So, my name is Sylvia Barasa, a Kenyan. My Kenyan culture, from food to the way of living is very different from the Finnish culture. When I fast moved here, I ate fast foods almost everyday. The food culture here was so different. Kenyan food from coat to the west is full of flavor and taste, this here was very different.
The way we interact with each other is so different as well, we talk to each other we say hello to everybody, we quickly bond and share what we have. It was so different here as in Finland there is a huge culture of ME, and that was a bit disturbing.
Kenyans drink alcohol, Fins do maybe just a bit more than us, but the difference is this, if I invite my friend out for a drink, the bill is on me!, if a Fin invites you out on a date , or for a drink, in most cases, bring your ,money with you!
According to my culture, as from the age of 8 or even 6, kids are already aware of their bodies and already cant just be naked before anybody. Even after bathing, a 7 year old will easily ask for privacy to put on clothes.
This is what I have grown up with for the last more than 20 years.
As a woman, I cant basically be seen naked by anybody unless we are intimate with that person, leave alone my parents! in fact that’s a taboo especially for fathers. So this is me in Finland, on my second day, my Host Family, very excited and eager to show me the culture,
They organized a surprise welcome party for me, A sauna with some With my Host Family, they ask me to join them in Sauna, that was ok, until I was informed that we all have to be very Naked.
This was my experience of Finnishness at least to the extreme.
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