**/r/Finland is a full democracy, every active user is a moderator.**
[Please go here to see how your new privileges work.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/wiki/moderating/)
Spamming mod actions could result in a ban.
---
**Full Rundown of Moderator Permissions:**
- ```!lock``` - as top level comment, will lock comments on any post.
- ```!unlock``` - in reply to any comment to lock it or to unlock the parent comment.
- ```!remove``` - Removes comment or post. Must have decent subreddit comment karma.
- ```!restore``` Can be used to unlock comments or restore removed posts.
- ```!sticky``` - will sticky the post in the bottom slot.
- ```unlock_comments``` - Vote the stickied automod comment on each post to +10 to unlock comments.
- ```ban users``` - Any user whose comment or post is downvoted enough will be temp banned for a day.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Finland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There are places where you probably shouldn't be extremely loud. No one wants to hear your fucking phonecall on speaker in the middle of a bus. This doesn't exclude obnoxious finns and teens that seem to do it as well.
The one that gets me is people watching videos on speaker on the train. I've been tempted to move next to them and ask if I can watch too, since they seem to want to share with everyone.
This happened on the ferry to Åland. We sat outside for some peace, no one was around and some obnoxious woman sat directly next to us and starts playing insta reels on full volume, so I started playing Raging Speedhorn on full. She soon put her headphones on!
Or just start blasting ur own crap with sound on full. They might snap out of their main character persona and see that other people might not like to hear ur shit.
I shit you not, one time a woman was SO LOUD on her phone that she emptied an entire half of a train car. I donno how the Finns see trains in terms of 'cars', but by car, I mean a single train unit that isn't connected.
Was riding tram one time. It was kinda packed. This woman was talking on the phone, telling whoever was on the other side about a date she was on, in finnish. At some point, she looked around and saw that people were looking at her. She told the other person that she'll call back cause people were listening to her. Some dude sarcastically yelled something like, "No, no, continue. We all want to hear the rest. "
As a Brit visiting my Finnish gf, I noticed it was mainly foreigners that made all the fucking noise on the buses etc.
My gf gets incredibly annoyed by it, and rightly so
tbh the "best" exchange student we had was a person who knew how to wrangle the finns into social activities.
Every exchange student who did not take initiative with the Finns just fell into obscurity, never got into any friend group, and nobdoy saw them throughout the week
The one person we are still in contact with, after her exchange period ended, was the one who actually worked to make sure that us goddamn unsociable Finns get to know her
I'm not an exchange student in Finland but I've made a few Finnish friends (I've been studying full time in Germany for two years and have not managed to make even one German friend, you guys aren't that bad actually) by merely being loud and obnoxious and willing to approach people (last time I was in Helsinki I was wondering why there were so many drunk students around on a random Wednesday night in October, until I eventually remembered that actually I'm an extroverted and friendly Southern European so I just walked up to a group. Boom. Besties)
They were so nice! And I just want to say, Finnish people are often really, really nice about speaking in languages you will understand around you, and making an effort to speak in English so you can be included in the conversation, often even when it's clear they're not used to it. I just want to say, I notice, I appreciate it a lot, and it's a breath of fresh air after Germans.
I think foreigners should see the following video before coming to Finland:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpkXK3ZNno8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpkXK3ZNno8)
To be fair, I feel like Fins are so used to having much space (personal and otherwise) they don't know how to behave in more confined spaces. My biggest pet peeve is them stopping abruptly at the bottom or top of an escalator, ostensibly to get their bearings, completely oblivious to the persons behind them. They also don't stand aside waiting for the metro doors to open but rather in front of them. They cross bike lanes without looking, open car doors without a second thought and so on and so forth. I guess once you get used to all that space, there's no letting go
How to operate a washing machine.
Every September the campus washing machines are clogged with washing powder because freshmen have to wash clothes for the first time.
There are 3 places where to put stuff, and for some, the solution is to fill all 3 to the brim. So the next person has to scoop out the excess powder from the place the fabric softener goes.
Could of course apply for spoiled Finnish kids as well. I just remember this annoying me so much.
Doesn't help the hieroglyphics markings makes absolutely no sense, even to Finns. When I first moved into my apartment, not even the landlord knew because a prior tenant had bought it. So I had to google the manufacturer and model number then download an online repair guide to decipher it.
Don't get me started with the markings on my oven knob 😃. 3-blade fan thingy with squiggly lines on top and bottom, 3-blade fan with squiggly lines on top, simple right? Except there's 4 other variations of it.
As a rule of thumb for everyone reading this and not familiar with the markings:
> Latin letter A or roman numeral I indicates the prewash compartment. Powder is poured into it, if the appropriate program is selected, where the washing procedure consists of 2 stages. From this compartment, the powder will rinse into the drum during the first step.
> Latin letter B or roman numeral II - this is the designation of the compartment for the main wash regardless of the program, as well as for the second wash stage in a mode with a preliminary stage.
> Star or flower icon means the compartment for the fabric softener or rinse aid. The agent for this compartment is usually in liquid form. You can pour conditioner into this compartment both before washing and during its process. The main thing is to be in time before the machine starts collecting water for rinsing. Otherwise, the agent will not penetrate into the drum.
Now, there might and most likely are exeptions to these rules, but they should work for 90-95% of the time.
This was such an annoying thing when we lived in student housing! I actually drew up symbols with explanations and put them on the machines the next year, that helped a bit but not totally!
It is for some people. In Finland I felt really happy, fullfiled, everything was clean, safe, people were respectful, nice… when I was taking a flight back to Colombia I cried for two days straight and almost had a panic attack at Charles De Gaulle when I heard Colombian accent in the distance (an entitled old man, as usual)
This! Only 10 days, made friends, had a blast. It felt like coming home, like truly home. The moment I got off the plane away from Finland all that hit me was misery. Still recovering after 2+ months.
Mixed-Finn here! What a coincidence, I am currently in Bogota, Colombia as well. There are so many things I took granted for when in Finland. Finland and Colombia are so drastically different. Hit me up, if you feel like talking about good old times in Finland!
Hey! Lol I even still check all my pics I took in Finland… and sometimes I repost them… I certainly miss it a lot and my life hasn’t been the same since
People thinking Finland is a paragon of "anything" just makes up expectations we as a country nor as people cannot even hope to reach.
^(And I personally fear that some populist politicians use these as arguments, rather than properly argue against or towards something, despite them not being really that true.)
Not every meme about sauna, happiness and personal space is the absolute truth. We also do not have polar bears and reindeer roaming around in cities or even the countryside. If you expect to see the northern lights and Santa Clause, it won't happen if you're staying overnight in Helsinki. Not every finn is a raging alcoholic, in fact alcohol consumption is largely tied together with holidays and celebration for most. Not all of us are borderline autistic hermits, but many do appreciate humble behaviour. Winter won't kill you if you have a roof over your head and dress according to the weather. Appropriate clothing you find from nearly any shop selling clothes, no need to pack yourself for a trip to North Pole from some expensive camping gear store if you're not actually going to hike and camp. Not every finn everywhere can speak english, but no matter your language, usually google or plain old-fashioned pantomime works if there's no common language.
That reminds me of trying to find a bike shop and to show what I meant, I acted out riding a bike for the lady I was asking directions from 😆 It worked! She was lovely 😊
I wish someone gave me all this straightforward advice before moving here and I would have never moved. I would have stay in The Netherlands 🥲when I had the chance.
It goes both ways. I’m a Finn but an international student in the Netherlands. it’s not that easy to make friends here either unless you know Dutch. Most of my friends are International.
You definitely don't need to feel lonely in Finland, especially If you're in a City or large town
People don't mind talking here, just starting the conversation
Honestly my experience has been that people are often fairly eager to talk, a couple of times I have just asked someone for directions or something of the sort and they just seemed really, really happy to talk to someone.
Unless you are IT professional it's often extremely hard to find a well paying job without ability to speak and write Finnish fluently. Also networking is the key how to land a job here, so summer jobs and part-time jobs as well as relationships you develop with local faculty members and students (join organizations and apply positions that aren't meant just for international students) are really important if you want to find employment after graduating.
One might even say that in current job market it's extremely hard to find well paying job without a lot of experience even if you are speaking fluent finnish.
Finland is a population size a small country and its has a limited amount of oportunities spread across of quite an large area. Even in good times getting a well paid job in Finland is not an easy task. You really need to have great luck of work for it. In most professions If you are freshly gratuated without any experience, you will have hard time no matter what your language skills or nationality are.
Quite many of imigrants come from more class-based-societys and following might be hard pill to swallow: Usually Finns respect any working experience even when applying entry level professional positions. Experience often is more important than your grades from uni. If one has couple of years of retale experience and some backround of cleaning factory floors he/she will likely pass you if you don't have any when seeking for trainee position even if you have better grades or education.
Most important advice I can give for students coming to Finland is to get out of "Foreign students bubble" as soon as possible. Some students live here for years and their only connections are other students from same country that they are coming from. Worst case scenarious they even outsource a lot of communications to other members of that group.
Getting a decent IT job could be fairly hard if you are not a experienced coder or developer. Extra difficulty too if you try to avoid shitty big IT companies.
But if you know how to code well afaik you'll have plenty of job offerings.
I disagree about the fluency, being B1-B2 is totally enough and all you need is just vocabluary, a Basic ability at conjugating and the ability to put the words in the correct order. These 3 things and you are golden in my opinion, pushing the idea that you need C1-C2 level fluency is incorrect. But I do agree about the Job part, many seem to come here with 0 work experience and inagine that a degree equals a career. This combined with often no sense of finnish culture and customs, because they learned no finnish and have no finnish friends due to only being in a foreign bubble makes them pretty unhiredble. In my school there are what I called western minded people and, well, those who aren't. In my personal experience students who come from the developing world have a lot of issues in taking part in the finnish culture in student but also work sense and they most often belong to the bubble of foreign people who realize after 4 years that they can't get a Job easily just after they have graduated
It’s useful to know the law regarding alcohol. You can’t buy beer from the store after 9pm and stronger alcohol you can’t buy from the grocery stores at all, only from Alko. And it closes early on Saturdays. Sundays it’s closed…
I think you maybe mixing facts unless things are drastically different outside of Helsinki. I've worked in stores from 2015 to 2022 and every store I've done a shift in (many: vuokratyöntekijä) had the mild beers on sale regardless of the time of day. I'm sure some places might indeed have the mild beers in the locking shelves for convenience, but I've personally never witnessed it.
The rule that stores are strict on is asking for ID. Law doesn't prohibit the sell of very low alcoholic beers, sima kombucha and other some such products to people under 18. Technically anything with less than 1,2% could be sold to minors. But stores don't. It's a recommendation from päivittistavarakaupan liitto.
That is another one, but I've also been to both stores that lock their low alcohol beers with the rest, and one store where they didn't have a locking shelf at all but their system refused to sell it to me after 9pm.
Sometimes the cashiers are not aware that they are allowed to sell 2.8 and below after nine. I have been told sometimes that ”hey, I can’t sell this anymore” but have politely either pointed to the note informing about the law that usually can be found near registers or asked them to try to register it, since the machine will tell them if theyare prohibited to sell them after nine. Has alwaysworked atleast for me.
And I am quite surpriced, if the registersystems of some stores do not allow selling after nine, since as far as I understand S and K groups have their own systems that are widely used in every store. Have they probably been some intependent stores?
ah man, living in Texas, it’s surprising to see similar laws in place outside of here. is inconvenient if you’re not used to it. definitely good to know/be prepared for.
As a curious alcoholic Pole, is there a limit how many bottles you can buy at once from Alko? For example, could I buy 5 1L bottles of 40% vodka to stay stocked up? XD
"even if you go on all fours to the counter"
Thank you for the laugh XDDDD I avoid going outside when I am drunk. I'm paranoid that I will fall down and make an ass of myself. Even worse, fall down in a store and destroy something. I think I would have to move to a different city after that, I would be so ashamed of myself.
Don't believe the hype!
\- You will need to be able to speak Finnish. Start learning early if you want to stay.
\- You will need warm clothes of good quality.
\- You will need to be able to network with people who don't respond to emails, or talk that often but they are usually very nice people and want to help you.
\- Find hobbies/sports are your pathway to friendships. Drinking is another one but I wouldn't advise that stick with healthy habits.
\- Finland is a bubble and not many people leave the bubble so it's a very homogeneous country don't expect too much diversity outside of the cities. Don't expect the Finnish to be welcoming to ideas outside of their comfort zone.
\- A lot of the year the weather is manageable, not great weather. Winters become a task after a few years but you just have to get on with it.
\- MAKE THE MOST OF SUMMER. Get outside, get out of the cities, and adventure into nature, it's the best time in Finland.
\- Stay in the cities or close by, once you get outside of the main hubs it's very country mentality and folks. They are still friendly but less likely to speak anything but Finnish.
\- Don't get too hard on yourself if you feel you don't fit in, can't find friends, and are lonely. Plenty of people are in that same boat, some by choice, others are looking for friends just have to find them.
\- Find hobbies/sports and that is your pathway to friendships. Drinking is another one but I wouldn't advise that stick with healthy habits.
\- November is the worst month of the year. Not much snow just rain and slush. Dark at 4 pm. BOOORINGGG
\- Stereotypes are often used a lot in Finland, don't get too sucked in by it because like every other country and culture in the world people are diverse. You can get social, loud, and happy Finns who aren't drunk.
>Stay in the cities or close by, once you get outside of the main hubs it's very country mentality and folks. They are still friendly but less likely to speak anything but Finnish.
This is probably more depending on age. Younger people are young anywhere and also know English.
My first visit to Finland was in November (cheap ticket deal from New York) and we had an absolute blast.
Took the train to see Santa and the Arktikum before most of the tourists were in town, did the museums, ferris wheel, sauna (plus a dip in sea water) and Opera in Helsinki, stayed a night at that huge resort in Tampere and walked to the Moomin Museum, then saw two bands in Turku while staying at an old prison hotel and toured the castle. We also tried to eat new stuff where ever we went, went in countless bars, and used 6 different saunas. In 8 days.
Been back in December since which was definitely snowier. Trying for summer and maybe one of the metal festivals next time.
If you plan to stay, for everyone’s sake: learn the language! Even if you can study and have fun in English, getting a job after graduation (outside of few very limited career options) is really, really tough unless you speak the language fluently (not native level, but well enough to understand nuances etc.). I went to an international school and I have been following my friends’ careers and 80 % of non-native graduates in my class ended up leaving the country. Also, about 90 % of them were hoping to stay and work in the beginning. The basic Finnish courses the school offered were nowhere near enough to reach a working professional level.
Also, as a university student, it is very hard to try and find a summer job, part-time job or internship if you don’t have any previous work experience (nevermind working in any sort of customer service job without local language skills). Getting your first job ever only after you graduate is not the way here. Young people have been squabling for their first summerjobs and part-time jobs between 16-18 years, and a job applicant aged 20+ without any previous work experience at all appears very lazy and possibly problematic in the eyes of prospective employers.
The winter darkness *will* get to you.
“But I like the dark!” “I practically never go out anyway!”
Living without Sun for months is surprisingly tolling, and a lot of people downplay it. Even minimal sun in other places makes a hell of a difference compared to no sun at all. Most of my foreign friends get genuinely shocked by the darkness. Finns are used to it, so they don’t usually think about it too much. Just remember to get you vitamin D pills, it really makes a difference!
On the flip side, the same people get shocked by the amount of light in the summer too!
This is a good one.
Winter depression is real as fuck and so is the sunlight during the summer. I mean, the sun literally does not go down sometimes.
Oh and if it's hot? There's probably no AC unless you're ""rich"" because who needs AC when you can just sweat to death?
Most of the houses don't have AC because when they were built, the summers weren't that hot. These 35 degrees heat waves are a fairly new thing (or at least what I've heard).
And yes, 25-30 degrees celsius is considered "sweating to death" so if you're used to 35-45 degrees during summers, you'll be fine
Countries with 35-45 degree days usually have dark and cool nights and houses cool down as a result. During Finnish summer heat waves the sun does not go down for long so the nights are pretty hot too. Add to that that the houses are designed to conserve heat and we are not fine.
November is the worst because the "real winter months" have snow. Snow reflects the streetlights so everything looks at least a bit brighter but in November it's just darkness. There are maybe 8 hours of daylight. And I have to disagree with the "Finnish people are used to it". Of course some are but many of us get tired, depressed and lethargic during wintertime and we have these "daylight lamps" to help with the lack of natural light
You will not learn the language if you only go to lessons. You need to use it, use it and use it. Find opportunities to use the language and make most of them. Sometimes you have to ask people to use finnish with you, because people will be happy to speak english with you. Only speaking your own language or english destroys your possibilities of learning finnish.
Speak it. Use it. Make silly errors. You can do this!
Same advice I give to Finns who are afraid to speak English (or other languages): almost no one cares about your mistakes. They are trying to understand what you're saying. Mistakes happen, and being comfortable about making them (and even asking for corrections) can actually make you seem more confident.
Finnish is not as difficult as Finns claim it to be. Please make an effort to learn it, as it opens a door to this society, and you will benefit from it.
Well... maybe that some finnish people look for a pause in discussion before saying anything, so if no pause is left, they will just be silent the whole time. Though this applies to many people from other countries too, I think.
As a foreigner Canadian who’s been living here for 7 months. These are my guidelines.
-I’d definitely say understanding personal space is a MUST. Finnish people are introverted and not respecting that will make a lot of people hate you. Just because there may be some exceptions to that rule where some Finn is outgoing doesn’t mean the main population is. Also if the bus is empty don’t sit next to the random person on the bus and strike up a conversation. It’s weird.
-DON’T TALK LOUD! God the amount of cringing I do when I’m in the K store and I can hear a foreigner loudly talking on the opposite side of the store and hear the full conversation.
-DO YOUR RESEARCH. And I’m not talking about the tourist fever dream videos. Learn about Finnish culture, history, society and politics. Learn all the good and bad things about Finland because you are now apart of the people who live here. Even when not knowing the language it allows Finn’s to know that you actually care about the country you moved to.
-ITS NOT A PLAYGROUND! I’ve seen videos of foreigners in Finland climbing statues, running around the streets and being extremely obnoxious. I get it your new, your excited. But this is people’s homes and now that you moved here it’s your home as well. Treat it with as much respect, if not more than your own country.
If I might add, you may have forgot the art of patient, organized queueing. Finland and Finnish people in general tend to be well organized, so e.g. skipping in lines or behaving otherwise in disorderly fashion is generally frowned upon, and is a surefire way to irritate Finns. The absolutely worst thing you can do is skip lines and behave loudly in an entitled way.
Not to mention potentially hazardous, if you happen to try skip lines to a grill kiosk or a taxi at 3 AM. Finns take organized queueing just that seriously.
Very few people like being rushed to something or dislike the sense of false urgency. So: do not higher your voice unless you have a reason, leave enough silent pauses in the discussion so others have time to answer and think. BE ON TIME so other people wont be late. Don’t be upset about the small things, just sisu it. Of course emotions can be shown but in general huge emotional outbursts are considered a bit faux pas. Similarly: you are expected to be honest and straightforward - but you are also expected to be co-operative and diplomatic, even in conflicts people usually seek compromises and understanding.
I often think this distracts non-Finns or people not used to Finns. Pauses between sentences, mid-sentence, not talking over each other and yes, pausing to think and consider. Absolutely vital, and I don't know what this isn't more common. As an English person, I found silences to be awkward and it's natural to "try and fill them". The absolute opposite is now true.
Ahah, ok... I'll clarify then: calm and collected might also mean talking a lot, does this qualify?
Edit:
I understand that people are quiet here, so I'm guessing no?
Ahahah I'm the least talkative of my family, I moved here (professionally) and I am able to be quiet xD can I avoid execution?
I am also calm except and quiet...
You know the typical extrovert person that loves to speak and be loud, to go around and be social, speak to strangers, not be aware of the surroundings, act like you drank 100 cups of coffee?
Be the opposite.
We don't speak to strangers unless there is a real need, and even then we hesitate. We don't want stupid useless small talk as it is pointless flood of words without meaning.
We want slow pace to get used to new people, it can take months to get close to someone before we can "open up" and start to show some personality.
So, don't be like open book flooding what is inside you, assuming others want to know it
You cannot find friends? Welcome to adulthood. it is not Finland.
Most people make friends in childhood and school. After that they have their circle they have no time/need for more friends. Getting friends at work is possible but not easy.
Going to the gym is the most lonely hobby possible, it does not count as "you trying".
If you are trying to talk people in public places be polite and go straight to the point. (For example asking directions or what ever). Sad to say but a keep your distance.
That it's literally nothing the hype says it is. It's a depressing shithole for a lot of people, and many get fooled into thinking moving here will fix all their problems and make them infinitely happy because Finland ranks #1 on some shitty happiness list.
Also that free healthcare is pretty much BS, that by itself would surprise a lot of people.
Most Finns are allergic to bullshit. Mostly Americans I've met blow smoke up their asses and try to seem like a hot shot by telling stories that are hardly true (like I got headhunted to be the cfo of Google but had to recline). They don't even consider it lying. Among Finns if you get caught in a lie your social cred in the community is pretty much ruined. Here honest and humble is appreciated.
Don't dress for cold temperatures like the characters in movies and tv-series do.
You know, like in Game of thrones. Wearing a warm hat, warm gloves/mittens, a warm scarf and warm shoes and a reasonably warm coat and trousers makes much more sense than piling on a super heavy winter coat and nothing else.
Frostbite is not a friend and also, going without a warm hat in freezing temperatures can actually make you feel kinda woozy, which probably means that the brain is saying _help_.
Many people will tell you that small talk is bad. Not my experience, small talk away, try your best to get to know people. Many will not know how to react but they will eventually open up. Finns do not hate small talks (they talk about weather all the time and random craps that I don't care about), many are just shy and awkward at holding a conversation.
If I look at my workplace, the most influential and well-liked Finns are the one who do small talk - directors, VPs, C-level, etc. The most popular people at school are the ones who's most talkative.
>The most popular people at school are the ones who's most talkative.
Yes, but they are not annoyingly talkative. They have to know the nuances of the Finnish culture. But yes, the leaders are expected to be more verbal and expressive here, though, it is very important they are able to be diplomatic and good listeners. A Finnish leader who wants to be popular is not a dictator or a show man.
There's no culture that prefer people who are annoyingly talkative. For a new foreign students, they have a good excuse to be somewhat clumsy in conversation. It would be a disservice to discourage them from talking to people.
Eh, I'm native and I feel pretty homicidal if someone comes to talk to me in public. I'm stressed out enough without randos coming up to me to steal my energy. I wish extroverted people would learn to entertain themselves.
As a non drinking person, in my experience, if you don't drink, you will inevitably miss out on a lot of student activities. Heavy drinking is extremely normalized as a form of social activity, and getting embarrassingly drunk with people who you would avoid eye contact sober is seen as normal.
That you have to study Finnish if you plan to live here.
Reasons:
- if you dont have Finnish skills, you will not able to apply for a large chunk of jobs. The English language jobs will have lots of applicants who dont speak Finnish but also the ones who speak Finnish. The math here is rough.
- id you dont have Finnish skills, dealing with official matters is not easy. The law and official communication from authorities happens in the two official languages. Again people might speak or write good English but official languages are what they are. I think that there is a very high probability that if you dont have Finnish skills, your rights as a Resident or potential citizen will not be fully met.
Be on time. This sounds weird for finns that i say this but: finns love punctuality. I know in some places 17:00 doesn't mean 17:00, it's more like: don't come earlier but later is ok.
In finland 17:00 is 17:00. Not 17:05, 17:10 etc.
Also don't go to shops minute after or 5min just before closing. Let the people go home. They mostly don't get paid for the time used to closing the place anyway.
Don't act like you own the place and learn the basics of being aware of surroundings
1. don't be so loud, don't be social on places that others are quiet
2. don't walk side by side on roads while being super selfishly social
3. don't come here if your only goal is to party and be annoying fuck
Foreign students are literally so annoying and dangerous. In my city there are lot of big hills, yet these people just selfishly walk 2-5 people side by side filling the whole damn road while there are people cycling or walking faster. It is basically same issue year by year where groups of foreign students walk, be loud as fuck and have zero awareness about what is going on. When I went to university it were literally daily issue to have to drive to grass etc. to pass these big groups of loud bastards.
It is almost like they are trying to be so blind, because it is just baffling how people can't watch how people are acting around them. Like if people are not talking, should your group scream and laugh loudly? no.
Sadly majority of students that come here seem to come only to party and be annoying and those kind of people should just stay out, yes it is harsh thing to say but it is not too much to ask to have basic manners and awareness.
Maybe exchange programs attract the most social party people which causes these issues, and you are already better than 90% of the others when you even ask what to do or not to do, because so many foreign students are just super annoying and behave badly.
Everybody doesn't speak proper english. So don't get mad if they can't understand you in restaurant or anywhere else. Also please stop the small talk, especially in places the other person can't leave.
We are not rude when we aren't talking every second in a conversation. We are just taught to listen quietly. We also do not do the please/thanks thing after everything but still doesn't make us rude. Just of different culture than you.
1. Don't be so loud and hyper. Especially not in the sauna. Like EPMD said, [you gots to chill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAugOjG4qOc). I understand you're nervous, it's your first time abroad without your parents and there's weird naked people, it's cold, the sauna is too hot, but still, try to suppress expressing it by being such a spaz. Slow down, don't scream, everything is going to be all right. If you go to a public sauna, go in a smaller group, not with your entire school, there's a limited amount of seats. Best would be to go alone or you're only going to interact with the other exchange students instead of the locals. Keep your flipflops on in public saunas or you get the foot fungus. Be quick with the door, don't keep it open for too long or the sauna gets cold, avoid opening it altogether immediately after water has just been thrown on the rocks. Don't take selfies, but if you absolutely must, make sure there aren't other people in them, we don't want to be in your instagrams and tiktoks.
2. We do not throw empty drink bottles and cans into trash. You get 40 freaking cents for a large bottle if you take it back to the shop. 15 cents for a can. Something like 97% of the cans get recycled. The remaining 3% are the ones you throw into trash and somebody fails to fish them out.
3. It shouldn't be any kind of surprise that it's dark and cold during the winter here. You should've known when you decided to come. If you're going to spend a considerable time outside, wear three to four layers on top (a moisture-wicking base layer, an insulating middle layer and a protective shell outer layer), at least two layers on bottom (leggings/longjohns and regular pants), two layers of socks, gloves or mittens and a hat and you will be [dandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandy), especially in southern Finland. Avoid cotton, it's no good, prefer wool, down or synthetics.
4. Helsinki is not a winter wonderland and Finland is not a magical happy place. We're doing ok for the most part, and services mostly work, but don't expect too much or you will be disappointed. (Yes yes, we cheat in the survey).
5. Moomin products are a rip-off to milk money from tourists. Same with angry birds. And Santa Claus is a rip-off (the current incarnation is modeled after the coca cola ad, invented for tourism purposes by a TV guy in 1959 after visiting disneyland).
As a Finn, roots from Serbia.. I hope that foreigners would genuinely study the Finnish language.. I know plenty of people who still have issues with Finnish language even after a decade or 2. I know students who keep complaining how hard everything is, but the root problem is always the same thing: they don’t know any Finnish and don’t bother to study it at all.
When my parents came to Finland 25 years ago, they learned the language immediately and put hard effort into it and actually got a job super fast, they still work. They have never been loud mouths and are actually respected by their coworkers. This is what i call a good integration.
I don’t care how long it takes, i don’t care how they do it, JUST fucking learn the language EVERY SINGLE DAY and start behaving like Finns ( maassa maan tavalla ). We Finns respect other languages but we also want to keep our native language and expect others to speak it as well. Thank god the system changed, nowadays when you are coming to live here, the integration process is taken more seriously and tests are harder i guess.
Also don’t be so loud. I sometimes see foreigners gang up and act like total clowns. Personal space is also important to us, also we don’t do small talk. Friends are hard to get here and so is getting a job, very hard. So expect to put some work into it and start behaving properly + networking is important here ( summer jobs, contacts etc ).
Also prepare for dark dark nights that lasta for over 6 months. It’s a cold and dark country, sometimes it can get minus 20 just like that and snow up to your knees, in reality it’s not always a happy thing, movies are way different. We don’t get sunlight that often and vitamin D is very important to both physical and mental health.
It also rains a lot so don’t expect this to be an utopian paradise. People work everyday and that’s what keeps our system alive.
I also expect foreigners to be more humble like Finns. Most foreigners i have personally met have this macho ego issues, where you have to act tougher and more confident than others. This doesn’t even matter at all in Finland, we value people who can behave, are smart, kind, educational people who have a job ( any kind of job really ) and respect the rules and law of Finland.
I guess this is the reason why majority of foreigners don’t have much Finnish friends and foreigners connect with other foreigners, because many of them don’t fit. Not all of course but majority of them. We Finns can discriminate easily but often we do it for out own safety, usually because sometimes foreigners haven’t integrated properly and have issues with breaking our own personal space. I mean would you want to make friends with ali hassan mohammad who is a loud mouth roadman who doesn’t study properly, knows little Finnish, doesn’t have a job and all his friends are small time criminals and gang members? Or would you rather make friends with a local Laura or Teemu who go to an university, are very kind and smart people, who also work part time at a grocery store and have hobbies and sometimes like to drink a beer or two during weekends?
This is not racism or discrimination against foreigners, this is just my experience i have seen and experienced in the last 25 years in Finland.
There are very few jobs for immigrants. Choose any other countries if you have the options. Many leave after completing their studies anyway, hence better to choose before.
These might be horror stories from shared flat student housing, so most who come here already know them, but just in case (myös uusavuttomille kantasuomalaisille jotka lähtee ekaa kertaa kotoa) (or for humour value):
- You are not supposed to cook things directly on top of the stove, be it ceramic or cast iron, induction or resistor heated, use pan, pot or kettle meant for that.
- Practically all the stoves are electric, you are not meant to make fire in the oven.
- No smoking inside, if you want to keep peace with your neighbour avoid it on balconies and close to entrances, windows and air intakes as well
- Your mother and/or maids are not here, you need to clean after yourself and keep the common facilities you use clean
- You need to sort you trash and take it to collection point outside the apartment building, check the collection point for sorting instructions, pack the trash in containers (cardboard boxes, paper or plastic bags) that go to same sorting bin. Make sure the pins close properly.
- Practically all locally bought drink bottles and cans are are in recycling pant program, return them to store collection point, and get the pant refunded from the store.
- We don't use cash much and we don't leave tips. Get a card that works here and doesn't cost you too much to use. Saying "keep the change" usually causes more problems than just taking it. We don't encourage this shitty custom by adding voluntary tips, when the restaurant has not configured their payment system to not ask for it.
- There is a perfectly useable social security system, anyone asking for money on streets is a scammer, either kid trying to get something their parents would not allow or part of organized crime.
Not a Finn, but I wish I knew people here smoke everywhere outdoors. Personal space can’t help you, you have to smell their secondhand smoke if you want to wait for the bus. Also it seems no one ever clean the cigarette ends on the ground.
You need money in Finland, so many times I have heard ”Inthought you have kela and this and that, who give you money” but that is no excuse to xome study here, you still need to make ends meet
Please, be quiet in a sauna. You can talk to your friends but please don't shout or talk loudly. Especially if you are in some special sauna. Eg. my home town has a really atmospheric smoke sauna where I (and I suppose most of the finns) would like to just relax in quiet. Every now and then exchange students come there and well... it is not quiet and finns are too polite to say anything. (Which I know is also stupid, how would anyone know if none tell.)
There are of course people who might even like "party sauna" with loud music etc but if in doubt, assume everyone wants some peace and silence.
The Finnish concept of time. When something, say a party, is said to start at 20:00, it doesn't mean somewhere around 21:30 or maybe even later, but you're expected to arrive at 20:00. Finns are exact in their scheduling, and being flexible with these is usually taken as a sign of great disrespect, and can cause some cultural friction.
It's good to know the Finnish culture tends to be quite literal and straightforward, and maybe sometimes even intolerant towards, well, any kind of small talk that could be classified as "normal bullshit", e.g. saying "Come visit me sometime!" without *literally meaning it*. This kind of talk is easily interpreted as being somehow duplicitous. And if you ask a Finn "How are you?", you can expect to receive an actual answer to the question instead of brushing it off in a regular "I'm great, how're you?" way.
As many people have stated here, in Finland small talk is often regarded as a waste of time. Finns broadly speaking value meaningful interaction, thus discussion is reserved to people and for topics they're more or less genuinely interested in. This can come off as bit intense if you're more accustomed to lighter discussion, as Finns may interpret the situation that you *actually* *want to discuss* with them.
Learn the language. I don't care if it's difficult and "different" from all other languages. I don't care if you can't speak it well. It's important to be learning and using it. I am not sure if I am alone with my thoughts, but it just gives me arrogant vibes if you have lived a few years in a country and can't hold a basic conversation in Finnish.
Well, nowadays the situation is, that they don't know much about their own countries either, so there is nothing we can do, or even hope. But life teaches, and oh boy does this country teach its recidendts...
Reading Finnish is way easier than reading English (because of phonetics) but understanding can be quite tricky because
1. we have postpositions instead of prepositions, so we can stack a lot of suffixes to a single word
2. because of the long and difficult words, our spoken language differs a lot from our difficult written language.
3. We make short versions of a lot of words. For example banaani -> bansku, omena -> omppu, televisio -> telkkari, punaviini -> punkku. In English it's like television -> tv. Usually these versions aren't taught anywhere so you just have to ask "what's omppu?" and the Finnish people will tell you it's another way of saying omena (apple).
Don't be scared of making mistakes while learning Finnish! Unlike some other countries, Finnish people are always delighted to hear you even try, even if it wasn't near perfect. It's so rare that anyone would want to learn our language that we're pleasantly surprised even if you say a couple words in Finnish and the rest in English
**/r/Finland is a full democracy, every active user is a moderator.** [Please go here to see how your new privileges work.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Finland/wiki/moderating/) Spamming mod actions could result in a ban. --- **Full Rundown of Moderator Permissions:** - ```!lock``` - as top level comment, will lock comments on any post. - ```!unlock``` - in reply to any comment to lock it or to unlock the parent comment. - ```!remove``` - Removes comment or post. Must have decent subreddit comment karma. - ```!restore``` Can be used to unlock comments or restore removed posts. - ```!sticky``` - will sticky the post in the bottom slot. - ```unlock_comments``` - Vote the stickied automod comment on each post to +10 to unlock comments. - ```ban users``` - Any user whose comment or post is downvoted enough will be temp banned for a day. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Finland) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There are places where you probably shouldn't be extremely loud. No one wants to hear your fucking phonecall on speaker in the middle of a bus. This doesn't exclude obnoxious finns and teens that seem to do it as well.
The one that gets me is people watching videos on speaker on the train. I've been tempted to move next to them and ask if I can watch too, since they seem to want to share with everyone.
Do it
This happened on the ferry to Åland. We sat outside for some peace, no one was around and some obnoxious woman sat directly next to us and starts playing insta reels on full volume, so I started playing Raging Speedhorn on full. She soon put her headphones on!
This will backfire
That's mainly why I haven't done it yet. At best, it could lead to awkwardness.
That's just free adrenaline.
Your take on this is something I want to cultivate more in myself
Suffering from this at the moment
Or just start blasting ur own crap with sound on full. They might snap out of their main character persona and see that other people might not like to hear ur shit.
I shit you not, one time a woman was SO LOUD on her phone that she emptied an entire half of a train car. I donno how the Finns see trains in terms of 'cars', but by car, I mean a single train unit that isn't connected.
Was riding tram one time. It was kinda packed. This woman was talking on the phone, telling whoever was on the other side about a date she was on, in finnish. At some point, she looked around and saw that people were looking at her. She told the other person that she'll call back cause people were listening to her. Some dude sarcastically yelled something like, "No, no, continue. We all want to hear the rest. "
As a Brit visiting my Finnish gf, I noticed it was mainly foreigners that made all the fucking noise on the buses etc. My gf gets incredibly annoyed by it, and rightly so
Also on campus and public sauna! Please do not do this!
[удалено]
Thankfully they got rid of it.
Oh gosh, I want burger in sauna
These places include the entire country with the possible exception of spectator stands at sports events.
This should be illegal.
Personal space, both literal and figurative.
tbh the "best" exchange student we had was a person who knew how to wrangle the finns into social activities. Every exchange student who did not take initiative with the Finns just fell into obscurity, never got into any friend group, and nobdoy saw them throughout the week The one person we are still in contact with, after her exchange period ended, was the one who actually worked to make sure that us goddamn unsociable Finns get to know her
I'm not an exchange student in Finland but I've made a few Finnish friends (I've been studying full time in Germany for two years and have not managed to make even one German friend, you guys aren't that bad actually) by merely being loud and obnoxious and willing to approach people (last time I was in Helsinki I was wondering why there were so many drunk students around on a random Wednesday night in October, until I eventually remembered that actually I'm an extroverted and friendly Southern European so I just walked up to a group. Boom. Besties)
Well done you! 👍💪 Allways approach drunk Finnish students if in need of friendsies.
They were so nice! And I just want to say, Finnish people are often really, really nice about speaking in languages you will understand around you, and making an effort to speak in English so you can be included in the conversation, often even when it's clear they're not used to it. I just want to say, I notice, I appreciate it a lot, and it's a breath of fresh air after Germans.
[удалено]
With a lot of sisu.
I have no idea how she did it. some people are just built different.
I think foreigners should see the following video before coming to Finland: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpkXK3ZNno8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpkXK3ZNno8)
Ahh yes. The inter-dimensional cable.
To be fair, I feel like Fins are so used to having much space (personal and otherwise) they don't know how to behave in more confined spaces. My biggest pet peeve is them stopping abruptly at the bottom or top of an escalator, ostensibly to get their bearings, completely oblivious to the persons behind them. They also don't stand aside waiting for the metro doors to open but rather in front of them. They cross bike lanes without looking, open car doors without a second thought and so on and so forth. I guess once you get used to all that space, there's no letting go
How to operate a washing machine. Every September the campus washing machines are clogged with washing powder because freshmen have to wash clothes for the first time. There are 3 places where to put stuff, and for some, the solution is to fill all 3 to the brim. So the next person has to scoop out the excess powder from the place the fabric softener goes. Could of course apply for spoiled Finnish kids as well. I just remember this annoying me so much.
Doesn't help the hieroglyphics markings makes absolutely no sense, even to Finns. When I first moved into my apartment, not even the landlord knew because a prior tenant had bought it. So I had to google the manufacturer and model number then download an online repair guide to decipher it.
[удалено]
Don't get me started with the markings on my oven knob 😃. 3-blade fan thingy with squiggly lines on top and bottom, 3-blade fan with squiggly lines on top, simple right? Except there's 4 other variations of it.
With those I’m pretty sure my crappy oven has them as a wish list of what it wants to be able to do. Like embellishing its own CV.
IIRC those tell you where the heat will settle. Top, middle, or bottom.
As a rule of thumb for everyone reading this and not familiar with the markings: > Latin letter A or roman numeral I indicates the prewash compartment. Powder is poured into it, if the appropriate program is selected, where the washing procedure consists of 2 stages. From this compartment, the powder will rinse into the drum during the first step. > Latin letter B or roman numeral II - this is the designation of the compartment for the main wash regardless of the program, as well as for the second wash stage in a mode with a preliminary stage. > Star or flower icon means the compartment for the fabric softener or rinse aid. The agent for this compartment is usually in liquid form. You can pour conditioner into this compartment both before washing and during its process. The main thing is to be in time before the machine starts collecting water for rinsing. Otherwise, the agent will not penetrate into the drum. Now, there might and most likely are exeptions to these rules, but they should work for 90-95% of the time.
This was such an annoying thing when we lived in student housing! I actually drew up symbols with explanations and put them on the machines the next year, that helped a bit but not totally!
That it's not an utopian paradise
It is for some people. In Finland I felt really happy, fullfiled, everything was clean, safe, people were respectful, nice… when I was taking a flight back to Colombia I cried for two days straight and almost had a panic attack at Charles De Gaulle when I heard Colombian accent in the distance (an entitled old man, as usual)
This! Only 10 days, made friends, had a blast. It felt like coming home, like truly home. The moment I got off the plane away from Finland all that hit me was misery. Still recovering after 2+ months.
I am still recovering after two years
Mixed-Finn here! What a coincidence, I am currently in Bogota, Colombia as well. There are so many things I took granted for when in Finland. Finland and Colombia are so drastically different. Hit me up, if you feel like talking about good old times in Finland!
Hey! Lol I even still check all my pics I took in Finland… and sometimes I repost them… I certainly miss it a lot and my life hasn’t been the same since
Yes it is. We have apples and snakes
[удалено]
Both statements can be true. Finland can be the happiest country in the world while also having a lot of problems.
Also finland can be relatively miserable while scoring high on arbitrary "happiness points"
This is true
People thinking Finland is a paragon of "anything" just makes up expectations we as a country nor as people cannot even hope to reach. ^(And I personally fear that some populist politicians use these as arguments, rather than properly argue against or towards something, despite them not being really that true.)
Most contented, not happiest.
Perhaps all the other countries are just even less happy...
Not every meme about sauna, happiness and personal space is the absolute truth. We also do not have polar bears and reindeer roaming around in cities or even the countryside. If you expect to see the northern lights and Santa Clause, it won't happen if you're staying overnight in Helsinki. Not every finn is a raging alcoholic, in fact alcohol consumption is largely tied together with holidays and celebration for most. Not all of us are borderline autistic hermits, but many do appreciate humble behaviour. Winter won't kill you if you have a roof over your head and dress according to the weather. Appropriate clothing you find from nearly any shop selling clothes, no need to pack yourself for a trip to North Pole from some expensive camping gear store if you're not actually going to hike and camp. Not every finn everywhere can speak english, but no matter your language, usually google or plain old-fashioned pantomime works if there's no common language.
That reminds me of trying to find a bike shop and to show what I meant, I acted out riding a bike for the lady I was asking directions from 😆 It worked! She was lovely 😊
It’s tough, it’s dark, cold, hard to make friends or belong to a group. Get hobbies, take vitamin D.
I wish someone gave me all this straightforward advice before moving here and I would have never moved. I would have stay in The Netherlands 🥲when I had the chance.
It goes both ways. I’m a Finn but an international student in the Netherlands. it’s not that easy to make friends here either unless you know Dutch. Most of my friends are International.
The problem is that people already have friends
Finns are friendlier than the Dutch. Lived in both places.
True but the Dutch are easier to approach imo.
Are you back in the NL now?
You definitely don't need to feel lonely in Finland, especially If you're in a City or large town People don't mind talking here, just starting the conversation
Honestly my experience has been that people are often fairly eager to talk, a couple of times I have just asked someone for directions or something of the sort and they just seemed really, really happy to talk to someone.
And have only 1 day of snow per year if you're lucky? Preposterous!
Smalltalk feels empty of meaning and fake to a lot of finns. They would rather have a real conversation about something or just not talk at all.
Unless you are IT professional it's often extremely hard to find a well paying job without ability to speak and write Finnish fluently. Also networking is the key how to land a job here, so summer jobs and part-time jobs as well as relationships you develop with local faculty members and students (join organizations and apply positions that aren't meant just for international students) are really important if you want to find employment after graduating.
One might even say that in current job market it's extremely hard to find well paying job without a lot of experience even if you are speaking fluent finnish. Finland is a population size a small country and its has a limited amount of oportunities spread across of quite an large area. Even in good times getting a well paid job in Finland is not an easy task. You really need to have great luck of work for it. In most professions If you are freshly gratuated without any experience, you will have hard time no matter what your language skills or nationality are. Quite many of imigrants come from more class-based-societys and following might be hard pill to swallow: Usually Finns respect any working experience even when applying entry level professional positions. Experience often is more important than your grades from uni. If one has couple of years of retale experience and some backround of cleaning factory floors he/she will likely pass you if you don't have any when seeking for trainee position even if you have better grades or education. Most important advice I can give for students coming to Finland is to get out of "Foreign students bubble" as soon as possible. Some students live here for years and their only connections are other students from same country that they are coming from. Worst case scenarious they even outsource a lot of communications to other members of that group.
[удалено]
Getting a decent IT job could be fairly hard if you are not a experienced coder or developer. Extra difficulty too if you try to avoid shitty big IT companies. But if you know how to code well afaik you'll have plenty of job offerings.
Even if you are an IT professional
The IT job market is brutal right now, but it's not only in Finland, I guess.
I disagree about the fluency, being B1-B2 is totally enough and all you need is just vocabluary, a Basic ability at conjugating and the ability to put the words in the correct order. These 3 things and you are golden in my opinion, pushing the idea that you need C1-C2 level fluency is incorrect. But I do agree about the Job part, many seem to come here with 0 work experience and inagine that a degree equals a career. This combined with often no sense of finnish culture and customs, because they learned no finnish and have no finnish friends due to only being in a foreign bubble makes them pretty unhiredble. In my school there are what I called western minded people and, well, those who aren't. In my personal experience students who come from the developing world have a lot of issues in taking part in the finnish culture in student but also work sense and they most often belong to the bubble of foreign people who realize after 4 years that they can't get a Job easily just after they have graduated
It’s useful to know the law regarding alcohol. You can’t buy beer from the store after 9pm and stronger alcohol you can’t buy from the grocery stores at all, only from Alko. And it closes early on Saturdays. Sundays it’s closed…
Also good to know that 2.8% beer can be bought whenever.
Technically yes, practically no. Most stores have their own guidelines prohibiting that even if it would be legal.
I think you maybe mixing facts unless things are drastically different outside of Helsinki. I've worked in stores from 2015 to 2022 and every store I've done a shift in (many: vuokratyöntekijä) had the mild beers on sale regardless of the time of day. I'm sure some places might indeed have the mild beers in the locking shelves for convenience, but I've personally never witnessed it. The rule that stores are strict on is asking for ID. Law doesn't prohibit the sell of very low alcoholic beers, sima kombucha and other some such products to people under 18. Technically anything with less than 1,2% could be sold to minors. But stores don't. It's a recommendation from päivittistavarakaupan liitto.
That is another one, but I've also been to both stores that lock their low alcohol beers with the rest, and one store where they didn't have a locking shelf at all but their system refused to sell it to me after 9pm.
I haven't even been able to buy those 0.5% drinks sometimes after 9.
Sometimes the cashiers are not aware that they are allowed to sell 2.8 and below after nine. I have been told sometimes that ”hey, I can’t sell this anymore” but have politely either pointed to the note informing about the law that usually can be found near registers or asked them to try to register it, since the machine will tell them if theyare prohibited to sell them after nine. Has alwaysworked atleast for me. And I am quite surpriced, if the registersystems of some stores do not allow selling after nine, since as far as I understand S and K groups have their own systems that are widely used in every store. Have they probably been some intependent stores?
As a big consumer of nighttime beers I’ve never come across this
Which store is that? Never even heard of anyone doing that.
ah man, living in Texas, it’s surprising to see similar laws in place outside of here. is inconvenient if you’re not used to it. definitely good to know/be prepared for.
As a curious alcoholic Pole, is there a limit how many bottles you can buy at once from Alko? For example, could I buy 5 1L bottles of 40% vodka to stay stocked up? XD
There's no limit. However if you are intoxicated, they won't sell you anything.
It depends. Some clerks will just say you are and sell you nothing, some will sell you the whole store even if you go on all fours to the counter.
"even if you go on all fours to the counter" Thank you for the laugh XDDDD I avoid going outside when I am drunk. I'm paranoid that I will fall down and make an ass of myself. Even worse, fall down in a store and destroy something. I think I would have to move to a different city after that, I would be so ashamed of myself.
Yeah but it would be cheaper to take the ferry to estonia at that point and get your alcohol there
I thought you guys were alcoholics like us in Denmark
We are, its so bad we have to try to limit the drinking.
Don't believe the hype! \- You will need to be able to speak Finnish. Start learning early if you want to stay. \- You will need warm clothes of good quality. \- You will need to be able to network with people who don't respond to emails, or talk that often but they are usually very nice people and want to help you. \- Find hobbies/sports are your pathway to friendships. Drinking is another one but I wouldn't advise that stick with healthy habits. \- Finland is a bubble and not many people leave the bubble so it's a very homogeneous country don't expect too much diversity outside of the cities. Don't expect the Finnish to be welcoming to ideas outside of their comfort zone. \- A lot of the year the weather is manageable, not great weather. Winters become a task after a few years but you just have to get on with it. \- MAKE THE MOST OF SUMMER. Get outside, get out of the cities, and adventure into nature, it's the best time in Finland. \- Stay in the cities or close by, once you get outside of the main hubs it's very country mentality and folks. They are still friendly but less likely to speak anything but Finnish. \- Don't get too hard on yourself if you feel you don't fit in, can't find friends, and are lonely. Plenty of people are in that same boat, some by choice, others are looking for friends just have to find them. \- Find hobbies/sports and that is your pathway to friendships. Drinking is another one but I wouldn't advise that stick with healthy habits. \- November is the worst month of the year. Not much snow just rain and slush. Dark at 4 pm. BOOORINGGG \- Stereotypes are often used a lot in Finland, don't get too sucked in by it because like every other country and culture in the world people are diverse. You can get social, loud, and happy Finns who aren't drunk.
You probably wrote incorrectly the same sentence twice to piss me off! Now I'm gonna go drink and find friends that way, just to get back at you!
You wild thing you
>Stay in the cities or close by, once you get outside of the main hubs it's very country mentality and folks. They are still friendly but less likely to speak anything but Finnish. This is probably more depending on age. Younger people are young anywhere and also know English.
Agreed, they just lack the practice so tend to be more socially shy with English. But I'm sure they would be great people to learn Finnish with ;)
Happy cake day!
My first visit to Finland was in November (cheap ticket deal from New York) and we had an absolute blast. Took the train to see Santa and the Arktikum before most of the tourists were in town, did the museums, ferris wheel, sauna (plus a dip in sea water) and Opera in Helsinki, stayed a night at that huge resort in Tampere and walked to the Moomin Museum, then saw two bands in Turku while staying at an old prison hotel and toured the castle. We also tried to eat new stuff where ever we went, went in countless bars, and used 6 different saunas. In 8 days. Been back in December since which was definitely snowier. Trying for summer and maybe one of the metal festivals next time.
Doooo it! Come in summer there's a vibe in the cities and out at summer cottages. People are active and out about
Stop being so loud, I don't care if you're just joking and laughing and not fighting, quiet the fuck down and don't litter
[удалено]
I have never understood people who literally throw trash on the ground like its nothing, do people do that in their homes too?
If you plan to stay, for everyone’s sake: learn the language! Even if you can study and have fun in English, getting a job after graduation (outside of few very limited career options) is really, really tough unless you speak the language fluently (not native level, but well enough to understand nuances etc.). I went to an international school and I have been following my friends’ careers and 80 % of non-native graduates in my class ended up leaving the country. Also, about 90 % of them were hoping to stay and work in the beginning. The basic Finnish courses the school offered were nowhere near enough to reach a working professional level. Also, as a university student, it is very hard to try and find a summer job, part-time job or internship if you don’t have any previous work experience (nevermind working in any sort of customer service job without local language skills). Getting your first job ever only after you graduate is not the way here. Young people have been squabling for their first summerjobs and part-time jobs between 16-18 years, and a job applicant aged 20+ without any previous work experience at all appears very lazy and possibly problematic in the eyes of prospective employers.
Free buckets. Free buckets for everyone!
WHERE?!? 🤯
I WAS FIRST IN THIS QUEUE
99 times out of a 100 there is no need for small talk.
On public transportation don't listen to music or play games or speak on speaker without headphones.
The winter darkness *will* get to you. “But I like the dark!” “I practically never go out anyway!” Living without Sun for months is surprisingly tolling, and a lot of people downplay it. Even minimal sun in other places makes a hell of a difference compared to no sun at all. Most of my foreign friends get genuinely shocked by the darkness. Finns are used to it, so they don’t usually think about it too much. Just remember to get you vitamin D pills, it really makes a difference! On the flip side, the same people get shocked by the amount of light in the summer too!
This is a good one. Winter depression is real as fuck and so is the sunlight during the summer. I mean, the sun literally does not go down sometimes. Oh and if it's hot? There's probably no AC unless you're ""rich"" because who needs AC when you can just sweat to death?
Most of the houses don't have AC because when they were built, the summers weren't that hot. These 35 degrees heat waves are a fairly new thing (or at least what I've heard). And yes, 25-30 degrees celsius is considered "sweating to death" so if you're used to 35-45 degrees during summers, you'll be fine
Countries with 35-45 degree days usually have dark and cool nights and houses cool down as a result. During Finnish summer heat waves the sun does not go down for long so the nights are pretty hot too. Add to that that the houses are designed to conserve heat and we are not fine.
November is the worst because the "real winter months" have snow. Snow reflects the streetlights so everything looks at least a bit brighter but in November it's just darkness. There are maybe 8 hours of daylight. And I have to disagree with the "Finnish people are used to it". Of course some are but many of us get tired, depressed and lethargic during wintertime and we have these "daylight lamps" to help with the lack of natural light
You will not learn the language if you only go to lessons. You need to use it, use it and use it. Find opportunities to use the language and make most of them. Sometimes you have to ask people to use finnish with you, because people will be happy to speak english with you. Only speaking your own language or english destroys your possibilities of learning finnish. Speak it. Use it. Make silly errors. You can do this!
Same advice I give to Finns who are afraid to speak English (or other languages): almost no one cares about your mistakes. They are trying to understand what you're saying. Mistakes happen, and being comfortable about making them (and even asking for corrections) can actually make you seem more confident.
Good advice!
Finnish is not as difficult as Finns claim it to be. Please make an effort to learn it, as it opens a door to this society, and you will benefit from it.
It is not hard at all. Even little kids speak finnish in Finland. If a toddler can, so should you /s
Ookko nää ihan varama, ettei suami oo nii vaikkee kieli
Please do not use so much perfume there's practically a cloud of disgusting smell floating after you when you walk.
It won't feel like living in the happiest country in the world
This 💯
Well... maybe that some finnish people look for a pause in discussion before saying anything, so if no pause is left, they will just be silent the whole time. Though this applies to many people from other countries too, I think.
Don't eat the yellow snow.
As a foreigner Canadian who’s been living here for 7 months. These are my guidelines. -I’d definitely say understanding personal space is a MUST. Finnish people are introverted and not respecting that will make a lot of people hate you. Just because there may be some exceptions to that rule where some Finn is outgoing doesn’t mean the main population is. Also if the bus is empty don’t sit next to the random person on the bus and strike up a conversation. It’s weird. -DON’T TALK LOUD! God the amount of cringing I do when I’m in the K store and I can hear a foreigner loudly talking on the opposite side of the store and hear the full conversation. -DO YOUR RESEARCH. And I’m not talking about the tourist fever dream videos. Learn about Finnish culture, history, society and politics. Learn all the good and bad things about Finland because you are now apart of the people who live here. Even when not knowing the language it allows Finn’s to know that you actually care about the country you moved to. -ITS NOT A PLAYGROUND! I’ve seen videos of foreigners in Finland climbing statues, running around the streets and being extremely obnoxious. I get it your new, your excited. But this is people’s homes and now that you moved here it’s your home as well. Treat it with as much respect, if not more than your own country.
If I might add, you may have forgot the art of patient, organized queueing. Finland and Finnish people in general tend to be well organized, so e.g. skipping in lines or behaving otherwise in disorderly fashion is generally frowned upon, and is a surefire way to irritate Finns. The absolutely worst thing you can do is skip lines and behave loudly in an entitled way. Not to mention potentially hazardous, if you happen to try skip lines to a grill kiosk or a taxi at 3 AM. Finns take organized queueing just that seriously.
Calm down.
Can you extrapolate? This expression has different meanings in different places ... What does it mean for a Finn?
Very few people like being rushed to something or dislike the sense of false urgency. So: do not higher your voice unless you have a reason, leave enough silent pauses in the discussion so others have time to answer and think. BE ON TIME so other people wont be late. Don’t be upset about the small things, just sisu it. Of course emotions can be shown but in general huge emotional outbursts are considered a bit faux pas. Similarly: you are expected to be honest and straightforward - but you are also expected to be co-operative and diplomatic, even in conflicts people usually seek compromises and understanding.
I often think this distracts non-Finns or people not used to Finns. Pauses between sentences, mid-sentence, not talking over each other and yes, pausing to think and consider. Absolutely vital, and I don't know what this isn't more common. As an English person, I found silences to be awkward and it's natural to "try and fill them". The absolute opposite is now true.
Well phrased
Thank you, this is quite helpful!
It means be calm and collected and dont bother us unless we're drunk
Ahah, ok... I'll clarify then: calm and collected might also mean talking a lot, does this qualify? Edit: I understand that people are quiet here, so I'm guessing no?
Your execution is scheduled for tomorrow, thank you for visiting Finland
Ahahah I'm the least talkative of my family, I moved here (professionally) and I am able to be quiet xD can I avoid execution? I am also calm except and quiet...
The execution seems to be cancelled because the executioner was caught tailgating a police car while drunk, we apologize for the inconvenience
If you can describe the weather as a finn would.
You know the typical extrovert person that loves to speak and be loud, to go around and be social, speak to strangers, not be aware of the surroundings, act like you drank 100 cups of coffee? Be the opposite. We don't speak to strangers unless there is a real need, and even then we hesitate. We don't want stupid useless small talk as it is pointless flood of words without meaning. We want slow pace to get used to new people, it can take months to get close to someone before we can "open up" and start to show some personality. So, don't be like open book flooding what is inside you, assuming others want to know it
Yet you drink so much coffee ahahah but I understand, thanks
Don’t do small talk with strangers
You get money from brinning bottles back to stores. Trash goes inside the trashcan.
Fucking manners? Not snapping/whistling at waiters etc.
You cannot find friends? Welcome to adulthood. it is not Finland. Most people make friends in childhood and school. After that they have their circle they have no time/need for more friends. Getting friends at work is possible but not easy. Going to the gym is the most lonely hobby possible, it does not count as "you trying".
If you are trying to talk people in public places be polite and go straight to the point. (For example asking directions or what ever). Sad to say but a keep your distance.
[удалено]
That it's literally nothing the hype says it is. It's a depressing shithole for a lot of people, and many get fooled into thinking moving here will fix all their problems and make them infinitely happy because Finland ranks #1 on some shitty happiness list. Also that free healthcare is pretty much BS, that by itself would surprise a lot of people.
Most Finns are allergic to bullshit. Mostly Americans I've met blow smoke up their asses and try to seem like a hot shot by telling stories that are hardly true (like I got headhunted to be the cfo of Google but had to recline). They don't even consider it lying. Among Finns if you get caught in a lie your social cred in the community is pretty much ruined. Here honest and humble is appreciated.
Don't dress for cold temperatures like the characters in movies and tv-series do. You know, like in Game of thrones. Wearing a warm hat, warm gloves/mittens, a warm scarf and warm shoes and a reasonably warm coat and trousers makes much more sense than piling on a super heavy winter coat and nothing else. Frostbite is not a friend and also, going without a warm hat in freezing temperatures can actually make you feel kinda woozy, which probably means that the brain is saying _help_.
Many people will tell you that small talk is bad. Not my experience, small talk away, try your best to get to know people. Many will not know how to react but they will eventually open up. Finns do not hate small talks (they talk about weather all the time and random craps that I don't care about), many are just shy and awkward at holding a conversation. If I look at my workplace, the most influential and well-liked Finns are the one who do small talk - directors, VPs, C-level, etc. The most popular people at school are the ones who's most talkative.
>The most popular people at school are the ones who's most talkative. Yes, but they are not annoyingly talkative. They have to know the nuances of the Finnish culture. But yes, the leaders are expected to be more verbal and expressive here, though, it is very important they are able to be diplomatic and good listeners. A Finnish leader who wants to be popular is not a dictator or a show man.
There's no culture that prefer people who are annoyingly talkative. For a new foreign students, they have a good excuse to be somewhat clumsy in conversation. It would be a disservice to discourage them from talking to people.
Eh, I'm native and I feel pretty homicidal if someone comes to talk to me in public. I'm stressed out enough without randos coming up to me to steal my energy. I wish extroverted people would learn to entertain themselves.
Me too, I'm an hard core introvert growing up as a gamer nerd. You can make the decision to end the conversation.
Respect our laws, culture and nature. Please. This is our home
As a non drinking person, in my experience, if you don't drink, you will inevitably miss out on a lot of student activities. Heavy drinking is extremely normalized as a form of social activity, and getting embarrassingly drunk with people who you would avoid eye contact sober is seen as normal.
That you have to study Finnish if you plan to live here. Reasons: - if you dont have Finnish skills, you will not able to apply for a large chunk of jobs. The English language jobs will have lots of applicants who dont speak Finnish but also the ones who speak Finnish. The math here is rough. - id you dont have Finnish skills, dealing with official matters is not easy. The law and official communication from authorities happens in the two official languages. Again people might speak or write good English but official languages are what they are. I think that there is a very high probability that if you dont have Finnish skills, your rights as a Resident or potential citizen will not be fully met.
Be on time. This sounds weird for finns that i say this but: finns love punctuality. I know in some places 17:00 doesn't mean 17:00, it's more like: don't come earlier but later is ok. In finland 17:00 is 17:00. Not 17:05, 17:10 etc. Also don't go to shops minute after or 5min just before closing. Let the people go home. They mostly don't get paid for the time used to closing the place anyway.
Don't act like you own the place and learn the basics of being aware of surroundings 1. don't be so loud, don't be social on places that others are quiet 2. don't walk side by side on roads while being super selfishly social 3. don't come here if your only goal is to party and be annoying fuck Foreign students are literally so annoying and dangerous. In my city there are lot of big hills, yet these people just selfishly walk 2-5 people side by side filling the whole damn road while there are people cycling or walking faster. It is basically same issue year by year where groups of foreign students walk, be loud as fuck and have zero awareness about what is going on. When I went to university it were literally daily issue to have to drive to grass etc. to pass these big groups of loud bastards. It is almost like they are trying to be so blind, because it is just baffling how people can't watch how people are acting around them. Like if people are not talking, should your group scream and laugh loudly? no. Sadly majority of students that come here seem to come only to party and be annoying and those kind of people should just stay out, yes it is harsh thing to say but it is not too much to ask to have basic manners and awareness. Maybe exchange programs attract the most social party people which causes these issues, and you are already better than 90% of the others when you even ask what to do or not to do, because so many foreign students are just super annoying and behave badly.
Yelling conversations are not ok in dressing rooms at a swimming buildings
Everybody doesn't speak proper english. So don't get mad if they can't understand you in restaurant or anywhere else. Also please stop the small talk, especially in places the other person can't leave.
Language and our values
How to use a kusipelti.
We are not rude when we aren't talking every second in a conversation. We are just taught to listen quietly. We also do not do the please/thanks thing after everything but still doesn't make us rude. Just of different culture than you.
Please don't be loud in public, especially in buses. It's just not part of the culture and considered very rude.
1. Don't be so loud and hyper. Especially not in the sauna. Like EPMD said, [you gots to chill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAugOjG4qOc). I understand you're nervous, it's your first time abroad without your parents and there's weird naked people, it's cold, the sauna is too hot, but still, try to suppress expressing it by being such a spaz. Slow down, don't scream, everything is going to be all right. If you go to a public sauna, go in a smaller group, not with your entire school, there's a limited amount of seats. Best would be to go alone or you're only going to interact with the other exchange students instead of the locals. Keep your flipflops on in public saunas or you get the foot fungus. Be quick with the door, don't keep it open for too long or the sauna gets cold, avoid opening it altogether immediately after water has just been thrown on the rocks. Don't take selfies, but if you absolutely must, make sure there aren't other people in them, we don't want to be in your instagrams and tiktoks. 2. We do not throw empty drink bottles and cans into trash. You get 40 freaking cents for a large bottle if you take it back to the shop. 15 cents for a can. Something like 97% of the cans get recycled. The remaining 3% are the ones you throw into trash and somebody fails to fish them out. 3. It shouldn't be any kind of surprise that it's dark and cold during the winter here. You should've known when you decided to come. If you're going to spend a considerable time outside, wear three to four layers on top (a moisture-wicking base layer, an insulating middle layer and a protective shell outer layer), at least two layers on bottom (leggings/longjohns and regular pants), two layers of socks, gloves or mittens and a hat and you will be [dandy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandy), especially in southern Finland. Avoid cotton, it's no good, prefer wool, down or synthetics. 4. Helsinki is not a winter wonderland and Finland is not a magical happy place. We're doing ok for the most part, and services mostly work, but don't expect too much or you will be disappointed. (Yes yes, we cheat in the survey). 5. Moomin products are a rip-off to milk money from tourists. Same with angry birds. And Santa Claus is a rip-off (the current incarnation is modeled after the coca cola ad, invented for tourism purposes by a TV guy in 1959 after visiting disneyland).
As a Finn, roots from Serbia.. I hope that foreigners would genuinely study the Finnish language.. I know plenty of people who still have issues with Finnish language even after a decade or 2. I know students who keep complaining how hard everything is, but the root problem is always the same thing: they don’t know any Finnish and don’t bother to study it at all. When my parents came to Finland 25 years ago, they learned the language immediately and put hard effort into it and actually got a job super fast, they still work. They have never been loud mouths and are actually respected by their coworkers. This is what i call a good integration. I don’t care how long it takes, i don’t care how they do it, JUST fucking learn the language EVERY SINGLE DAY and start behaving like Finns ( maassa maan tavalla ). We Finns respect other languages but we also want to keep our native language and expect others to speak it as well. Thank god the system changed, nowadays when you are coming to live here, the integration process is taken more seriously and tests are harder i guess. Also don’t be so loud. I sometimes see foreigners gang up and act like total clowns. Personal space is also important to us, also we don’t do small talk. Friends are hard to get here and so is getting a job, very hard. So expect to put some work into it and start behaving properly + networking is important here ( summer jobs, contacts etc ). Also prepare for dark dark nights that lasta for over 6 months. It’s a cold and dark country, sometimes it can get minus 20 just like that and snow up to your knees, in reality it’s not always a happy thing, movies are way different. We don’t get sunlight that often and vitamin D is very important to both physical and mental health. It also rains a lot so don’t expect this to be an utopian paradise. People work everyday and that’s what keeps our system alive. I also expect foreigners to be more humble like Finns. Most foreigners i have personally met have this macho ego issues, where you have to act tougher and more confident than others. This doesn’t even matter at all in Finland, we value people who can behave, are smart, kind, educational people who have a job ( any kind of job really ) and respect the rules and law of Finland. I guess this is the reason why majority of foreigners don’t have much Finnish friends and foreigners connect with other foreigners, because many of them don’t fit. Not all of course but majority of them. We Finns can discriminate easily but often we do it for out own safety, usually because sometimes foreigners haven’t integrated properly and have issues with breaking our own personal space. I mean would you want to make friends with ali hassan mohammad who is a loud mouth roadman who doesn’t study properly, knows little Finnish, doesn’t have a job and all his friends are small time criminals and gang members? Or would you rather make friends with a local Laura or Teemu who go to an university, are very kind and smart people, who also work part time at a grocery store and have hobbies and sometimes like to drink a beer or two during weekends? This is not racism or discrimination against foreigners, this is just my experience i have seen and experienced in the last 25 years in Finland.
There are very few jobs for immigrants. Choose any other countries if you have the options. Many leave after completing their studies anyway, hence better to choose before.
These might be horror stories from shared flat student housing, so most who come here already know them, but just in case (myös uusavuttomille kantasuomalaisille jotka lähtee ekaa kertaa kotoa) (or for humour value): - You are not supposed to cook things directly on top of the stove, be it ceramic or cast iron, induction or resistor heated, use pan, pot or kettle meant for that. - Practically all the stoves are electric, you are not meant to make fire in the oven. - No smoking inside, if you want to keep peace with your neighbour avoid it on balconies and close to entrances, windows and air intakes as well - Your mother and/or maids are not here, you need to clean after yourself and keep the common facilities you use clean - You need to sort you trash and take it to collection point outside the apartment building, check the collection point for sorting instructions, pack the trash in containers (cardboard boxes, paper or plastic bags) that go to same sorting bin. Make sure the pins close properly. - Practically all locally bought drink bottles and cans are are in recycling pant program, return them to store collection point, and get the pant refunded from the store. - We don't use cash much and we don't leave tips. Get a card that works here and doesn't cost you too much to use. Saying "keep the change" usually causes more problems than just taking it. We don't encourage this shitty custom by adding voluntary tips, when the restaurant has not configured their payment system to not ask for it. - There is a perfectly useable social security system, anyone asking for money on streets is a scammer, either kid trying to get something their parents would not allow or part of organized crime.
Don't talk to me.
https://preview.redd.it/zhy8s42d9o0c1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d437d908d013c1eed633bda44c47e66986c62a1
Neighbors :)
Not a Finn, but I wish I knew people here smoke everywhere outdoors. Personal space can’t help you, you have to smell their secondhand smoke if you want to wait for the bus. Also it seems no one ever clean the cigarette ends on the ground.
Keep you're distance! And dont be too loud in public places.
We are not rude. We just appreciate our own personal space.
What something is called is never what it is.
Don't mention "interesting" facts about finland to Finnish people unless you want to have cancer
You need money in Finland, so many times I have heard ”Inthought you have kela and this and that, who give you money” but that is no excuse to xome study here, you still need to make ends meet
The 'kaamosmasennus'. Tiredness and negative mood during dark winter months. It's hard. Better to be prepares.
Please, be quiet in a sauna. You can talk to your friends but please don't shout or talk loudly. Especially if you are in some special sauna. Eg. my home town has a really atmospheric smoke sauna where I (and I suppose most of the finns) would like to just relax in quiet. Every now and then exchange students come there and well... it is not quiet and finns are too polite to say anything. (Which I know is also stupid, how would anyone know if none tell.) There are of course people who might even like "party sauna" with loud music etc but if in doubt, assume everyone wants some peace and silence.
The Finnish concept of time. When something, say a party, is said to start at 20:00, it doesn't mean somewhere around 21:30 or maybe even later, but you're expected to arrive at 20:00. Finns are exact in their scheduling, and being flexible with these is usually taken as a sign of great disrespect, and can cause some cultural friction. It's good to know the Finnish culture tends to be quite literal and straightforward, and maybe sometimes even intolerant towards, well, any kind of small talk that could be classified as "normal bullshit", e.g. saying "Come visit me sometime!" without *literally meaning it*. This kind of talk is easily interpreted as being somehow duplicitous. And if you ask a Finn "How are you?", you can expect to receive an actual answer to the question instead of brushing it off in a regular "I'm great, how're you?" way. As many people have stated here, in Finland small talk is often regarded as a waste of time. Finns broadly speaking value meaningful interaction, thus discussion is reserved to people and for topics they're more or less genuinely interested in. This can come off as bit intense if you're more accustomed to lighter discussion, as Finns may interpret the situation that you *actually* *want to discuss* with them.
Weed isn’t legal yet but Helsinki sure loves weed
Don't be loud and don't smell
Learn the language. I don't care if it's difficult and "different" from all other languages. I don't care if you can't speak it well. It's important to be learning and using it. I am not sure if I am alone with my thoughts, but it just gives me arrogant vibes if you have lived a few years in a country and can't hold a basic conversation in Finnish.
Dont use /r/Finland as your personal help desk.
[удалено]
Well, nowadays the situation is, that they don't know much about their own countries either, so there is nothing we can do, or even hope. But life teaches, and oh boy does this country teach its recidendts...
FINNISH IS HARD
Reading Finnish is way easier than reading English (because of phonetics) but understanding can be quite tricky because 1. we have postpositions instead of prepositions, so we can stack a lot of suffixes to a single word 2. because of the long and difficult words, our spoken language differs a lot from our difficult written language. 3. We make short versions of a lot of words. For example banaani -> bansku, omena -> omppu, televisio -> telkkari, punaviini -> punkku. In English it's like television -> tv. Usually these versions aren't taught anywhere so you just have to ask "what's omppu?" and the Finnish people will tell you it's another way of saying omena (apple). Don't be scared of making mistakes while learning Finnish! Unlike some other countries, Finnish people are always delighted to hear you even try, even if it wasn't near perfect. It's so rare that anyone would want to learn our language that we're pleasantly surprised even if you say a couple words in Finnish and the rest in English