Cultural Clashes in the North

Undertook some healthy analysis of the foreign territories this weekend. I was in Finland to visit the lovely Helsinki and to hang out with my mate Ms Prada and her entourage. I used to work in the Finnish capital some 6-7 years ago and the reunification was pure joy. The Finns are just gorgeous: frank, honest, straightforward, innocent and non-cynical. Coming across as a somewhat harsh and silent people, they wouldn’t make a fuss to make you feel comfortable or relaxed, but once they’ve concluded that you’re ok, they relax and become friendly, close and almost open, although keeping on to their slightly suspicious stand-point. I love it.

I made a quick analysis of the differences in men too, comparing the way Swedish, English and Finnish men approach women. The English are polite and “gentleman-ish”, moving slowly towards the female and perhaps buying a drink and possibly also asking for a number to which he will text and possible call a few times before eventually daring to ask for a date but even then cynically thinking that “she only answers to be polite, so it doesn’t mean anything anyways”. They move around in circles of slight flakiness and unnecessary politeness (mainly to hide insecurity)...

The handsome, but oh so vain, Swedes don’t do much at all. They mostly just stand and look at you with a slightly patronizing look as if to say “your hair colour is not as good as mine” and “you should come up to me instead and buy ME a drink” which is also just a cover up for their shyness and the not knowing how to act or react or interact with the females.

The Finns however, are nothing of the kind. They might appear shy to start with, but that is just a misleading image. During my 3-day-stay I had one man telling me he loved me, another one very obviously approaching me during a train-ride while his 8-year-son was sitting next to him, he even put his hand on my waist when we were getting off! A third one telling me that “we had a great connection but unfortunaly he already had a girlfriend” after we had only been joking and dancing for a while, but, as far as I was concerned, had no flirting business going.

How curious! I think it’s perhaps my somewhat gregarious and talkative personality (cleary adapted after living in London for four years) that clashes with the Finns? Whereas I only find myself politely talking and being generally friendly, they interpret it as if I am chatting them up!