Elena Barrett - Finland - Culture Smart!

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Adapted from Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past.

ISBN 978 1 78702 908 8

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library

First published in Great Britain

by Kuperard, an imprint of Bravo Ltd

59 Hutton Grove, London N12 8DS

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8446 2440

www.culturesmart.co.uk

Inquiries:

Design Bobby Birchall

Printed in Turkey

The Culture Smart! series is continuing to expand. All Culture Smart! guides are available as e-books, and many as audio books. For further information and latest titles visit www.culturesmart.co.uk

TERTTU LENEY was a Finnish teacher, trainer, broadcaster, and writer, who worked for the Foreign Office in London as a professional development coordinator preparing British diplomats and businessmen for overseas postings. A graduate in Russian and Swedish language and literature from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, she went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in language training at the University of Westminster and write several publications, including Teach Yourself Finnish, Finn Talk 1, and Finn Talk 2.

ELENA BARRETT is a teacher, writer, applied linguist, and long-time resident of Finland. Originally from Connecticut, USA, she has taught English to Finnish adults and upper-secondary students. She is presently finishing her studies and researching language use in legal contexts at the University of Jyvskyl, Finland. She has also maintained a blog about her life as an immigrant in Finland called Already There.

COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 affected millions of people around the world, causing unprecedented social and economic disruption. As the impact of this global crisis continues to unfold, in many countries social norms are being challenged, and enduring changes will be reflected in future editions of Culture Smart! titles.

Finland is something like a Nordic paradise; it is the land of white summer nights, of white Christmases and Santa Claus, and of a thousand pristine lakes. It contains kilometers upon kilometers of forest, where one can forage for mushrooms and berries, or simply bask in the scent of pine under the towering trees. Paradoxically, it is also a land of modernity and innovation, education and technology, and increasing cultural diversity.

Finns have fought long and hard for the right to their own, uniquely Finnish cultural identity. As politician and author Adolf Ivar Arwidsson famously said, Ruotsalaisia emme en ole, venlisiksi emme tahdo tulla, olkaamme siis suomalaisia, or, We are no longer Swedes, we do not wish to become Russians, so let us be Finns. This quote sums up neatly the desire for Finnishness, and the desire to carve out a space in which Finns are free to be, well, Finns.

This Finnish space is shaped largely by the concept of sisu, a word that is notoriously difficult to translate. It means something like strength and grit, the ability to stick to something in the face of hardship, all while remaining calm and stoic. Youll see a bit of sisu in action when someone throws a little more water onto the stones of a sauna before finally jumping into the snow, or a nearby lake. Youll notice it in winter, when the temperature is -22F (-30C), and there are scores of Finns skiing and ice skating, enjoying everything that the coldest season has to offer. In fact, youll see it all around you as you explore the modern Finnish state, the result of two hard-fought wars for independence.

Finland isnt all grit and stoicism, however. It is, after all, the land of Alvar Aalto, the Finnish functionalist architect, of the composer Jean Sibelius, and of the myriad myths found within Elias Lnnrotts collected epic, the Kalevala. Its home to the films of Aki Kaurismki, director, screenwriter, and auteur. And beyond music and literature, art and film, it is a thriving democracy. Low on crime, poverty, and corruption, it is no wonder that Finland is routinely found at the top of quality-of-life indexes. In other words, there is a great deal of beauty to be found beyond Finlands sprawling forests.

It is a stereotype that Finns are silent and reserved. While there is some truth to this, it isnt the whole story. If you spend some time here, if you break ruisleip (rye bread) with them, and if you perhaps learn a word or two of Finnish, youll learn that theres a lot more to be discovered: humor, fair-mindedness, resourcefulness, and generosity among them.

The winters are long and dark, so light a candle and youll have something to see by. The summer days are endless, so dont go to sleep: stay up and watch a dusky sky turn to morning light. The language is notoriously difficult to learn, but not impossible: learn it and show yourself that a little sisu goes a long way. If you do these things, you will know more about what makes the Finns who they areand, perhaps, find your own inner Finn.