Our relation to Finns

We actually wanted to start this blog mainly for posting thoughts related to the big change in location we went through this year. It seems that we got so used to living here that there was not too much left to post 🙂

When people hear that we moved from US to Finland they all say “that must have been a big change for you”. Of course it was, but it did not feel like we had to make any effort 🙂 The only bad (or unpleasant) time I can remember was when our household stuff did not come for three weeks after we moved into our new apartment and we had to “camp” in the kitchen/dining room, almost on the floor and eat dinner on a bench we got from the sauna and put in the kitchen. Otherwise, things could not have gone smoother.

Thouch I was afraid of getting here and being among “cold” people, it turned out to not be like that at all.
Of course that, when compared with most Americans Finns could seem cold because they are not so fakely smiling at you and asking you how you are when they could not care less. For me, they are just normal people and I definitely feel better among them than I felt for 8 years among Americans. Finally, I do not have to fill air with empty discussions just because having silent moments during a meal is considered embarassing!
What I like the most is that once Finn people get to know you a bit and start talking to you they are so natural. I have not heard anymore words like “fantastic” and “gorgeous” since we moved here!
I am not saying that they are all like that, but it is much easier to find here people that are genuine and could be interesting conversation partners. In the short time we’ve been here we already had more social interactions with Finns than we had with Americans in the years of staying there.

Tomorrow we are going to US for a week. It would be interesting to see how I feel. Back with impressions…