Finns look in the eyes. I hear the same from Swedish people, they say nobody looks in the eyes in the streets, but in Finland they do. My dad taught me that dishonnest people do not look in the eyes. Looking in the eyes tells you are confident and have nothing to fear.
Maybe it is off putting. If you go deep down to it, I think it is both a contact and a challenge too. It might feel uncomfortable and weird if that's not a custom where you come from. But facing a person who comes toward you is considered good behavior, looking away and avoiding is a bit shady. In smaller villages, and still in forest paths people greet when they meet. Finland is sparsely populated country still and recently urbanized. In urban cultures people can't any more face all people. However, my parents still taught me to face people and look in the eye the people that come towards me.
I said that it is a "contact and challenge", I didn't mean a hostile challenge though. More like a mutual scanning and acknowledging. You know like people in urban crowded cities walk in constant social smile on their faces to message that "I'm not a threat". People here don't do that, so maybe they do this instead.
Perhaps I can elaborate the jam with savory foods "thing" in the nordic cuisine. For centuries (or millenia) wild berries were pretty much the only source of vitamin C available in the north. Things like fruit trees are not native to areas near or above the polar circle. Naturally people used what they had and conserved the berries for the 8 month period of winter. And as the only source of vitamin C the conserved berries were consumed at nearly every meal. This won't naturally make you like the idea, but perhaps understand the reasons behind it.
I really like this video. There's too many videos about that people like about Finland. Small town people stare, ''cos of oddity or nosiness, they'll stare at a person who they don't know even if its another finn. If I catch someone staring at me, and they don't look away, I just nod politely at them. Usually I get a nod back or they look away and continue on their business.
Just being Finnish with green hair is enough to get stared at, even in my hometown where I though people already knew the "parrot girl" (one old granddad asked me what sort of parrot am I) 😅 So I do agree with you on that staring part! However, being from a small town I grew up in that bubble of Finnishness, so when hearing different languages or seeing something interesting, back then as a kid I did not know what to do but keep an eye on the target 😅 Nowadays, instead of staring, I still look but smile and nod and maybe say "hi" to ease the situation 😀 And maybe they talk back and we can learn interesting things! 😊
Yes, Parrot Girl I am! As loud sometimes also :D Random "hi" can indeed be intimidating, even more if it's combined with that stare mentioned earlier..! hohoho :D
The reason we eat sweet jams with savory foods is because it breaks the monotony of otherwise starchy food like meatballs that are served with mash and also pancakes. Think of it like a tiny side salad that doubles as seasoning. There are many recipes around the world that serve meat with something sweet, usually a glaze or marinade. It's not that different.
people don't stare because they don't accept you, they just do that. In streets, people look at you in the eyes, and I think its nice. We look at each another because we know they are there. Not because we think someone's different. Of course in small towns you might change and people notice and they stare, because you changed. But it happens everywhere. I have this bright yellow duck hat everywhere I go. People look at it and i know they do (till they get used to it) Also, our food is GREAT. We just don't eat so sweet things. Our language is not so pretty maybe, but it is logical. Also it can sound really funny. But True, finish is one of the worlds hardest languages. We are a tax country. We pay for being alive.
Thanks for that comment! Trying to imagine your bright yellow duck hat! Hope it didn't come across in the video that I dislike Finland I love most things about it :)
Instead of lingonberry jam, go and try frozen (or fresh) lingonberries with some savory dish that it's supposed to go together with. The difference is big as the lingonberries don't have much sugar naturally in them, so it's mostly acidic, not sweet.
Ah, lingonberry jam... it can be part of so many dishes in addition to blood pancakes! My mother always picks several liters of lingonberries from the forest in the fall and she will make her own jam which is then eaten with any kind of meat dish ( meat stews for example ) and also cabbage-based dishes like kaalilaatikko = cabbage casserole or makaronilaatikko = macaroni casserole. It's not a sweet jam per se - certainly not when it's homemade, even though sugar is added. Think of it perhaps as our version of cranberry sauce...
As a Finn: I'm a big guy, like you. I get stared at, and so do people who speak something other than Finnish. It's because you stand out and maybe look a bit scary. The beard doesn't help. I have one, too. Stare back to make people look away. Blood pancakes are fucking horrendous. Had some black pudding on one of my trips to Birmingham, and it was great by comparison. Sweet and savory is often a great combination. That being said, I don't like jam and I don't want it anywhere near my food. If I can smell it, it's too close. Fish is something I love. Could have it every day of the week. Kalakukko is okay, but compared to other fish dishes, it's pretty sad. Traditional, but honestly not terribly tasty. Church tax is like a membership fee in a club. There's no obligation to belong to either of the two churches that can collect it, and you don't need to be a member to go to church. I don't consider it terribly problematic.
as a finn who looks just like any other finnish person, people still stare at me a lot XD I don't understand it either and on some days I wonder if there's something wrong with the way I dress etc haha. Especially older people might just stand there and stare?? I was thinking, maybe it's because our streets aren't crowded so when you see someone you take a look? But especially if you speak english. I'm guilty of this as well because every time I hear someone speak English I get excited 'cause I like to speak with foreigners so I might stare because I get curious.... oops
Dishes made from blood are also eaten in Estonia. In Estonia, verivorst (blood sausage) is very similar to Finnish mustamakkara. It is sold and eaten mostly in winter, being a traditional Christmas food. At that time there is a large variety of verivorst in stores, ranging in different shapes and sizes. Verivorst is usually cooked in an oven, but sometimes also fried in a pan. Like in Finland, verivorst is often eaten together with lingonberry jam, but occasionally also with butter or sour cream. Another similar dish is called verikäkk (blood dumpling). Its popularity has decreased during the past decades (possibly because of its less appealing commercial appearance) and has mostly been substituted by verivorst. Sausages served with lingonberry jam of which is more sour than sweet. The pig was usually killed before Christmas, and whole pig was consumed for food (sült- Pork jelly- made from low-grade cuts of pig meat, such as trotters, containing a significant proportion of connective tissue). The only thing that was lost was the cry of the pig before death (Estonian black humor).
On the other side of the coin, when my family came to Australia they all said English was the most ridiculous, contradictory thing they had ever known. I know all the Finnish suffixes can get a tad infuriating but at least you can see a word and know how it sounds or hear it and write it. Things kinda stick to the rules. Something we pretty much throw out the window in English is rules. I before E except after C and in 60 percent of other cases where words aren’t of germanic origin or unless....... And all the rest. I teach ESL so you can imagine the difficulty I have when a five year old Taiwanese kid asks me why a word is spelled a certain way when it sounds another. As for the staring I reckon country folk are just more open and honest. We are from Eno and my dad always told me to look in the eyes and not drop your head whereas my uncle Raimo always taught me to scream “Am I wearing your fucken shirt mate” in the face of someone staring at me. So I’m kinda conflicted on that. Either way Finns are the most awesome race on earth (even though a tiny bit of the blood of your mob runs in my veins (e after i) too) and we are the most stunningly handsome and charismatic also. Modest too.
This was a brilliant comment thank you for it! So you are a Finn living in Australia teaching ESL? Amazing! I like that about the language btw that you pronounce every letter & on occasion it makes saying the word easier! I've somewhat got used to the staring & will have to as we are relocating to Finland in a few months!
LashofSnow Aussie Finn living in England at the moment. Good luck with your relocation. Foreign people will always seem foreign to a degree but then again I can’t say we ever know the minds of our own people well either. Forgive my philosophising, I get a bit deep when it comes to assimilating with different cultures. I’m not sure if I have travelled too much or too little.
Well - certainly family traditions differ - and thus there is no 'right' way with this. But personally - they sometimes serve the 'sweet' variety at lunch cafes and other 'cheapo' places along their sautéed reindeer - and I have always found that a bit appalling combination. But as their reindeer is usually not that great either - it does not matter much ;)
I agree with you almost everything, but not with cloudberry and Finnish language. Cloudberries are pretty good with ice cream and different desserts (Lapponia cloudberry liqueur too!), and Finnish is the most logical language on planet earth once you learn it a little and get the idea 🙄😁
Yeah the language is very different, but actually makes sense when you get the idea. Something like spelling bee would be just stupid in Finnish because everything is written phonetically. It's a young language compared to English so the written version has been constructed from the spoken version. Every letter is a sound. We don't have things like silent consonants ( knight and night are the same damn word with different writing for example :P ). If you want to learn it you really should start with the pronounciation of single letters. They don't change ever (well there's ng and nk, but that's just learning the sound and it's always the same). We actually start like that at first grade in school. The grammar will be harder.
NG is the only natively Finnihs sound that doesn't have it's own letter, I hear. It's very rare though. And many foreign letters we have only because they are common in foreign names in Latin characters written languages. Letter Z is pronouced similarly as TS, X is pronounced as KS, C is pronounced as K (cafe) or S (Celcius), the Swedish Å is pronounced as Finnish O, W is pronounced as V. Some foreign letters have also foreign sounds that you don't have in native Finnish words: B, D, G and F are pronounded the way that have no corresponding sounds in natively Finnish words. Although sometimes B and G are very hard to notice from P and K, but there is a slight difference. D and F are clearly different than any Finnish sound. I'm not a liguist, this is a layman explanation.
The very phonetic writing is a big help learning to read fluently and comprehending the content of the text. Compare it to the oriental writing systems, where you might have thousands of characters, and you learn some 6 school years to learn the most commonly used characters, like in japanese the kanji signs. In Finland I think most kids read before they start school. (Japanese does have the hiragana writing though, which makes reading possible before learning all the kanjis.)
The staring is pretty much because of the small town just as you guessed. Being big or beardy or whatever doesn't really play a part because we have a lot of people who look like you. It's the language. Especially older people can be surprised that there's a foreigner in their little town. Some of them haven't even heard English outside of TV and well... Just as in England (or were you Irish? Sorry can't remember) small town old people are nosy about anyone who is clearly not from around there. It's annoying, but what can you do. If you lived there full time it would stop in time as they got familiar with seeing/hearing you around. Argh... that went into rambling. I hope it makes at least some sense. In short: New foreign people in a small town are interesting, so they get stares.
Also I agree with church tax being bullshit, but I kinda get why it's there. THE Church (we have 2 "official" religions that can collect taxes) does a lot of things. Free daycare, cemetery upkeep, even food charity and social services. The tax is closer to 0.8% than two percent in most cities, but yeah it's weird. Especially because most of us are just part of the religion on paper because we were babies when we "joined", and having those church based services are just convenient. That's for the two major religions. They have to do that if they want to keep collecting taxes. I don't personally pay church tax because I don't like organized religion (more free religions are better, but I don't believe in their gods either), and you can resign by just filling up a web form. You get a lot back if you pay the tax, but mostly it's just tradition. Confirmation is a milestone for a kid. You get married in a church. You waste space by burying your corpse in a huge wooden box. You get the idea.
I like big long comments so don't worry about it lol yea now that you've said that - the last few times they don't stare as much, everyone is saying if they stare just go stand beside them lol I'm British from Northern Ireland :)
Daycare is "free" (you pay for it, but you get it back if you earn under certain amount) if you can't afford it, but free daycares are something churches have to do if they want to collect taxes. State run daycares have limits on how much kids they can handle, so church daycares help a bit. Cemetery upkeep is not on normal taxes because it's pretty much religion based thing and we don't make people pay for religion unless they are part of it. It's a weird mix of religious freedom and government supported churches. For example I don't want to get buried in some overpriced wooden box, nor do I want a priest anywhere near my funeral, so it would be a bit wrong to make me pay for that part. Basicly it's just an extra tax you can pay for the things they do, but you don't have to if you don't need/want it. It could be put straight in to normal tax, but as long as church does that and people are willing to pay it there's no reason to raise taxes for everyone. We have a lot of these kinds of middle of the road type laws. It's better to tax people so they can go to a doctor without fear of going bankrupt, but at the same time we need to give private doctor practices a chance to make profit. It's kinda same thing with the church tax. They can keep their tax as long as they keep helping out.
From a linguistic point of view English is more closely related to Arabic than Finnish so it's no wonder it seems very different. English is not an easy language for Finns to learn either =) I'd encourage you to learn Finnish though.. but I'm biased because I'm a Finn and also love languages :) Do something Finnish related every day for 15 minutes and see how it goes. Mix up things a bit, do something that interests you, learn vocabulary one day, listen to Finnish podcasts or UA-cam videos on the next day.. etc. study grammar, learn a Finnish song.. whatever, it all helps :) Best of luck to your endeavours :)
Thank you for this! I really need to sit down & read my language learning book! Have been listening to Radio Rock a lot recently too to just listen to Finnish being spoken
You don't have to pay church tax if you resign from the church. It's really easy, just go to the web site eroakirkosta.fi and fill a resignation form and it's done.
Wow :D hahaha that's funny.... Staring att you. So are you Swedish? Your accent and beard+hair tells me you're swedish. Yep, that's how it goes in Finland. I'm happy in Finland :). Yep introverts and personal space in Finland. I live in a medium-large city, not one of the biggest southern cities but it's not a village/town or a tiny place. There's some malls+stores+McDonald's etc... It's Rovaniemi btw :) in Lapland. Northern Finland.
LashofSnow Cool! I can see how it's UK but your strong facial hair (beard) growth reminds me of Swedes/Norwegians :D. And the accent too, a bit. Yep, santa Claus lives here lol
Never paid church tax because I resigned from the church when I was 18 and did never joined my children to the church so they have their own choice when adults. And for fish, living near the sea makes you eat lot of fish and of course lakes provide fish too. Smoked flatfish is the best. Nice video thou. I have to say I dislike snow. 😁
Why? We still go fishing in winter. We just use a special kind of tools for it -- make hole in the ice, clear the hole out, sit on your backbag-stool, let the specific fishing-rod jump up and down... It's called "pilkki".
The church tax is idiotic affair. It should be abolished. If you don't belong to a church (Evangelic Lutheran) you don't have to pay. But companies have to pay church tax regardless of the people's or companies view on religion. There have been Citizen Address attempts to get rid of it but to no avail.
I knew about having to pay in if you were part of the church etc but I never knew companies had to pay in regardless - what is the point of that? Surely of everything workplaces & religion should be separate?
Janne Mikkola yea I can understand that - that happens here & randomly on weekends - preachers would turn up in the city centre and preach the bible very very loudly :/
I was so triggered by that panda that I could barely focus on what you were saying. I'm finnish and I've never had kalakukko in my life btw, and I don't plan to.
I have also notice this thing of staring.. Have to say I get really anxious about that and I live in Salo which is medium-size town, but when I visit in Turku people are more "not staring" kind of people and I'm so clad about that... And sorry if I'm little lazy to search if you have make a video about that topic, but how you end up living in Finland? Tell your story :D
Hey thanks for the comment & the sub! I don't actually live in Finland, I'm based in the UK & have noticed the staring thing when I'm there visiting family lol
You will pay the church tax if you want to be in the church. And you would have the possibility to have a church wedding, your child would have a christening, funerals and etc. All of those costs would be paid from the tax that you have paid. But I think in the UK there are legal fees that could get expensive for getting married in the church etc.
Ah ok - another aspect of the tax I didn't know about - so if you've paid for a while you can get married in the church for "free" because you pay the tax?
Other of you needs to be part of church to be able to get married in the church. And while you are part of church you need to pay church tax. You can differ from church when ever you want tho. Even if you pay for while and then differ, you can't get married in church. And yes, it is free to get married if you are part of church.
They probably stare because they don't know you, and you're a foreigner (you speak English). I think it's more like a small town / countryside thing. People stared when we visited a small town in France. At the restaurant they only quit staring when they heard me ordering food in French. I live in a big city so for me it's odd behavior, but then again, I get some perverse satisfaction from seeing how these people live up to the stereotypes.x) Kind of what you'd see in the movies when a big city person arrives in the countryside and people stare. And stare... Church tax is because there's a state church in Finland. Lutheran and greek catholic churches are state churches. Avoiding the tax is one of the reasons why people quit the church membership.
Hey thanks for the comment Curvy! That's satisfaction is quite funny lol are you originally from Finland? And yea I've learnt so much about church tax since posting this video :)
Yes, I'm all Finnish.;) We just visited a renaissance fair at that French town, though it turned out to be more like a village festival for the locals. Which is ok, it was a curiosity of it's own kind.:) I'm not that fluent in French by the way, so I guess they just thought we were decent enough. For some reason during that holiday in France people seemed to assume we were German. And I guess I should have read the comments first before commenting on the same thing as everyone else.xD
Riku Penttila haha I have heard of her now - was she the politician who wanted to ban drinking & smoking etc? The band Tuoni made a song on her? I think that was their name :/
one huge problem with learning Finnish is that the course materials and book language have nothing to do with how people speak. Unless you plan on higher ed in Finnish I think it would be WAY more productive to teach people puhukieli when they arrive. I have a BA already, and a job, I don't need to be prepared for Finnish ed, I just need to survive.
There has been too much sugar mixed with your lingon berries :) I also hate it, if it is sweet: Lingon berries are supposed to be sour. And the reason why lingon berries were eaten with the food was that there have not traditionally been many fresh vegetables etc. here in the winter time, so it has kind of played the role of the sallad. Good for diggestion etc. Like you can eat lemon with fish.. etc. And if you are a big guy, they most likely stare at you because of it, a big stranger in a small village - they would probably want to come to ask who you are, but do not dare - and then speaking English too.. :) As a Finn, where ever I go, people will stare at me if they hear me speaking Finnish f.ex. in the phone.. Sometimes they ask "What is that odd language you are speaking??" Sometimes they just stare. So I don't think these people have anything bad in their minds - atleast most of them - maybe next time just smile at them and say: "Hei!". I am sure they will stop staring - some might even say "Hei!" back to you :) !!
We are tought English at school - but People has No Contacts with the English Speakers ! We have had - only One War with the British / called Oolannin sota ! Everybody is curious - that if They are able to understand - what You are saying ! If I would move to Your Town - wouldnt I be the talk of Town - till I would LEARN ENGLISH ! Have You ever met anyone before - who is speaking NO ENGLISH ? You are making Your Town known here at Suomiland !
People think that You are FAMOUS ? Many People never seen an English speaking person before ! The English teachers are usually Finns teaching English ! Hopefully Your Next Video is about Going to SAUNA by a Lake or Sea ! Good to see someone / that gives us pespective in English - so that there No Need to Stare at You - after all this ! After People gets to know You Better - They see that You are Not an ALIEN - but just a Normal Bloke ! Start listening to FINNISH MUSIC - so Youll get to hear more of the common language ! Seuraavaan kertaan - odotan sitä mielenkiinnolla !
Thanks for this comment - now that I live here in getting used to the staring by just staring back, I've been listening to Finnish music for years which helps with the pronunciation
@@LashofSnow Think - If I would travel to Your Hoods - wouldnt People stare at Me ? If I would talk Finnish to everybody ? English speakers - just dont pay attention to other People ? You have / had Your Impire - but / We were never part of that ! Is it not - put any attention at School - or is it better that ALL DIFFERENT IS BAD ? IS THE GOVERNMENT - run by the People - BE LIKE US - OR OTHERWISE - WE ALL BURN IN FLAMES ?
@@LashofSnow Staring Back is a Good Way to make People look foolish ! You may always ask - Mitä Ukko ? - and brake the ice ! No matter what They say... say Joo Joo... Did / have You noticed - that You are also a Pioneer to SUOMI as New Foundland - with The Natives ! Just like when Europeans found America ! Did You that in America / they have voted - of The 1st language of The Nation ? You may answer by telling - inbetween which TWO languages as 1st vs 2nd ! The 1st thing You notice leaving Your home is - when You get hungry # is what / is there ANYTHING to eat #2nd Who to talk to #3rd Who to trust & believe ? Does food cost money - Does talking to strangers cost anything - Does My History match with My Future ? I am New to Your Channel - but with Great INTREST WATCH - what Foreigners say about Finland ! You only in Suomi have 5milloin People to follow You ! Be Careful - what You say or otherwise Youll be UA-cam FAMOUS ! Then Folks will really stare at You ! Advice / Watch what someone else have done in Suomi / by eating mämmi / gone to sauna / gone to Parties / gone to see Finnish Baseball / or Hotels in Lapland / travelled with Old Trains or Ferry to Estonia - Stockholm etc etc ! Remember that You have an EYE - That The LOCALS DONT ! Looking Forward to Your ADVENTURES !
Tell me what well known delicious and famous British cuisine you could promote then ...? Fish n chips which is barely viable as street food, then what ?
Just randomly saw this video (migth not be a random incidence next time :) ) and now watching back you mentioned you stay (not live) at a little town 30 to 35 min east from Lahti. Kausala fits that description.
Hihii.. continuing with the same theme, it´s Vääksy :D But Vääsky actually sounds better.. Might have to steal that one. I´m guessing pronouncing the name of the place might have given you some headache at first :D
Finns look in the eyes. I hear the same from Swedish people, they say nobody looks in the eyes in the streets, but in Finland they do. My dad taught me that dishonnest people do not look in the eyes. Looking in the eyes tells you are confident and have nothing to fear.
Thanks for that comment! Honestly never thought of it that way - it's just a little off putting being stared at is all
Maybe it is off putting. If you go deep down to it, I think it is both a contact and a challenge too. It might feel uncomfortable and weird if that's not a custom where you come from. But facing a person who comes toward you is considered good behavior, looking away and avoiding is a bit shady. In smaller villages, and still in forest paths people greet when they meet. Finland is sparsely populated country still and recently urbanized. In urban cultures people can't any more face all people. However, my parents still taught me to face people and look in the eye the people that come towards me.
It might also be a cultural difference how long eye contact is considered comfortable.
Yea it's very similar here - in the cities everyone keeps to themselves but outside everyone greets each other
I said that it is a "contact and challenge", I didn't mean a hostile challenge though. More like a mutual scanning and acknowledging. You know like people in urban crowded cities walk in constant social smile on their faces to message that "I'm not a threat". People here don't do that, so maybe they do this instead.
Perhaps I can elaborate the jam with savory foods "thing" in the nordic cuisine. For centuries (or millenia) wild berries were pretty much the only source of vitamin C available in the north. Things like fruit trees are not native to areas near or above the polar circle. Naturally people used what they had and conserved the berries for the 8 month period of winter. And as the only source of vitamin C the conserved berries were consumed at nearly every meal. This won't naturally make you like the idea, but perhaps understand the reasons behind it.
Thank you for that - it definitely makes sense now! It's certainly an acquired taste :)
I really like this video. There's too many videos about that people like about Finland. Small town people stare, ''cos of oddity or nosiness, they'll stare at a person who they don't know even if its another finn. If I catch someone staring at me, and they don't look away, I just nod politely at them. Usually I get a nod back or they look away and continue on their business.
Hey thanks for that comment Teemu! Yea my wife says that I should stare back & say hello as it'll spook them!
Just being Finnish with green hair is enough to get stared at, even in my hometown where I though people already knew the "parrot girl" (one old granddad asked me what sort of parrot am I) 😅 So I do agree with you on that staring part! However, being from a small town I grew up in that bubble of Finnishness, so when hearing different languages or seeing something interesting, back then as a kid I did not know what to do but keep an eye on the target 😅 Nowadays, instead of staring, I still look but smile and nod and maybe say "hi" to ease the situation 😀 And maybe they talk back and we can learn interesting things! 😊
Ah ok glad to have someone in my situation lol I will refer to you as Parrot Girl :P I think I'd be shocked if someone just randomly said hello lol
Yes, Parrot Girl I am! As loud sometimes also :D Random "hi" can indeed be intimidating, even more if it's combined with that stare mentioned earlier..! hohoho :D
Haha parrot girl is a nice nickname - nothing mean :) always got to see your comments!
The reason we eat sweet jams with savory foods is because it breaks the monotony of otherwise starchy food like meatballs that are served with mash and also pancakes. Think of it like a tiny side salad that doubles as seasoning. There are many recipes around the world that serve meat with something sweet, usually a glaze or marinade. It's not that different.
Maybe it's just different to the ways I am used to - nothing wrong with having the jams of course - it's just not for me
people don't stare because they don't accept you, they just do that. In streets, people look at you in the eyes, and I think its nice. We look at each another because we know they are there. Not because we think someone's different. Of course in small towns you might change and people notice and they stare, because you changed. But it happens everywhere. I have this bright yellow duck hat everywhere I go. People look at it and i know they do (till they get used to it)
Also, our food is GREAT. We just don't eat so sweet things.
Our language is not so pretty maybe, but it is logical. Also it can sound really funny. But True, finish is one of the worlds hardest languages.
We are a tax country. We pay for being alive.
Thanks for that comment! Trying to imagine your bright yellow duck hat! Hope it didn't come across in the video that I dislike Finland I love most things about it :)
it did not seem like that :) It's fine if there are things you don't like. We are a weird community to understand :')
That's one of the reasons I love Finland because it's a little strange lol
Instead of lingonberry jam, go and try frozen (or fresh) lingonberries with some savory dish that it's supposed to go together with. The difference is big as the lingonberries don't have much sugar naturally in them, so it's mostly acidic, not sweet.
Might have to try them again in the summer -from this video went live it's what a lot of people have been telling me
Ah, lingonberry jam... it can be part of so many dishes in addition to blood pancakes! My mother always picks several liters of lingonberries from the forest in the fall and she will make her own jam which is then eaten with any kind of meat dish ( meat stews for example ) and also cabbage-based dishes like kaalilaatikko = cabbage casserole or makaronilaatikko = macaroni casserole. It's not a sweet jam per se - certainly not when it's homemade, even though sugar is added. Think of it perhaps as our version of cranberry sauce...
Ah ha! Similar to cranberry sauce! Which I still find strange as I'm not a fan of that either lol although I do love Macaroni & Cabbage casseroles :D
As a Finn:
I'm a big guy, like you. I get stared at, and so do people who speak something other than Finnish. It's because you stand out and maybe look a bit scary. The beard doesn't help. I have one, too. Stare back to make people look away.
Blood pancakes are fucking horrendous. Had some black pudding on one of my trips to Birmingham, and it was great by comparison.
Sweet and savory is often a great combination. That being said, I don't like jam and I don't want it anywhere near my food. If I can smell it, it's too close.
Fish is something I love. Could have it every day of the week. Kalakukko is okay, but compared to other fish dishes, it's pretty sad. Traditional, but honestly not terribly tasty.
Church tax is like a membership fee in a club. There's no obligation to belong to either of the two churches that can collect it, and you don't need to be a member to go to church. I don't consider it terribly problematic.
We are very similar people about from the love of fish - saying that my wife agrees with you about Kalakukko says it's kinda dry & tasteless
as a finn who looks just like any other finnish person, people still stare at me a lot XD I don't understand it either and on some days I wonder if there's something wrong with the way I dress etc haha. Especially older people might just stand there and stare?? I was thinking, maybe it's because our streets aren't crowded so when you see someone you take a look? But especially if you speak english. I'm guilty of this as well because every time I hear someone speak English I get excited 'cause I like to speak with foreigners so I might stare because I get curious.... oops
mmrip it makes sense dude - high five for getting stared at lol
Dishes made from blood are also eaten in Estonia. In Estonia, verivorst (blood sausage) is very similar to Finnish mustamakkara. It is sold and eaten mostly in winter, being a traditional Christmas food. At that time there is a large variety of verivorst in stores, ranging in different shapes and sizes. Verivorst is usually cooked in an oven, but sometimes also fried in a pan. Like in Finland, verivorst is often eaten together with lingonberry jam, but occasionally also with butter or sour cream. Another similar dish is called verikäkk (blood dumpling). Its popularity has decreased during the past decades (possibly because of its less appealing commercial appearance) and has mostly been substituted by verivorst. Sausages served with lingonberry jam of which is more sour than sweet. The pig was usually killed before Christmas, and whole pig was consumed for food (sült- Pork jelly- made from low-grade cuts of pig meat, such as trotters, containing a significant proportion of connective tissue). The only thing that was lost was the cry of the pig before death (Estonian black humor).
Love huge comments like this! Thank you so much for the lesson!
On the other side of the coin, when my family came to Australia they all said English was the most ridiculous, contradictory thing they had ever known. I know all the Finnish suffixes can get a tad infuriating but at least you can see a word and know how it sounds or hear it and write it. Things kinda stick to the rules. Something we pretty much throw out the window in English is rules. I before E except after C and in 60 percent of other cases where words aren’t of germanic origin or unless....... And all the rest. I teach ESL so you can imagine the difficulty I have when a five year old Taiwanese kid asks me why a word is spelled a certain way when it sounds another. As for the staring I reckon country folk are just more open and honest. We are from Eno and my dad always told me to look in the eyes and not drop your head whereas my uncle Raimo always taught me to scream “Am I wearing your fucken shirt mate” in the face of someone staring at me. So I’m kinda conflicted on that. Either way Finns are the most awesome race on earth (even though a tiny bit of the blood of your mob runs in my veins (e after i) too) and we are the most stunningly handsome and charismatic also. Modest too.
This was a brilliant comment thank you for it! So you are a Finn living in Australia teaching ESL? Amazing! I like that about the language btw that you pronounce every letter & on occasion it makes saying the word easier! I've somewhat got used to the staring & will have to as we are relocating to Finland in a few months!
LashofSnow Aussie Finn living in England at the moment. Good luck with your relocation. Foreign people will always seem foreign to a degree but then again I can’t say we ever know the minds of our own people well either. Forgive my philosophising, I get a bit deep when it comes to assimilating with different cultures. I’m not sure if I have travelled too much or too little.
Same to you - goodluck living in England with Brexit looming on the horizon :/ hope everything works out well for you
This was funny to watch. :) # Jams with food for the win
Haha with sweet foods I agree 100% :P
Lingonberry jam. The variety served with some foods should be 'sour' - *not* sweet.
Really? The ones I've tasted have been sweet - maybe our family prefers the sweet?
Well - certainly family traditions differ - and thus there is no 'right' way with this.
But personally - they sometimes serve the 'sweet' variety at lunch cafes and other 'cheapo' places along their sautéed reindeer - and I have always found that a bit appalling combination. But as their reindeer is usually not that great either - it does not matter much ;)
Haha what places are these? I'd be interested to know if I have been in one or not lol
I agree with you almost everything, but not with cloudberry and Finnish language. Cloudberries are pretty good with ice cream and different desserts (Lapponia cloudberry liqueur too!), and Finnish is the most logical language on planet earth once you learn it a little and get the idea 🙄😁
Haha it's just getting the hang of it first lol and yes the berries make loads of sense to me in ice cream & desserts
Yeah the language is very different, but actually makes sense when you get the idea. Something like spelling bee would be just stupid in Finnish because everything is written phonetically. It's a young language compared to English so the written version has been constructed from the spoken version. Every letter is a sound. We don't have things like silent consonants ( knight and night are the same damn word with different writing for example :P ). If you want to learn it you really should start with the pronounciation of single letters. They don't change ever (well there's ng and nk, but that's just learning the sound and it's always the same). We actually start like that at first grade in school. The grammar will be harder.
Hey yea that's what i have been trying to work on - sounding out the words - almost have the double letter thing down
NG is the only natively Finnihs sound that doesn't have it's own letter, I hear. It's very rare though. And many foreign letters we have only because they are common in foreign names in Latin characters written languages. Letter Z is pronouced similarly as TS, X is pronounced as KS, C is pronounced as K (cafe) or S (Celcius), the Swedish Å is pronounced as Finnish O, W is pronounced as V. Some foreign letters have also foreign sounds that you don't have in native Finnish words: B, D, G and F are pronounded the way that have no corresponding sounds in natively Finnish words. Although sometimes B and G are very hard to notice from P and K, but there is a slight difference. D and F are clearly different than any Finnish sound.
I'm not a liguist, this is a layman explanation.
The very phonetic writing is a big help learning to read fluently and comprehending the content of the text. Compare it to the oriental writing systems, where you might have thousands of characters, and you learn some 6 school years to learn the most commonly used characters, like in japanese the kanji signs. In Finland I think most kids read before they start school.
(Japanese does have the hiragana writing though, which makes reading possible before learning all the kanjis.)
The staring is pretty much because of the small town just as you guessed. Being big or beardy or whatever doesn't really play a part because we have a lot of people who look like you. It's the language. Especially older people can be surprised that there's a foreigner in their little town. Some of them haven't even heard English outside of TV and well... Just as in England (or were you Irish? Sorry can't remember) small town old people are nosy about anyone who is clearly not from around there. It's annoying, but what can you do. If you lived there full time it would stop in time as they got familiar with seeing/hearing you around.
Argh... that went into rambling. I hope it makes at least some sense. In short: New foreign people in a small town are interesting, so they get stares.
Also I agree with church tax being bullshit, but I kinda get why it's there. THE Church (we have 2 "official" religions that can collect taxes) does a lot of things. Free daycare, cemetery upkeep, even food charity and social services. The tax is closer to 0.8% than two percent in most cities, but yeah it's weird. Especially because most of us are just part of the religion on paper because we were babies when we "joined", and having those church based services are just convenient. That's for the two major religions. They have to do that if they want to keep collecting taxes.
I don't personally pay church tax because I don't like organized religion (more free religions are better, but I don't believe in their gods either), and you can resign by just filling up a web form. You get a lot back if you pay the tax, but mostly it's just tradition. Confirmation is a milestone for a kid. You get married in a church. You waste space by burying your corpse in a huge wooden box. You get the idea.
I like big long comments so don't worry about it lol yea now that you've said that - the last few times they don't stare as much, everyone is saying if they stare just go stand beside them lol I'm British from Northern Ireland :)
Love that view on burial "wasted space" I'm kinda with you on that - although wouldn't normal income tax pay for day care & cemetery upkeep etc?
Daycare is "free" (you pay for it, but you get it back if you earn under certain amount) if you can't afford it, but free daycares are something churches have to do if they want to collect taxes. State run daycares have limits on how much kids they can handle, so church daycares help a bit. Cemetery upkeep is not on normal taxes because it's pretty much religion based thing and we don't make people pay for religion unless they are part of it. It's a weird mix of religious freedom and government supported churches. For example I don't want to get buried in some overpriced wooden box, nor do I want a priest anywhere near my funeral, so it would be a bit wrong to make me pay for that part.
Basicly it's just an extra tax you can pay for the things they do, but you don't have to if you don't need/want it. It could be put straight in to normal tax, but as long as church does that and people are willing to pay it there's no reason to raise taxes for everyone.
We have a lot of these kinds of middle of the road type laws. It's better to tax people so they can go to a doctor without fear of going bankrupt, but at the same time we need to give private doctor practices a chance to make profit. It's kinda same thing with the church tax. They can keep their tax as long as they keep helping out.
You are speaking sense to me now! I have a better understanding of it now thanks to you!
From a linguistic point of view English is more closely related to Arabic than Finnish so it's no wonder it seems very different. English is not an easy language for Finns to learn either =) I'd encourage you to learn Finnish though.. but I'm biased because I'm a Finn and also love languages :) Do something Finnish related every day for 15 minutes and see how it goes. Mix up things a bit, do something that interests you, learn vocabulary one day, listen to Finnish podcasts or UA-cam videos on the next day.. etc. study grammar, learn a Finnish song.. whatever, it all helps :)
Best of luck to your endeavours :)
Thank you for this! I really need to sit down & read my language learning book! Have been listening to Radio Rock a lot recently too to just listen to Finnish being spoken
Haha.. "Veriletut" in Vääksy might be shocking :D I live in Lahti and working in Vääksy and I don't eat fisch. No problem.
You don't have to pay church tax if you resign from the church. It's really easy, just go to the web site eroakirkosta.fi and fill a resignation form and it's done.
Yea it seems pretty easy but the good thing is a lot of people on here have explained what church tax is used for & I understand it better now :)
Wow :D hahaha that's funny.... Staring att you. So are you Swedish? Your accent and beard+hair tells me you're swedish. Yep, that's how it goes in Finland. I'm happy in Finland :). Yep introverts and personal space in Finland. I live in a medium-large city, not one of the biggest southern cities but it's not a village/town or a tiny place. There's some malls+stores+McDonald's etc... It's Rovaniemi btw :) in Lapland. Northern Finland.
I am aware of Rovaniemi - Santa's home! Haha - nope I am from Northern Ireland in the UK - really think my accent sounds Swedish?
LashofSnow Cool! I can see how it's UK but your strong facial hair (beard) growth reminds me of Swedes/Norwegians :D. And the accent too, a bit. Yep, santa Claus lives here lol
Yay! I've finally became Nordic in the eyes of a Nord! Haha
@@LashofSnow , Ireland and Viking age .... Many Norse decided to settle there. You might have surprising a lot Nordic heritage.
@@suokkos hey thanks for the comment - I did do an ancestry family tree and have unearthed some Viking history - so you were correct!
Never paid church tax because I resigned from the church when I was 18 and did never joined my children to the church so they have their own choice when adults. And for fish, living near the sea makes you eat lot of fish and of course lakes provide fish too. Smoked flatfish is the best. Nice video thou. I have to say I dislike snow. 😁
I think that's the best way to deal with children & church tax- let them decide themselves & you must hate Finnish winter's? Lok
Why? We still go fishing in winter. We just use a special kind of tools for it -- make hole in the ice, clear the hole out, sit on your backbag-stool, let the specific fishing-rod jump up and down... It's called "pilkki".
The church tax is idiotic affair. It should be abolished. If you don't belong to a church (Evangelic Lutheran) you don't have to pay. But companies have to pay church tax regardless of the people's or companies view on religion. There have been Citizen Address attempts to get rid of it but to no avail.
I knew about having to pay in if you were part of the church etc but I never knew companies had to pay in regardless - what is the point of that? Surely of everything workplaces & religion should be separate?
The alternative is religions collecting money actively, which is annoying as hell.
Janne Mikkola yea I can understand that - that happens here & randomly on weekends - preachers would turn up in the city centre and preach the bible very very loudly :/
Nice video :)
Thank you friend :)
cloudberry jam is delicious but I never eat it because it's about 5 times more expensive than the basic strawberry jam.
Wow really? Never really noticed - will have to look next time!
I eat Salmon and Coalfish in fish Sticks and I'm from Finland.
Fantastic! I have never heard of Coalfish!
So when you go to Finland do you go to Kausala. Intrested because I kind of live close to Kausala
Petteri Velling haven't been there personally for visits but have most likely passed it on the bus on the way to Kotka/Kouvala
LashofSnow okay my grandparents live in kouvola
I was so triggered by that panda that I could barely focus on what you were saying.
I'm finnish and I've never had kalakukko in my life btw, and I don't plan to.
Haha your like me too with the Kalakukko lol panda? Am I forgetting my own videos now lol
I have also notice this thing of staring.. Have to say I get really anxious about that and I live in Salo which is medium-size town, but when I visit in Turku people are more "not staring" kind of people and I'm so clad about that... And sorry if I'm little lazy to search if you have make a video about that topic, but how you end up living in Finland? Tell your story :D
Hey thanks for the comment & the sub! I don't actually live in Finland, I'm based in the UK & have noticed the staring thing when I'm there visiting family lol
Not lazy at all :P
So you're half finnish half english.. Unfortunately people like to stare :/
You will pay the church tax if you want to be in the church. And you would have the possibility to have a church wedding, your child would have a christening, funerals and etc. All of those costs would be paid from the tax that you have paid. But I think in the UK there are legal fees that could get expensive for getting married in the church etc.
Ah ok - another aspect of the tax I didn't know about - so if you've paid for a while you can get married in the church for "free" because you pay the tax?
Other of you needs to be part of church to be able to get married in the church. And while you are part of church you need to pay church tax. You can differ from church when ever you want tho. Even if you pay for while and then differ, you can't get married in church. And yes, it is free to get married if you are part of church.
Thank you for clearing that up :)
I think the same goes for the funeral too. If you are part of the church the church "facilities" are free if used for the "commemoration" etc.
They probably stare because they don't know you, and you're a foreigner (you speak English). I think it's more like a small town / countryside thing. People stared when we visited a small town in France. At the restaurant they only quit staring when they heard me ordering food in French. I live in a big city so for me it's odd behavior, but then again, I get some perverse satisfaction from seeing how these people live up to the stereotypes.x) Kind of what you'd see in the movies when a big city person arrives in the countryside and people stare. And stare...
Church tax is because there's a state church in Finland. Lutheran and greek catholic churches are state churches. Avoiding the tax is one of the reasons why people quit the church membership.
Hey thanks for the comment Curvy! That's satisfaction is quite funny lol are you originally from Finland? And yea I've learnt so much about church tax since posting this video :)
Yes, I'm all Finnish.;) We just visited a renaissance fair at that French town, though it turned out to be more like a village festival for the locals. Which is ok, it was a curiosity of it's own kind.:) I'm not that fluent in French by the way, so I guess they just thought we were decent enough. For some reason during that holiday in France people seemed to assume we were German.
And I guess I should have read the comments first before commenting on the same thing as everyone else.xD
Haha it's totally fine - you still took the time to comment :) France is a cool place been quite a few times mostly in little villages in the south:)
Riku Penttila haha I have heard of her now - was she the politician who wanted to ban drinking & smoking etc? The band Tuoni made a song on her? I think that was their name :/
It's not just you, Finnish is one of the hardest languages to learn.
It is & I love listening to it :)
one huge problem with learning Finnish is that the course materials and book language have nothing to do with how people speak. Unless you plan on higher ed in Finnish I think it would be WAY more productive to teach people puhukieli when they arrive. I have a BA already, and a job, I don't need to be prepared for Finnish ed, I just need to survive.
I am finnish but mine spiode is Brasilian. I get it. And we are vegan full
There has been too much sugar mixed with your lingon berries :) I also hate it, if it is sweet: Lingon berries are supposed to be sour. And the reason why lingon berries were eaten with the food was that there have not traditionally been many fresh vegetables etc. here in the winter time, so it has kind of played the role of the sallad. Good for diggestion etc. Like you can eat lemon with fish.. etc. And if you are a big guy, they most likely stare at you because of it, a big stranger in a small village - they would probably want to come to ask who you are, but do not dare - and then speaking English too.. :) As a Finn, where ever I go, people will stare at me if they hear me speaking Finnish f.ex. in the phone.. Sometimes they ask "What is that odd language you are speaking??" Sometimes they just stare. So I don't think these people have anything bad in their minds - atleast most of them - maybe next time just smile at them and say: "Hei!". I am sure they will stop staring - some might even say "Hei!" back to you :) !!
That's what my wife always says - just say hello to them & they'll get freaked out lol maybe the jams I've had then have been too sweet
Love listening to Finnish so it's not a weird language haha
:) ! When I lived in Denmark, the Danes around me kept saying Finnish sounds like shooting with a machine gun :)
lol that staring stuff:D im sure its not because u are big, its because u speak english and small town people are curious
Yeah I'm learning that my size might scare them lol
Eh you kinda understood Jaeger's message as the exact opposite of what he said ¨=)
Rybentor so I did! Thanks for pointing that out - I certainly feel silly lol
We are tought English at school - but People has No Contacts with the English Speakers ! We have had - only One War with the British / called Oolannin sota ! Everybody is curious - that if They are able to understand - what You are saying ! If I would move to Your Town - wouldnt I be the talk of Town - till I would LEARN ENGLISH ! Have You ever met anyone before - who is speaking NO ENGLISH ? You are making Your Town known here at Suomiland !
I don't think church tax is mandatory in Finland? I'm not living in the country anymore so I'm not sure.
For some reason I always thought it was lol
Riku Penttila thanks for this point Riku! A friend of mine had recently left the church so that's why it was fresh in my head
If you dont pay church tax you have same tax amount as they who pay church tax, it just that you want to fund and help church.
Watch The Unhanged. Finnish western made 1971.
That's sounds pretty interesting! When you think Finland you don't think western!
People think that You are FAMOUS ? Many People never seen an English speaking person before ! The English teachers are usually Finns teaching English ! Hopefully Your Next Video is about Going to SAUNA by a Lake or Sea ! Good to see someone / that gives us pespective in English - so that there No Need to Stare at You - after all this ! After People gets to know You Better - They see that You are Not an ALIEN - but just a Normal Bloke ! Start listening to FINNISH MUSIC - so Youll get to hear more of the common language ! Seuraavaan kertaan - odotan sitä mielenkiinnolla !
Thanks for this comment - now that I live here in getting used to the staring by just staring back, I've been listening to Finnish music for years which helps with the pronunciation
@@LashofSnow Think - If I would travel to Your Hoods - wouldnt People stare at Me ? If I would talk Finnish to everybody ? English speakers - just dont pay attention to other People ? You have / had Your Impire - but / We were never part of that ! Is it not - put any attention at School - or is it better that ALL DIFFERENT IS BAD ? IS THE GOVERNMENT - run by the People - BE LIKE US - OR OTHERWISE - WE ALL BURN IN FLAMES ?
@@LashofSnow Staring Back is a Good Way to make People look foolish ! You may always ask - Mitä Ukko ? - and brake the ice ! No matter what They say... say Joo Joo... Did / have You noticed - that You are also a Pioneer to SUOMI as New Foundland - with The Natives ! Just like when Europeans found America ! Did You that in America / they have voted - of The 1st language of The Nation ? You may answer by telling - inbetween which TWO languages as 1st vs 2nd ! The 1st thing You notice leaving Your home is - when You get hungry # is what / is there ANYTHING to eat #2nd Who to talk to #3rd Who to trust & believe ? Does food cost money - Does talking to strangers cost anything - Does My History match with My Future ? I am New to Your Channel - but with Great INTREST WATCH - what Foreigners say about Finland ! You only in Suomi have 5milloin People to follow You ! Be Careful - what You say or otherwise Youll be UA-cam FAMOUS ! Then Folks will really stare at You ! Advice / Watch what someone else have done in Suomi / by eating mämmi / gone to sauna / gone to Parties / gone to see Finnish Baseball / or Hotels in Lapland / travelled with Old Trains or Ferry to Estonia - Stockholm etc etc ! Remember that You have an EYE - That The LOCALS DONT ! Looking Forward to Your ADVENTURES !
Tell me what well known delicious and famous British cuisine you could promote then ...? Fish n chips which is barely viable as street food, then what ?
Hey there Avenger I never said British food was better, it's notoriously bad!
To be sure dey're jes starin' at a stranger. Ye ken, to gauge potential threats upon deyre small community. :D
Haha the foreign invader! Lol
You live in Kausala?
Me? Nope I'm based in the UK - would be awesome to live in Finland though :)
Just randomly saw this video (migth not be a random incidence next time :) ) and now watching back you mentioned you stay (not live) at a little town 30 to 35 min east from Lahti. Kausala fits that description.
Ah that'll be my stupidity lol I meant West not east haha when we stay in Finland we are close to Vääsky :)
Hihii.. continuing with the same theme, it´s Vääksy :D But Vääsky actually sounds better.. Might have to steal that one. I´m guessing pronouncing the name of the place might have given you some headache at first :D
Haha yes I always spell it wrong haha - glad you knew what I meant!
Irish