Finnish Culture, by Luke Kindelin

4.            From your conversations with Finnish people, what have you learned about the Finnish culture? How do you compare the things you learned from the way things are in the American culture?

So many things, slightly different.

There are so many differences between Finnish culture and American culture, that it was really easy to see the differences nearly as soon as I walked off the plane. At the baggage terminal, it was easy to spot the Finns, quiet and respectful, but really ready to help a foreigner find a bus stop after a long flight. This feeling of personal respect is a typical Finnish attribute, yes, of course there are outliers, but as a whole, nearly every interaction I’ve had here has been really genuine.

Nation of introverts

This is one of the first things I learned about Finland before visiting here on my educational tour, that it was, “A nation of introverts”. This couldn’t be more true, and one of the major themes that seem to drive the culture. Everything that I’ve seen personally, and every little detail that I can compare as different reaffirms this bias. People here seem to be extremely polite, and even when a group of loud Americans invade their morning bus, don’t roll their eyes or something. They just carry on as if nothing ever happened, even though its highly intrusive in reality.

Unassuming

Every interpersonal interaction I’ve had with professionals here in Finland was overwhelmingly positive and straightforward. Finns are unassuming, in that their country is so small, people know each other well enough that they don’t need to be bragging all the time. When I was talking to engineers at ABB, they said that nobodyy uses their professional title on even their business cards. This is so different to me, In the US, it is expected that you’re constantly self-promoting your personal brand to get ahead and stay completive, here, you’re judged on your competence, not your confidence. The conversation structure was also extremely important, nobody here talks over each other, when it’s your time to talk, you talk. When it’s the other person’s time to talk, they talk. It sounds so simple, but so often goes wrong back in America.

Straightforward

Everything here is straightforward and seems well reasoned out. From the practice of putting the price of an item directly on the tag, tax included. To the high social supports for things like education and healthcare. Everyone here has at least a competitive opportunity for a free education as high as they’d like. The higher someone is educated, the better the country does. Everyone needs health care, so just skip the middle man and use it like a utility. In the US we save and save our whole lives because we don’t want to starve when we’re old, here, the elderly don’t have to worry about paying for that expensive surgery, or required pill regimen. So they’re free to save less, which drives the economy and makes it really financially stable.

Integration

Honestly, I could live here. Maybe that’s the honeymoon stage talking, but I really feel at home here. This may be due in part because of the amazing time I’ve had, or the excellent people that smoothed things out even before we got here, making it a somewhat sheltered experience. But really, What I’ll take away from this is the overwhelming politeness and down to earth nature of the Finnish. Besides everything being in a different language at the grocery store, leading to predictable results, it’s like a nicer version of America.