"Everyone is avoided equally." True! Made me laugh. :D In Finland, it is called respect. Everyone has the right to be left alone, with their own thoughts and doings. But if you need help or want to contact, just ask. It is nothing personal if they decline though, they just want to continue to be left alone.
I love your positive vibes. Rarely you see any immigrant show this kind of gratitude and understanding towards our country and people. Thank you for your kind words and best of luck with your new relationship and learning Finnish! 😊
take a moment to think about why immigrants might resent you when you make blanket statements like 'Rarely you see any immigrant show this kind of gratitude and understanding towards our country and people'. Already in your choice of words I can see your prejudice. Perhaps you should stop making assumptions as it is specifically this attitude and separation that makes immigrants feel unwelcome.
@@TruthYoucantHandle-k2g lol immigrants dont resent me, i have some as friends 😂 ofcourse some people are grateful and hard working but in my experience many just wants to collect the generous wellfare Finland provides and have an easy life. And there are Finns that do that also. I have nothing against people coming to live and to work in Finland, we actually need that to keep our workforce efficient. Just that some come to finland without any intentions to work is what irritates me. So maybe you should just keep to yourself if you dont know what you're talking about ✌🏻
True. Except maybe between the Finnish tribes, who probably snatched some of each other for slaves back in the day. Back when there was no "Finnishness". Ofc it was very different than what we know of the Greco-Roman or the 18th to 19th century American slavery, but still.
@@kaihomieli8226 well, not in the sense we normally think of it. Tribes fighting one another as tribes do, then the Eastern Menace of course taking their fill of the tribes as well at times.
Pro-tip from a native. Get yourself D-vitamins in oil capsules for the darker half of the year. It'll make huge positive effect on your energy levels and mood.
Finnish people was taken into slavery by muscovites (russians) during Great Wrath (iso viha). "Koivu ja Tähti" is great tale about that and how that came to be is also a mentionable.
Teemu Keskisarja, a prominent history researcher, told us that 30 000 women and children were taken as slaves by the russians. They were mostly sold on the muslim slave trade markets in modern day Turkey. 30 000 may not seem much but taken from a nation with 400 000 people in total, it was genocidal.
Kannattaisi muistaa että suomalaisia on viety orjiksi paljon enemmän suhteessa kuin afrikkalaisia joten suomen kuuluis saada kehitysapua eikä suinkaan maksaa sitä muille maille.
I think they also lived in a very different kind of Finnish culture. When I speak to my grandmother who's 94 now she tells me people used to help each other, be less individualistic and busy back in the day. Finnish culture was not always as nuclear family centred and closed off. :)
@henna7216 That is "progression", the whole earth has slowly progressed on that same way. It has been written a long time ago about how people of last days will act and behave. Everything that the Bible teaches the world will twist it 180° and force that upon people,, and here we are.. there was a time when people were more open and help'd others and didn't want to be labeled, but now all they want is to be labeled as something to be part of some group, like the rainbow mafia who forces their wicked agenda down to childrens throats. Good is being called evil and vice versa. To have real moral values now days is "strange" as the world teaches us to loosen those moral values, so people have done just that.
Those elderly people probably prefer to talk to people who stand next to them rather than just concentrating to their own mobile phones. Sometimes it seems that smart phones give a good excuse not to take any contact to actual people who are physically near.
@@lucone2937 Also true. Me personally, I dislike smart phones, and use them rarely when up and about. Still difficult to just engage in banter with strangers without a good reason though. 😅
I have to admit, I cried a little bit at the end of the video. This maybe stupid thing to say but as a native Finnish, some immigrants think I am a racist because I am bald. You are a very good story teller and a speaker.
Lovely points there, and well articulated 👌. Just earned yourself a subscriber 👌. Am Kenyan living here as well and can agree with each and every point.
Thanks for this fresh perspective of my home country! I've too grown to love the seasonal life. The winter for me is the time to direct my focus inwards and work on my own projects in peace and solitarity. And when the spring comes, the outside life comes back in full force and I feel so much gratitude for the sun and warmth. It keeps the life in balance! Glad to hear you've been able to integrate and be happy here
This is very true. I am queer person (native Finnish tho) and you can tell that but not once has anybody said anything about it. Sometimes somebody stares but who gives a fuck. We usually hate speaking to strangers more than any *fill here minority*
Many native English speakers don't feel the need to learn Finnish because almost everyone in Finland speaks and understands English reasonably well. While you can get by with English in Finland, you'll inevitably feel left out in many situations. Some friends have said they've learned Finnish out of respect for the local people, feeling it was wrong that Finns had to speak English to them simply because they hadn't bothered to learn Finnish. I don't want to make this a racial issue, but particularly white native English speakers often skip learning the language altogether. I know Americans, Australians, and Brits who have lived in Finland for decades but still can't order a meal at McDonald's. I don't feel personally offended, but it does suggest a lack of respect.
Also knowledge that Finnish is 6th difficult language for native english speakers to learn. So partly it is also about ability. It takes much more work to learn it than we ever imagine and is a highly demanding commitment. Like learning Mandarin china. Which is above of Finland on the list of most difficult languages in the world. And yes, I agree, part of it is also respect. But nobody expect perfect Finnish skills.
Expats don't want to put in effort too learn the language. They mostly leech off of but don't want to put effort in learning a foreign language of the country where they reside. "Its too hard to learn!" They say. With that attitude it will be difficult.
@@SatumainenOlento Yeah and most of us will apreciate the effort put in trying and we will cladly help anyone to improve. Finnish is quite nice also because if you just put the words one after the other in their basic form we will understand although it will sound strange and we will need to actually put some effort into figuring out the meaning of the sentence. And we are generally eager to help anyone to improve their Finnish skills one just need to ask.
What a great attitude you have! 🙏 And also good, analytic perspective on many matters. 🤔🫡 You actually put it on spot in words, why finnish people act like they do in public transportation. Finnish people truly look for their own personal space, which we do value a lot! It feels, that we have it in our genes, that the best places for us to relax and feel blessed are in nature with more space around us and less people and hussle! Ofcourse we truly need other people and companion too, to feel us whole and happy, but no unnecessary chit-chat and hussle in "all moments and occasions". As a Finn I also have realized it in my early adulthood, that it is not the cold or snow - I LOVE snow - but it is the lack of daylight, that makes the late autumn and winter time hard to cope with. Someone said it wisely, that not even we Finns are used to the dark and cold winter time; we just put up with it! 😅 (because we traditionally have not had any choice! 😉). And ofcourse we also know, how to endure it with right kind of clothing! ☺️👌 There was a spot on comment also about finnish people not carrying the burden of colonization, except the pressing of Saami people, that we Finns seem to have mainly forgotten. Big part of our history we were that nation and nationality, who were forced to serve other nations and oppressors. But altogether: Finland is a wonderful country to live in. Lets just remember to smile to each other also in darker autumn days! 😂❤
As another immigrant in Finland myself (since January 2023) I appreciate seeing a different point of view of the experience. I'm white so people don't assume I'm an immigrant unless they hear my accent, so obviously I don't experience racism or being perceived as "different" simply by my looks (except I probably smiled way too much in public when my husband and I were going to stores in the beginning) There are some issues in Finland. Personally I don't find the healthcare to be very good (yes, it's mostly tax-payed, but that doesn't equal good, and from my experience the private healthcare is even worse) And like the other Nordic countries, getting to know the local population is near impossible (I know because I am from Denmark, and the thing I've seen immigrants/expats "complain" about the most is how hard it is to find Danish friends) and I don't have any friends here in Finland, but I don't think it's because of my foreigner-status, it simply is hard to get to know people here on a friendship level. My husband who is Finnish, speaks the language fluenty and looks like the "typical" Finn doesn't have many connections either, so anytime there is an opportunity for him to go out and meet people I will push him out the door so he gets to socialize. And the cold and darkness is brutal, yes. But that has just made me appreciate summer more (I used to hate summers) But as for myself I never felt lonely or homesick (I visited Finland for the first time in May 2022, and knew pretty much right away that this is here I will get cremated) because I already was used to not having many friends, and it's really only been at work (international workplace) where I've actually felt left out - never among Finnish people, because at workplaces they expect you to be social to some extend, but out on the streets people can do their business as they please and nobody bats an eye, which I quite like. But if someone is extroverted or very social, loneliness is to be expected. I've been on vacation in Spain quite a few times, and while I love Spain and the Spanish, I personally couldn't deal with being social and striking up a conversation with random strangers. That would scare me -and even more so after I moved to Finland The only issue I have at the moment is to get people to stop automatically switching to English, which I get is simply to accomodate me, but I like to think that if I don't understand something in Finnish, then it's my problem and I am the one who has to get better. (Also I can be in two different stores on the same day, where they switch in one, while they don't in the other and I'm still trying to figure out what triggers the switch so I can avoid it) And yeah, the language is something else, but as my husband said, he had to learn the grammar too, so I have nothing to complain about
Hey there! 🇩🇰 When Finns switch to English, they often do it out of (false) politeness. Say: "Haluan oppia suomea. Sopiiko, että puhutaan suomea." And just keep talking Finnish.
I love Finland. I've my relatives over there. One thing I noticed is when the Sotee agreement went through, life in the smaller counties is getting harder n harder to get help. Take example my 90 year old godfather. For the last year, his health has been deteriorating. He needed to get x-ray for his brain. He have to wait about four months for answer. Plus his kids had to pay private nurses, which it coast about a grand for each month, because counties own nurses has been removed.
We need people to participate in politics. Vote in the elections, contact their representatives, etc. Immigrants can vote in the local elections, though I don't know the exact qualifications.
I feel with you on the finnish language. I was born in Finland but on the west coast where we only speak swedish. So i learned finnish in school, speak it when needed. 45 years old now but still cant speak it perfectly 😂
I love your glass half full attitude! I’m fortunate enough live in Vancouver BC. A place with clean water, immaculate forests, and Mountain View’s everywhere. Ofc we have our issues (cost of living), but I find all people do is point that out, and fail to see all the gifts we have on a daily basis. Really want to visit Helsinki because of your videos!
4:59 THIS! THIS SO MUCH! The basic Finnish need of "I'm doing stuff, leave me the F alone"! Haven't heard this put so well, and in such a neutral manner, by one not born and bred in the culture. It might not be too socially kind a manner of behaviour, but it's honest and shared by almost everyone on the streets.
Every time you press record it oozes Euphoria and Utopia,it always makes me feel content my aura is always uplifted ..Every video you make is a Magnus opus I start to wonder why do we hype baseless content and drown these truest enlightenments,You have given someone like me hope have blessed me with a grin thank you very much.
Feedback on the background music: in my opinion the volume level was just right and the loops suited perfectly in the video. Weirdly, the second one kept giving me chills 😊 Secondly, behavior and culture is complex and I have personally experienced different self when traveling abroad, I become more open as opposed to here in Finland I don't want to "disturb" anybody, so in that sense your observation is very accurate. I suppose the generational differences also come into play in this matter. Lastly and most importantly, you are a very interesting person and I highly appreciate your attitude and your view of life. I would assume people like to be around you based on your videos. I rarely comment on videos so it's a huge compliment from me!
Hi Chico, I always love your videos...Very cinematic , always on point and has the love for Finland🌼GodBless on your plans studying the Finnish language and hope your relationship prosper🌺Keep on posting videos🍰
That's really insightful of you, and thanks for your kind words. 😊 I wished i could have shared this video 2 years ago when I got to know a South African who had just moved to Helsinki. She never got to the point you are at, never accepted the differences, and have now moved from Finland. 🙁
You are exactly the kind of person we want in Finland. Respectful and smart, not trying to push an agenda but observe first and then adapt but also bring a fresh view to things. Btw Finnish people are very talkative when you get to know them better. They’re not shy to share their thoughts but it’s the cities that make people distant. Every person ever who talked to me in Helsinki was asking for money so why to talk to strangers? I’m totally zoning out there.
Thanks for the well thought-out video. I'm a recent immigrant myself but from a western-European country. In terms of culture and climate for me it feels more like minor adjustment. It's interesting to hear about the experience of someone who has had to take some 'bigger leaps' in that sense. I'm having a good time here and I feel many aspects of the culture fit my own personality, being a bit more introverted and a lover of nature. I've heard some less positive things from fellow immigrants with a different, non-European background that made me think that my experience might be different, or easier in a way. While I'm sure that will be the case in many regards, I'm happy to hear your experience has been good overall. Wishing you a good time here in Finland :) I also started learning the language, it's mostly hard because of how different it is, not because it's way more complex compared to other languages. No doubt you can do it and Finnish people always seem very pleased when you just try. I've had bar keepers help me out and explain Finnish words to me, taking the time to help even though there were other people waiting behind me haha. And saying silly things in Finnish always breaks the ice. Undulaati on vihreä. Minä olen velho. Kiitos, all the best!
You have a great perspective and attitude about Finland. You mentioned things I never really thought about, which I feel, shows how good this video is even for Finns. I suppose living in the same system throughout one's life makes one blind to it's obscurity.
I have a theory about why Finns like to give others so much personal space. Think about our weather conditions, seasonal changes of nature, temperatures, lack os sun on winter, long distances and small population in relatively large area. There is a lot of nature and room here. Keeping a distance to be respectful runs in our veins and our environment has also built that to our culture. I believe it is also a matter of saving energy. We need both physical and mental energy to endure long winters and lack of sunshine. Being very outgoing and socialising a lot demands energy. Perhaps it is also some sort of "energy saving mode" we Finns don't usually talk so easily to strangers? But that also varies. Not all people in Finland are the same. Forexample Karelian tribe people here are quite talkative and ofcourse there is more talkative individuals also. I live in Hyvinkää, about 60 km from Helsinki and in my experience, even short distancies can effect on people. Earlier I lived in Järvenpää, about 30 km from both Helsinki and Hyvinkää. Here in Hyvinkää seems to be easier to talk to strangers than in Järvenpää. In Helsinki there is so many people, they simply don't care, They have places to go and things to do. But even then, if you start a conversation, people often do want to participate. It is not usually like they seem to be very uneasy about it. Atleast if you talk about some "normal" everyday easy topics.
@@NimuelNightfire haven't thought about that much. I guess telling me about it would be necessary, and I don't take myself too seriously so some levity is ok too. If it's a more complex thing, constructive would be also helpful. But in the end I'm just like everyone, even if I'm told of my error, it'll be up to me to decide what goes for myself, but at least I'll be aware of it. In your case, I felt it obvious that the typo wasn't something to stress about, heck, to me even bigger mistakes aren't often anything to take personally... it was just pleasantly consistent and implied that funny thought play that I felt could be amusing to you and others, that's all. :) Hope that answered your question.
It certainly is bizarre if Finland is lumped together with many other predominantly white European nations. Finland actually has more in common with African countries from the perspective of the topic of imperialism. Finland never went pillaging into the far reaches of the Earth and Finland never enslaved other peoples. In fact Finland has been occupied by its neighboring empires for most of history.
That's not an accurate comparison because slavery was still rampant in Africa in the middle ages, before Europeans arrived and started purchasing the slaves. It's just that African tribes, kingdoms and empires were enslaving people with the same skin colour as themselves, just from different cultures, so westerners tend to ignore that existing because it's inconvenient for the racism narrative. Some African tribes and kingdoms did massive amounts of slavery, with their weaker neighbours getting captured and opressed. There had been multiple empires that rose and collapsed south of the Sahara (specifying to exclude Egypt) before colonizers ever arrived. Sub-Saharan Africans have experienced imperialism multiple times by the hands of other Sub-Saharan cultures.
@@killerkonnat indeed you are right. My point however was more related to the mistaken stereotype that Finns should be lumped together with other "white" peoples, as Finns have themselves faced occupation for most of history. This kind of ignorance is based on such a shallow inspection of the people, i.e. "they're "white" so they must be like all the other colonisers."
Hey😊 Thank you for your kind words. Great to have you here with us. I'm sure you can learn the language and English goes a long way, at least in Helsinki.
Such kind words, thank you. Good luck with your relationship! Finnish is not really that hard - no one cares if you cant get everything technically right, people will understand you if you just learn the vocabulary. Rest will fall in it's place when using finnish :)
Lol For a english speaking person our language is 6th most difficult language to learn 😅 Mandarin Chinese and Polish were front of it on the list if I remember it correctly 😅
@@SatumainenOlento True. But it is because of the grammar, which is very different from indo-european languages. However if one just learns the vocabulary, people will understand usually just fine, even if the grammar is off :)
The importance of being able to speak the language cannot be overstated. It's by far the most crucial factor when integrating into Finnish culture and with Finnish people. You don't even need to be proficient. If you learn a bunch of random words and can string them together enough for the other person to understand you and fill in the gaps, it's infinitely better than not knowing any of the language at all. Additionally, since most Finns are pretty good at English, you can use English words for the ones you don't know, and they'll not only understand you but probably also teach you the Finnish word for it, so you'll know it next time.
I really hate the Metro, i can't have my own area and half the people are facing me. I get anxiety from that every time and my eye brows start moving on their own.
Thank you very much for the deeper words that one can usually read in these kinds of reactions. It was very interesting to hear that we can be considered as the whites from the world with colonialism and race cruelties. So I got to feel how somebody would think something about me just because of my skin color. Also your words of seasons were clever. PS. Living plants may bring some summer to your home in wintertime. ❤😂
A few months sound like a very short time to learn Finnish intensely, especially taking the big leap from one language-family to another - but when it comes to Finnish you have some huge help if you a) have lived in another Western society, b) the other language family is Indoeuropean. The a) because the culture is the same, so there are words for all phenomena, often verbatim translations, and b) Finnish is full of loanwords, one just has to know how they are adapted. If you have got a teacher, ask about those patterns - how do you get from bank to pankki? From music to musiikki? From type to tyyppi? From school to koulu? From church to kirkko? Many loanwords are from Latin and Greek, thanks to the Bible and scholarly influence. A huge heap of loanwords are from Swedish, as Finland newly (!) was a part of Sweden, and waterways were the fastest way of contact (and still the cheapest). Speaking of them, the contacts with other languages over the Baltic Sea were traditionally intense, so for example words like 'Meer' (sea in German) and 'meri' (sea in Finnish) are related. As are Saksa and Saxon. A smaller group of loanwords are from Russian, and there the Karelians have been the best bridgebuilders. All of Europe has tended to use the same loanwords, like in the Finnish words: moottori, kattila, tanssi, kapteeni, tomaatti, professori. There are thousands of them! Many Finnish words are direct translations - like: tuulimylly (windmill), kirjakansi (bookcover), kylpyhuone (bathroom), lentokenttä (flygfält), virtahepo (flodhäst), kieliopettaja (språklärare), rautatie (chemin de fer), näkökulma (points of view). You'll understand and remember them thanks to knowing the basic words they are composed of. Some grammatical patterns in Finnish you only have to understand, but need not ever use yourself. You can say: ilman huomiota (without noticing) as well as you can say: huomioimatta (without noticing) - whatever is easier for yourself. So no panic, just curiosity! All the best wishes for approaching Finnish from many creative angles!
As a native, the darkness is indeed the worst part. And the further North you live, the worse it gets. I feel that here in Oulu the darkness is not only an inconvenience, but a real problem.
You really do not need to speak Finnish perfectly. Also, basics are easy. It is the different propositions which make it difficult and fluidity of it. I heard somebody (doctor) who had studied it 4 years living in Finland and he was very very good! Fluent! He had a family and he was speaking it every day with his own family! Thats how you learn it the best. And Finnish make mistakes on their own language too when they speak! So you do not need to become perfect! It will open a totally new door for you!!! ❤ I am very touched by your video! I know Finns are great, but to have such a good experience in living there...calling Finland your home! You got it so well! ❤ It is one of the best countries in the world! The people are awesome when you get to know them! ❤
Very thoughtful perspective indeed, wish we had more people like this guy. Love the shirt btw. Good luck with the girlfriend! Oh and you’ll learn the language no problem. I’ve seen a lot dumber people do it too, me included.
Heh, watching the clock behind Mr Chico: It took, what, 15 minutes for him to record the talking bits?? I thought it takes AGES for a content creator to find the "right" expressions!! So, pretty authentic words, I might assume? A nice video btw!
It is funny that for you living in Helsinki people seem so introverted and reserved. For me who lives in a small city in much northen Finland, Helsinki is that busy, very social and a bit too big place.
What a beautiful testimony, best wishes and happiness to you! Only thing that made me chuckle a little is the statement that Finnish language wasn't logical. I learned it many years ago (coming from German.) Trust me, it is one of the most logical languages in the world. The system is elaborate but entirely regular, there are less than a handful exceptions to learn. Once you get it, you can construct everything. Only difficulty is the vocabulary since it's completely alien to its indo-european surroundings. I've ended up in Sweden now but hold fond memories of the experience. Good luck!
I'm sure you have a futur in Finland, love your energy, positive vibes, voice. If you can keep those qualities and learn finnish i see future in media field(radio, tv, etc). You have a talent to speak calmly but still transfer those emotions.
I just hope many of living here can see you videos. So good perspective and deep thinking about living here, not politicaly left or right, kind of, corned, what I hate about, just ordinary people, who was born somewhere else and moving here and seeing our country and culture of his own eyes.
Vitamin d should be recommended much more to finns that it is right now, on high doses at wintertime, most People are not getting enough, essential for wellbeing in countries that dont get much sunlight. Finland is a great place to live if you can tolerate the long winters, good finland promo good video 👍
I hope you find happiness here in Finland! There is a joke about Covid times here. "Finns were relieved that when the Covid bans stopped instead of 2 meter personal distance we can return to the normal 5 meter distance."
6:24 I think one of the main reasons Finnish people don't connect people of different ethnicity with "slavery" is that the Finns only took part in slavery as slaves. Not too long ago in our country's history Finnish people were captured by Russians and sold as slaves especially during conflicts between Russia and Sweden in the early 1700's. To give a few reasons why Finland is considered one of the most racist countries in Europe: 1. Immigrants often fail to adapt to our country's culture, a big part of which relies on treating everyone as your own family. Personally, I've been robbed by immigrants in Finland, which I know another Finnish person would never do to me. 2. Because immigrants and refugees tend to have expectations of Finnish people being racist, they start treating us as enemies instead of friends, which backfires. 3. While Finland has a great welfare system, our economy is not huge compared to neighboring countries, which is why Finns often feel that their tax money should be spent on helping themselves before helping others. 4. While immigration is important for our country's growth, by statistics, immigrants commit more crime, which often infuriates us, especially when the crime committed is x. 5. Immigrants who come from less wealthy countries are actually taking lots of the studnet jobs here, because they often lack education and work experience. Can't think of much else, maybe this will give people some new perspectives.
Your shirt is amazing! Yeah the dark is rough. And in the summer your "go go go". Friends, festivals and drinks. In the winter im like a bear. Just eat, and sleep and im in a bad mood. (And work feels like extra work). Have to take vitamine D again
I hope you continue to thrive in this country and Finnish language is quite hard, but I know you can do it!... and yes, Finnish people keep their distance as a form of respect, same can be seen in Japan.. I only recently learned that some people think it's rude, (Angry Swedish lady) I had no idea my way of giving space was viewed as rudeness...
Hey Chico, ever watched a channel called Serpentza? He's a dude from South-Africa, named Winston Sterzel who makes vids focusing mostly on China. He had a new video about S.A. and it was a little depressing. I thought wow, Chico is really lucky he's here instead.
Good to hear that Finland suits you well. Although I kind of noticed it already before. Of course, there are better and worse countries in general. None of them is perfect, but it is good for a person to be where they feel comfortable, no matter what the country may be.
Ps. If you want to know about the history of Finland from the period before independence, the Great Wrath is one of its worst periods, I mean horrible. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wrath
Hi Chico, I had to follow your channel since you have great calm charm and your videos are made with awesome quality both content and outlook wise. I want you to know that this is the fifteenth time ever in my almost twenty years of youtubing that I follow any channel. Just had to do it.
Plus, about slavery...Did you know that many finns was sold as slaves and sold to the middle east, during the Barbary slave trade? I would to watch the YT documentary "The great wrath". It was a dark place in finnish history. Finns was called in America as "China Swede". And in Sweden: Hurrit and Finnjävlar.
Thank you for your honest attitude. You should stay couple of days in a smaller place, life is so different there. Helsinki is like a melting pot there are not many people who have their roots there. If you have time go to church on Sundays Agricola church at 6 p.m. or at 5? have a beautiful service. Blessings to you and your girlfriend 🫶🎶👏🙏❣️
👩🏼🌾🏞️🌄 Hello, Chico! Thank you for your videos! You truly deserve a much larger audience in my opinion! I love that you enunciate so clearly and that you're so well-spoken otherwise as well. It's a pleasure to listen to you. I see you as a well educated and very mature person. Your sunny smile and laughter are very catching! And your thoughts and observations are very interesting and correct. They give me another perspective on how somebody from another country and culture experiences Finland without the benefit of knowing the Finnish language, the key to the culture, sufficiently well - yet. I, myself, belong to the Swedish-speaking Finlanders. My mother tongue is Swedish (I'm also fluent in English, French and German), and I have to say that if one doesn't learn Finnish already as a small child, it's very difficult to learn it more or less completely later in life. But I guess that it's possible. For foreigners and immigrants, Swedish (our second official language) is much easier, especially if one already speaks one of the other Germanic languages, like English. With Finnish, one has to start from scratch. But every language has some rules and repetitive patterns that make it easier to see the underlying logic of how a language is constructed. Good luck with learning Finnish - I mean it sincerely! 👋🏼😊🌳🌲🍀
There is some toughening in attitudes towards outsiders now, mostly due to bad immigration policy, but on the whole you are right. Finns are one of the most tolerant and respectful peoples out there. They really never cared if someone was black until the woke mind-virus spread here as well. Most Finns are going to shrug that right off, though.
Amazing video once again I loved the New perspective on the society I was born into. Especially the point about people complaining about Finland and I could not agree more. I'm myself unhappy with current leadership and such and definetly see the problems we here have and would fix them differentlybto what the current govenmenr is trying and I try to be vocal and express my opinions because what would be the point of democracy if I didn't right? That said I recognise and really try to make other recognise it as well that realistically excluding the weather ofcourse Finland really is paradise compared to most of the world.
Awesome content quality as usual sir. I admire your dedication to learn the language, I'm Danish and only knows to count to 10 and curse in Finnish 😀 good luck mate, and congrats finding a cute woman to hang out with ✌️ best wishes. Denmark certainly isn't innocent regarding the history of slavery, but unlike a society like the US, we have very few decendants of slaves living here... so it's less of a touchy subject. The residents we do have of African decent mostly came as adopted or as refugees, so there's not the same divide, and our constitution clearly says that the law is equal to all. We do unfortunately have people that may appear to be racist politically. I hope and believe that most of them are simply trying to protect our culture or society from being flooded by immigrants that refuse to adopt our values... it's not so much about race, I hope. I've said it before, I live in a rather colourful corner of the country, and it's not my impression that neither fresh immigrants nor the decendants intend to change Denmark... they work hard during the week, but outside of that they too like to have their personal space where they're allowed to be whomever they wanna be, keeping their traditions and religions to themselves, same as us pale potatoes keep our traditions. It hurts no-one that we don't care how either one of us prefer to live life.
"Everyone is avoided equally." True! Made me laugh. :D In Finland, it is called respect. Everyone has the right to be left alone, with their own thoughts and doings. But if you need help or want to contact, just ask. It is nothing personal if they decline though, they just want to continue to be left alone.
I love your positive vibes. Rarely you see any immigrant show this kind of gratitude and understanding towards our country and people. Thank you for your kind words and best of luck with your new relationship and learning Finnish! 😊
take a moment to think about why immigrants might resent you when you make blanket statements like 'Rarely you see any immigrant show this kind of gratitude and understanding towards our country and people'. Already in your choice of words I can see your prejudice. Perhaps you should stop making assumptions as it is specifically this attitude and separation that makes immigrants feel unwelcome.
@@TruthYoucantHandle-k2g lol immigrants dont resent me, i have some as friends 😂 ofcourse some people are grateful and hard working but in my experience many just wants to collect the generous wellfare Finland provides and have an easy life. And there are Finns that do that also. I have nothing against people coming to live and to work in Finland, we actually need that to keep our workforce efficient. Just that some come to finland without any intentions to work is what irritates me. So maybe you should just keep to yourself if you dont know what you're talking about ✌🏻
06:28 Historically Finns have more experience in being slaves than having them.
True. Except maybe between the Finnish tribes, who probably snatched some of each other for slaves back in the day. Back when there was no "Finnishness".
Ofc it was very different than what we know of the Greco-Roman or the 18th to 19th century American slavery, but still.
Slavery is not part of Finland's history.
@@kaihomieli8226 Yes it is. Google ”Isoviha”.
@@kaihomieli8226 well, not in the sense we normally think of it. Tribes fighting one another as tribes do, then the Eastern Menace of course taking their fill of the tribes as well at times.
@@kaihomieli8226 Slavery is a part of all ironage cultures. Every finnic tribe had slaves. Mostly from other finnic tribes.
Pro-tip from a native. Get yourself D-vitamins in oil capsules for the darker half of the year. It'll make huge positive effect on your energy levels and mood.
Love your thoughtful, upbeat videos about your life and Finnish culture. You’re a bridge builder!!
Finnish people was taken into slavery by muscovites (russians) during Great Wrath (iso viha). "Koivu ja Tähti" is great tale about that and how that came to be is also a mentionable.
Also even before those days finns were taken as slaves to the black sea slave markets. Mostly women and children.
Teemu Keskisarja, a prominent history researcher, told us that 30 000 women and children were taken as slaves by the russians. They were mostly sold on the muslim slave trade markets in modern day Turkey. 30 000 may not seem much but taken from a nation with 400 000 people in total, it was genocidal.
Thank you for your kind words and i hate that People nowdays has forgot our history
Kannattaisi muistaa että suomalaisia on viety orjiksi paljon enemmän suhteessa kuin afrikkalaisia joten suomen kuuluis saada kehitysapua eikä suinkaan maksaa sitä muille maille.
Usually it's the elderly people who come talk to stranger on bus stop and such mainly because they don't probably have anyone to talk to.
I think they also lived in a very different kind of Finnish culture. When I speak to my grandmother who's 94 now she tells me people used to help each other, be less individualistic and busy back in the day. Finnish culture was not always as nuclear family centred and closed off. :)
@henna7216
That is "progression", the whole earth has slowly progressed on that same way. It has been written a long time ago about how people of last days will act and behave. Everything that the Bible teaches the world will twist it 180° and force that upon people,, and here we are.. there was a time when people were more open and help'd others and didn't want to be labeled, but now all they want is to be labeled as something to be part of some group, like the rainbow mafia who forces their wicked agenda down to childrens throats. Good is being called evil and vice versa. To have real moral values now days is "strange" as the world teaches us to loosen those moral values, so people have done just that.
Those elderly people probably prefer to talk to people who stand next to them rather than just concentrating to their own mobile phones. Sometimes it seems that smart phones give a good excuse not to take any contact to actual people who are physically near.
@@HennaHuu that was everywhere, we have gone from communities to individualism, its all part of the plan to put us in cages in towns..
@@lucone2937 Also true. Me personally, I dislike smart phones, and use them rarely when up and about.
Still difficult to just engage in banter with strangers without a good reason though. 😅
You have a rare talent of reading and understanding people :)
Brilliant observations you have made! And well explained 🙏
I have to admit, I cried a little bit at the end of the video. This maybe stupid thing to say but as a native Finnish, some immigrants think I am a racist because I am bald. You are a very good story teller and a speaker.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
It is a stupid thing, yea, but not really surprising. For that you can mostly blame skinheads.
Your videos are always so high quality, in every way, it's crazy! You are easily the most underrated content creator I have come across.
Totally true!
Lovely points there, and well articulated 👌. Just earned yourself a subscriber 👌.
Am Kenyan living here as well and can agree with each and every point.
Thanks for this fresh perspective of my home country! I've too grown to love the seasonal life.
The winter for me is the time to direct my focus inwards and work on my own projects in peace and solitarity. And when the spring comes, the outside life comes back in full force and I feel so much gratitude for the sun and warmth. It keeps the life in balance!
Glad to hear you've been able to integrate and be happy here
as Asian Immigrant, everyone is avoid equally here even native Finnish will avoid each other lol but I love this place. it's my home too
This is very true. I am queer person (native Finnish tho) and you can tell that but not once has anybody said anything about it. Sometimes somebody stares but who gives a fuck. We usually hate speaking to strangers more than any *fill here minority*
@@nonniperkl6273 nobody cares if you are queer stop feeling it to everyone. Revolting.
Many native English speakers don't feel the need to learn Finnish because almost everyone in Finland speaks and understands English reasonably well. While you can get by with English in Finland, you'll inevitably feel left out in many situations. Some friends have said they've learned Finnish out of respect for the local people, feeling it was wrong that Finns had to speak English to them simply because they hadn't bothered to learn Finnish. I don't want to make this a racial issue, but particularly white native English speakers often skip learning the language altogether. I know Americans, Australians, and Brits who have lived in Finland for decades but still can't order a meal at McDonald's. I don't feel personally offended, but it does suggest a lack of respect.
yeah we do understand it, but we are not collectively very good at it, rally English etc. :D
Also knowledge that Finnish is 6th difficult language for native english speakers to learn. So partly it is also about ability. It takes much more work to learn it than we ever imagine and is a highly demanding commitment. Like learning Mandarin china. Which is above of Finland on the list of most difficult languages in the world.
And yes, I agree, part of it is also respect. But nobody expect perfect Finnish skills.
Expats don't want to put in effort too learn the language. They mostly leech off of but don't want to put effort in learning a foreign language of the country where they reside.
"Its too hard to learn!" They say. With that attitude it will be difficult.
@@SatumainenOlento Yeah and most of us will apreciate the effort put in trying and we will cladly help anyone to improve.
Finnish is quite nice also because if you just put the words one after the other in their basic form we will understand although it will sound strange and we will need to actually put some effort into figuring out the meaning of the sentence.
And we are generally eager to help anyone to improve their Finnish skills one just need to ask.
What a great attitude you have! 🙏 And also good, analytic perspective on many matters.
🤔🫡
You actually put it on spot in words, why finnish people act like they do in public transportation. Finnish people truly look for their own personal space, which we do value a lot!
It feels, that we have it in our genes, that the best places for us to relax and feel blessed are in nature with more space around us and less people and hussle!
Ofcourse we truly need other people and companion too, to feel us whole and happy, but no unnecessary chit-chat and hussle in "all moments and occasions".
As a Finn I also have realized it in my early adulthood, that it is not the cold or snow - I LOVE snow - but it is the lack of daylight, that makes the late autumn and winter time hard to cope with.
Someone said it wisely, that not even we Finns are used to the dark and cold winter time; we just put up with it! 😅 (because we traditionally have not had any choice! 😉).
And ofcourse we also know, how to endure it with right kind of clothing! ☺️👌
There was a spot on comment also about finnish people not carrying the burden of colonization, except the pressing of Saami people, that we Finns seem to have mainly forgotten. Big part of our history we were that nation and nationality, who were forced to serve other nations and oppressors.
But altogether:
Finland is a wonderful country to live in.
Lets just remember to smile to each other also in darker autumn days! 😂❤
Well fun fact, my father was from DRC and my mom from Finland. They met in Belgium. My quiet and distant personality is definitely Finnish
Im happy as hell for you, and its so funny that you seem to have a lot of sisu! Welcome!
As another immigrant in Finland myself (since January 2023) I appreciate seeing a different point of view of the experience. I'm white so people don't assume I'm an immigrant unless they hear my accent, so obviously I don't experience racism or being perceived as "different" simply by my looks (except I probably smiled way too much in public when my husband and I were going to stores in the beginning)
There are some issues in Finland. Personally I don't find the healthcare to be very good (yes, it's mostly tax-payed, but that doesn't equal good, and from my experience the private healthcare is even worse) And like the other Nordic countries, getting to know the local population is near impossible (I know because I am from Denmark, and the thing I've seen immigrants/expats "complain" about the most is how hard it is to find Danish friends) and I don't have any friends here in Finland, but I don't think it's because of my foreigner-status, it simply is hard to get to know people here on a friendship level. My husband who is Finnish, speaks the language fluenty and looks like the "typical" Finn doesn't have many connections either, so anytime there is an opportunity for him to go out and meet people I will push him out the door so he gets to socialize.
And the cold and darkness is brutal, yes. But that has just made me appreciate summer more (I used to hate summers)
But as for myself I never felt lonely or homesick (I visited Finland for the first time in May 2022, and knew pretty much right away that this is here I will get cremated) because I already was used to not having many friends, and it's really only been at work (international workplace) where I've actually felt left out - never among Finnish people, because at workplaces they expect you to be social to some extend, but out on the streets people can do their business as they please and nobody bats an eye, which I quite like. But if someone is extroverted or very social, loneliness is to be expected.
I've been on vacation in Spain quite a few times, and while I love Spain and the Spanish, I personally couldn't deal with being social and striking up a conversation with random strangers. That would scare me -and even more so after I moved to Finland
The only issue I have at the moment is to get people to stop automatically switching to English, which I get is simply to accomodate me, but I like to think that if I don't understand something in Finnish, then it's my problem and I am the one who has to get better. (Also I can be in two different stores on the same day, where they switch in one, while they don't in the other and I'm still trying to figure out what triggers the switch so I can avoid it)
And yeah, the language is something else, but as my husband said, he had to learn the grammar too, so I have nothing to complain about
Hey there! 🇩🇰 When Finns switch to English, they often do it out of (false) politeness. Say: "Haluan oppia suomea. Sopiiko, että puhutaan suomea." And just keep talking Finnish.
I love Finland. I've my relatives over there. One thing I noticed is when the Sotee agreement went through, life in the smaller counties is getting harder n harder to get help. Take example my 90 year old godfather. For the last year, his health has been deteriorating. He needed to get x-ray for his brain. He have to wait about four months for answer. Plus his kids had to pay private nurses, which it coast about a grand for each month, because counties own nurses has been removed.
We need people to participate in politics. Vote in the elections, contact their representatives, etc. Immigrants can vote in the local elections, though I don't know the exact qualifications.
I'm super happy it's you who made these observations. Thank you for being you.
I feel with you on the finnish language. I was born in Finland but on the west coast where we only speak swedish. So i learned finnish in school, speak it when needed. 45 years old now but still cant speak it perfectly 😂
you have a talent for storytelling!
Your voice and way of speaking is so calm, kind and friendly ❤❤ love it!
I love your glass half full attitude! I’m fortunate enough live in Vancouver BC. A place with clean water, immaculate forests, and Mountain View’s everywhere. Ofc we have our issues (cost of living), but I find all people do is point that out, and fail to see all the gifts we have on a daily basis. Really want to visit Helsinki because of your videos!
as long as you respect our culture and dont leech off of us you are welcome here
ja kunha ei oo hintin perkele myöskää
This was so positive view, you totally made my day. Thank you.
Great video, as a finn i wish every immigrant would have your attitude
It is so refreshing to hear someone speaking positively about my homecountry. I got teary eyes towards the end of the video. Thank you.
You are very well articulated and express yourself with your own fragrance.
4:59 THIS! THIS SO MUCH! The basic Finnish need of "I'm doing stuff, leave me the F alone"!
Haven't heard this put so well, and in such a neutral manner, by one not born and bred in the culture.
It might not be too socially kind a manner of behaviour, but it's honest and shared by almost everyone on the streets.
Thank you for the great video :)!
Every time you press record it oozes Euphoria and Utopia,it always makes me feel content my aura is always uplifted ..Every video you make is a Magnus opus I start to wonder why do we hype baseless content and drown these truest enlightenments,You have given someone like me hope have blessed me with a grin thank you very much.
Great observations and attitude! I wish all the best for you!
Feedback on the background music: in my opinion the volume level was just right and the loops suited perfectly in the video. Weirdly, the second one kept giving me chills 😊
Secondly, behavior and culture is complex and I have personally experienced different self when traveling abroad, I become more open as opposed to here in Finland I don't want to "disturb" anybody, so in that sense your observation is very accurate. I suppose the generational differences also come into play in this matter.
Lastly and most importantly, you are a very interesting person and I highly appreciate your attitude and your view of life. I would assume people like to be around you based on your videos. I rarely comment on videos so it's a huge compliment from me!
Great message and beautiful videography dude! Love the music aswell, good job.
Hi Chico, I always love your videos...Very cinematic , always on point and has the love for Finland🌼GodBless on your plans studying the Finnish language and hope your relationship prosper🌺Keep on posting videos🍰
That's really insightful of you, and thanks for your kind words. 😊 I wished i could have shared this video 2 years ago when I got to know a South African who had just moved to Helsinki. She never got to the point you are at, never accepted the differences, and have now moved from Finland. 🙁
6:11 --> This is so true. People have totally forgotten finnish history.
You are exactly the kind of person we want in Finland. Respectful and smart, not trying to push an agenda but observe first and then adapt but also bring a fresh view to things. Btw Finnish people are very talkative when you get to know them better. They’re not shy to share their thoughts but it’s the cities that make people distant. Every person ever who talked to me in Helsinki was asking for money so why to talk to strangers? I’m totally zoning out there.
oh boi! you're having a journey ahead of you with the language... can't wait! maybe collab with Dave Cad?
Thanks for the well thought-out video. I'm a recent immigrant myself but from a western-European country. In terms of culture and climate for me it feels more like minor adjustment. It's interesting to hear about the experience of someone who has had to take some 'bigger leaps' in that sense. I'm having a good time here and I feel many aspects of the culture fit my own personality, being a bit more introverted and a lover of nature. I've heard some less positive things from fellow immigrants with a different, non-European background that made me think that my experience might be different, or easier in a way. While I'm sure that will be the case in many regards, I'm happy to hear your experience has been good overall. Wishing you a good time here in Finland :) I also started learning the language, it's mostly hard because of how different it is, not because it's way more complex compared to other languages. No doubt you can do it and Finnish people always seem very pleased when you just try. I've had bar keepers help me out and explain Finnish words to me, taking the time to help even though there were other people waiting behind me haha. And saying silly things in Finnish always breaks the ice. Undulaati on vihreä. Minä olen velho. Kiitos, all the best!
wish you luck for the learning journey!
What an absolutely fantastic video. Thank you so much.
You earned my sub, Chico! This is a great video and you have good points!
You have a great perspective and attitude about Finland. You mentioned things I never really thought about, which I feel, shows how good this video is even for Finns. I suppose living in the same system throughout one's life makes one blind to it's obscurity.
I have a theory about why Finns like to give others so much personal space. Think about our weather conditions, seasonal changes of nature, temperatures, lack os sun on winter, long distances and small population in relatively large area. There is a lot of nature and room here. Keeping a distance to be respectful runs in our veins and our environment has also built that to our culture. I believe it is also a matter of saving energy. We need both physical and mental energy to endure long winters and lack of sunshine. Being very outgoing and socialising a lot demands energy. Perhaps it is also some sort of "energy saving mode" we Finns don't usually talk so easily to strangers? But that also varies. Not all people in Finland are the same. Forexample Karelian tribe people here are quite talkative and ofcourse there is more talkative individuals also. I live in Hyvinkää, about 60 km from Helsinki and in my experience, even short distancies can effect on people. Earlier I lived in Järvenpää, about 30 km from both Helsinki and Hyvinkää. Here in Hyvinkää seems to be easier to talk to strangers than in Järvenpää. In Helsinki there is so many people, they simply don't care, They have places to go and things to do. But even then, if you start a conversation, people often do want to participate. It is not usually like they seem to be very uneasy about it. Atleast if you talk about some "normal" everyday easy topics.
So do you lose or gain weight the further you are from Helsinki?
kg = kilogramma
km = kilometri
;)
@@vilidious One question. If you write an error, how would you like to be corrected?
@@NimuelNightfire haven't thought about that much.
I guess telling me about it would be necessary, and I don't take myself too seriously so some levity is ok too.
If it's a more complex thing, constructive would be also helpful.
But in the end I'm just like everyone, even if I'm told of my error, it'll be up to me to decide what goes for myself, but at least I'll be aware of it.
In your case, I felt it obvious that the typo wasn't something to stress about, heck, to me even bigger mistakes aren't often anything to take personally... it was just pleasantly consistent and implied that funny thought play that I felt could be amusing to you and others, that's all. :)
Hope that answered your question.
For all that thinks winter is gloomy and depressing just try dialing it down a notch. It's time for self reflection and self building.
I love the way you speak about Finland. Thank you :) I'm happy that you are happy here.
I love your videos, they are always so thoughtful and positive :) Good luck with your Finnish studies!
That was beautiful, thank you.
It certainly is bizarre if Finland is lumped together with many other predominantly white European nations. Finland actually has more in common with African countries from the perspective of the topic of imperialism. Finland never went pillaging into the far reaches of the Earth and Finland never enslaved other peoples. In fact Finland has been occupied by its neighboring empires for most of history.
That's not an accurate comparison because slavery was still rampant in Africa in the middle ages, before Europeans arrived and started purchasing the slaves. It's just that African tribes, kingdoms and empires were enslaving people with the same skin colour as themselves, just from different cultures, so westerners tend to ignore that existing because it's inconvenient for the racism narrative.
Some African tribes and kingdoms did massive amounts of slavery, with their weaker neighbours getting captured and opressed. There had been multiple empires that rose and collapsed south of the Sahara (specifying to exclude Egypt) before colonizers ever arrived. Sub-Saharan Africans have experienced imperialism multiple times by the hands of other Sub-Saharan cultures.
@@killerkonnat indeed you are right. My point however was more related to the mistaken stereotype that Finns should be lumped together with other "white" peoples, as Finns have themselves faced occupation for most of history. This kind of ignorance is based on such a shallow inspection of the people, i.e. "they're "white" so they must be like all the other colonisers."
Thank you Chico, wise words as always!
I'm crying for the plant behind you.
Hey😊 Thank you for your kind words. Great to have you here with us. I'm sure you can learn the language and English goes a long way, at least in Helsinki.
Such kind words, thank you. Good luck with your relationship! Finnish is not really that hard - no one cares if you cant get everything technically right, people will understand you if you just learn the vocabulary. Rest will fall in it's place when using finnish :)
Lol For a english speaking person our language is 6th most difficult language to learn 😅 Mandarin Chinese and Polish were front of it on the list if I remember it correctly 😅
@@SatumainenOlento True. But it is because of the grammar, which is very different from indo-european languages. However if one just learns the vocabulary, people will understand usually just fine, even if the grammar is off :)
The importance of being able to speak the language cannot be overstated. It's by far the most crucial factor when integrating into Finnish culture and with Finnish people. You don't even need to be proficient. If you learn a bunch of random words and can string them together enough for the other person to understand you and fill in the gaps, it's infinitely better than not knowing any of the language at all. Additionally, since most Finns are pretty good at English, you can use English words for the ones you don't know, and they'll not only understand you but probably also teach you the Finnish word for it, so you'll know it next time.
We love our own space, you don't speak with anyone if they are not your friends. If we are drunk we speak with everyone.
Most of what you say is the truth.such a magnificent country.never stopped loving it since nearly forty years!
I really hate the Metro, i can't have my own area and half the people are facing me. I get anxiety from that every time and my eye brows start moving on their own.
Thank you very much for the deeper words that one can usually read in these kinds of reactions. It was very interesting to hear that we can be considered as the whites from the world with colonialism and race cruelties. So I got to feel how somebody would think something about me just because of my skin color. Also your words of seasons were clever. PS. Living plants may bring some summer to your home in wintertime. ❤😂
A few months sound like a very short time to learn Finnish intensely, especially taking the big leap from one language-family to another - but when it comes to Finnish you have some huge help if you a) have lived in another Western society, b) the other language family is Indoeuropean. The a) because the culture is the same, so there are words for all phenomena, often verbatim translations, and b) Finnish is full of loanwords, one just has to know how they are adapted.
If you have got a teacher, ask about those patterns - how do you get from bank to pankki? From music to musiikki? From type to tyyppi? From school to koulu? From church to kirkko? Many loanwords are from Latin and Greek, thanks to the Bible and scholarly influence. A huge heap of loanwords are from Swedish, as Finland newly (!) was a part of Sweden, and waterways were the fastest way of contact (and still the cheapest).
Speaking of them, the contacts with other languages over the Baltic Sea were traditionally intense, so for example words like 'Meer' (sea in German) and 'meri' (sea in Finnish) are related. As are Saksa and Saxon. A smaller group of loanwords are from Russian, and there the Karelians have been the best bridgebuilders.
All of Europe has tended to use the same loanwords, like in the Finnish words: moottori, kattila, tanssi, kapteeni, tomaatti, professori. There are thousands of them!
Many Finnish words are direct translations - like: tuulimylly (windmill), kirjakansi (bookcover), kylpyhuone (bathroom), lentokenttä (flygfält), virtahepo (flodhäst), kieliopettaja (språklärare), rautatie (chemin de fer), näkökulma (points of view). You'll understand and remember them thanks to knowing the basic words they are composed of.
Some grammatical patterns in Finnish you only have to understand, but need not ever use yourself. You can say: ilman huomiota (without noticing) as well as you can say: huomioimatta (without noticing) - whatever is easier for yourself. So no panic, just curiosity!
All the best wishes for approaching Finnish from many creative angles!
As a native, the darkness is indeed the worst part. And the further North you live, the worse it gets. I feel that here in Oulu the darkness is not only an inconvenience, but a real problem.
You really do not need to speak Finnish perfectly. Also, basics are easy. It is the different propositions which make it difficult and fluidity of it. I heard somebody (doctor) who had studied it 4 years living in Finland and he was very very good! Fluent! He had a family and he was speaking it every day with his own family! Thats how you learn it the best.
And Finnish make mistakes on their own language too when they speak! So you do not need to become perfect! It will open a totally new door for you!!! ❤
I am very touched by your video! I know Finns are great, but to have such a good experience in living there...calling Finland your home! You got it so well! ❤ It is one of the best countries in the world! The people are awesome when you get to know them! ❤
Aye mate. Great video. Really liked it
Very thoughtful perspective indeed, wish we had more people like this guy. Love the shirt btw. Good luck with the girlfriend! Oh and you’ll learn the language no problem. I’ve seen a lot dumber people do it too, me included.
Love your verbal output🤘🏼
Heh, watching the clock behind Mr Chico: It took, what, 15 minutes for him to record the talking bits?? I thought it takes AGES for a content creator to find the "right" expressions!! So, pretty authentic words, I might assume? A nice video btw!
Nice positive video. Good job!
It is funny that for you living in Helsinki people seem so introverted and reserved. For me who lives in a small city in much northen Finland, Helsinki is that busy, very social and a bit too big place.
Tampere is much more social place.
@@TuomasRinne No empä ala kieltämään kun en oo Tampereella vielä käyny.
How many languages - You know ? IT IS much easier when everybody speaks several languages !
What a beautiful testimony, best wishes and happiness to you! Only thing that made me chuckle a little is the statement that Finnish language wasn't logical. I learned it many years ago (coming from German.) Trust me, it is one of the most logical languages in the world. The system is elaborate but entirely regular, there are less than a handful exceptions to learn. Once you get it, you can construct everything. Only difficulty is the vocabulary since it's completely alien to its indo-european surroundings. I've ended up in Sweden now but hold fond memories of the experience. Good luck!
I'm sure you have a futur in Finland, love your energy, positive vibes, voice. If you can keep those qualities and learn finnish i see future in media field(radio, tv, etc). You have a talent to speak calmly but still transfer those emotions.
I just hope many of living here can see you videos. So good perspective and deep thinking about living here, not politicaly left or right, kind of, corned, what I hate about, just ordinary people, who was born somewhere else and moving here and seeing our country and culture of his own eyes.
Vitamin d should be recommended much more to finns that it is right now, on high doses at wintertime, most People are not getting enough, essential for wellbeing in countries that dont get much sunlight. Finland is a great place to live if you can tolerate the long winters, good finland promo good video 👍
I hope you find happiness here in Finland!
There is a joke about Covid times here. "Finns were relieved that when the Covid bans stopped instead of 2 meter personal distance we can return to the normal 5 meter distance."
Congrats on finding a sweetheart! Rakkaus voittaa!
6:24 I think one of the main reasons Finnish people don't connect people of different ethnicity with "slavery" is that the Finns only took part in slavery as slaves. Not too long ago in our country's history Finnish people were captured by Russians and sold as slaves especially during conflicts between Russia and Sweden in the early 1700's.
To give a few reasons why Finland is considered one of the most racist countries in Europe:
1. Immigrants often fail to adapt to our country's culture, a big part of which relies on treating everyone as your own family. Personally, I've been robbed by immigrants in Finland, which I know another Finnish person would never do to me.
2. Because immigrants and refugees tend to have expectations of Finnish people being racist, they start treating us as enemies instead of friends, which backfires.
3. While Finland has a great welfare system, our economy is not huge compared to neighboring countries, which is why Finns often feel that their tax money should be spent on helping themselves before helping others.
4. While immigration is important for our country's growth, by statistics, immigrants commit more crime, which often infuriates us, especially when the crime committed is x.
5. Immigrants who come from less wealthy countries are actually taking lots of the studnet jobs here, because they often lack education and work experience.
Can't think of much else, maybe this will give people some new perspectives.
so long as you can behave, we really don't care
Thank you Chico for your beautiful words, made me happy😊 and oh, you've found a girlfriend that's awesome🫶
Your shirt is amazing! Yeah the dark is rough. And in the summer your "go go go". Friends, festivals and drinks.
In the winter im like a bear. Just eat, and sleep and im in a bad mood. (And work feels like extra work). Have to take vitamine D again
Finns avoid talking too much because they want to prevent their lips from cracking as a result of the extremely cold weather 😂
Glad you're happy here!
Wise words, hope your relationship never ends!
I hope you continue to thrive in this country and Finnish language is quite hard, but I know you can do it!...
and yes, Finnish people keep their distance as a form of respect, same can be seen in Japan.. I only recently learned that some people think it's rude, (Angry Swedish lady) I had no idea my way of giving space was viewed as rudeness...
Hey Chico, ever watched a channel called Serpentza? He's a dude from South-Africa, named Winston Sterzel who makes vids focusing mostly on China. He had a new video about S.A. and it was a little depressing. I thought wow, Chico is really lucky he's here instead.
Good to hear that Finland suits you well. Although I kind of noticed it already before.
Of course, there are better and worse countries in general. None of them is perfect, but it is good for a person to be where they feel comfortable, no matter what the country may be.
Ps. If you want to know about the history of Finland from the period before independence, the Great Wrath is one of its worst periods, I mean horrible.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wrath
Hi Chico, I had to follow your channel since you have great calm charm and your videos are made with awesome quality both content and outlook wise. I want you to know that this is the fifteenth time ever in my almost twenty years of youtubing that I follow any channel. Just had to do it.
Love this!
Plus, about slavery...Did you know that many finns was sold as slaves and sold to the middle east, during the Barbary slave trade? I would to watch the YT documentary "The great wrath". It was a dark place in finnish history. Finns was called in America as "China Swede". And in Sweden: Hurrit and Finnjävlar.
Thank you for your honest attitude. You should stay couple of days in a smaller place, life is so different there. Helsinki is like a melting pot there are not many people who have their roots there. If you have time go to church on Sundays Agricola church at 6 p.m. or at 5? have a beautiful service. Blessings to you and your girlfriend 🫶🎶👏🙏❣️
Just what I needed to hear 🇫🇮
👩🏼🌾🏞️🌄 Hello, Chico!
Thank you for your videos! You truly deserve a much larger audience in my opinion!
I love that you enunciate so clearly and that you're so well-spoken otherwise as well. It's a pleasure to listen to you.
I see you as a well educated and very mature person. Your sunny smile and laughter are very catching! And your thoughts and observations are very interesting and correct. They give me another perspective on how somebody from another country and culture experiences Finland without the benefit of knowing the Finnish language, the key to the culture, sufficiently well - yet.
I, myself, belong to the Swedish-speaking Finlanders. My mother tongue is Swedish (I'm also fluent in English, French and German), and I have to say that if one doesn't learn Finnish already as a small child, it's very difficult to learn it more or less completely later in life. But I guess that it's possible. For foreigners and immigrants, Swedish (our second official language) is much easier, especially if one already speaks one of the other Germanic languages, like English.
With Finnish, one has to start from scratch. But every language has some rules and repetitive patterns that make it easier to see the underlying logic of how a language is constructed.
Good luck with learning Finnish - I mean it sincerely! 👋🏼😊🌳🌲🍀
There is some toughening in attitudes towards outsiders now, mostly due to bad immigration policy, but on the whole you are right. Finns are one of the most tolerant and respectful peoples out there. They really never cared if someone was black until the woke mind-virus spread here as well. Most Finns are going to shrug that right off, though.
I think that by complaining we have actually made Finland to what it is now. I mean, if nobody ever complained, we would be stuck in some past.
Amazing video once again I loved the New perspective on the society I was born into. Especially the point about people complaining about Finland and I could not agree more. I'm myself unhappy with current leadership and such and definetly see the problems we here have and would fix them differentlybto what the current govenmenr is trying and I try to be vocal and express my opinions because what would be the point of democracy if I didn't right? That said I recognise and really try to make other recognise it as well that realistically excluding the weather ofcourse Finland really is paradise compared to most of the world.
Wars are fought when diplomacy has failed. We have had lots of bad politicians.
Good luck with learning finnish. Even native speakers often have problems with it so don't be too hard on yourself 😁
I feel privileged to compete with you ❤
Awesome content quality as usual sir.
I admire your dedication to learn the language, I'm Danish and only knows to count to 10 and curse in Finnish 😀 good luck mate, and congrats finding a cute woman to hang out with ✌️ best wishes.
Denmark certainly isn't innocent regarding the history of slavery, but unlike a society like the US, we have very few decendants of slaves living here... so it's less of a touchy subject.
The residents we do have of African decent mostly came as adopted or as refugees, so there's not the same divide, and our constitution clearly says that the law is equal to all.
We do unfortunately have people that may appear to be racist politically.
I hope and believe that most of them are simply trying to protect our culture or society from being flooded by immigrants that refuse to adopt our values... it's not so much about race, I hope.
I've said it before, I live in a rather colourful corner of the country, and it's not my impression that neither fresh immigrants nor the decendants intend to change Denmark... they work hard during the week, but outside of that they too like to have their personal space where they're allowed to be whomever they wanna be, keeping their traditions and religions to themselves, same as us pale potatoes keep our traditions.
It hurts no-one that we don't care how either one of us prefer to live life.