Nature
In Finland nature is important part of our every day life. That’s partly because we have so much space in here and so few people to fill it. Even the bigger cities have a lot of parks and forests nearby. But nature is more than just “being there”, it’s vital part of Finnish culture.
Many of the “Finnish things” take place in nature. Our summer cottages and saunas are usually besides the lake away from the cities. Where we can enjoy ourselves with family and friends.
The seasons are also so distinct from each other that they affect your activities, mood and even sleeping patterns. People from other countries usually think that it’s always snowing here (to put it harshly) without realizing that we have a huge variety of conditions in here. It’s completely different experience if you come here in summer or in winter.
Silence
We as Finnish people have a reputation of being silent, distant and minimal with our expressions, and I have to confess that is true. We’re not just socially awkward people but we actually respect and enjoy the silence. That concept may sound weird to many foreigners and I can see why.
Because of our silent practices small talk is pretty much absent. If you ask something you better be prepared for straight answer. That may be intimidating at the start but when you get to know a Finnish person it’s easier get “real talk” instead of just wondering what the weather might be next week.
Language
Well it’s hard to speak about Finland without mentioning our weird and difficult language. In history there wasn’t any big trade routes through Finland and we’ve been living here pretty much isolated from other cultures. Even during Swedish and Russian rules Finland was always treated as it’s own region. That’s why Finnish as a language has been relatively unaffected from it’s surroundings.
Structure of Finnish is very different from Germanic languages that dominate Europe. It’s possible to form long words that can be only described with full sentences in other languages. Prepositions are sparse and base vocabulary is smaller than in English for example. On the bright side pronunciation is reliable.
Of course we have a lot different words for things that are essential to our culture and every day life like snow (lumi, räntä etc), swamps (räme, neva etc) and being naked (alasti, ilkosillaan, nakuna etc).
I think everyone can get something out of visiting Finland and I’m proud to be Finnish.
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