Lets put the usual things (shyness, booze, salmiakki…) that first come to mind when thinking about Finns and Finnishness aside and focus on, in my opinion, the best things about Finland and Finns.
Honesty
Finland doesn’t really have a small talk culture and the people don’t feel the need to talk just for the sake of talking. Being quiet means that there is nothing important to say, which means that you can trust that basically everything a Finn says is genuine.
Four seasons
The fact that Finland has four distinct seasons gives the opportunity to enjoy so many different things. Summer in Finland is short but luckily we have white nights! When the sun doesn’t set completely it’s easy to make the best of the couple of months of summer. I often hear people complain about the never-ending winter and the cold weather which I don’t understand because a) winter is actually quite short too and b) I love winter. I’m really into snowboarding and cross-country skiing so understandably I start waiting for the first snowfall already early in the fall. Also, if you’re not into winter sports there is no better reason to be lazy and watch Netflix all day than the darkness outside.
Sauna
It’s just relaxing. ‘Nuff said.
Northern lights
The picture speaks for itself.
So there you go. My favorite things about Finland in a nutshell.
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