Are Finnish People Friendly? How warm and receptive are the Finns towards Foreigners?
Are Finnish People Friendly?
If you are someone like me coming from a country where you know almost all your neighbours and you guys hang out a lot and taste each other’s food, then you are probably going to be disappointed after first few months of living in Finland. But then it gets interesting later on…
This makes up the bulk of the questions I get asked as an Expat in Finland, and also as a black person living in Finland. Most incoming foreigners want to know how receptive the Finns are towards foreigners, are Finnish people friendly, if they can make friends with them, and if the Finns are shy.
Some out rightly ask about racism without mincing words, and others, especially from Africa, ask if Finns are specifically racist towards people of colour. I am planning to talk about being black in Finland in more detail someday on this Blog or on my YouTube Channel.
Sometime on this Blog, I shared on Whether Finland Is A Good Country To Work And Live In and If Finland Is A Foreigner Friendly Country. You definitely need to check that post out. But today let’s take it a notch deeper by looking at it from a more personal angle; Are Finns receptive towards Foreigners in general? Are Finnish people friendly? How warm are Finnish people towards Foreigners?
As someone who has been living in Finland for a while now, I have first hand experience of Life in Finland as a Foreigner. I have been sharing all of these on my YouTube Channel. So be sure to Subscribe. :D.
The general conception is that Finnish people are not huge on being sociable. This is not entirely false, although individual personalities have a huge part to play as well. People here are more on the reserve side. Most Finns will give you a lot of personal space and they would really appreciate if you do the same for them. So it is a common situation to be in Finland for a couple of weeks or months and not have any Finnish friends yet. I used the word yet for a reason. I will explain why shortly.
And your neighbours? Forget it. Finland is not that kind of country where you and your neighbours are best of pals looking out for one another. Honestly you are on your own as most of your neighbours will give you lots of privacy and they will never ever come knocking on your door if they run out of salt. They would rather eat the food like that, or go to the store to buy some. How far away the store is is not an issue at all. For a Finn, it is waaay easier to go and buy some salt from a grocery shop 2 kilometers away than ‘bother’ a neighbour.
Now that is not something that will happen in my country. Many people would get the salt from the neighbour without hesitating. Depends on if you guys are on good terms or you guys are fighting. :D.
If you are someone like me coming from a country where you know almost all your neighbours and you guys hang out a lot and taste each other’s food, then you are probably going to be disappointed after first few months of living in Finland. But then it gets interesting later on, and that is where the yet comes in.
The interesting thing is what happens when you finally get to be pals with a Finnish person. And the same thing also happens when you find yourself in a room full of Finns in a relaxed and ‘guards down’ mode, or in a drunken state. They seem to be totally different and quite chatty.
I have been in a room full of chatty Finns and the first time it happened I just couldn’t believe the transformation. So that is the same thing that happens when you finally make friends with a Finnish person. You just have to break through that initial wall and once that is done then you guys are most likely going to be very good friends.
Below is my recent video where I talked about Life in Finland As A Foreigner personally. I shared about my own experiences so far as a Foreigner in Finland for 6 years now and in what ways my life has changed since I moved to Finland.
Finally, I always advice new foreigners not to be shy to reach out to the locals and try to build friendships. It will go a long way to making your transition into the Finnish society easier and sweeter.
Have a good year!
Cheers.
Olivia.
Written by Olivia Kumpula
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