Finnishness and being a Finn is something that I don’t think a lot, it doesn’t mean that much to me. I dislike nationalism and the idea that you should be proud of your country. That doesn’t mean I don’t like Finland – vice versa actually, during my time abroad I have found out I’m kind a fond of Finland.
Honesty and comfortable silence
Finnish people tend to be quite honest, not to embellish things. When a finn says something very often she/he means it. If you agree to something usually it holds, this is a thing I like. I’ve spent time in southern european countries and it’s common here that people make a lots of promises about various things, but those things never tend to happen. Being okay and comfortable in silence is also a thing I like. But rudeness is something I don’t like and it shouldn’t be just explained by “our nature”. If you accidentally push someone you’re ought to apologise. If you’re in a bus sitting next to window and someone sits next to you and you want to leave, you say something, not just fiddle your gloves.
Nature
I’m a city girl but during my time abroad I’ve started to appreciate Finnish nature much more. It’s clean, pure and always “out there”, easy to reach I mean. When I’m abroad I hike, visit cool nature spots etc. Now I’ve started to wonder why I never to this stuff in Finland, you can find awesome nature parks and hiking trails there also.
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