Finns view themselves as egalitarian people whose culture is based on democratic principles of respect and interdependence. They like people for who they are and not for what they do for a living, their professional accomplishments, or how much money they earn. They pride themselves on being honest and sincere in their personal relationships. In Finland, gender equality is very important in most families. it’s common for both parents to cook dinner or clean the house.
Finns are generally kind and open-minded, even though they can be a bit shy at first. Families are usually small, with only one or two children. In the culture of Finland, people appreciate punctuality, good manners, and practicality. Finns love outdoor activities and public access rights “Everyman’s rights” grant access to nature for all inhabitants.
Teenage Life in Finland:
Teenagers in Finland have a lot of independence and enjoy spending time outdoors, even in the winter. Finland’s active culture includes going cycling, boating, skiing, soccer, track-and-field, and pesäpallo (Finnish baseball). Finnish teenagers attend high school formal dances called vanhojen tanssit with both modern and traditional music.
Most active evenings are Friday and Saturday evenings when people like to go out. Teenagers usually go out with friends to the movies, having coffee with friends, or someone’s home. They may also go for a walk around in the city and people who have their driving license go “cruising around.”
Finland has one of the best education systems in the world, so Finnish teenagers are usually engaged and challenged in school. They are also direct communicators in school, often referring to their teachers by their first names! Teenage children often make their own decisions when their parents are not available.
Language and Communication Styles
Official Language:
Finnish is the main language of Finland. Swedish is also an official language, and both are spoken in bilingual areas.
Communication Style:
Based on stereotype, Finns are often said to be cold and difficult to get to know. Though some might need more time to “warm up” to strangers, once one gets a friend in Finland, it’s for life! The Finns tend to favor a very direct communication style. In the culture of Finland, people in appreciate an honest and straight forward manner of speaking. In addition, Finnish people are typically more comfortable with moments of silence in conversation than in other cultures. While generally quiet, they often have great senses of humor!
Food in Finland
The Finnish Diet:
While it has been said of the French that they live to eat, it has been said that Finns eat to live. Everyday food tends to be simple but nutritious and mealtimes less formal than in some other countries.
During the week, Finnish families may prepare and eat food on their own. On weekends, many families dine together and catch up on their activities that week. Meals tend to be simple but nutritious, including meat, fish, potatoes, pasta, bread and dairy products. As can be expected in a country of over 187,000 lakes, there is an abundance of different kinds of fish available, especially along the coast. Coffee is a favorite beverage, even among teenagers, often with a sweet wheat bread called pulla.
Finland has its own version of a smörgåsbord, called the voileipäpöytä. At a voileipäpöytä, there’s fish, potatoes, berries, and dairy products, along with rye bread. Another common Finnish dish is makkara (sausage), which is roasted over a fire and eaten with sinappi (mustard). However, Finland’s most unique delicacy is reindeer! The Finns eat reindeer stew, steak, cutlets, meatballs, and even tartare.
Family structure:
The Finnish family life is usually understood to be centered on the nuclear family, rather than the extended family. There are usually one or two children in a family. Traditionally, men were the wage-earners and women remained in the home and cared for children. However, since the Second World War, gender roles have changed. Today, both men and women are dual wage-earners. The welfare system allows for generous parental leave with income-based benefits.[7][citation not found] Finnish parents have the option to take partial or total leave they are entitled to.
Holidays and festivals:
Finnish holidays are similar to the Western Christian calendar and Protestant traditions. Holidays and traditions are a blend of the thousand year old Christian presence and vestiges of old Finnish pagan traditions.
Notable among these is Juhannus, the Finnish Midsummer. A majority of Finns retreat to summer cottages (mökki) on any one of Finland's numerous lakes. Depending on the region, a bonfire at midnight celebrates the summer solstice, and in Åland, the Swedish-originated tradition of dancing around the Maypole is observed. The midsummer traditions also include different versions of pairing magic and folklore in the festivities. Midsummer Day is also Flag Day in Finland.
Visual arts:
nnovative functionalist movements have distinguished design of furniture, ceramics, glass, and textiles as well the Finnish architecture. Finnish design combines local artistic themes with tools and materials adapted to demanding northern conditions. Many artists and architects, from Akseli Gallen-Kallela to Alvar Aalto, have designed furniture and tableware during their career.
Forces, shapes, colors, and textures of the northern landscape and the human relationship to nature have strongly influenced also painting, sculpture, and other art forms. This is particularly evident in the representational romantic nationalism that blossomed at the end of the 19th-century.
Music:
Folk music
Much of the folk music of Finland is influenced by traditional Karelian melodies and lyrics, as comprised in the Kalevala. Karelian culture is perceived as the purest expression of the Finnic myths and beliefs, less influenced by Germanic influence, in contrast to Finland's position between the East and the West. Finnish folk music has undergone a roots revival in recent decades and has become a part of popular music, for example, the group Värttinä.
Sami music
The people of northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway, the Sami, are known primarily for highly spiritual songs called Joik. The same word sometimes refers to lavlu or vuelie songs, though this is technically incorrect.
Media and communications:
Finland is one of the most advanced information societies in the world. There are 200 newspapers; 320 popular magazines, 2,100 professional magazines and 67 commercial radio stations, with one nationwide, six national public service radio channels (three in Finnish, two in Swedish, one in Sami); digital radio has three channels. Four national analog television channels (two public services and two commercial) were fully replaced by five public services and three commercial digital television channels on September 1, 2007.
Sports:
Various sporting events are popular in Finland. Pesäpallo (reminiscent of baseball) is the national sport of Finland, although the most popular sports in Finland in terms of media coverage and audience attendance are Formula One, ice hockey, track and field, football and harness racing. However, in terms of actually playing sports, the most popular ones in terms of people registered to a club are football and horse-riding.
The Finnish national ice hockey team is considered one of the best in the world and has won the world championships three times in 1995, 2011 and 2019. During the past century there has been a rivalry in sporting between Finland and Sweden, mostly in ice hockey and athletics (Finland-Sweden athletics international). Jari Kurri and Teemu Selänne are the two Finnish-born ice hockey players to have scored 500 goals in their NHL careers. Association football is also popular in Finland, with the national football team recently qualifying for the European Football Championships 2021, their first major international tournament. Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypiä are the most internationally renowned of the Finnish football players.
https://www.afsusa.org/countries/finland/
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