My (Finnish) aunt is married to an Englishman. Once they were staying at another city for a while and visited my aunt's aunt who lives there. As they were leaving, he said something along the lines of "we should come again before leaving the city if we have the time" to be polite. Outside my aunt was annoyed and asked him why'd he say that, now she expects they might come again! So yeah, "empty promises" for the sake of politeness aren't really a thing.
After living in Finland for 15-16 years a thing i noticed is.. If i went to my bank and asked speak with my manager, they come out covered in tattoos (including face) 100 piercings and spiked pink hair I and most Finnish people would not bat an eyelid. Finish people judge you as a person. Not how you look. Most countries judge you on how you look/first impressions not as a person.
Some might only silently 'judge' but never say anything out loud and move on with their day. Even if it's not something you personally approve, it's not for you to decide. Exception to that would be children. They can be vicious and judge you for tiniest things if you're not popular enough. And sometimes drunk people...
Well, I would judge a person like that. One or two tattoos might be fine, but if covered on them (especially on the face), I certainly would question how reasonable advice that bank manager could give to me. And I bet that people who are older than me would also judge them. Not to the managers face of course (well some elderly ladies might say something to their face also), but in their mind, and if they are with a friend they might discuss like:"Did you see that manager? He must be a criminal, no one else is looking like that. How they let a criminal work in a bank?"
@@TyrisalthanWell shame on you then. I have been working with elder people and they have seen it all, so rarely people's looks shock them. I have been asked to remove my piercings at work if they "scare" customers but only ones I have had issues are the employers. That being said, face tattoos are a bit no go for me too.
I'd argue that's both ways. People do judge if you fit your position, if you have the sense to "dress up for the occasion". But at the same time if you are in a notable position looking very radical like that, the instinct could say "that person must've been heck of an expert to get to that position despite looking like that". The uniform code is more relaxed but there's still the expectation that you dress up for the situation and your role. To give the impression that you understand who you are and what you're doing.
Thta part about not bragging about your accomplishmenst is interesting topic when talking about finding work in Finland. The "you need to sell yourself" does not really work on Finnish job applications. Yes, you can mentiopn your accomplishments, but be very humble about it. Finns hate pushy self promotion and it might be even better to downplay your achievements to get a job.
I used to work in finnish company where titles did not mean anything. U could always ask advice/help from anyone whit the workplace whit chill atmosphere.I always loved to go work every morning when being there.❤
I had a history teacher who everyone called by his surname and no one seemed to like that teacher and the teacher didn't really seem to like kids. To the kids it felt more like the teacher didn't deserve to be called by his first name and the teacher probably just felt superior to the lousy teens.
Never seen that before. Just first name or a nickname (rarely flattering). Such as Bowlie (bowling ball) roughly translated, LoTRo (Lord of the rings) or shining bald (translated).
This is an amazing video (the previous one had a lot of small mistakes) and covers very important things very well! With the religion, we don't dislike discussing or debating about *religious history objectively,* but pushing or getting pushed religious dogma is a huge no-no in Finland. Also, we really avoid even mentioning the topic around foreigners, since we don't expect them to have as secular/objective approach to it as would be the norm in here, and could become a huge source of conflict (very similar to Japanese culture). However, if the topic is brought up and presented against us, we tend to have a bad habit of not backing down against bs arguments just to preserve the group harmony (this is the critical part where Japan and Finland differs in a massive way btw) Also there are huge local differences in this. If you are in the general area around Oulu (in a narrow West-East belt-like direction around that area) where cult religions like Laestadianism is extremely wide-spread problem, you should def. avoid religious topics.
I live in the US and grew up attending a Laestadian church. Needless to say, I understand you. I, agree it is best to keep away from discussing religion/politics as much as possible.
People in FInland talk about pay quite at bit at work places. That is because most workers are unionized. That is a very common topic amongst colleagues, but not outside the work place.
I’m a finn and almost every part of that video is legit and considered here as basic, good behaviour. I love your accent and of course your videos, you make valid points no matter what the subject is :) wishing you well
He being a student at the time and talking about those punctuality exceptions; the 'academic quarter' applies in Finland also. And having some appointment time doesn't necessarily mean that there's no waiting involved-in worst cases the waiting time can be hours. Relating to waiting; when queuing, cutting line is not looked favorable upon. Meme about that: "Black Friday chaos from Finland!".
It's interesting how much of those customs also apply to the Finnish Diaspora. All but one of those are common within the Finnish-Canadian side of my family. The exception (alcohol with lunch being OK in more circumstances) is probably just cultural contamination from the German side of my family as well as the French-Canadian culture from the same part of Canada, and we still don't do that anywhere near as much as either of those cultures.
I think that even if it's very common to use first name of a person, many people, especially males tend to use others last names when talking even if friends. 🤔😄 I don't know where that comes from and why it is, but maybe they just haven't come up with a good nickname. 😅 But sure, many of those things are something that I do. And being on time is for me a very important thing. Even my doctor, when she called me yesterday, we had an appointment, and she called 3 or 4 minutes after the appointed time, she appologised calling late. And yes, I was having my phone in my hands a few minutes before the appointment.
In my experience, when males use last names to talk to each others, is mostly in situations where they are working with each other, but dont´t know each other that well. For example when you are in the military and you are in the same position as the other person and you have to do the same job, but you don´t really know the person. Also good friends can use the last name, but it allways has a reason for it, for examble you want to highlight a inside joke to that person. ;)
Large groups of men, co-workers for example tend to use family names to avoid confusion, that comes as a result of 70% of Finnish males having either Mika or Mikko as a first name 😉
Ok so… Shoes inside. Only on special occasions such as graduation parties etc like he said. You can take off shoes at the workplace but most don’t, in fact you will get some side eye if you show up to a meeting in flip flops 😅 Titles are not used. I don’t know why you would inquire about anyone’s parents’ income. It’s becoming more common to talk about colleagues income, in fact some companies have a policy where everyone’s salary is transparent e.g. shown on the intranet.
A person whos been in the job for 2 years usually gets less salary, than the guy whos been working there for 10 years and knows how to do different tasks. Of course it depends on earlier experience and education in most places. So yeah, you can have differences in salary for the same job. Experience and knowledge matters and will get you a better salary, also asking for a better salary with good professional reasons will usually get you a raise.
Denmark: Ontime, the same Shoes, pretty much the same. Hierarchy, the same Money, the same Religion, the same. Very private. Politics, can be discussed, but prepare to agree to disagree. Income, the same. Bragging, don't do that at all. Keep to your word, very important here, for your self. Alcohol with food is OK. Some food expected, unless you don't drink alcohol.
I was surprised when I once saw a video of someone calling their teachers by their first name and recording the reaction. Quite common in Finland and the reactions on that video really surprised me. Like they were insulting the teacher.
Well that time thing may be that anal in the south of Finland, where people live for the clock. But the thing with time in Lapland is completely different. There time don´t almost exist :D
Speaking about the income is kind of a taboo in Finland, even among colleagues. I'm a Finn and I find it a bit funny because anybody can walk to local tax office and ask to see the tax report for anybody else, so a colleague interested in my salary could go there and check the official report. There have been some light attempts to make salary equally public to taxes but no changes have been made this far. It seems that the younger generation has somewhat unrealistic expectations for their salary because they don't have enough information and they assume they can ask a lot more salary than they will get for the job they're doing. And this causes unhappiness because young people feel like they are paid too little because they imagine that somewhat older people get paid a lot more.
Hello, a Swede here! It seems to me that Finns and Swedes are quite similar in all these aspects, except perhaps for taking off our shoes at work! I don't think this is common in Sweden? I wouldn't know, I haven't worked for some time. Speaking of work, personally I think we should also add as a rule to not ask a person what he/she does for a living as the opening question when we're getting to know someone. This I think is the most common opening line in Sweden and quite frankly, I find it very annoying.
Yes/kyllä. I am always punctual. Mind you force majeure is an exception. However, I feel force majeure is most annoying. However, it is beyound my scope. Embarrassing it is. Yes, unformality. In my Home Church I do speak both both the Deacon, Farther and the Cantor in terms of first names. Mind you, with Bishops, Igumeni and Igumenia it is different. In case you wonder, I am Orthodox. I like your strong Scottish tongue. Take care.
6:59 i think it's funny that in finland basically all the tax stuff is public so if you wanna know someones salary you can find it out very easily but then in the video he explains how someone might think it is rude to ask for someones salary. how does this make sense? maybe we should think about making taxes a bit more private? no?
It's usually rude to ask about someone's personal stuff. Yes, even if it's something you could find out by using public sources. Tax records need to be even more transparent. I want to know where my politicians get their cash from when deciding if their solutions are good, meh but well-intentioned or just going for personal profit.
React Hanoi Rocks - Back To Mystery City, Live 1983 Marquee. Hanoi Rocks was legendary finnish rock band 1979-1985 and 2001-2009. The band was first finnish band that made name outside of Finland and encourage finnish bands like HIM, Nightwish, Children of Bodom to try international career. The band influenced lot of 80s and 90s rock bands like GnR, Mötley Crue, Poison (what sucks), Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Def Leppard. Hanoi´s first single were "Tragedy" and Hanoi´s story ended to tragedy. In december 1984 band members were hanging with Mötley Crue guys. They run out of beer so Vince and Hanoi´s drummer Razzle went to buy more. Unfortunately Vince lost control of the car and crash it. Razzle died at the age of 24 and two teen of the other a car injured seriously. After that bassist Sami Yaffa left the band. When Yaffa called his gf that Razzle has died his gf said that she is pregnant. Later in 1985 the band broke. Band members were just 22 to 24 years old. Hanoi Rocks is very respected band by other rock musicians. When the singer Michael Monroe started his solo career, Lemmy offered Motörhead to Michael´s solo band. In 1985 Michel were singing in Bruce Springsteen´s guitarist Steve Van Zandt´s project Artist United Against Apartheid - Sun City. At same song there was also playing and singing some names like Bob Dylan, Keith Richard, Ringo Starr, Lou Reed, Hall and Oates, Pete Townshend, Joey Ramone, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Run DMC and Pat Benatar. Michael has also played on same stage with Aerosmith, GnR (playing harmonica in Use Your Illusion 1 song Bad Obsession and singing duet with Axl in song Ain´t it fun at Spaghetti Incident) Metallica and Ronnie Wood. Guitarist Andy McCoy has was part of Iggy Pops band in late 80s and Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shifflet played on McCoys´s band around 2010. Guitarist Nasty Suicide is working now as a pharmacist but you can spot him in GnR - Paradise City music video. Bassist Sami Yaffa was an option to The Rolling Stones bassist. About 1994 Yaffa, Monroe and Slash were recording "Magic Carpet Ride" to soundtrack of the movie Coneheads. Ronnie Wood came to see Yaffa playing bass. Later Wood called to Slash and asked is Yaffa good bass player and is he a good guy. Then he said that let´s see what he can do. Few other great songs Tragedy, 11th street kidz, Oriental Beat, Million miles away, Boulevard of broken dreams, Beer and cigarette, Taxi driver, Dont you ever leave me, Malibu beach nightmare.
Well, alcohol during lunch depends. Obviously when you are at work time and going for a lunch then obviously one should not indulge even a single pint. Kotikalja is common (but it is 1% abv, or less, sweet malt drink that even children drink) but actual beer, no. At dinner, damnit if I am going for a restaurant then obviously I am going to get a pint or glass of wine. Unless I am driving. And on holidays I may drink alcohol even during lunch. Hell if I am going to be drinking all evening then might as well start at the lunch time. 😁
About income and not talking about it. Interesting fact is that everyone's income is public information. You can get their tax info by request from the tax office. I don't know how easy it is in practice but in theory anyway.
The punctuality is not that strict really. People appreciate being on time and don't like you being late, but for example with student stuff you might have the "academic 15 minutes" that people arrive to the meeting in. The academic 15 minutes is the delay the lectures start for example as opposed to on the hour. Students today especially are somewhat forgiving about being late some minutes, the life as a student is just so hectic that many are just happy people make it. Another exception to that is having the common courtesy to inform if you're running late. That's when people forgive a lot. But it's so situational as well. If you're applying for a job, be 15 minutes early for sure. Or on the first day of something. Or if it's your dating partner you shouldn't try your leeway on being late, informing about it or not. They will forgive you for good reasons for being late, but be careful. I also somewhat disagree with the "if you didn't agree on specific time, it's on the hour". I would argue people aren't upset and don't expect you to be on the hour if you don't agree on specific time. It means you arrive when you can around that time. Again with the caveat if it's something that has a time limit. But if it's like arriving to an event that lasts all evening it's not being there on the dot. That being said, I'm always embarrassed when I'm running late on something, and it happens a lot because I have my mom's genes. When I start prepping leaving the house 30 minutes earlier than usual, I end up being 5 minutes late. And I don't blame people for being late, partially because I'm a worse person in that, but I do get anxious standing around whenever something takes longer than a couple of minutes of waiting. And I appreciate the text saying running late myself, if they do that I can stand there for an hour. Stuff happens and sometimes you just suck at life, if you think of informing about it then all cool, you're trying. But then again if it's like a one-off thing or new people or something important where timing matters, I'll usually be a bit early. The funny thing about informality is that you might just as well see your number one big boss in panties with beer in hand being chill and asking how are you doing, in a right setting. The personal finances is such a huge one. People love to complain about taxes and not getting paid enough, but rarely boasting about their income or naming numbers. If someone does that, they're immediately getting the stamp of a prick on the forehead. Like right away you're being thought of being the person who likes to rub their success in others faces. It's particularly notable with Americans. You can't imagine how awkward and borderline hostile the atmosphere changes when there's a couple of poor students from different countries and an American friend who landed a well paying job, the American listing how much money he makes and always telling people to solve their problems by just spending money, then if you say you don't have money for that kind of stuff, he goes telling how much money he has to spare. It is like begging to get punched in the face for being obnoxious. However once again you can have many exceptions. You can have a discussion where talking about parents' jobs is perfectly relevant and neutral and ok. Similar to discussing your incomes. It completely depends on the situation and you'll probably figure out when it's okay to go ahead on those discussions. The accomplishments are the same way. If you're smooth enough socially that you can talk about what you've been doing and working on, you can talk about it. However if you're not smooth or if you want to do it just to brag about it, people turn cold right away. If it has some discussional purpose, if it's a vehicle to tell an interesting story or talk about interesting topics, sure. If it's just to mention to polish your image, people will give you that look that you will not see them again around you if it depends on them. I'd give another exception to the "let's have a coffee some time". Friends regularly say that every time when they turn towards 30 years old, but take a year or two to see each other again, until they again say "we should see more often". Which is not the same thing, it is honest intention but life at 30's is busy and you become tired. But don't give definitive times and have that impression that it's something scheduled if you don't mean it. Basically don't say things just to be nice. Something people dislike too is the English speaking formalities, like speaking a lot of nonsense that is just necessitated by protocol, wasting time and not getting down to the business. Finns prefer saying what you had to say and forget the empty words. Or "how are you" which is a must have in English discussion, but Finns hear it and prepare to answer it honestly. And if their life sucks at the time, prepare to hear it and you better show that you care because you asked, or you're not gonna have a close relationship with that person in the future. Actually people here really hate it when people from say UK or US compliment dishonestly and without real intention or compliment everything. People here don't compliment often or intensely, but they mean every compliment and it's a thought out compliment. They also don't get stale like that and nothing is socially customary politeness. If you don't find it particularly good, you don't compliment. I think that's also partially why some people respect/enjoy speaking with Finns despite sometimes being abrasive. They say it's refreshing that from Finns you get real opinions, bad or good, not dressed up. Not necessarily rude or unnecessarily mean, but honest.
The be on time thing... Well.. Let's just say if it's a new encounter then yea being on time is good. But for example school stuff like projects. People ain't always on time (me included sorry 😅) I mean it's more of a "respect" thing. But if I see someone late. I honestly don't care much and focus on my own work.
I have never been in a job where people take shoes off. I would never take a job where I should call anyone sir, mister, doctor or even by their last names. To me money, politics and religion are simply too boring topics to talk about with anyone.
Hello, Mert Fin! 👋😊🏴🇫🇮 Hi there in Malaysia! It's so nice that you are interested in Finland! Thank you! Tomorrow, December 6th, we'll be celebrating our Independence. I know that you already know everything about that and that you have listened to the Finlandia Hymn. Powerful stuff, isn't it! At about 6 o'clock in the evening I'll be lighting two candles in my window once again. But about taking one's shoes off indoors: There's been a lot of youtube videos regarding that custom, which, by the way, is very common in Sweden as well. I wonder why nobody has mentioned that, both at home or when visiting friends, one can change from one's outdoor shoes to a pair of clean indoor shoes or slippers. There are even special bags that one can carry one's shoes or slippers in on a visit. I always carry mine with me as I don't like to walk around in my bare stocking feet. 🧦 Problem solved! 🥾👞👠👢🥿 In some cases, the hostess or host, friend or family may offer you a pair of visitor's slippers, for instance. Also, Finnish homes have small hallway (entryway, wind locker, mud room), where you can change into your indoor shoes, hang your coat etc. I've found that in many countries you enter directly into the living room. In addition, wall-to-wall carpets were all the rage in the seventies, but nowadays they have been replaced by hardwood flooring, and because many Finnish homes have heated floors not only in the bathroom but everywhere, the floors are nicely warm even in your stocking feet. And - the heat can be regulated. In my grandmother's time, and even still in the 1950's, some men wore galoshes (rubber shoes) and the ladies so-called pampuscher (in Swedish). Most types were worn with the indoor shoes inside with a snug fit. I hear that the production of these has started up again on a small scale... You also wanted to know if one follows the customs mentioned in the video, Yes, I pretty much do, and I would say that they are very much in use, Not to bother with titles and last names when talking to someone has become the norm. In Sweden, the use of first-names for everybody started earlier than in Finland, and that's where we got the idea. A certain respect and politeness disappeared at the same time, though. About being punctual: Yes, that is true, though if one is going to meet family members or friends, it's not quite that strict. Business meetings and the like - yes. There's a humorous saying that one can use, if one is a little late. One can joke that one took advantage of the 'academic quart' (for being a quarter of an hour late. 😉 However, if it's a dinner or some similar event, obviously one must not be late. As to subjects that the Finns don't like to discuss: Today, everything is more relaxed and open. And finally, Christmas is celebrated during three days here in Finland: Christmas Eve is the most important one, when the traditional Christmas dinner is eaten and children get their gifts distributed by Santa Claus (he has other names in Finnish and Swedish.) The Christmas tree, a real spruce, is decorated, traditional Christmas songs are sung and so on. Christmas Day is usually spent visiting relatives and friends. Then there's the Second Day of Christmas to 'recuperate'. In Swedish Christmas is called jul, juletid, that you will no doubt recognise as yuletide, from pagan times... I also know that because of the German origin of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the tradition of starting to celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve, and the custom of having a Christmas tree, was introduced by them into Britain, but I have no idea of how common these customs are among the people and not just the royal family... Schoolchildren have a longer holiday at this time, so lots of time for winter sports! Merry Christmas to you a little in advance!
I don't think talking about politics is a no no. But many people don't like talking about politics, cause if people have different political views it might become sensless stupid arguin with no end. Because of that many people don't tell their opinions of things cause they want to avoid that.
I agree that being late is considered rude. I would say that in business context you should have similar accuracy as trains in Japan: an apology is expected if you're late for more than 12 seconds. And many people expect similar for other meetings, too.
My (Finnish) aunt is married to an Englishman. Once they were staying at another city for a while and visited my aunt's aunt who lives there. As they were leaving, he said something along the lines of "we should come again before leaving the city if we have the time" to be polite. Outside my aunt was annoyed and asked him why'd he say that, now she expects they might come again! So yeah, "empty promises" for the sake of politeness aren't really a thing.
After living in Finland for 15-16 years a thing i noticed is.. If i went to my bank and asked speak with my manager, they come out covered in tattoos (including face) 100 piercings and spiked pink hair I and most Finnish people would not bat an eyelid. Finish people judge you as a person. Not how you look. Most countries judge you on how you look/first impressions not as a person.
Some might only silently 'judge' but never say anything out loud and move on with their day. Even if it's not something you personally approve, it's not for you to decide. Exception to that would be children. They can be vicious and judge you for tiniest things if you're not popular enough. And sometimes drunk people...
Well, I would judge a person like that. One or two tattoos might be fine, but if covered on them (especially on the face), I certainly would question how reasonable advice that bank manager could give to me. And I bet that people who are older than me would also judge them. Not to the managers face of course (well some elderly ladies might say something to their face also), but in their mind, and if they are with a friend they might discuss like:"Did you see that manager? He must be a criminal, no one else is looking like that. How they let a criminal work in a bank?"
@@TyrisalthanWell shame on you then. I have been working with elder people and they have seen it all, so rarely people's looks shock them. I have been asked to remove my piercings at work if they "scare" customers but only ones I have had issues are the employers. That being said, face tattoos are a bit no go for me too.
I'd argue that's both ways. People do judge if you fit your position, if you have the sense to "dress up for the occasion". But at the same time if you are in a notable position looking very radical like that, the instinct could say "that person must've been heck of an expert to get to that position despite looking like that". The uniform code is more relaxed but there's still the expectation that you dress up for the situation and your role. To give the impression that you understand who you are and what you're doing.
Thta part about not bragging about your accomplishmenst is interesting topic when talking about finding work in Finland. The "you need to sell yourself" does not really work on Finnish job applications. Yes, you can mentiopn your accomplishments, but be very humble about it. Finns hate pushy self promotion and it might be even better to downplay your achievements to get a job.
I used to work in finnish company where titles did not mean anything. U could always ask advice/help from anyone whit the workplace whit chill atmosphere.I always loved to go work every morning when being there.❤
I had a history teacher who everyone called by his surname and no one seemed to like that teacher and the teacher didn't really seem to like kids. To the kids it felt more like the teacher didn't deserve to be called by his first name and the teacher probably just felt superior to the lousy teens.
Never seen that before. Just first name or a nickname (rarely flattering). Such as Bowlie (bowling ball) roughly translated, LoTRo (Lord of the rings) or shining bald (translated).
12:14 i mean some of us do drink "kotikalja" during lunch and it is alcoholic but only slightly (like 1% maybe)
In Finland pretty much every worker is part of some work union so talking about how much you make is not really important between coworkers.
This is an amazing video (the previous one had a lot of small mistakes) and covers very important things very well!
With the religion, we don't dislike discussing or debating about *religious history objectively,* but pushing or getting pushed religious dogma is a huge no-no in Finland. Also, we really avoid even mentioning the topic around foreigners, since we don't expect them to have as secular/objective approach to it as would be the norm in here, and could become a huge source of conflict (very similar to Japanese culture). However, if the topic is brought up and presented against us, we tend to have a bad habit of not backing down against bs arguments just to preserve the group harmony (this is the critical part where Japan and Finland differs in a massive way btw)
Also there are huge local differences in this. If you are in the general area around Oulu (in a narrow West-East belt-like direction around that area) where cult religions like Laestadianism is extremely wide-spread problem, you should def. avoid religious topics.
I live in the US and grew up attending a Laestadian church. Needless to say, I understand you. I, agree it is best to keep away from discussing religion/politics as much as possible.
People in FInland talk about pay quite at bit at work places. That is because most workers are unionized. That is a very common topic amongst colleagues, but not outside the work place.
I’m a finn and almost every part of that video is legit and considered here as basic, good behaviour.
I love your accent and of course your videos, you make valid points no matter what the subject is :) wishing you well
Maybe correct that lunch wine thing - dont drink alcohol during working time!
He being a student at the time and talking about those punctuality exceptions; the 'academic quarter' applies in Finland also. And having some appointment time doesn't necessarily mean that there's no waiting involved-in worst cases the waiting time can be hours. Relating to waiting; when queuing, cutting line is not looked favorable upon. Meme about that: "Black Friday chaos from Finland!".
It's interesting how much of those customs also apply to the Finnish Diaspora.
All but one of those are common within the Finnish-Canadian side of my family. The exception (alcohol with lunch being OK in more circumstances) is probably just cultural contamination from the German side of my family as well as the French-Canadian culture from the same part of Canada, and we still don't do that anywhere near as much as either of those cultures.
I think that even if it's very common to use first name of a person, many people, especially males tend to use others last names when talking even if friends. 🤔😄 I don't know where that comes from and why it is, but maybe they just haven't come up with a good nickname. 😅
But sure, many of those things are something that I do. And being on time is for me a very important thing. Even my doctor, when she called me yesterday, we had an appointment, and she called 3 or 4 minutes after the appointed time, she appologised calling late. And yes, I was having my phone in my hands a few minutes before the appointment.
In my experience, when males use last names to talk to each others, is mostly in situations where they are working with each other, but dont´t know each other that well. For example when you are in the military and you are in the same position as the other person and you have to do the same job, but you don´t really know the person. Also good friends can use the last name, but it allways has a reason for it, for examble you want to highlight a inside joke to that person. ;)
Large groups of men, co-workers for example tend to use family names to avoid confusion, that comes as a result of 70% of Finnish males having either Mika or Mikko as a first name 😉
@@vaisukala5127 maybe, but in my friends there are many men and neither of them have the same name and still they use last names. Funny. 😉
I really enjoy listening to you, Mert. Wish I had a Scotsman of my own. 😘 Oh and I like your vids and thoughts on various subjects as well. 😉
Ok so…
Shoes inside. Only on special occasions such as graduation parties etc like he said.
You can take off shoes at the workplace but most don’t, in fact you will get some side eye if you show up to a meeting in flip flops 😅
Titles are not used.
I don’t know why you would inquire about anyone’s parents’ income.
It’s becoming more common to talk about colleagues income, in fact some companies have a policy where everyone’s salary is transparent e.g. shown on the intranet.
my mom likes to drink beer or something with food when we go to restaurants, idk if that has been lunch or dinner time.. but it's fine imo ^^'
A person whos been in the job for 2 years usually gets less salary, than the guy whos been working there for 10 years and knows how to do different tasks.
Of course it depends on earlier experience and education in most places. So yeah, you can have differences in salary for the same job.
Experience and knowledge matters and will get you a better salary, also asking for a better salary with good professional reasons will usually get you a raise.
People are normally paid same in same workplace, but you get more extra longer you have worked there in general....
Denmark:
Ontime, the same
Shoes, pretty much the same.
Hierarchy, the same
Money, the same
Religion, the same. Very private.
Politics, can be discussed, but prepare to agree to disagree.
Income, the same.
Bragging, don't do that at all.
Keep to your word, very important here, for your self.
Alcohol with food is OK. Some food expected, unless you don't drink alcohol.
I was surprised when I once saw a video of someone calling their teachers by their first name and recording the reaction. Quite common in Finland and the reactions on that video really surprised me. Like they were insulting the teacher.
Well that time thing may be that anal in the south of Finland, where people live for the clock. But the thing with time in Lapland is completely different. There time don´t almost exist :D
Speaking about the income is kind of a taboo in Finland, even among colleagues. I'm a Finn and I find it a bit funny because anybody can walk to local tax office and ask to see the tax report for anybody else, so a colleague interested in my salary could go there and check the official report. There have been some light attempts to make salary equally public to taxes but no changes have been made this far.
It seems that the younger generation has somewhat unrealistic expectations for their salary because they don't have enough information and they assume they can ask a lot more salary than they will get for the job they're doing. And this causes unhappiness because young people feel like they are paid too little because they imagine that somewhat older people get paid a lot more.
Hello, a Swede here! It seems to me that Finns and Swedes are quite similar in all these aspects, except perhaps for taking off our shoes at work! I don't think this is common in Sweden? I wouldn't know, I haven't worked for some time. Speaking of work, personally I think we should also add as a rule to not ask a person what he/she does for a living as the opening question when we're getting to know someone. This I think is the most common opening line in Sweden and quite frankly, I find it very annoying.
Safe things to talk about with a Finn is hobbies and beer.
Yes/kyllä. I am always punctual. Mind you force majeure is an exception. However, I feel force majeure is most annoying. However, it is beyound my scope. Embarrassing it is. Yes, unformality. In my Home Church I do speak both both the Deacon, Farther and the Cantor in terms of first names. Mind you, with Bishops, Igumeni and Igumenia it is different. In case you wonder, I am Orthodox. I like your strong Scottish tongue. Take care.
6:59 i think it's funny that in finland basically all the tax stuff is public so if you wanna know someones salary you can find it out very easily but then in the video he explains how someone might think it is rude to ask for someones salary. how does this make sense? maybe we should think about making taxes a bit more private? no?
It's usually rude to ask about someone's personal stuff. Yes, even if it's something you could find out by using public sources.
Tax records need to be even more transparent. I want to know where my politicians get their cash from when deciding if their solutions are good, meh but well-intentioned or just going for personal profit.
React Hanoi Rocks - Back To Mystery City, Live 1983 Marquee. Hanoi Rocks was legendary finnish rock band 1979-1985 and 2001-2009. The band was first finnish band that made name outside of Finland and encourage finnish bands like HIM, Nightwish, Children of Bodom to try international career. The band influenced lot of 80s and 90s rock bands like GnR, Mötley Crue, Poison (what sucks), Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Def Leppard. Hanoi´s first single were "Tragedy" and Hanoi´s story ended to tragedy. In december 1984 band members were hanging with Mötley Crue guys. They run out of beer so Vince and Hanoi´s drummer Razzle went to buy more. Unfortunately Vince lost control of the car and crash it. Razzle died at the age of 24 and two teen of the other a car injured seriously. After that bassist Sami Yaffa left the band. When Yaffa called his gf that Razzle has died his gf said that she is pregnant. Later in 1985 the band broke. Band members were just 22 to 24 years old. Hanoi Rocks is very respected band by other rock musicians. When the singer Michael Monroe started his solo career, Lemmy offered Motörhead to Michael´s solo band. In 1985 Michel were singing in Bruce Springsteen´s guitarist Steve Van Zandt´s project Artist United Against Apartheid - Sun City. At same song there was also playing and singing some names like Bob Dylan, Keith Richard, Ringo Starr, Lou Reed, Hall and Oates, Pete Townshend, Joey Ramone, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Run DMC and Pat Benatar. Michael has also played on same stage with Aerosmith, GnR (playing harmonica in Use Your Illusion 1 song Bad Obsession and singing duet with Axl in song Ain´t it fun at Spaghetti Incident) Metallica and Ronnie Wood. Guitarist Andy McCoy has was part of Iggy Pops band in late 80s and Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shifflet played on McCoys´s band around 2010. Guitarist Nasty Suicide is working now as a pharmacist but you can spot him in GnR - Paradise City music video. Bassist Sami Yaffa was an option to The Rolling Stones bassist. About 1994 Yaffa, Monroe and Slash were recording "Magic Carpet Ride" to soundtrack of the movie Coneheads. Ronnie Wood came to see Yaffa playing bass. Later Wood called to Slash and asked is Yaffa good bass player and is he a good guy. Then he said that let´s see what he can do. Few other great songs Tragedy, 11th street kidz, Oriental Beat, Million miles away, Boulevard of broken dreams, Beer and cigarette, Taxi driver, Dont you ever leave me, Malibu beach nightmare.
Finnish band Smack but i am sure you know them. TH-cam definitely knows Hanoi Rocks i try them out thanks.
@@FingcoldWitch yes smack is familiar band
Well, alcohol during lunch depends. Obviously when you are at work time and going for a lunch then obviously one should not indulge even a single pint. Kotikalja is common (but it is 1% abv, or less, sweet malt drink that even children drink) but actual beer, no. At dinner, damnit if I am going for a restaurant then obviously I am going to get a pint or glass of wine. Unless I am driving. And on holidays I may drink alcohol even during lunch. Hell if I am going to be drinking all evening then might as well start at the lunch time. 😁
About income and not talking about it. Interesting fact is that everyone's income is public information. You can get their tax info by request from the tax office. I don't know how easy it is in practice but in theory anyway.
The punctuality is not that strict really. People appreciate being on time and don't like you being late, but for example with student stuff you might have the "academic 15 minutes" that people arrive to the meeting in. The academic 15 minutes is the delay the lectures start for example as opposed to on the hour. Students today especially are somewhat forgiving about being late some minutes, the life as a student is just so hectic that many are just happy people make it.
Another exception to that is having the common courtesy to inform if you're running late. That's when people forgive a lot. But it's so situational as well. If you're applying for a job, be 15 minutes early for sure. Or on the first day of something. Or if it's your dating partner you shouldn't try your leeway on being late, informing about it or not. They will forgive you for good reasons for being late, but be careful.
I also somewhat disagree with the "if you didn't agree on specific time, it's on the hour". I would argue people aren't upset and don't expect you to be on the hour if you don't agree on specific time. It means you arrive when you can around that time. Again with the caveat if it's something that has a time limit. But if it's like arriving to an event that lasts all evening it's not being there on the dot.
That being said, I'm always embarrassed when I'm running late on something, and it happens a lot because I have my mom's genes. When I start prepping leaving the house 30 minutes earlier than usual, I end up being 5 minutes late. And I don't blame people for being late, partially because I'm a worse person in that, but I do get anxious standing around whenever something takes longer than a couple of minutes of waiting. And I appreciate the text saying running late myself, if they do that I can stand there for an hour. Stuff happens and sometimes you just suck at life, if you think of informing about it then all cool, you're trying. But then again if it's like a one-off thing or new people or something important where timing matters, I'll usually be a bit early.
The funny thing about informality is that you might just as well see your number one big boss in panties with beer in hand being chill and asking how are you doing, in a right setting.
The personal finances is such a huge one. People love to complain about taxes and not getting paid enough, but rarely boasting about their income or naming numbers. If someone does that, they're immediately getting the stamp of a prick on the forehead. Like right away you're being thought of being the person who likes to rub their success in others faces. It's particularly notable with Americans. You can't imagine how awkward and borderline hostile the atmosphere changes when there's a couple of poor students from different countries and an American friend who landed a well paying job, the American listing how much money he makes and always telling people to solve their problems by just spending money, then if you say you don't have money for that kind of stuff, he goes telling how much money he has to spare. It is like begging to get punched in the face for being obnoxious.
However once again you can have many exceptions. You can have a discussion where talking about parents' jobs is perfectly relevant and neutral and ok. Similar to discussing your incomes. It completely depends on the situation and you'll probably figure out when it's okay to go ahead on those discussions. The accomplishments are the same way. If you're smooth enough socially that you can talk about what you've been doing and working on, you can talk about it. However if you're not smooth or if you want to do it just to brag about it, people turn cold right away. If it has some discussional purpose, if it's a vehicle to tell an interesting story or talk about interesting topics, sure. If it's just to mention to polish your image, people will give you that look that you will not see them again around you if it depends on them.
I'd give another exception to the "let's have a coffee some time". Friends regularly say that every time when they turn towards 30 years old, but take a year or two to see each other again, until they again say "we should see more often". Which is not the same thing, it is honest intention but life at 30's is busy and you become tired. But don't give definitive times and have that impression that it's something scheduled if you don't mean it. Basically don't say things just to be nice. Something people dislike too is the English speaking formalities, like speaking a lot of nonsense that is just necessitated by protocol, wasting time and not getting down to the business. Finns prefer saying what you had to say and forget the empty words. Or "how are you" which is a must have in English discussion, but Finns hear it and prepare to answer it honestly. And if their life sucks at the time, prepare to hear it and you better show that you care because you asked, or you're not gonna have a close relationship with that person in the future. Actually people here really hate it when people from say UK or US compliment dishonestly and without real intention or compliment everything. People here don't compliment often or intensely, but they mean every compliment and it's a thought out compliment. They also don't get stale like that and nothing is socially customary politeness. If you don't find it particularly good, you don't compliment. I think that's also partially why some people respect/enjoy speaking with Finns despite sometimes being abrasive. They say it's refreshing that from Finns you get real opinions, bad or good, not dressed up. Not necessarily rude or unnecessarily mean, but honest.
The be on time thing... Well.. Let's just say if it's a new encounter then yea being on time is good. But for example school stuff like projects. People ain't always on time (me included sorry 😅)
I mean it's more of a "respect" thing. But if I see someone late. I honestly don't care much and focus on my own work.
I have never been in a job where people take shoes off. I would never take a job where I should call anyone sir, mister, doctor or even by their last names. To me money, politics and religion are simply too boring topics to talk about with anyone.
i tkink it is important you can speak for your boss.
Hello, Mert Fin! 👋😊🏴🇫🇮 Hi there in Malaysia!
It's so nice that you are interested in Finland! Thank you!
Tomorrow, December 6th, we'll be celebrating our Independence. I know that you already know everything about that and that you have listened to the Finlandia Hymn. Powerful stuff, isn't it! At about 6 o'clock in the evening I'll be lighting two candles in my window once again.
But about taking one's shoes off indoors:
There's been a lot of youtube videos regarding that custom, which, by the way, is very common in Sweden as well.
I wonder why nobody has mentioned that, both at home or when visiting friends, one can change from one's outdoor shoes to a pair of clean indoor shoes or slippers. There are even special bags that one can carry one's shoes or slippers in on a visit. I always carry mine with me as I don't like to walk around in my bare stocking feet. 🧦
Problem solved!
🥾👞👠👢🥿
In some cases, the hostess or host, friend or family may offer you a pair of visitor's slippers, for instance.
Also, Finnish homes have small hallway (entryway, wind locker, mud room), where you can change into your indoor shoes, hang your coat etc. I've found that in many countries you enter directly into the living room. In addition, wall-to-wall carpets were all the rage in the seventies, but nowadays they have been replaced by hardwood flooring, and because many Finnish homes have heated floors not only in the bathroom but everywhere, the floors are nicely warm even in your stocking feet. And - the heat can be regulated.
In my grandmother's time, and even still in the 1950's, some men wore galoshes (rubber shoes) and the ladies so-called pampuscher (in Swedish). Most types were worn with the indoor shoes inside with a snug fit. I hear that the production of these has started up again on a small scale...
You also wanted to know if one follows the customs mentioned in the video, Yes, I pretty much do, and I would say that they are very much in use, Not to bother with titles and last names when talking to someone has become the norm. In Sweden, the use of first-names for everybody started earlier than in Finland, and that's where we got the idea. A certain respect and politeness disappeared at the same time, though.
About being punctual: Yes, that is true, though if one is going to meet family members or friends, it's not quite that strict. Business meetings and the like - yes.
There's a humorous saying that one can use, if one is a little late. One can joke that one took advantage of the 'academic quart' (for being a quarter of an hour late. 😉 However, if it's a dinner or some similar event, obviously one must not be late.
As to subjects that the Finns don't like to discuss: Today, everything is more relaxed and open.
And finally, Christmas is celebrated during three days here in Finland: Christmas Eve is the most important one, when the traditional Christmas dinner is eaten and children get their gifts distributed by Santa Claus (he has other names in Finnish and Swedish.) The Christmas tree, a real spruce, is decorated, traditional Christmas songs are sung and so on. Christmas Day is usually spent visiting relatives and friends. Then there's the Second Day of Christmas to 'recuperate'.
In Swedish Christmas is called jul, juletid, that you will no doubt recognise as yuletide, from pagan times...
I also know that because of the German origin of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the tradition of starting to celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve, and the custom of having a Christmas tree, was introduced by them into Britain, but I have no idea of how common these customs are among the people and not just the royal family...
Schoolchildren have a longer holiday at this time, so lots of time for winter sports!
Merry Christmas to you a little in advance!
In UK you cannot talk in table, since you are mortified about your own cuisine... ;)
I don't think talking about politics is a no no. But many people don't like talking about politics, cause if people have different political views it might become sensless stupid arguin with no end. Because of that many people don't tell their opinions of things cause they want to avoid that.
Okei = okay
What are you doining in Asia 🤔
I agree that being late is considered rude. I would say that in business context you should have similar accuracy as trains in Japan: an apology is expected if you're late for more than 12 seconds.
And many people expect similar for other meetings, too.
Kristinusko kun sitä toteutetaan käytännössä tekee kulttuurista paremman.
This whole shit was mostly bullshit. He's probably talkin' about his own feelings. Okay, stay in time and don't brag