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My Experiences of Finnishness

Category: Yleinen

What Finnishness Means to Me

Living in Finland for two years has changed the way I see Finnish people and their culture. In this post, I will share my reflections on what Finnishness means to me.

Emptiness and Kindness

Sunday morning walk to work or an evening hike in the north - empty and quiet. Outside of rush seasons and rush hours Finland is quiet everywhere from big cities to the nature. It's often completely quiet even with people around. This is the stereotype of the Finland and it is pretty accurate. But there is more than the silence and emptiness and it's kindness.

Steam, Silence, and Something I Did Not Expect

Finland is not a loud country. It does not try to impress you. But the longer you spend here, the more it gets under your skin in the best possible way. Two things have stayed with me the most: the sauna and the silence. Both have taught me something I did not expect to learn.

My experiences of Finnishness

In my opinion, finnishness can't be thought of without including nature, and it's important part of my finnish life. I enjoy and appreciate the changing seasons, as well as clean lakes and good air quality. There are forests where simply walking naturally makes you feel calmer, and in winters you can breath fresh and cold air outside and do many winter sports.

Finnishness from the Perspective of a Half Finn

Finnishness cannot necessarily be fully defined due to the differences different people exhibit. I myself am half Finnish and half Australian making it even more difficult to determine sometimes. However, to me my Finnishness is determined by my quiet patriotism and honest communication. These two things are the most evident to me when it comes to someone's Finnishness.