Oh Boy - Where do I start. There's nothing like a well executed trip to overseas that can fix a monotony that my life was for the past 3 years. It was a dreamy Business visit that will stay with me for life as I am one secret sentimental santa, though I don't wear it on my collars for all to notice. Here is me - unboxing my smorgasbord of Lovely impressions that were bubbling from within me as I walked and walked through the well laid roads of Suomi Land, Finland - The Happiest Country.
Warning : This will be a long read, I have written it with a lot of honest passion and admiration, so take a break for few minutes to experience this as I you take you to Finland , the way I saw it.
The Transport System
If their buses were people , I would probably start dating them. From marked seats for the old, pregnant, people with pets , disabled folks to healthy youths , the buses are moving Disneylands. There is this attractive woman who seductively announces every stop in Swedish and Finnish as it arrives. The buses tend to strictly keep up their timetables and ruthlessly take off when the clock is right with no excuses. There are these stop buttons in fine condition that when pressed alert the Driver with a red LED sign and a ping pong sound that says someone wants to get down. There are ropes to hold onto , in the ceiling like in India, to help those standing, the doors open and close at the driver's whim, who doesn't operate it as per their whim .The code of conduct is so infectious. The seats are comfortable and there are fricking dustbins inside buses y'all. I mean, I can hog on a creamy croissant in my hand on the way to office and not worry about throwing away the package as there will be a bin in the bus.
They extensively use the Public transportation system as much as cars that rule the road. The trams are no less - their unique design and build are so well thought out that one can't imagine how the large buses and petite trams travel side by side without brushing against each other. The balance is so magical - they just stay in their own lanes and don't swerve from the expected trajectory . They have these zonal ticket systems , where one can purchase tickets on the app or take them physically. These are magical pieces of papers that seem to store a lot of information. You tap it in the Ticket reader and it beeps its approval or disapproval. The driver looks at you like a Father on his teenage son when he is at the laptop using internet, and you have to get that beep that says your ticket is valid. Else, you just don't board the bus.
Lots of skateboarders and L shaped unique tricycles (segways) offer you interesting company. They operate so fast but so silent that when you blink, they are past you. Not a trace of smoke or smell of fuel odor can be experienced there. The air is so clean despite the super active transport model. Bigger buses such as the onnibus offer rides across cities for a larger price - where you show the driver your code and they take the last 4 digits and print you a small receipt. I mean, to imagine printers working in buses is just overwhelming! And who can forget the charging slots in buses. Finland buses just don't have an in-bus coffee station or grocery cabin. Otherwise, one may as well live in them. These usb slots allow us to charge our spent phones on the go and it has good upload speed as well. All buses have this feature. Onnibuses even have individual seat belts as they travel long distance with different models of sunshades as their buses have these huge glass see through exteriors unlike the ones in India. It is suggested to climb in the front and get down in the middle or last doors unless you are in a hurry to avoid dashing against incoming passengers.
The HSL app is the one source of truth for anyone riding their buses - they have a perfectly stable app that always works. Install it and simply key in the details asked off the app and like how the entire country functions - it invisibly directs you to be this independent self sufficient individual. It displays a variety of options that lets you decide how much you want to walk, whether you wish to take the tram, train or bus. The bus stops are also linked with the HSL app, so when you are standing at the stop, you know for a fact that "this # bus is coming going to this xyz place will be arriving in this # minutes". An invisible unpaid tourist guide after all !
Metro trains tend to suck you through the tunnels as they travel with such speed and you better hold onto something , else you will end up kissing or head butting a stranger as you lose your grip. They rarely Honk and if somebody honks at you - be ready to bury your face in the ground in shame . They have this beautiful code of ethics , that they religiously respect, and if somebody disrupts it, it is just looked down harshly. Their cars or buses don't have sounds that beep and give you migraines when they are about to make a turn, its just a gentle blinking light. Overall, super cool Transport Infrastructure.
The Weather
Finland's weather system is actually a Video game operated by god. It doesn't meet the standard expectations of what we identify as a day or night. Coming from a tropical place, I was waiting for the sun to set so that I don't feel guilty to go to the bed - but it just wouldn't. This is in summer - in winter , it's the opposite. I hear that it will always be dark like you are inside a tent in the woods and just for tradition the sun hops out for a few hours in front of them and then probably goes back to its position to stand in front of Chennai( South India) and roast us out. It was so comical and unbelievable and unreal to see the place outside still bubbling with people and vehicles as late as 11 pm. Technically this is the summer for them, but my first week it was quite cold and I lovey dovey looved it. That's because I had the sun up on me all through the Chennai summer and I didn't fly all the way there to get more Suomi Sun. Thankfully, I found good cause to wear all my cold weather gear in my island trips such as Suomenliina. The impact was there you know- the full drill, lips becoming dark and chapped, skin becoming dry with white patches etc and I ended up becoming a Vaseline Bimbo. I applied face cream, lip balm , hand cream and deo. I felt so sexy for the first time because of all the decorations I imposed on myself there. Check out my pictures in Instagram if you don't take me for my word. Boo. I heard that the snow would be ruthless and winters are depressing as you can't go out as much as you want to but would be worth experiencing for the sake of it. It can also be said that since they see more winter/ darkness than sunny days, their work calendars also sync up with that pattern. They tend to come and leave early and value punctuality. If at all a finn gives you a negative feedback about something, you really have exhausted all their straws because they seldom open their mouth and silently put up with it without a direct acknowledgement of their displeasure.
The People
There is a saying in my local language , that roughly translates to the meaning - One speck of rice is enough to judge the entire pot. This can be categorically applied on the Finns. They are one Honest bunch who take their rules and unspoken layers of discipline to the dot. To the outsider, they may appear to be Zoned out , lost in their own personal thoughts but once you get their attention, you end up going weak on the knees. I felt like a dummy sometimes when I would throw a casual remark in the air about the weather or a sea-gull that stole a bread and not one person near me will look at me or acknowledge the sound that came from my mouth. They respect privacy that much and are such private people. In India, we keep all our channels open for any kind of sound that comes from any direction and typically here, we will say something back or nod heads or simply laugh. But boy once you get their undivided attention, as in, you look into their eyes and ask for something, their eyes wont move an inch from yours until they are convinced you are helped enough. It's the interest and sincerity with which they reply that makes you just want to squeeze them out like a soft toy. You know for a fact that they have come out of their private pod just to enter your consciousness to talk to you and until you end the conversation , they care to make sure you are attended. The sincerity just touches you man. They give honest feedback if you ask them nicely after earning their trust but be careful to not give a feedback without weighing the amount of veracity in it. Every impression they have of you comes from a basis of trust, so try to not be lose on your words. They speak plainly and are practical but not rude or impolite. At the risk of sounding racist, I will go on a limb and say finns have all the strangest eye colors, half the time you end up looking if it was real or contacts.
One of my friends left a jacket in a busy factory and she called them up saying if someone comes claiming it on her name, that be returned , and it was returned the next day. It's not like there aren't people there who don't need a free lying article - they mostly choose not to stake claim over something that's not theirs. I also saw an unattended clutch on a bus stop the other day and I am sure that lady didn't flinch a bit . She probably came the next day to get it. Just unreal. Dropped coins remain there and stay until someone let their intrusive thoughts win to pocket it.
As much private they are, if you happen to lock eyes with someone in a segway or a cycle or even power walking, they will give you a friendly "hello there-how you doing" nod with a crisp grin and you end up reflecting the same.
The Senile Souls
Old age - what does it mean ? Is it an icecream flavor ? This might be what a finn would ideally react when you try to impose the standard patterns of old age . People of all ages , especially the old ones walk briskly, some even jog and I end up getting a sweat worrying about them if they might tear a ligament or two. They take buses, trams, trains , come to parties and graciously shake a hip , work on laptops on complex applications , make their own food and money with no trace of sorrow or self pity. Their definition of happiness is like - Be content in your own lot , let others be . Even the policemen are approachable and not grumpy - though they have a astute eye on what's going on . It looked like just because you were old, you don't need to dial down your life's pleasures or change your living model for the heck of it. Be yourself, do what you want to do as long you think you can do something seems to be the ideology there and this kind of makes someone forget their age.
The Language System
Since English is still not the dominant language there, it might be a small challenge . BUT - when you ask for help , even if sometimes they are not able to help the outsiders with a text to be literally translated into pure English, watching them put that effort to help you itself tugs your heart strings for the care they take just because you asked them. They would sometimes ask another zoned out finn nearby how to translate something from Finnish to English and they try hard. But most speak fluent English fair enough and its not a problem at all. Albeit, buying food and consumables might be a challenge as many products have only Finnish-Swedish and even Russian text but not English. Yet you can make out as the words are more or less contextually relatable. They have such a romance with Sweden ( pakkoruotsi may be) that everywhere you always see Fi-Sw-En combinations for helping natives, Swedish and English speakers . Right from coffee vending machines to malls in maps , that sense of intelligence to make sure you don't need to ask another for help - that self sufficiency is naturally made clear there. Their words are usually long , I mean, if I can write long long enough. Something like lakutaku okumingi mimosa. ( fyi that's not a real word but most words want to make sure the other alphabets don't feel bad, so they end up pairing up as many letters possible in a word). Though they are not voluntary chatters, when a fin starts speaking, they talk at least for a few minutes just to speak an actual simple word. ( Grossly exaggerating here for humor, but you get the feel of it). I tried my hand speaking some common words of greetings and boy you must see the delight in their eyes when I made that small effort. Just plain sweet souls they are.
The Farsightedness of the Society
I mean, if there is a society where someone who is on a wheelchair or is blind doesn't feel sad for themselves, can go out proud and independent, it is that kind of an infrastructure their society has preserved. I noticed how there were ramps in buses ( boy, I love them again ) and trains, for people on wheel chairs , braille dots for maps in malls and stop switches in buses and sloping ramps along stairs in subways for those youthful ones. The roads are solid as a banyan tree, with strategically placed drainage provisions for melting snow or an occasional rain. There are buttons on roads if you want to force the signal to make way for a walker to cross the road and you don't have to wait for the 'tick-tick-tick' green signal to turn green. The vehicles gently halt if they see someone waiting, even when if there was no signal to monitor to make way for pedestrians - it all just feels so organized, and the sense of road discipline they have is so admirable. Though I must say, the drivers don't cut a slack once they started moving - you are simply not supposed to do something that is not right, like jumping a red or waving for the bus to stop on a non-designated stop spot. Though, they may make an exception for pregnant women.
The Shops - The Place in General
Most of the doors automatically end up opening on their own and you repeatedly end up being puffed up in pride as though people opened them for you. But there is also a confusing situation when you have to open the doors from inside out and chances are you will end up bruising someone's nose. There are are variety of chains through the city and you can always count on an ALEPA to serve you 24 hours with everything that's required for you to run a house. You have these K-markets and S-markets that are like bigger version of supermarkets with a wide variety of all the daily products , like literally everything that you need . And there are these even bigger Outlets that are like elder cousins of K and S markets - namely the LIDL and PRISMA outlets that for crying out loud , again have everything at affordable prices. If you wanted to getter budget friendly articles still of good quality, do check out their "Normal" shops with a cool font. Otto machines are installed strategically to withdraw money or get cash and have simple procedures to do them , to help any outsider. Some of these machines have a transaction charge but in my observation Otto machine didn't have a transaction charge when you withdrew bills. They have a large variety of brand outlets like Calvin Klein and High-fashion chains in malls like the ones in Helsinki ( Mall of Tripla, City Center, Forum etc) for you to purchase anything you want. In summers, since the sun is out for a longer time, you find the streets abuzz with pubs, Ravintolas (suomi for restaurant) and all kinds of shops that have the "Tervetuloa" sign in them encouraging you to make impulsive purchases and regret for hours later. They also have these R-Kioskis that are havens for passengers on the move - they have all the ready to go items that you need on a travel right from simcards to water bottles, snacks , fruits and travel accessories. If you were in public or in a transport system, you can confidently walk into one of these and support yourself with that one item you were missing when you don't have the time to walk-in to a bigger outlet .
The Food Story
The Finnish food preference might be a passive culture chock to the traditional Indian tongue as we are used to having a formula for each taste bud. Our level of spice and color may not be the fundamental preference of Finns and if you wanted to eat in a place where they served spicier food, you have to do some research. Me - ? I went with a childlike all embracing mindset, so I was able to respectfully accept their preferences in food . There are so many options of candies and chocolates , oh boy the Fazer outlets and what not - you can get Type-2 diabetes simply by walking the roads of Finland. They have so many flavors and varieties of chips/crisps and toffees and confectionary and bakery items . You can spend one day each in a week to relish each of these and then finally die out of diabetes and heart disease induced obesity, as you became a full-on glutton after falling prey to their wonderful snacks. It's a challenge to "eat right" in a place that offers you with this many "cheat" options. Burger shops such as Hesburger offer you some quick tasty buns and fries. Tap water is largely potable and you don't need to go for filters to purify water. This might be another cultural surprise for an outsider, as they might be used to having different sources of water for each purpose. They drink a lot of coffee and that too dark coffee. So milk is not their primary preference - it's optional. If you really wanted to have some dairy, you can count on these small milk pockets or Oat milk options that can be confidently mixed with the dark roast coffee to give you that nice buttery feel.
My Experiments
What's the point in going to a different country and still be the same ? I took many saunas the Finnish way ( IYKWIM ) , used toilet papers and paper napkins in contrast to me using the water model out here , drank all sorts of black coffee , tried their famous Salmiakki - they have this affinity towards Liquorice and its an acquired taste. I groomed myself enough to not make a face when I put a liquorice product in my mouth as an expectant finn looks at me waiting for my response to "How is it". I mean, not all dig everything - but this particular flavor needs to be understood before we pass hasty judgements on it. It is an interesting flavor profile and I honestly think, a couple of more times I tried it, I will also enjoy it like the natives. I have a walking physique and hence I didn't mind the walks in the country, but one must be prepared to walk a lot in Finland if you wanted to move around. I tried their oat milk and I enjoyed it without complaints. Their hand faucets are mysteriously connected with a nearby tap in the sink, so it's either this or that. You need to run the tap and then press the hand faucet nozzle to get that water gun effect . Drinking water from taps and using dishwashers with many models was also a nice experience. I have lived in the USA for around a year, so this was not new to me, but still I liked the feel of it. I am a very perfume oriented person, though I don't sweat or smell, I use a lot of perfume oil and scents on me as that is my trademark grooming ritual. Be prepared to get a slap of aroma when I come towards you and don't stifle that sneeze. I will gladly take it as a compliment. On the contrast, Finnish detergents, chemicals and toiletries and even deos are not the strong ones - they are gentle , soft on the skin and even scarily odorless but effective nevertheless. That was a "Ohhh that's interesting" moment for me. Another cultural observation I made was how they are hesitant to take currency bills in exchange - for some reason, they don't exchange cash of different denominations. They will politely refuse to do so, even if they might have it with them, And escalators - they are large , fast and long . You are supposed to stand on the right , if you are one of those persons to ride it till the last step as the busy athletic ones will run past you on the left side. So if you are there and you want to appear all acclimatized, stand on the right on the escalators. Thank me later. Try the Fisherman's Friend mouth refreshener, it helps during Travel and go easy on the beer/alcohol as they boast a plethora of options if you are someone to down a drink or two !
I had a blessed opportunity to travel to another country , Estonia on the FINLANDIA cruise. Wonderful experience, my first time on a large ship on a journey by the water. I was checking out all the shops , facilities and taking a gazillion photos of the Gulf Of Finland. I didn't see any dolphins magically jumping in the sea , but the Shining Sun against a super cold wind, in a land away from home with total strangers with no sign of ground made me so Grateful to God for such an experience.
My transit was in Frankfurt, Germany and I say this with all respect - if you lived in Finland even for a couple of days and went to another country , you will find them rude. The German airport officials can be a bit "on your face" and it then it struck me that I have come out of Finland.
WELL...
Finland, the society and it's people are in a world of their own, in the sense, they have this beautiful system of Trust - Discipline - Honor that they ( at least most ) willingly submit themselves to and you are guilt tripped to not be the offender. You don't want to be that person who takes a leak in a dark corner just because no one is watching, or spit gums and throw cigarette butts outside the dustbin . There were 1 in 10000 incidents where these things were not followed - but look at the ratio. Apart from the weather that can be a bit more conducive to aid people to get more from life, one can't make a strong comment on Finland to say ,this has to be improved for sure. Every country and society will have its flaws, there might be bad apples there too, but if you observe them as a whole, they do appear to be in a class of their own for good reasons. Nothing can be perfect , but it's safe to claim that Finland does harbor a near perfect society and I won't turn down an opportunity to visit there again , even if it's winter .
Much love,
A Finn Struck Alien..
