When I think about Finland and Finnishness, the first things that come to my mind are nature and people. Life is about simple things. We have beautiful nature with white winters, green forest and of course thousands of lakes. When I started to think about it, all my the most unforgettable memories located somewhere peaceful and close the nature like cottages, not in big cities. I have been living my hole life in small city and just a few years ago I moved to bigger city. I was suprised that I could still find green and peaceful areas close to central city.
Still what makes us finns are people and culture. We are proud of being finns or at least I am. Even If we don’t say it outloud. There are bunch of sterotypes about finns and we love to make jokes about them. The comfort being in silence with other people and saying only things that we mean. We are rule followers, discipline and quiet people or at least till you get to know us better. Things that brings us together are, for example, sauna and icehockey. If someone mention Finland in sosial media and you go to look at comment section, there is always at least one comment ”Suomi mainuttu” or ”torille”. Social distance is also in big role and we enjoy our own space.
Still the most important thing, that we easily forget about is freedom. Maybe because we take it for granted. We have privilege to say what we think as long as it doesn’t offend other people or their privacy. We have free school system that is equal to everyone. And we don’t have to be afraid when we are walking alone. That’s the thing I am the most grateful.
Comments