All my life that I lived in Finland, I experienced both sides of the coin. There is the dull, dark, wet and cold days for most of the year. But every now and then, there is also warm and even hot day in summer, but there is also absolute beauty in both nature and cities, you just have to stop and watch.
Myself, I grew up in a small town south of Finland. As much as I can remember the sky was almost always gray through out the year. Yet whenever clouds would break, you would start notice a little charm in this sea side village. And as for winter, there is incredible beauty, how fresh snow shimmers in the sun. It would be too blinding to realize the beauty of this with out the gloomy days.
And while Finns are stereotypically distant and reserved to themself. You can find kindness in moments you would not expect it. Silence is a virtue and sign of respect to a next seat neighbor. If we want to scream and be loud, we crank up the amps and put those loud thought into music. As Finland is well known for love of heavy music.
But stereotypes aside, there is many different sorts of Finns. There is quiet types and there are those who have endless stream of words and topics, that would make even chattiest American question their social type. And of course there is everything in between.
But I believe that in every Finn there is certain skill of perseverance and adaptability that helps as get through the Kaamos (polar night, sounds more dramatic in Finnish) and persistent cold. And that is Finnishness to me.
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