My Finnish story became 2 years ago when I came to Tampere to study Energy and Environmental Engineering. I am not really afraid of adaptation during the exchange, since it can be no way harder than getting used to Finland. That was another culture and mentality, different pace of life and habits, another way of living and handling with things.
These two years taught me a lot and gave me a valuable experience of communication with various people. I even made Finnish friends, which is a big achievement J Apart from this, I have good connection with people from Asian, European and African countries. Now I can honestly say that I love Finnish way of living, by which I mean:
Finnish character (shy, but honest and willing to help). Obviously, foreigner without language knowledge is in trouble. But in Finland almost everybody speaks English, even elderly people. And people are pathetic! Also I can walk with the opened bag and nothing will be stolen from it. The funny thing is that finns are shy, but if you are lucky enough to know them closer, they are becoming talkative and active. Drunk finns are even more funny, but this another story 🙂
Finnish nature. I suppose it is not possible to list everything, but … Clean air, water and forests, beautiful lakes, northern lights and lots of animals. Sometimes I felt like there are more rabbits and squirrels than human creatures in the area of my residence.
Jogging culture. Even freezing weather and snow cannot prevent people from going outside. The overall attitude to sports is impressive. At least, I definitely became sportier. And during these 2 years I became a big hockey fan!
Coffee! It is served everywhere. It is drunk in liters and maybe even more than water.
Last, but not least: Finnish music. Not only metal bands (which are amazing!), but indie-rock and other music styles. Tremendous amount of concerts, gigs and festival. And this is amazing.
Comments