Finland part 2

Finland is one of the Scandinavian countries which also consists of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. All of these countries except Norway are also in Schengen area (European Union countries).  Its neighbors are Russia and Sweden, and also Estonia separated by the Baltic Sea.

The first impression when we first arrive to Finland was it's full of trees! Of course, with 338 thousand km2 and not more than 6 million people, most of the lands here are still virgin. Most of the population concentrated at the south Finland around Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa region.

My first experience with Finnish people was quite..well..unpleasant I would say. My husband and I were trying to ask 2 old ladies on which bus to take to go to back to Helsinki. We were somewhere in Vantaa trying to find a car dealer shop, but to no avail. They seemed scared when they saw my face and it became worse when I spoke English. They went further away and left me with no answers. I was a bit sad, maybe because I wear hijab? But later on I realized the real, main reason why they tried to avoid me was because they knew little English (of course younger generation speak English well).

But, generally Finnish people put importance on privacy.  They do not easily chat with strangers at bus stop. When stepping on the bus, they will prefer sitting on an empty two-seaters, and if it happened that they have to seat beside someone, you won't hear any words uttered unless they have known each other. Silence is also important in Finnish society, everyone even babies are calm in the bus.

Very rare that you receive smiles from strangers when you walk pass them. During the first moments I had tried to smile at everyone I passed by, but most of the time they just ignored me and looked down to their shoes. I was a little bit upset and I thought they acted like that because I am a Muslim.

However, as time passes by, I begin to understand the Finnish people more. From my point of view and from my readings, they are quite reserved people (like me hehe). Furthermore, They do not do small talk. They just say it straight to the point, with no such introductory questions like "How are you?", " How's your kids?" bla..bla.. They won't share their private life with friends easily, and if they tend to ask you questions regarding your personal life (family, etc), they'll do it carefully and will not ask you more questions regarding the same matters.

Consequently, I feel it's hard for me to find Finnish friends. Being me as I am (I am also quite reserved and find it hard to have friends easily with me to start it first), left me being like a Finnish people in the laboratory:) I hardly talk and with only 3 women in the lab, I feel like a machine.. heheh..nevertheless I am used to it now :|

But, luckily our kids have made the networking with the Finnish neighborhood much better. Starting from the daycare, and now Zahirah is in her preschool while Sakinah is in a different group, help us to having a nice relationship with Finnish people and its culture. The fastest way is through their friends. Our daughters' first best friends were Ona, Peppi and Jazmin. Ona and Peppi are Finnish and they are sisters, while Jazmin is originally from Hungary. Then come Olivia, Martha, Vivi, Tuuli, Venla, Olli, Emma and the list goes on.. When the parents' meeting was held, we chatted and got to know each other.
From swimming classes, they knew Sarah and Hilmi, which happened to be Tuuli's sister.

Our kids' relationship with their friends grow stronger and they get invited to their friends' birthday parties, or simply invited to play at their friends' house via the parents. Now in my phone contact list, there are numbers of my Finnish friends created by the friendship of our kids. When I send my daughters to school and daycare every morning, I will pass them by and say hello, smiling at each other and chat some words. It feels good not to be aliens in the neighborhood:) And I feel quite relieve knowing my kids are happy at school and daycare, with many friends around and they do not feel isolated. Of course they feel very happy with their Malaysian friends, but most of the time they spend is at school/daycare.

Yes, Finnish people are quite reserved, but once you know them they can be friendly and helpful. There's still lot to dig about Finnish culture, but probably I have to switch the area of my research if I tend to know more :)