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Are Finnish people welcoming or hostile to foreigners?

Finns don’t really talk to strangers, but once you can break the ice, they can be really friendly and talkative.

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Are Finnish people welcoming or hostile to foreigners?
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Some people have  views about Finnish people welcoming culture. Many might jump into conclusions based on what they heard or how they have been treated. Other may draw their conclusion based on what they read. But is it really true that Finnish people are not welcoming or hostile to foreigners.

Foreigners who have moved to Finland, have complained, that Finns are behaving hostilely towards them. If these foreigners happen to represent another race, they interpret it as racism. But in real sense is part of the Finnish culture. Finns are in general introverts in nature. They considered leaving  people especially strangers in peace by been polite, and expect others to do the same as well.

I used to have the same feeling a while ago until I took my time to examine who the Finn really are. You need to consider some factors that make them Finn. The language, the people, the culture these 3 aspect of Finnish life need to be properly understood before one can draw any conclusion. There are exceptional cases of hostility but we can touch on that with experience from others.

The language

The Finnish language has a step learning curve which is hard to master, even though the writing system and phonetic system are fairly easy. Finland is officially bilingual with Finnish and Swedish as the official language, but you can’t get by with Swedish in most parts of the country. Most Finns understand English to some level and others used it as corporate means of communication.

Firstly, lets take the language, it Is difficult, I won’t lie to you that it is easy to perfect or even to get a base knowledge of. You really need to study, I mean study hard to really drive home the grammar rules and vocabulary.

Secondly, forget everything you think you know about grammar rules, because Finnish language will happily throw all concepts of it out the window. Finnish is a very unique language, whereas in english there are  articles like “the” “an” “a” in finnish those are entirely done away with. You have to learn how to say letters differently and learn how two additional letters operate: Ä and Ö. Though, Finnish language can be super simplistic in its logic and pronunciation. In finnish language they pronounce every letter of a word exactly as it is pronounced in the alphabet.

The language is also a barrier to most people, you can do all basic things in Finland using English. but it’s difficult to truly understand Finnish culture and make friend with Finns without understanding Finnish language. But on the other hand, Finns are generally friendly and willing to help you with the local customs and language if you are eager and willing to learn.

Finns don’t really talk to strangers, but once you can break the ice, they can be really friendly and talkative.

it is very true the language is difficult, but there are lots of good and excellent language schools in Finland. However, knowing the language is a big plus. But if you stay in the populated areas of southern Finland, you will probably not need to know much. Almost everybody under forty is somehow fluent in English. All Finns study Swedish in school and so is English language.

Bear in mind, while you may feel that you are being held at arm’s length, at least for a period of time, you have understand that it’s a matter of local custom and not the people themselves. In countries where people are more extroverted and at least on the surface, less reserved, you will come to realize that they too have their own reserve, expressed in a different way. The Italian who always wants to talk nonstop while taking a stroll is no different from the Finn with whom you’ll go skiing and hardly a word is exchanged.

When a Finn is your friend, you will know it. As someone said, very appropriately, if you have a body to bury, the Finn will join in with a shovel, no questions asked.

The culture

The problem is that Finns  are culturally individualistic people, with weak or no  extended family ties and communal friendliness. You often make eye contact with say your next door neighbor. Work friendships are mostly strictly for work and don’t develop into something deeper like seeing each other in other environments. Sometimes your workmate may see you outside and ignore you. Socializing with strangers is just impossible, and I think this apply to most Scandinavians, you often need to be drunk, to have common acquaintances with stranger.

Generally people stop making deep friendships after they graduate and enter working life. To many people, the immediate family and maybe a few friends from a far back are everything they have to have more meaningful and guards-down relationships. If those two sources are lost, replacing your social life can be tough.

Finnish-culture emphasizes saving ones face and respecting personal boundaries over being attentive and taking care of people when it comes to being civil and polite. The basic assumption is that Finnish people want to be left alone.

Many Finns can be either ashamed of their own language skills, or being careful not to make another people feel bad by their lack of language skills, or somehow unsure of the way a person from another culture wants to be dealt with because of differing social norms and lack of cues. which often makes them pick the ‘standard or safe mode’ option of averting confrontation. Also too friendly behavior and moving too fast can be seen as suspicious or odd to Finnish people and they may take a step backwards due to this fact.

I believe these are the most important points to ponder over. We won’t address racism because I generally dislike accepting it as the main reason for problems between Finnish people and foreign people, instead of quickly thinking that the reason your next door neighbor didn’t stop to chat with you or your workmate  didn’t invite you to grab a burger was because of malice and xenophobia.

It can be hard getting friends in Finland, even for the natives, and there are probably a thousand places that are more warm with receiving strangers. If only you break the ice, Finns can be great friends, but only if and only if,  you really push yourself through.

The Finnish people are not much of a “hangout” type of people, even when you visit a Finnish home.

The people

Foreigners who  moved to Finland have complained, that Finnish people are behaving hostile towards them. If these foreigners happen to come from other races, they interpret it as racism. But in actual sense is part of the Finnish culture. Most Finns are naturally introverts. They consider leaving people, especially strangers in peace polite, and expect others to do likewise.

For example let say you move to Finland, don’t expect that your  neighbors will come to visit you with a cake or cookies to make you feel welcome. They might not say anything event when they saw you moving-in, or perhaps just say “hi!”if they feel like. But that isn’t because you are foreigner, that is how Finnish people behave even among themselves, unless they happen to know the person well enough. Even it’s might takes years for some neighbors to get to know the other.

When We lived in my previous apartment for over 8 years,  before We moved out, We had few neighbors, with whom I might exchange just a nod, others with whom I said “hi”, and with old couples with whom I might  have discuss few things  about the weather. When there were some ongoing repair work in the building, we might have discussed more and exchange information about what we knew was going on, or sometimes your read it from the notices board directly. But that was for a good cause, so it wasn’t impolite to disturb the other by initiating a discussion. Same apply to noise and playing loud music or even hosting parties. If such disturbance occurs after 10pm you might get a nock on your door with the police visiting.

So Finns would likely welcome you by leaving you alone to mind your own business. They also like social distancing even before the pandemic occurs. That’s what is considered polite. And they expect the same from you. Some drunker might be more talkative, but they are breaking the Finnish people behavioral norms or customs, and that surly annoy the sober people.

If you are an introvert, you might even enjoy living among Finnish people. Otherwise, it might make you feel more lonely. Then you can try to find friends from the school, job or hobbies, but you should be aware, that the Finnish people usually takes time to slowly warm up. Don’t rush it just goes with the flow.

General thumb rule:

  • Avoid drunk people, especially the big drunk men. You might get beaten up if they find you annoying.
  • Young people can be a bit wary of strangers .
  • Based on personal observations, middle-aged women tend to be the most outgoing, extroverted, and full of social life among the Finns.
  • So if you want to have a good time, and listen to a local telling you all about her life in Finland, it’s probably best to get in touch with a middle-aged or an older ladies.
  • Obviously these are personal generalizations, but not too far away from truth.

Finnish people can be very quiet and distance, but that doesn’t mean they are rude. They just don’t smile without reason, but that’s no reason not to strike up a conversation! They’ll happily chat with you on the bus or at the bus stop.

The Finns are practical and logical people, as a matter-of-fact Finnish people don’t are not much  into ceremonies or social rituals. When you greet a Finn, the acceptable response is “Hei” (hello), or “Terve”, sometimes but not always followed by “Mitä kuuluu?”  which can be roughly translated as “What’s new?” The reply is “Kiitos, hyvin. (Thanks, good)” There might be little or no further conversation. If there is no specific reason for the interaction, that may be all that will get said.

Make sure you have hobbies, find locals Finn who share same passion, this also helps while job searching as some employers will be happy to see you are active socially! Also, finland is exceptionally safe! However, you may meet some over friendly drunken strangers who talks with you, but they are harmless (and kinda adorable).

Healthcare is great, The nature is gorgeous. The snow is beautiful. The food is amazing. I will  recommend to anyone who planing to move here! So note that Finland is by no means perfect and Her people can be mean or sometimes rude, but in all Finland is a great country with loads of good people!

So Good luck. Or, as the Finns say, “Tervetuloa!” Welcome!

 

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