I find kindness everywhere in Finland. Even though many Finns truly appreciate their own privacy and space and do not contact strangers easily most of them are always ready to help and very friendly even towards complete strangers. Travelling abroad has made me realize that Finnish silence has it’s very own special characteristics and that’s the kindness and honesty and actually caring about other people and that’s just hiding behind the silence. Even though you don’t chit chat with everyone or share a lot of personal information easily I have seen and experienced so many moments where complete strangers step out to help others in small or big situations or just smile friendly to you in a stressful moment. It had made me appreciate Finnish way of being so much – I’d much rather take the silence and honesty with the readiness to step in to help and be friendly than the (sometimes) pretentious small talk where people don’t actually care in the end.
Being a very talkative and loud Finn might of course shape my perspectives on this topic – I approach strangers easily and they approach me as well quite often. But still I stand behind my words: Finnish silence is not rude and Finnish people are very caring and friendly.
And thanks to Finnish emptiness, if you actually don’t like people around you can always find complete silence very close by when needed.
Comments