in USA), and in Finland in next 10 to 20 years. Tipping is the biggest difference now in my view!
We are not really used to the extreme difference between 20h of darkness in winter versus 20h of light in the summer. I think we just all became bipolar because of it. For 10 thousand years (since we came here to inhabit these lands, after the ice sheets receded) we have had a lack of d-vitamin for more than half of the year (tiredness, depression, fatigue) and a fucking overload of energy, dopamine and all sorts of hormones and neurotransmitters from april to september. Of course we're slightly skewed.
You may need a ceelingfan even i Finland. The summers are sometimes really warm even in the Nordic countries.
Regarding the darkness in the wintertime, a lot of people, including myself do tend to take some Vitamin D supplements to make up for the lack of sunlight
Thanks, awesome content mate!
Aww thank you so much ☺️. I’ve only just seen this. That means a lot. Glad you like the content.
Thanks for your great reaction 😄 to me you seem almost like a Finn...😂 Greetings from Turku, Finland 🤗
22:32 Mmmm… Poronkäristystä. Sautéed reindeer. 😋
Part of the reason why Finnish people are quiet is that traditionally, that has been interpreted as a sign of intelligence and wisdom. A wise man doesn't open his mouth unless he has something important to say. If someone talks all the time, that is easily taken as a sign of stupidity.
As far as I know, in America, it is more or less the other way around: people are expected to be able to carry a conversation even when they don't really have anything to say. People there even take courses where they are taught small talk.
Some linguists have also measured the time in different cultures how long people can stand silence before thay start to feel awkward. In English-speaking countries, that time is only about 2 seconds. After that people feel that they need to say something. Finnish people can stand much longer stretches of silence without feeling awkward in any way.
There is saying in Finland .. "If you have nothing really to say, shut up and be quiet!".. Americans cannot understand that it is opposite what they do in daily conversations
My father ask me year´s ago.....
how to recognize true friendship ?
you can sit quietly for a long time without feeling pressured to speak. or feeling weird.
There is a paraphrase from the old Norse text Hávamál that sums up several stanzas in it:
" Don't be stupid; and if you are keep your mouth shut and let people be uncertain rather then open it and prove that you are an idiot."
The proverb "Talk is silver, silence is gold" put a bit more elegant but both are kind of true 😉
We have also saying 'Puhuminen on hopeaa, vaikeneminen on kultaa.' meaning 'Talking is silver, keeping silent is golden.'
As Tapsa above said, espicially with family and friends, you can easily have those comfortable silence for a long time. You just hang out, breeth the same air and think things in your head. Comfortable silence is best kind of silence. It is the sign of love and mutual respect.
We do have ceiling fans though. Just because she never saw one, doesn't mean we don't have them. It's more of a summer thing to use that, it helps with the airflow when you have your balcony door or window open. And it can also help with ventilation too in winter if you want fresh air inside your apartment, just turn on the fan, open up balcony door/window for a bit and the air gets moved around lot quicker.
Why would you need ceiling fan? Dwayne you have told couple times that it can get cold in norther England. And you also have noticed that norther houses are build to sustain warm temperature even in the coldest weather. And ofc you know that buildings that can keep you warm in -30c temperatures will reserve lots of heat inside walls. So when it is +30c in summer our houses are f**king ovens....without air conditioning. Just like you had back in England :D. Roof fans are common thing in USA to just circulate air in room and it can help in hot days. Just that simple. Just like table fan. So it might be very common in hot place like Texas. And it is Murica!
Finnish rules on talking. If it is quiet then everything is ok carry on. If someone starts talking then something has gone horribly wrong beyound any hope of recovery.
I love that, there's comfortability in silence. I get it and I'm glad I'm learning this now so that when I go I wont feel bad if I'm not interacting with a lot of chatty people.
It's less about the specific time than it is about truthfulness and reliability. Agreeing to do something and not doing it or doing it poorly creates an impression of either lack of care, unreliability or just flat out lying. Stuff happens and of course there is grace for unforseen events! But if it is the norm, or the first impression or you act like it's not worth noting, that will add up.
7:06 Lol that's nothing i was in my first job for almost 16 years and i never learned most of the people's names and spoke maybe half of the people there. The American facination of small talk honestly sounds like a total nightmare fuel to me.
You have to come in Finland, Lapland. We have FilmFestival in Sodankylä, MidnightSun FilmFestival
In finfland we have vat system for businesses but vat is have to included in end customers prize. But when sold b2b usually all salee VAT no included prize as business will reduce the vat anyways on their papers.
How to reply to a Finnish phrase "Mitä kuuluu?" (How are you?).
- "Ei kurjuutta kummempaa." (Nothing special, just misery.)
- "Siinähän se kun ei valita." (There it goes as long as I won't complain.)
Me ollaan kyllä positiivinen kansa. Pikkubroidin lempilause oli nuorena "eniten vituttaa kaikki".
@@finman123paras mitä itte ole kuullut oli "vituttaa ja paskattaa mutta toiselle ei mahda mittään"
Illinois a state here in America nowdays has places and one state that makes you buy bags in either certain stores if not all stores.
In fact you don't pay 1.99€. You pay 2€ cos we don't use 1 and 2 cent coins in Finland. Final sum will be rounded to nearest 5 cent , unless you pay with card. Then it's not rounded.
The summers can be pretty hot, but if you want ceiling or other fans or air conditioning, you have to buy them. Of course they’re available. Well, maybe if it’s a rental unit the owner may pay for the a/c.
Hi Dwayne! In Finland we don't really have a universal word like "Fika" for coffee&pastry, we generally just go for a coffee and that may or may not involve pastries. But for a coffee-related Finnish word there is "Plörö" from the Turku area, which means a coffee with a bit (or two) of vodka or your preferred spirit in it. :)
Thank you so much for doing these Finland reaction vids! 🙌 I love your reaction to all and I always love to watch other youtubers too to react Finnish stuff ! Those 2 vids of 101 Finnish vids, I can shamely say that I didn't even know all the things that vid told about Finland 😂🤦♀ Really love to see more of thee cos you're reaction is so awesome! 😅 Like the Finnish weird sports, I've been always thiking that Japan has the weirdest sport things lol, keep up putting these awesome vids! 😀
There is video series: foreigners in finland podcast, which is about moving to finland, studying, learning language etc. that was pretty good and well made
Here in NJ, USA our state is the first to ban stores dispensing "one use" plastic bags, I have seen a definite decrease in street and highway litter and being between NYC and Philadelphia it was often the largest noticeable part of tash in public places. We also have once a week recycling pick up along with twice a week garbage collection as do some other state's cities or ciunties. After adjusting a majority want it to stay..We are the most densely populated state so maybe this is a coming thing nationally?
Finns do consume d-vitamine additives as separate vitamine pills or by drinking milk as milk in Finland has D-vitamine added in. Also, having bright light bulbs indoors help so you are not feeling that tired.
In Finland we do smile and talk to strangers or store cashiers. On the other hand we don’t usually talk to anyone in trains or busses becausewe all are in our own thoughts, doing our own bussiness, so why disturb others?
A lot has changed in Finland the last 30 years. We have definitly become European. Food culture is totally European with huge variety of ethnic restaurants that we love. We drink really a lot of coffee (most in the world by margins), but we have now a lot of Latte, Capuccino, Macciatos and espressos too, not only plain black or coffee with cream. 30 years ago no one would have understan you if you asked for a Capuccino. In the old days we drank a lot of vodka (or viina as we call it). Today it has changed mostly into wine and beer. Also the consumption of alcohol has drastically move not only from strong liquers into softer, but in some way all that drunkness has disappared. We don’t need to drink. It’s not cool anymore. Especially our youth has mostly abandoned all alcohol. Their drug is today beeing on the phone.
Wintertime we spend mostly indoors reading, watching Netflix or just relaxing. We cool down. No one is expecting you to do anything special. Summertime we more or less live our lives outdoors. Walking, hiking or sitting outside a café.
I feel the fact that we europeans are all in EU is bringing us together on a special level. It’s not as much going to another country when you go for a trip to Germany or Italy. It’s another part of our bigger Europe-land. We can be as much home there as we can in Finland. Today the thing ”working from home or on distance” that started with the pandemic has led to a special change in our behaviour. A lot of people fly to the south of Europe in the winter to ascape the darkness. They can then work from there with their computer as if they were at home working. Companies are totally OK with this as long as you do your job. Why not?
About the humor. I feel we all in the northen europe share the same kind of humour. The English humour is much more like the Nordic and I feel comfortable with it. French humour is a bit harsch. The US humour is just simply fake or acted. It’s like they think they are in a movie all the time. Making a drama. The nordic humour is fun. You have often to wait a sec to really get the point and find the pearl inside it. Love that.
Thanks for sharing your English thoughts of that video. It feels so bad with the Brexit. UK should belong to Europe more than you do now. I sadly have to admit that I start to forget the existence of UK. If it’s not in EU, it’s not my consern. I’m sorry.
To be on time: bascally being late is stealimg the other persons time. Just don't do it. No need to be early tough.
When you come over to Finland you will feel comfy. We share the same sense of humor, we are down to earth, etc.
The thing is they asked her for dinner. Depending on what was actually said, she may have been 20 minutes late for the time they were planning to sit down and start eating. Imagine sitting there hungry just waiting for someone to show up, having first waited for them to arrive so you can hang out a bit first.
Some invitations are come-at-this-time, some are come-after-this-time and some are come-before-this-time. Something like kids' birthdays at least used to be the first kind. The idea being that there'd be at least an implied set interval when the party was happening and then you'd throw the buggers out, start cleaning and recover. If you were very late, you might miss out on activities and certainly some of the partying. I would assume some formal events might be similar.
Then you have more relaxed get-togethers, so you'd just hang out. You'd have things to do in your normal life, etc., so there'd be a time after which it is okay to show up. The host might be at work, out shopping for groceries, doing the laundry, cleaning the house or still setting things up, if you were to show up earlier.
The last one is obviously when there's something with a specific time, like food aimed to be ready at some time and everyone obviously waiting to dig in then, or having the timetable forced from the outside like meeting up before a concert. You'd arrive earlier, because you'd spend time socializing before the deadline. If you show up later, you're screwing things up for yourself or for the others.
You can always ask which it is, but it's never wrong to be punctual and be there at given time. Usually people give you a time when they are comfortable for you to arrive, whichever case it might be, so that shouldn't be a problem, but then again they also usually say or at least imply which of these these they mean.
If you don't know, ask. In Finland, the expectation is to ask for help if you need it, not to hang around waiting for someone to offer. The expectation cuts both ways, so if someone asks for help, you give it.
hi great videos i have Finnish blood but born in sweden i can speak Finnish as well . today i stay in Norway and work . take care great videos
We call tea "tee" which is pronounced pretty similarly to tea, but the E letters are slightly different in Finnish language.
Talking about small appartments: After Europe go to East Asia and specially the big cities like Seoul and Tokyo or Hong Kong.. I mean then we are talking about small sized appartments that are only few m2 and people actually permanently live in them!!
Love Ya, nice Finland stories. Positive all. ❤️
Only time they give you bags for free and pack is when you buy something like multiple t-shirts or ice cream (one of those 1L ones). Though don't count on it so it's better to bring your own bags.
Ive always wondered that tax thing. They try to say that hey, tax is different in every state! But you know what the tax is in your state. Just label it on the shelf of your store? They dont have problem in Germany, though you could say its the United States of Germany?
A bit more complicated though, it can differ between counties.
@@matshjalmarsson3008if you can add it at register you can add it in price tag.
@@techpriest5452 I don't desagree, just saying
@@techpriest5452 I think it's a trick game, like selling stuff for 199 instead of 200
Hello, Dwayne! No, we don't use the word fika in Finland, that is, we who speak Swedish.
We just ask: Shall we go for a coffee? Shall we take a coffee break? How about a cup of coffee? And similar things.
Punctuality is really important in my opinion. To me it is one of the easiest way to show if the person doesn't respect you. If you can't be bothered to be on time and come late you are insinuating that my time is not worth your time. I think that the punctuality differs from person to person, but personally I would expect you to be there between 5 min early to 2-3 min late. If you are early you do something to wast time before and if you are later you inform other people as soon as you know that you can't be on schedule so that ether it can be rescheduled or others can start without you.
I think people in Finland should talk to each others more. People would be happier for it.
We do, when we are with good friends or drunk. Sober and unknow people triger "why are you talking to me" reaction and going to someone always feels that I'm bothering them. Keep your overly social southern ways at the border please.
I'm from near Tampere, Finland. That "don't talk to strangers" is only western side thing. It was a culture chock for me, when i moved to Turku. After 20y it's getting better.
what's unique in person from tampere is one man conversation. even if there's other person elsewhere doesn't matter.
Of course we Finns talk if we invite someone in our home. Same thing if we've been invited. We are normal people. I talk with strangers if I want to and if someone ask something I will answer. Of course. If I see tourists with map in their hands and they are not sure where they should turn or they try to find their location on the map, I may ask "do you need any help?" Just normal thing to do. It makes me happy.
About Americans keeping on their shoes indoors, does that mean they keep them on the whole evening after coming home from work til they go to sleep?
In Belgium punctuality depends from person to person. Up to 15 minutes late is ok for me but I know for others it isn't.
To me it seems insane that you see a price in store but don't know how much you'll actually pay because tax is added.
Who where these Finns, this lady was interacting with? They sound like, what we call in Finnish ”Juntti” (yokel) 😂😂
In Finland there is no akward silence, there is only comfortable silence lol. If a Finnish person can sit with you in silence you are pretty ok person by their book. Also the part when you are late as long as you notify someone it's ok, if you got lost and come even later it's just a story to laugh at later shouldn't be too big of a deal.
You can buy paper and canvas bags or even the sturdy multi used plastic bags at most stores here in Finland.
Seasonal depression is a thing in Finland due the lack of sunlight that's why we have these "Kaamos lamppu" basically a tablelamp that is highly diffused bright white light that you can even get with a alarm functionality so you'd wake up to a gradually brightening room, or have at the table while eating your brekkies shining in your face to tell your brain to "rise and shine for it is a new day".
Summertime you REALLY need a fan in your house. Summers are hot and humid. And your house keeps all heat inside if you not have a fan or AC
Rachel is great. I like her Wildwood Vagabond channel too. ❤ It is sad she hasn´t made videos for a long time.
winter -30C summer 20C. 😂 In Lapland we have 3months light and 4months darkness, about. But we are good people, about😂😂😂
That tax stuff is really weird in the US…
Finnish hate to talk to strangers, but when you get to know someone and become friends they might talk non-stop. Also coffee is kahvi and tea is tee in Finnish.
Like in Young Sheldon "Don't mess with Texas". That is same in Finland.
Culture shock.. its so cold in Finland at winter.. its cold at summer too, get used to it and take care of your life! Its my best advice!
Ngl the tiredness brought by the constant darkness of kaamos time really gets to some finns as well.
Good thing chugging enough coffee to kill a baby elephant fixes that right up
Ha I bet coffee is a saviour in Finland. I would love to experience what it's like. It's so unique to your part of the world.
I think it is ok to be late if you send message/call and apologise for being late. If you instead are joking about being late, it's not a good look. This coming from one who is always last minute and sometimes a bit late and always very ashamed of that 😅😅😅
12:45 That's the small talk! You can't get any smaller than that.
Summers here in finland get above 30 celsius often... Its not cold that often.... Like bruh
It depend on how you define cold. Compared to say Texas it is cold like 9 month a year
Usually i just say moi to greet someone while on a walk. Idk why.
In Turku area, when you see a friend you have not met for some time, it is usual to say "hi, are you still alive?" With a smile, of course. 😊
Finnish people are like cats honestly, we don't mind silence and express our love by being in the same room doing stuff with you while minding your personal space but get super close to the people we really love. Conversation happens when there's something important to say and a lot of chatter feels like it just spreads anxiety because like "huh, am I supposed to pay attention to that too? wait wait now my mind is going a million miles an hour" I really like how here you just kind of have an unspoken permission to ignore things. People don't only take into account your physical personal space, but mental as well.
As an autistic person, I can say it's the nicest place to be autistic lol, everything's quiet and you aren't expected to talk to strangers or be bubbly or put on a mask for the sake of others. Even when I'm being weird (like using ear protection or sunglasses inside or in public, or flapping my hands when I get excited or anxious like I do) finns don't really point it out or get any type of nasty about it because it's none of their business and they're very polite about that stuff.
I have also noticed that finns are very literal. When they say "it's not the worst day" it literally means it's an okay but perhaps a boring day, not necessarily sarcasm. I really enjoy that. Sometimes if you ask "Hi, how are you?" they reply with a story about their entire day and half of their life (the more drunk they are the longer the story will be, usually) because... Well you literally just asked, what did you expect? There's no small talk, there's only no talk or BIG talk lol