are you really sure you wanna fill Finland with nonwhites.....?? Look at Sweden. Please, think about the children. Dpnt rob them of a honeland because you want to virtue signal. Your children deserva a homeland of their OWN, not to be replaced and jailed if they even conplain about it, not to mention gangr4ped, murderd, etc. PLEASE.
That's a very rare and mature perspective on moving to a different country. I don't usually like those kind of videos, because they're all the same - people just list the pros and cons of the country they moved in, they keep talking what they hate about it etc. You, instead, focused on how you managed to feel home in a new place. Very heartwarming.
Just for context, in Finland people will never sit next to you on a bus if there are seats available and it is quite common, nearly expected for people to move to a seat alone after a double seat is emptied. For the people who feel that this is cold, distant, and rude. Here people value their personal space A LOT and in many ways, this contributes HEAVILY to their very laid back culture and working ethic they have. Coming from the south myself, this new sense of personal space allowed me to be much more social that I was in South Europe because I had no social etiquette to follow and no pressure to socialise for the sake of socialising.
Finland has _very distinct_ sections. West and south people are generally super closed and cold. Middle, east and north people are open, talkative and friendly.
There's a trick to talking to strangers here. If you go for small talk like "How is your day? What's your name? Nice weather isn't it?" people will assume you want something from them, you're flirting or need money. Because, sadly, that is often the case. Interrogation is no good here, nor talking just for the sake of talking. You'll have far better interactions if you ask for advice, compliment someone's clothes or something. Also, knowing how to make a confused or otherwise dramatic expression at something in your environment and then turning that expression into an invitation to talk is very effective.
Next level nordic is when you greet people on your way and is able to sense whether people wants peace or are willing to vibe/talk. This video is a masterpiece, such a relief from the AI narrated videos that are all around. Just down tempo and your calming voice. I admire your efforts and journey, how you've come to understand why we, up north, prefer peace a lot of the time. You've put an effort into understanding the language of the society you have your new home in. And I know for certain it hasn't been easy. Yeah, our winters are long, dark and cold. The only antidote is our green spring time and our long summer evenings. Cheers mate ✌️
Beautiful, somewhat Nordic style of storytelling with a relaxed pace, soothing music and minimalistic elements adding up to th conclusion. Haven't seen your videos before but I do like this style. As an extrovert Finn I do know the feeling of wanting to discuss stuff but still, description of attempting smalltalk with strangers in Helsinki made me laugh out a bit. That could happen in eastern or central parts, to a degree, south and western parts it's a definite no. And all Finns like their space and quiet.
Very nice video with warm feeling. I am happy to see that you enjoy life in Helsinki and feel that you belong there. And as a geography geek I give you some extra points because you had the World map on the wall :D
_Home_ is where you hang your hat, which entails having a structure to do so of some ilk. So far I am glad you found a place you prefer to do so among Finns. I wish you continued good luck in the future.
I've never lived abroad, but i can imagine that it will take its time to become comfortable in the new environment, and the new types of interactions with the people around you. I think many expect to get the hang of the new lifestyle instantly, but as you also experienced, it will take its time and after a few years, the unfamiliar becomes familiar. great video.
Thank you for this perspective. I struggle with feeling homesick in Finland and there is grief in letting go of my old life. I miss being able to talk to people around me and just feeling like I belong in society. I try to make the most of things here and there really are a lot of beautiful things about this place. Every place in the world has its up and downsides and you can get bogged down if you only look at the negative.
As a Finn, if you (at least try to) work, live a respectful and upright life, and pay your taxes, I'd be willing to call you a part of our society. I don't think there's anything else to it. Maybe learning Finnish would be good to really hammer in any doubts about it? I think I've heard this old saying(?) that: in Finland, if no one is saying anything, you're doing a good job. So yeah, I think that's it... the rest of it is just living your life... maybe gardening, chatting with close relatives, walking in the forests, stacking rocks... i dunno, whatever floats your boat. ;) Hmm, if you really want to feel collective belonging, follow Eurovision or sports and gather to the city square when/if we win anything. (aka. a national "torilla tavataan" moment)
@@vilidious Did you even watch the video? It's not about getting approval from the people around you, but about the mental struggles of people learning to live in a completely new country with a completely different culture and customs.
@@valveillen I'm not replying to the video, but the one I'm replying to is the person above who mentions missing the feeling of belonging to a society.
Finland has _very distinct_ sections. West and south people are generally closed and cold. Middle, east and north people are open, talkative and friendly.
You have a lovely smile and calming voice. Loved the music in your video too. There are a lot of Finnish people too who feel like they are aliens and alone in this country. Yet, there are many beautiful things here too. It's about adjusting and finding peace within where ever you are. And mostly, doing what you love. :)
In Finland spring starts in the middle of May, when the birch-trees get small green leaves, and our summer starts two weeks later, when tulips in the parks drop their petals and the swallows have built their nests. At midsummer, the last weekend in June, when the rape-seed fields blossom, it is the hight of the short nights and long days, if you are ready or not (probably not). Note that it is not the warmest part of the Finnish summer. From then the days start to grow shorter, heading for the equinox, when all the globe gets 12 hour days and 12 hour nights, everywhere, without exception. In Finland it is not adviceable to live according to the calender, but put on or take off clothes after a glance at the temperature outside - and to have an extra cardigan or jacket handy, at any season.
@@juhajuntunen7866 Indeed! Isn't Finland meteorologically exciting and unpredictable !? - Then we have the hailstorms in July, and all the summer the thunderstorms and a whole range of different kinds of rains - sudden short rains, but also rains for weeks. The patterns are very varied. Other countries may have much more predictable weather... makes a good topic for ice-breaking small talk, 🙂 if you speak Finnish, that is.
Bicycle thefts here are rarely driven (hah!) by an attempt to earn. Usually it is a drunk trying to get home from a pub or a drug addict trying to get quick cash for the next fix. "Opportunity makes a thief" as the saying goes. Unfortunately not much one can do, other than use tons of locks to make the bicycle next to yours an easier target.
Hi, thank you for this video. I stumbled upon through the youtube recommendations. Nice video. relaxed style of story telling suited this well. I had a feeling of calmness while watching the whole video. keep on going! Also would like to hear the bike story :D
I liked your video and your lifes perspective 👍 Loput tuleeki sit suomeks. Mä tunnen ihmisiä hyvin monista, täysin toisistaan eroavista kulttuureista. Oon huomannu sen, että se kulttuuri on ihmistä itseään rikastava or the opposit, mutta se ihminen itsessään ei ole se kulttuuri, politiikka, tai uskonto. On tietysti ihmisiä jotka koko persoonansa semmosen ympärille rakentaa. He eivät sitten muuta olekkaan. En ole koskaan rasisti ollut, koska en ymmärtänyt sitä. Nykyisin ymmärrän sitä, mutta sitä myöten minusta on tullut enemmänkin "antirasisti". Olen itse vanha stadilainen ja muutin päijäthämeeseen 10v sitten, ja tämä oli minulle iso "kulttuurishokki". Kieli on vaikea, muttei sitä tarvitse opittua pelätä käyttää. Jos joku nauraa tai jotain vastaavaa. Hän ei ihmisenä ole kasvanut koskaan aikuiseksi.
Haluan kiittää sinua syvistä ajatuksistasi! Ison kaupungin kasvattina olet ollut kosketuksessa monien erilaisten ihmisten kanssa. Kokemukseni on että on hyvin epätodennäköistä että suomalainen nauraa kielivirheille - joku lapsi ehkä kun tulee sanottua ihan kummallisesti, mutten muista yhtäkään ainutta sellaista tapausta. Missään muussa maassa ei olla niin suvaitsevaisia, kohteliaita ja ymmärtäväisiä kuin Suomessa. On ollut kivaa oppia suomea ja saada harjoitella kieltä suomalaisten kanssa. Terveisiä sinne vehreään satumaahan! Tässä yksi monista esimerkeistä siitä: Till Österland vill jag fara, där bor allra kärestan min... I want to travel to the (neighbouring) land in the east, cause my dearest darling lives there... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DbtmN8QZCw4.html (Österland means to the East of today's Sweden.)
It's actually Okay, to start a conversation with a stranger. Just don't expect that others will follow some traditional chit-chat that you are used to. A basic mistake can be to use a question as a greeting, as English speakers usually do. Even though they know it's a greeting, then might refuse to go along.
For us Finns a question in English is a real question, but the conventional question in Finnish is not a question at all, but just a convo-starter in general. Like one can ask "Moi! Mitä kuuluu?" using any recognizable phrase, and the "correct" answer is a variation of: "Eipä tässä mitään erikoista, entäs mitä sulle kuuluu?" (There are endless variations which all mean: "you were really nice to say something, but let's not go into details about important things, not here and now.") But if you'll start with something outlandish, you can get a whole biography for an answwer. 😀
@@DNA350ppm But many Finns have lived their whole lives exposed to English language and culture. Many have the ability to choose which cultural context to choose.
@@just42tube Yes, many Finns are fairly bilingual (or even tri- or quadro-lingual), some prefectly so, in some realms, not all. Few Finns learn English at home, though. A foreigner will still hear Finnish all around and will feel much more at ease when understanding all the jokes and songs and news, and all everyday and cultural vocabs - so don't leave it to your hosts to cater to you with giving you Finnish content in English - it is not fair, and you will not thrive as well as you would if you learn Finnish as an immigrant - and forget about being an "expat", it is just snobbish.
@@DNA350ppm Learning English at home has been rare at least in the past, I agree. Nowadays I am not so sure, if you count in what kids learn using various internet services. It can now be in some cases that school gives some foundation to learn English, but beyond the basics some people learn online. But television with English entertainment has existed all my life in Finland. I am part of the 1st generation for whom TV was a big influence. Even though so many years ago foreign languages weren't part of the school curriculum until the first class in oppikoulu - that was the 5th grade, I think - even I had learned something about English and American culture and greetings from TV.
Hey. This video was nice and it got me in a better mood, thank you. Welcome to Finland! Be sure to check out Tampere too. At the moment, based on the polls, it is the most loved city in Finland. :)
People are odd. But like in seinäjoki when i was studying people asked if i wanted company or just waiting for friends. In the south of Finland it never happend
For example in Kainuu and North Karelia people are chattier. In Tampere for example, little less, but when you get in their circle, you're in and friends for life.
Yes. Knowing Helsinki is great but it's only a small percentage of the whole country of Finland and its people. I'm the kind of Finn who speaks to strangers with no problem at all - I come from the talkative, friendly Eastern Finland and now live in Lapland. It's perfectly normal in both areas. For example, on bus stop, asking if a certain bus has already driven by, then starting a friendly conversation of the weather. People are more cold and distant in capitals/metropol cities, the same goes for Paris, London than Helsinki.
Nice video! As a Fin I respect the fact that you have adopted to all this "weirdness" :) Hope you learn some finnish. It will make it so much nicer for you!
Great video, I think you're in the process of "getting us". I'm one of the more extrovert Finns who enjoy casual conversations with people I happen to meet. However, there are some prerequisites for this: I have to be sure the person is 1) not asking me for money, 2) not trying to sell me their religion or politics, 3) not going to make some indecent suggestion, and what's most important: 4) not going to be a nuisance. If I feel I can get out of that situation without being too awkward, I'm happy to chat with people. Nr 4 is in my opinion the key to understand us: nobody wants to make a number of themselves or be considered a pain in the neck. Giving people space, and not "bother" them is a way of being polite.
How do you deal with loneliness in Finland? I as a Finn have hard time with this even myself. You need to either have hobbies that include group activity or a go to a bar and deal with drunk people. There's no good middle-ground to interact in public as people like to keep to themselves or it takes a lot more courage to do than in other countries as it is not so common.
Hey Chico. I can sooooo... relate to what you mean by saying that you love your space. I live in Cape town SA. And I bought a house two years and love being alone. I feel you there. I am also single and just dont go out anymore. I dont feel the need to. I got everything I need under my roof. Yes lonely days come and go, but the joy of being alone, far out weighs the negative. I see you always use your oven.. invest in an airfryer. Much less electricity and cuts the cooking time in half lol. Keep well.
people like you are not blocked by the border, they are welcomed, also hope you still enjoy finland, it has a lot to offer. also you have a lot to offer, when you come here with an open mind, you can learn something to finland from you ☺👍
so relatable.... i was sent off to buy milk and i was scolded for coming back with Piima. How was i to know? 30 years later Finland is MY home and i now know my Piima from my Maito.
great video but you should have ended it with some classic Nordic/Scandinavian banter ;) also what made you settle for Finland? i myself have been thinking about moving abroad for some time now, i really want to go to Greece but i know living standards/healthcare etc is much better here in Sweden, but i really dont like the country a lot has to do with the climate/weather but i also do not like the language and the materialistic society or whatever. (i know Finland isnt Scandinavia)
Yes, language is important, or you will always feel like an outsider - not as a tourist, but if staying to study or to work for more than, say, 6 months. Start practicing a year before you arrive. You will not regret it. Especially in the case of Finland, because as difficult you feel Finnish is, as difficult it is also for Finns to speak your language, the level of difficulty is as huge both ways.
You said that when you were new in Helsinki you felt very lonely. I do not understand that at all. There were all kinds of open meetup groups in Helsinki at that time and IESAF ( International English Speakers Association of Finland ) arranged meetups all the time. There were also several active meetup groups on a big social platform the name of which I am perhaps not allowed to mention here. Almost all of these groups used English as their language. Meeting new people in Helsinki should be very easy. I understand that it is not always easy for immigrants who do not speak English.
I'd love for some nice person to just come up to me on a bus and start talking, I love talking with people but I find it near impossible to say anything unpromted. Of course not everyone wants that, but that notion is the reason why no one really speaks up here I believe :/ Anyways, great video!
I am Finnish and IT annoys me here. Ppl are melancholic,but its better to Be here where its safe and where I dont have to worry about My wallet getting Lost. IT never happened in My 40 years living here
The bicycle theft problem plaguing every city is interesting. I feel like it developed over the past decades, without anyone wanting to pay real attention to it. That's what made it possible and "acceptable", in a manner of speaking. Of course it's a crime, but when the law enforcement isn't stomping on it actively, it gives the impression nothing will happen even if one keeps doing it. I wish there were more police officers in Finland so that they could do something about it. It's not just random drunkards or addicts doing it, there are already professionals specialising on it. This has even led to associations of civilians looking for stolen bikes on their own, which annoys the police, but since the police itself isn't really doing anything about the epidemic, they can only try to remain diplomatic and remind people not to go overboard.
What I've found funny about it is that there's no real pattern to it. Someone told be when I moved closer to the city centre 'Don't leave your old peruspyörä out because they steal them for hipsters' so I put that in the lock up and left out my cheap broken hybrid on the rack. That then got stolen but my wife's old Aino never gets touched and it's there on the rack all the time. Must be a steal to order thing or maybe the hybrid looked better than it was! We didn't even bother with the cops.
@@Whatshisname346 The police has stated in interviews that they haven't got the resources to investigate individual bike thefts. They naturally do take records, if a theft is reported, but the only chance for anything concrete to happen is by coincidence. Such as when they are investigating an organised criminal gang and find a whole warehouse full of stolen property. Or if there's homicide in a house/apartment and the cops then spot stolen objects when studying the crime scene. If you are lucky, the police might react if you actually spot your own stolen bicycle for sale publicly and report it.
So you have learned that typical Finns always think twice before they say nothing.🤐 But are you still drinking bottled water?!😳 Don’t you know that tap water is perfectly safe to use and much cheaper?👌
What you said at the end is the most perfect thing you could have said. I don't give a f about how you look, you can be black, white or blue for all I care. But I love my culture and i love finland. I just don't like the directon the society is going in the sense of you just have to accept every bad behavore just to not be a racist.
Gee...is it a genetic thing? :D Was just born with a deep respect for other people's personal space. And my own. These days, I avoid all and any unnecessary drama like the friggin plague. :D And yup, all the things foreigners say about the nation's introvert, forbidding otherness and weirdness are exactly why I love my Suomi-Finland to li'l bits. :) Great video; this man gets it. :) My respect.
