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What are the Finns like?
Silence in the steam
Saunas in Finland are a 10,000-year-old tradition. The sauna is thought to have a physically and spiritually cleansing effect. To many it’s a place for quiet reflection, but finding a local to show the ropes of sauna etiquette is rarely a challenge for visitors.
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An escape to the woods
The vastness of Finnish nature tends to surprise visitors. “If you drive 30 minutes from New York City, you end up in Queens, but a half an hour’s drive from Helsinki takes you to the woods,” says Chris Wlach, U.S-based attorney who has visited Finland twice.
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Room to breathe
Finland’s population density is 15 people per square kilometre, one of the lowest in Europe; by comparison, the equivalent number in the Netherlands is 378 per square kilometre. In some areas, one can spend an entire summer vacation without encountering another person.
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Cabin cravings
For many Finns, the only way to spend a summer holiday is getting out of town; there are about 500,000 summer cottages throughout the country. Many don’t have running water, and an outhouse is said to be an essential part of the experience.
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I know I’m shy
Finns take part in promoting their own image as shy and introverted, and often make jokes about it. “Finns are very aware of their image as reserved compared to other European nations, even places like Sweden,” says Chris Wlach.
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Solitary stereotypes
According to many visitors, the image of Finnish shyness is often exaggerated. “Finnish people might not strike up a conversation, but quite frankly it doesn’t happen in other places either,” says Magdalena Skipper of London, who rented a summer cottage in Finland.
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What Are the Finns Like?
Finns playfully mock their own distinctive shyness, but many visitors have a different kind of experience with the local culture.
“An introverted Finn looks at his shoes when talking to you; an extroverted Finn looks at your shoes,” goes an of-cited Finnish joke. Residing in a historically isolated and sparsely populated country, Finns are known for – and well aware of – their tendency to enjoy silence. In fact, most guidebooks on Finnish customs mention the local penchant for privacy.
Finns often warn visitors of the reserved nature of their countrymen, but what many foreigners notice instead is the local friendliness – and, fittingly, self-deprecating humour.
No reservations, shy friendliness
“I heard from my Finnish teacher and friends that there was this idea of Finnish people being reserved, which was funny, because it wasn’t at all my experience,” says Chris Wlach, New York-based attorney who studied Finnish in college and has visited the country twice.
Magdalena Skipper, London-based editor of Nature magazine, rented a lakeside cottage near Kuopio last summer. She says that although the Finnish preference for privacy came across in some ways – she noted that at local bars, many enjoyed coming in for a drink on their own – she was also struck by people’s warmth, both at the tourism office and elsewhere; one man even started a lengthy conversation with a group of foreigners inside a sauna.
“Of course it’s the job of the employees in the tourism office to provide information, but you can either do it in a need-to-know basis or a friendly way, and the people at the Kuopio office were very engaging,” she says.
A playful awareness
Alison Daly, a UK native who befriended two Finnish girls during an exchange year in Lille, France, says that she noticed her friends to be shyer in an international group than in their comfort zone at home.
“In France it took us a little while to develop a real friendship because they were quieter in the group, but being in Finland with their friends, I didn’t notice anyone to be shy,” she says. “I heard people say that Finnish people would be colder, but especially when you go as the guest of a friend, you don’t have a wall between you and them. Everyone made me feel welcome.”
Chris Wlach says that his studying in New York may have skewed his impressions, as most of the Finns he met were very active in the local cultural community and thus outgoing by nature, but adds that in Finland he always got a warm welcome. He also says that he noticed Finns to be conscious of their shy reputation.
“It’s a playful awareness. Unlike stereotypes in many other countries where people are hesitant to make jokes about them, most Finns seem very aware of their image and don’t take it too seriously,” he says.
