Every country is different. As is the case with actual people, every culture has its own personality traits and quirks that are more or less unique to it. For instance, the Japanese are known to be rather humble, quiet, and reserved, whereas those in North America, specifically in the United States, are somewhat known for being loud and rambunctious. Of course, none of these characterizations fit every single person in said countries, but some general outlines may still be drawn.
In this article, we take a look at some of the things that make Finnish culture as well as the Finnish people stand out. To help us, we have listed 4 interesting things that separate this country of 5.6 million people in the Northern Hemisphere from the rest.
1. No small talk, only big talk
Much like what we said about their Japanese counterparts, Finns can be described as rather quiet and reserved. Finnish people rarely crave the spotlight and are mostly happy just living their lives with a small circle of friends.
In North American cultures, people tend to be very open to one another and even greet each other on the street. Finnish people not familiar with each other will normally not do this—even if they end up in the same elevator together. Generally speaking, there is nothing that a Finn is more afraid of than riding the elevator together with someone they don’t know. This is especially true if the ride is long. Instead of breaking the ice, most Finns would rather stay completely silent for the whole duration.
Finns are also not exactly great at making superficial friends. There is a saying that if you make a Finnish friend, you have made yourself a friend for life. However, getting to this point can be difficult as Finns do not really care for small talk. Instead, you would have to land in a situation where it is socially acceptable to get there via big talk about things that are actually meaningful.
2. Affinity for gambling
The Finnish people are known world over for their affinity for gambling. With almost 300 countries in the world, Finland ranks among the 4 most active gambling nations, only behind Australia, Japan, and Singapore.
The reason why Finns like to gamble so much comes from their history. The Finnish state-run monopoly started already in the 1940s and has been actively advertising its services ever since. On top of this, the website Zimplerkasinot lists several foreign online casinos that operate in the Finnish markets. Thanks to Finns’ love for gambling, the country is targeted by several outside companies as well.
In addition to slots and table games, Finns are avid fans of lottery games, keno, sports betting, and scratch cards. There really is no category of gambling that the Finns do not like, which is sadly also reflected on the country’s high prevalence of gambling problems.
3. Love for sauna
Did you know that it was actually the Finns who invented the sauna? When you think about it, this is quite understandable as the temperature tends to drop below zero for about 3 months straight during the winter time. When it gets cold outside, Finns just love to hole up inside and heat up the sauna.
One of the strangest things about Finland comes in the form of its many public saunas. When Finns bathe in the sauna, they always do it naked. In other words, getting together naked with people you don’t know is a perfectly normal occurrence that Finns don’t even think twice about. Funnily enough, the sauna is also the place where people tend to be most open to talking to complete strangers.
One could say that the sauna pretty much shatters all the typical Finnish social norms. Perhaps this is even one of the reasons why Finns love it so much.
4. Honesty to the max
We already mentioned how Finns aren’t really fond of small talk. This is also shown in the way that Finns usually both mean what they say and say what they mean.
In finance as well, Finns are known as some of the most trustworthy partners. Unlike in the English world, Finns don’t tend to exaggerate things. There is basically no hyperbole, and if there was, Finnish people would be quick to call it out for what it is.
For a Finn, their word is quite literally their bond.
Conclusion
As weird as Finland may be, something that they’re doing is definitely working. This is evidenced by the fact that the country has been chosen the Happiest Country in the World for 7 times in a row. While every country has its negatives, this is not a moniker that you tend to throw around lightly.
