Wonderfulness of Finnish Culture — Blog 6
As an international student in Finland, I am adapting myself to Finnish culture gradually. As a person who would like to experience new things, some of them makes me feel happy and other give experiences to make a bright future. Thus, I got the best opportunity in my life to experience the Nordic lifestyle with the happiest people in the world. Day by day I realize it takes some time to adapt to Finnish culture. As a person from traditional Asian culture, the open-minded Finnish culture is hugely different and wonderful, no one can’t compare these two.
I came to Finland to begin my studies in Autumn. Initially, everything was totally strange for me. At the end of the beautiful Autumn season, Mother Nature sends small clues to us to get ready for the longer winter. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are the four seasons in Finland and Finns must adapt to these seasons by changing their clothing styles, food and nutrition patterns, seasonal events, and many more. Rarely I have met one or two Finns who prefer winter, but as an average lot of Finns prefer warm and beautiful summer.
The First of May is a special day for Finns known as “Vappu”, and after the Vappu we are getting closer to the end of Spring and people are taking their summer clothes out. Within this seasonal change, we can see peoples’ behaviours become more excited and happy. The sun came out to join people for their summer parties by giving brighter sunlight for almost more than 20 hours per day. Bars, pubs, malls, city centres and all the happy places are fully packed during Friday and Saturday nights in the summer.
The sauna is one of the greatest traditions in Finland. For Finns, the sauna is a most prioritized tradition in daily life especially in Winter. As I heard, usually, Finns prefer to go to the sauna at least once per week. After a special occasion, surely a hot sauna is waiting for you! One day I went to the Lappeenranta swimming pool sauna after the practice session. But at that moment, the sauna was full of Finns and I decided to enjoy the sauna by standing inside of it. But unexpectedly, one person and even a small kid offered me a place to sit in the sauna. This was unexpected because Finns are popular as shy people and they mind their own business all the time. But this small invitation was a memorable moment that I experienced in my first winter season.
More than seasons and sauna there are lots of unique cultural things such as Finnish foods and beverages, student culture, ethics in public transport, and so on. To get to know more about amazing Finnish culture stay tuned.
Thank you!
