Being a Finn and meeting new foreign people is almost always an interesting situation. At least in Europe most of the people have some kind of prejudices on the Finnish culture or how Finns act or portray themselves. Are these prejudices to be taken seriously then? Almost every time yes.
The positive aspects often consider things like equality, education and, as funny as it may seem, the Finnish sport achievements. These things are a huge part of the heart of Finnishness. Every Finn can proudly have a conversation about the high level of education offered by our government and include the topic of equality to the same matter. Being proud of these kind of things is proudly being a Finn, to represent an almost to brag about the things that are in a good place in our country.
On the other hand, the conversation with any foreigner can also be about the Finnish humbleness at the same time. Finnishness is about bragging and being very humble about the same things at the same time, being able to represent the motherland proudly and at the same time being very considerate something the other may not have. This is a golden feature of Finnishness.
Humbleness and sometimes even exaggerated shyness is often considered being a very Finn thing. Sometimes this is true but I think that most of the time not so much. Being humble is of course a polite and desirable trait but to me Finns do not seem so shy or quiet. We are very good at defending our national pride and Finnishness when travelling abroad. It’s rare to meet a Finn who would say that their motherland would not be the best country in the world to live in!
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