These are a few of my favourite Finns...

I am the kind of person who takes an immediate liking to something, and also sometimes an immediate disliking. I have been wrong so, so many times in my first impressions that it doesn’t even embarrass me anymore. I have been advised, and I have goaded myself to fight this natural instinct to rate anything too quickly. I work on that, I think I am getting better… really slowly, really really slowly.

One thing that I was NOT wrong about in my first instinctive reaction was how I felt about the Finns. Not many people would agree to the epithet ‘cute’, but that is the first word that comes to my mind. People might find the Finns a little too straight, but for me it validates my own natural tendency and like here begets like. I liked them when I first walked into this country (actually, I must pat myself on the back. I had no opinion of the Finns when I first visited… I actually formed the opinion on my real arrival to Finland which happened to be the 2nd trip. It might not count because I probably made up my mind on the first weekend but trying to use positive reinforcement here so please let’s just go along).

Here are some things that I see around and find adorable….

Escalators are for kissing… Finns are not big on public display of affection (atleast when sober). But there is something exceptional about escalators, especially those from a subway platform. It’s on those that they feel this strong urge to kiss their partners…. Just something I see :)

How they say ‘plus’ before saying the temperature as if it is such a rarity :). Like my favourite one, it’s plus 40 in Delhi in summer. Well it could not have been minus 40 right? I am so used to the minus being out of the ordinary that I would say it’s 10 degrees, not plus 10… In my head it is the Finnish twist to the metric system. The default is that temperature will be below freezing, so if it is ‘plus’ it deserves a super special mention. It’s like we Indians saying, it was MINUS 2 at night in Chandigarh… Perspectives, perspectives…

Summer holiday (not an exclusive Finnish concept, but I saw it here first)…. The legitimacy, the expectation, the build up, the universal applicability… not restricted to children or those not ‘serious’ about their careers… it is such a cute question ‘What will you do on your summer holiday’...

The amazing paradoxical combination of humility and nationalism... They care enough about protecting their language & making everything available in it to translate almost any foreign language book in it. They hold concepts like sauna, summer holiday, Lapland in almost religious reverence. But yet are so humble & self deprecating about their country. ‘Ofcourse must be tough to come here after living in India’, ‘ofcourse no one wants to holiday in Finland’… how beautiful is the mix and how seamless…

Baby hair… Even grown up Finns have baby hair, soft and downy… I love it….

How fast they walk… ok I admit it, all the Finnish grannies taking a leisurely stroll walk faster than me going to work….I was initially a bit surprised, even tried to be competitive. No, every single person walking a kilometer behind me will NOT overtake me in the next 5 minutes… I tried, really did…But eventually, I gave up… they walk fast… period…

Talk Finnish to everyone at first… yes I thought it a bit strange at first. Shop assistants, bus drivers etc all talk to you in Finnish even when you are so obviously not a Finn… puzzled me to begin with, is this their way of saying that you should learn Finnish if you live in this country? But no, I realized eventually, it’s not that at all. When they see you, the colour of your skin and hair and eyes doesn’t strike them, they don’t judge or classify you. They just talk in the way most natural to them, they just talk in the language they know best. They talking Finnish to me is not their way of saying ‘hey keep up or get out’… it just tells me they feel natural and comfortable around me and don’t pigeonhole me anywhere…

Does it make you want to know them?

To know what i dont know...

Disclaimer: This is going to be a little more winded and self indulgent.

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to describe someone you know well in just one word or sentence? People we don't know, its so much easier to pronounce them 'idiot', 'shy', 'wannabe', 'cribber', 'suck up' or 'friendly', 'sweet', 'nice'... Ofcourse this doesn't mean that those we know little we understand more. Its more about understanding the complexities of people. Getting closer to the picture to see the details. Being 500 m above the ground and appreciating the variety of the terrain. The people you know well, their complexities strike you clearer. Your view of them is more than the one dimensional one you take for mere acquaintances. You know that the generally shy one is really a clown around friends. You know that the 'superbitch' is a caring friend and a protective sibling. Just like when we really get to know someone, who has been an acquaintance for a long time, we discover 'Oh! She is so much nicer than I thought'. There is always an Oh! involved.

But at the same time we can't get to know too many people too well. You cannot see all of the earth at once in a hot air balloon.

This applies to places as much as it does to people. My colleagues back home are much clearer about life and work in Finland than I am. 'Oh people work fewer hours', 'They are so reserved', 'They are too process driven'. I am now too close to this picture to pander to my mind's laziness by letting it believe or accept some generalistic statements. In the 'us' Vs 'them' game, my position is fuzzier than it was 2 months ago. I know a little more than I knew, so I know how little I know. My education is just beginning.

Yes generalizations are useful. It helps your brain organize the copious amounts of information into some semblance of order. Its like the periodic table we learnt to classify elements or the classifications of plant & animal families. There are broad patterns but enough exceptions. A true education will do more than just give you the information and help you understand the grids and frameworks. It will help you to see the contradictions and the complexities. It's not necessary to know all; only to remember that the information we have is like hyperlinks, there is always more to find out if you have the time to click.