My typical Finnish morning: I could sleep till 8am but I’m already putting on my socks at 7am. If it’s winter it’s as dark as in a bat cave. If it’s summer birds and the light may have woken me up even earlier. On mornings I want to drink my Juhlamokka at peace before heading to adventures of the day. Juhlamokka is most common coffee brand in Finland. Although sometime ago I switched to some foreign coffee and I have to admit that I’m never going back. Waking up early comes up with other benefits besides coffee time.
- I am rarely late. It would be embarrassing to be late because Finnish people are punctual. You shouldn’t keep another people waiting for you. As a Finn I don’t want to draw any extra attention to myself. Walking around under the radar feels good.Most of us don’t want to be the center of attention. So I guess that the typical stereotype of Finns is somewhat truthful. Yes, many of us are quiet but that doesn’t mean that we aren’t social, vice versa. For example it is a necessity for me to hang around with people. In big groups I don’t feel so comfortable and I might seem quiet. But on the other hand in smaller groups I’m sometimes even “loud”.
- When I’m sipping my (foreign) coffee in the breakfast table, I usually browse mobile app called 9GAG. It’s a website where people can put up funny pictures, comics and videos. You can comment on these posts and have a discussion with other people. Almost every time I open this app I will come across pictures or jokes about Finland. When I see the picture I already know what the most popular comment will say: ”Torille!”. Yeah, Finland was mentioned! We feel a bit of proud when our small nation is mentioned somewhere, but on the same time we are sarcastic about it. It’s Finnish dilemma. We are a nation which queues hours for free buckets but at the same time we laugh at ourselves for doing so.
All in all I think that most of us are truly proud to be from Finland. When putting things on a perspective things are good in Finland. We have beautiful nature, pure food and water, excellent schools, a working healthcare system and etc. We just have to remember it and not to take it all for granted.
Comments