Finland. Features of the national culture of the Finns. Elements of the spiritual culture of Finland

1.1 Tampere 7
1.2 Rovaniemi 8
1.3 Rauma 8
1.4 Tammisaari 9
1.5 Turku 9
1.6 Lahti 10
1.7 Oulu 10

2.1 Finnish literature 11
2.2 Finnish painting 11
2.3 Finnish Sculpture 12
2.4 Music in Finland 13
2.5 Finnish Theater 13
2.6 Finnish Cinema 14
2.7 Culture rural Finland 14

3.1 Celebrating Christmas in Finland 18
3.2 Christmas table in Finland 18
3.3 Christmas sauna 19
3.4 The arrival of Joulupukki or Finnish Santa Claus 20
3.5 Christmas preparations on the streets of Finland 20
3.6 New Year's festivities in Finland 20
3.7 Lapland - the country of Santa Claus 21
3.8 Santa Claus in Finland 22
3.9 The story of Santa Claus 22
3.10 Residence of Father Frost 23

4.1 Reliability of Finns 24
4.2 Finnish reticence 25
4.3 Clarity of Finnish thought 25
4.4 Holidays the Finnish way 26
4.5 How Finns drink 26
4.6 Language barrier in Finland 27
4.7 Creation of yourself and your country 28
4.8 Human attributes 30
4.9 Magic of order 33

Allowed: 37
Prohibited: 37
5.1 Fishing rules in Finland 38
5.2 Restrictions on fish caught 39

6.1 What do Russians ask? 40
6.2 Why are Finns surprised? 41
6.3 Let's talk 42
6.4 How do we speak? 42
6.5 What is worth talking about and what is not worth talking about 44
6.6 Don't complain to Finn 44
6.7 “How are you?”, or something about your personal life 45
6.8 About correctness and lies 46
6.9 What are Finns and Russians silent about? 47

In old Rauma is located Art Museum Rauman TaIDemuseo, where exhibitions of contemporary art from the Baltic countries are held quite often. Also interesting are the Church of the Holy Cross (15th century), the lace room and the exhibition on navigation in the Old Town Hall (1776), the Shipowner's House, the Sailor's House, the Local History Museum, the Lännström Art Museum, the Muina Museum, and the Rauma Potter's Museum.
1.4 Tammisaari

Of the most interesting sights in the city, the first to be mentioned is the Church of Gray Stone from the 1680s, the Snappertuna Church (1688). Also especially popular among visitors are excursions to the Water Tower, the Ramsholmen Nature Park, and the Local History Museum.
1.5 Turkat

Turku is one of the most interesting cities in Finland: the Biological Museum (dioramas show Finnish fauna and flora from the Archipelago to the hills of Lapland), the Maritime Museum, and the Observatory on Vartiovuori Hill - all the diversity is at your service. Many museums and exhibition halls in Turku present interesting exhibitions to visitors: Väine Aaltonen Museum; Sibelius Museum, Ancient sailing ship "Sigyn", frigate "Suomen Joutsen", Medieval Castle Turku, Museum of Art.
1.6 Lahti

The most prominent sights of Lahti are the Ristinkirkko Church (built in 1978 according to the design of academician Alvar Aalto), the Great City Library, Historical Museum, Ski Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of the St. Petersburg Railway, Launeen Kirkko Church, Joutjärven Kirkko Church, Orthodox Church. Of particular interest to tourists are the Lanu Sculpture Park (12 sculptures by Olavi Lanu), the largest illuminated Musical Fountain in Finland, the Exhibition Hall of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hokalinna Atelier-Gallery, and the Nuovo Gallery.
1.7 Oulu

Oulu is a city of museums and art galleries. Almost in the center of the city, within the walls of a former glue factory, there is an Art Museum. open air on the island of Turkansaari, Geological and Zoological Museums, Electricity Museum. There are art galleries: "Art Halvare", "Harmaja", "Nelio-Galleria", "Rantagalleria". The most famous churches of Oulu - Holy Trinity cathedral Orthodox parish of Oulu, Catholic Church- parish of the Holy Family, church in Muhos.
2. About cultureFinland

2.1 Finnish literature

One of the characteristic monuments of ancient Finnish literature is the Kalevala, a collection of folk epic tales compiled by the Finnish scholar Eliot Lenrot in the 19th century. The most prominent representatives of Finnish prose of the early twentieth century. became Johannes Linnankoski (1869-1913) and Frans Emil Sillanpää (1888-1964), who received the Nobel Prize. Paavo Haavikko (b. 1931) is one of the most famous modern Finnish writers; in 1984 he was awarded the Neustadt Literary Prize.
2.2 Finnish painting

To the number ancient monuments Finnish painting includes paintings of stone and wooden churches built in the Middle Ages. Perhaps the most famous works belong to such painters of that time as Henricus Pictor and Mikael Topelius. In the 18th century becomes the dominant direction portraiture. A prominent representative of this genre is Isaac Wacklin (1720-1758). But at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, genre painting began to gain popularity (Alexander Laureus, 1783-1823).
A new stage in the history of Finnish art was marked by the creation in 1846 of the Society of Artists of Finland, which organized exhibitions and organized a number of schools where primary education was provided. art training. The result was the country's first public collection of fine art, marking the beginning of the Athenaeum National Art Gallery.
The “golden” period of Finnish painting occurred in the last decades of the 19th century. The most prominent representatives of this time are Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905), Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) - painter, graphic artist and designer, whose work became national pride Finland, - as well as Pekka Halonen (1865-1933) - creator of monumental compositions and master of lyrical landscape.
As for symbolist painting, the most prominent works belong to the pen of Magnus Enckel (1873-1925), Hugo Simberg (1873-1917).
The Finnish Artists' Society annually holds a major exhibition of contemporary Finnish fine art in Helsinki. Based on the results of the exhibition, the masters of Finnish painting announce the Artist of the Year - the one who, in their opinion, has achieved the greatest results in the field of fine art. Since 1988. Started new work creative association"Muu", representing artists working in the field of stage and video art.
2.3 Finnish Sculpture

Among the Finnish sculptors, Väine Aaltonen (1894-1966), who worked with bronze, ceramics, marble and granite, received the greatest international fame and vocation. His most famous works are the statue of Paavo Nurmi near the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, the monument to Alexis Kivi on the station square in Helsinki, as well as four statues on the Hämeensilta Bridge in Tampere. By the way, the famous monument to J. Sibelius is the creation of female hands, created by the female sculptor Eila Hiltunen. The works of modern wood sculptors - Kain Tapper, Heikki Virolainen, Mauno Hartman, Eeva Ryynänen - deserve special mention.
2.4 Music in Finland

The national pride of the Finns is the legacy of the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). It embodied the national flavor of Finland, the harsh beauty of Finnish nature, and the poetry of the Kalevala folk epic. The history of Finnish music also includes such prominent composers as Erkki Melartin (1875-1937), Toivo Kuul (1883-1918, Aare Merikanto (1893-1958), etc.
As for modern musical trends, here too the Finns are at their best - especially with regard to electronic dance music. Such musical figures, like Bengt Johansson, Jukka Tiensuu and Kaija Saariaho have gained widespread fame and popularity throughout the world.
2.5 FinnishTheater

Theaters in Finland are loved and visited. The most famous Finnish theaters are the Finnish national theater, Finnish national opera, Swedish Theater and Helsinki City Theatre. Finns are especially fond of productions based on the works of Russian classics (A. Chekhov, N. Gogol, etc.). The most famous directors are Lasse Pejusti, Ralf Longbakka, Raya-Sinikka Rantala, Jack Vitikka and Kalle Holmberg. Every year the Tampere Theater Summer festival is held in Finland. In addition to it, amateur theater festivals are also organized, where you can see the most unusual and rare productions.
2.6 Finnish Cinema

Film production in Finland is financed by the Ministry of Education and the Central Film Industry Organization. The directors who set the tone in modern Finnish cinema are Mika and Aki Kaurismäki, Juha Rosma, Pekka Parikka. Their works are successfully demonstrated not only domestically, but also abroad. A festival is held annually in Finland documentaries in Tampere and the White Nights festival in Sodankylä.
2.7 Culture of rural Finland

The culture of the Finnish people has rich historical traditions, which are best preserved in rural areas. So to get to know them, you will most likely have to go to the outback.
What is a simple rural village like in Finland? Wooden beams have long been used to build houses (and to this day). And on top they often make plank sheathing. External walls are painted with waterproof brown iron oxide in bright red or dark red colors. Furniture was painted only in the western regions of the country, and moreover relatively recently - from the second half of the 19th century. In almost every peasant house you can see a wall clock in a colorfully painted case.
Among the outbuildings there is always a barn (aytta) for storing food and clothing. In western Finland, another floor is built above the cage with a protruding gallery along the facade. Sometimes they sleep in the upper room in the summer. An equally essential building is a bathhouse, or sauna, with a stove-heater and several shelves where washable ones are located. The baths are heated to 90-120 degrees, due to which the water that is splashed on the stones covering the stove instantly evaporates and so-called dry steam appears. In which it is easier to breathe than with steam at a lower temperature. After the bath, it is customary to plunge into the lake or ride in the snow. The Finns are convinced that the sauna helps strengthen the body and drives away diseases.
In rural areas, in addition to modern means of transportation, sleighs and skis are often used, and in the summer, boats (in the western part of the Lake Plateau, large boats with 16-20 pairs of oars, which could accommodate up to 100 people, have been preserved). In winter, numerous toboggan and cross-country ski trails are still built across the frozen lakes and rolling plains of Finland. It is interesting that in the eastern regions of the country the sleigh had the same design as in Russia, while in the western regions it was closer to the Scandinavian type. Skis were borrowed from the Sami.
To this day, traditional products made of wood or birch: tueski, baskets are still used in the everyday life of the rural population of eastern Finland. Finland is famous for its hand-woven decorative linen and wool fabrics and colorful homespun pile carpets ( Ryuyu) with geometric patterns, various ceramic and glass products, many of which are exported.
In many cities of Finland, museums have exhibitions of folk art. The largest of them is the National Museum of Helsinki. The island of Seurasaari presents an original collection of wooden houses and outbuildings from different regions of the country. In Turku, for almost two centuries, a part of the medieval city has been preserved that survived the fire of 1827. The life of artisans is demonstrated here.
For celebrations and holidays villagers Folk costumes are often worn. The traditional women's costume consisted of a long striped or checkered skirt with a belt, an apron, a tunic-like shirt and over it a sleeveless vest made of white material with a dark bodice. Red and blue colors. On the head there is usually a small cap, framed in front with lace. The men's folk costume consists of a gray jacket, blue pants, a belt and boots, and a round soft hat with large brims was put on his head. Currently in casual wear folk motives widely used in knitted products.

3. Holidays in Finland

In Finland, several holidays associated with church traditions are celebrated (Christmas, Easter, Trinity). The favorite holiday is Christmas, which is good here because it can be celebrated in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, and on the top of a snow-covered hill, and in a secluded cozy cottage with a fireplace with snowdrifts above the windows. During this time, hotels offer their clients holiday carnivals, unforgettable Christmas dinners, safaris with dogs, reindeer, riding horses, sleds, snowshoes, snowmobiles and much more. Christmas tree decorations and gifts can be bought as early as October at the St. Brigid's Fair (held in all major cities).
From the end of May to July, several holidays are celebrated in Finland. traditional holidays, with which hopes for good harvest. Usually at this time dances are held, ancient songs are sung to the accompaniment of a kantele (reminiscent of a harp) and a bowed instrument. At the same time, it is very important that the traditional cherries and apple liqueurs for these holidays are drunk only from metal glasses.
Midsummer's Day (June 24) is also a highly respected holiday. And in our time, Finns unanimously celebrate Midsummer's Day, going out into nature, to the water - to the shores of lakes and bays. On the night of the 24th, bonfires are lit near the water, around which people gather throughout the night. Everyone listens to music, plays games, and dances folk dances (polka and enka). On the eve of the holiday, birch brooms appear on sale, since the sauna is an integral attribute of this holiday (as well as others). On Midsummer Day itself, a tall pole decorated with flowers is placed in the courtyard. At home, green birch branches are laid out everywhere and all kinds of fortune telling begin.
It’s been quite difficult to see such ritual events in Finland lately, but the impressions you get from them are worth the effort. Modern Finland is also big on holidays. One of them is the May Day holiday Vapunpäivä. The night before, a student cap is placed on the naked statue of the Havis Amanda fountain in central Helsinki. This is the signal for the start of the festivities. All graduates of institutes and universities also put on their old student caps and meet with their classmates. Champagne, beer and the Sami’s favorite honey drink, Sima, flow like a river. Traditionally reserved, Finns have a blast on this day.
3.1 PraChristmas celebration in Finland

In Finland, this is a family holiday that brings together all relatives from different corners country and world. Christmas days pass in peace and quiet. For the majority, this is perhaps the only connection with religious traditions. Many Finnish families go to church in full force for Christmas service, but according to statistics, this is often the only church visit for the whole year.
3.2 Christmas table in Finland

In Finland, Christmas dinner is surprisingly rich and varied. There is a custom: on Christmas Eve, when fragrant fir trees appear in houses, which are usually decorated with homemade decorations in the old fashioned way, Finns bake all sorts of holiday cookies, gingerbreads and cupcakes, etc. with their own hands.
The main dish of the Christmas table in Finland is baked ham. It is considered ready when the temperature of the oven thermometer in the thickest part of the ham shows 77 C, after which it still needs to be “simmered” for about ten minutes at 225 C in the oven. This process is long, labor-intensive and with all sorts of tricks. But the result is simply amazing! It is customary to serve stewed carrots and rutabaga as a side dish for ham.
Dish number 2 - turkey. Also on the Finnish Christmas table, all kinds of fish dishes are plentiful: cooked cod, dried fish, pickled herring, lightly salted salmon, herring. Prominent among the hottest holiday dishes make casseroles: from rutabaga, carrots, sweetened potato casserole and liver casserole. It is quite difficult to prepare them at home, so many Finns buy them ready-made in the store. The highlight of the Christmas dinner is dessert - a traditional rice porridge with almonds for good luck.
Interestingly, most of the recipes for holiday dishes have not changed over the past 200-300 years. In general, Finns eat unusually a lot at Christmas, which often turns out to be unusual even for Russian tourists. Everything should be homemade, with love. There's no need to worry. Many Finns even “earn” pre-Christmas stress. However, this is a time of mercy and kindness. That is why Finnish legislation stipulates that during Christmas week any disturbances to the peace of sedate Finnish citizens are punished more severely than usual.
3.3 Christmas sauna

The sauna is a very important part of Finnish life and is found in almost every home. The Christmas sauna symbolizes that all the pre-holiday worries are left behind and the holiday has begun. The long-awaited celebration itself begins in the afternoon on Christmas Eve with the announcement of the Christmas world.
3.4 ParishOulupukki or Finnish Santa Claus

With the beginning of evening twilight, the climax comes: Finnish Santa Claus - Joulupukki - comes to the house, who, to the great joy of the children, manages to personally visit many families. Often his assistant comes with him - the most “real” gnome.
3.5 Rozhdestvenskie Avecooking on the streets of Finland

Long before the start of the holiday, preparations for the holiday begin in Finland. Residents scurry through the streets in search of Christmas trees, gifts, special ingredients for dishes for the Christmas table - in a word, everything is imbued with the pre-holiday mood. Particularly magnificent preparations are underway on the streets of Helsinki, which suddenly suddenly looks like a Christmas fairy tale. Tall spruces on the streets, sparkling garlands and lanterns, rich, intricate decorations of shop windows. The window display of Helsinki's largest department store, Stockmann, is considered the most original: it is a moving composition, the plot of which is updated every year, and therefore all residents eagerly await its design in order to find out what will be the product of skillful decorators this year. Inspecting this showcase often takes visitors a couple of hours! This is already a kind of established tradition.
3.6 New Year's festivities in Finland

After Christmas peace and quiet, after a break from the bustle of the passing year, people crave bright and dashing fun. It comes on New Year's Day. Starting in the early evening, around 6 pm on December 31, popping, hissing, and howling of rockets, firecrackers, firecrackers and other pyrotechnics can be heard in all corners of Finland. At midnight the sky is painted with all kinds of colors. Many people want to go out with champagne and congratulate each other. Later, when the streets begin to empty, candles are lit in the houses. This marks the beginning of New Year's “tin” fortune telling. Fortune telling on tin is done as follows: a tin coin is melted in a special vessel and poured into a bucket of water or snow. The outlines of the solidified figure tell us what awaits the fortuneteller next year.
3.7 Lapland - the land of Santa Claus

Santa Claus settled in Lapland several hundred years ago. There is winter, spring, autumn and summer. But there is also an extremely mysterious twilight season - Kaamos (December-January). Nature is wild and pristine, but at the same time unusually welcoming: the dazzling whiteness of the snow, flashes of the northern lights of grandiose beauty. This is where this most mysterious New Year's character lives. The local Sami population considered him a good-natured, majestic king of the forest. He surrounded all living things with warmth and care, and helped those lost in the forest. He is exactly like that eccentric wizard from childhood - a kind old man with a white beard, a red nose and kind eyes, dressed in a red sheepskin coat and a hat with white trim.
Finnish children have long believed that their own Santa Claus lives near the border with Russia, on the “Ear Mountain” (Korvatunturi), which with its silhouette actually resembles an ear. It is believed that this is why good Santa can hear the wish of every child. But then in 1985, Father Frost, together with his wife Muori and numerous gnome assistants, officially moved from the depths of the mountain to the Arctic Circle, on the outskirts of the capital of the province of Lappi, the city of Rovaniemi. This is the northernmost and, perhaps, the most amazing part of Finland. Now it has become much easier for children to get to their pet’s headquarters. Plane, train, car to Rovaniemi, and then on a motor sleigh and now you are here, visiting your childhood dream.
3.8 Santa Claus in Finland

Who among us didn’t dream as a child of climbing onto his lap, and then finally figuring out everything in detail: is his beard wobbly, why is his nose so red, should we expect skates under the tree this year, are deer biting and kicking? , where does he get so many goodies in his bag, is he familiar with Snow Queen... But you never know what else interesting I would like to ask him! And here’s the most important thing: if you whisper to him your deepest desire, it will certainly come true! But now we have grown up and now it is somehow undignified for us to believe in this big guy with gentle eyes. But he has a very specific place of residence, where every year he receives thousands of happy little guests from all over the world.
3.9 The story of Santa Claus

Few people know that Santa Claus became who he is thanks to the existence of a very specific and living prototype. In the 4th century, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker lived and did good deeds in Asia Minor (in Catholic and Lutheran versions - Saint Nicholas or Claus). The figure of this completely reliable historical character gradually became overgrown with legends and fabulous details, as a result of which a new image appeared - good grandfather, capable of making the baby happy as soon as he turns to him with a request. Snow Dad, Sheng Dan Laoren, Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Mikalaus, Father Frost, Father Cristmas, Weihnachtsmann, Joulupukki (Finnish: Joukipuki) - these are just a small part of his names. By the way, the Finnish version - Joulupukki - is funny for us not only from a phonetic point of view. Literal translation This word from Finnish sounds like a Christmas goat. Let’s make a reservation right away: the Finns have not and do not put anything abusive or offensive into this name. It just so happened. The fact is that in ancient times, gifts were carried home by mummers on Christmas night. They mostly dressed up in animal costumes, and for some reason the most popular character in the mystery was a goat. In the old days, Joulupukki also brought rods along with gifts, entering the house with the words: “Are there obedient children in this house?” Nowadays, this unique element of education has almost disappeared, and every child, even the most cocky fidget, receives a treasured gift.
3.10 Residence of Father Frost

In addition to the work office, the residence of Father Frost includes workshops, a shopping center, puppet theater and a restaurant. Here Joulupukki can be seen all year round. But, of course, the “hottest” time is the Christmas holidays, during which Santa Claus is visited annually by about half a million guests from all over the world. If you drop by to see the light, Joulupukki will be happy to talk to you. Sleigh rides, cross-country skiing on illuminated Christmas tracks, Santa Claus's Arctic Golf, ice marathon in Rovaniemi, dog and reindeer sledding and a thousand and one other winter activities await you in the estate of Joulupukki...
In order to cope with the flow of thousands of letters from 162 countries of the world, the good storyteller acquired a whole squad of elf assistants and his own post office. Work with correspondence here goes on continuously, all year round.
4. Finnish mentality

Finns are constant heroes of Russian jokes, under the influence of which a stable stereotype of a kind of clumsy, slow-to-react Sami has formed in our minds. At the same time, in the recent past, anyone who has been to the sedate St. Petersburg or the even more leisurely Tallinn noted the frightening number of rather aggressively minded Finns who came to “have fun” for the weekend. Who are they really? Reckless, uncontrollable drinkers or sedate and leisurely and comically ordinary people?
First of all, I would like to point out a banal truth - they are about the same as us Russians. And to expect with your eyes wide open at the first direct communication with a Finn that in front of you will appear another crazy drunken hero from the films of Aki Kaurismäki is as outrageously stupid as if they, the Finns, in turn, saw Boris the psycho from the film in all of us "Snatch" by Guy Ricci. However, people belonging to the same culture have a lot of similarities in their behavior and characteristics.
4.1 Finnish reliability

First of all, it should be noted that the Finns themselves have the most typical feature of reliability. Many Russian businessmen literally admire the fact that it does not matter at all under what circumstances the Finn promised something, whether it was enshrined in writing - there is no doubt that every point of the agreement will be fulfilled. But this quality has nothing to do with reckless beginnings. Before making a decision, Finns carefully weigh all the circumstances of the case. This, most likely, is the reason for their notorious slowness, which in practice turns out to be identical to caution. Therefore, the slowness and caution of the Finns does not prevent them from occupying a leading position in the world among innovative countries. For example, Finland ranks first in terms of the number of Internet users.
4.2 Finnish reticence

Finns are also famous for their taciturnity. This is noted even on thematic forums. What is characteristic is that this is not last resort due to local etiquette rules. For example, for comparison, among us, Russians, when a pause occurs in a conversation, the interlocutors most often begin to feel uncomfortable, as if “out of their element”, and a frantic search for a “fresh” topic for conversation begins. People even have a special saying, used at the moment of such uncomfortable silence - they say, “a cop was born.” For Finns, on the contrary, pauses in conversation are a sign of respect for your interlocutor, whose brain you do not want to clog with a meaningless stream of chatter, and therefore filter the stream of your thoughts, which are later transformed into speech. The “silent” Finns also have a saying for this case: “an angel flew by.” As they say, feel the difference.
4.3 Clarity of Finnish thought

If we apply the simplest mathematical transformation to the result, we get: reliability + laconicism = clarity. Even the two simplest, at first glance, words “yes” and “no” can be the cause of a colossal misunderstanding between a Russian and a Finn. It is difficult for us to understand the “slow Sami”, who, when asked to “have a cup of coffee on Wednesday at 8.00”, will answer only after 5-10 minutes of silent reflection. Finn can be incredibly embarrassed if you answer any question that requires a very definite exact answer with some lengthy construction (for example, to the question “Have you read Faust?” answer “Yes, I haven’t”). In a word, to achieve maximum mutual understanding it is absolutely necessary to be extremely imbued with Finnish thoroughness in speech.
Another one follows from this characteristic feature Finns have a tendency to understand any phrase literally. And if you say that you don't have money, meaning that you don't have much, your Finnish interlocutor will most likely perceive it as if you don't have a penny. And when he realizes that you do have money, he may think that you deliberately deceived him.
4.4 Holidays the Finnish way

They say that in Finland the bed is the most favorite piece of furniture, and the bedroom is the most desired place for relaxation and quiet rest. After ten in the evening in small towns you will hardly meet anyone on the streets. For the most part, everyone is already asleep at this time, because the average Finn gets up for work at 6 or even 5 in the morning. That is why all sorts of noise on the street after 10 pm is, to put it mildly, not welcome...
A whole ritual of Finnish life is watching the evening news. Young and old gather in front of televisions at this time. They even joke that Finnish family problems are solved during a commercial break on the news.
4.5 How do Finns drink?

As for the myth about the fantastic ability of Finns to absorb liters of alcohol, there is some truth in this. Either the harsh climate, or for many years Prohibition did their job - a dead drunk Finn on the street is not uncommon. Or maybe it’s a matter of deep tradition. In the old days, the Finns had this custom: if a guy in one day consistently drank half a bucket of vodka (or something like that), killed a bear, and took possession of a girl, then this was a sign that he had become a man. They say there was a case when a guy drank as much as he needed... killed a girl... and then he was dissuaded for a long time from searching for a bear... The Finns themselves admit that they drink a lot, but not often and not all in a row. Having a drink or two with friends is a widespread form of relaxation after a tiring day at work.
Finland cultivates a peculiar "terrace culture": at the end of the working day, on weekends, most of the population pours out into the streets and goes to their favorite cafes and pubs with thousands of people. This is the main form of leisure, which is second, perhaps, only to sports, which is the subject of universal “craziness.” The streets are full of people riding bicycles, running, rollerblading, and doing race walking - according to statistics, this is about 85%. Apparently, this explains the powerful physique of Finnish men and women. Seeing a miniature woman or a small man is an almost impossible mission.
4.6 Language barrier in Finland

Of course, one of the most significant obstacles to mutual understanding between Finns and Russians is the too large linguistic gap. As many of our compatriots admit, the Finnish language is extremely difficult to learn. “You don’t have time to read the whole word in the phrasebook, but you no longer remember its beginning.” Swedish is the second official state language. All official texts, posters, announcements are in two languages. The salvation is English, which is spoken by many Finns in Helsinki and tourist centers, but in the outback the problem with speech communications will be more acute.
In a word, I would like to believe that with mutual respect, despite all the dissimilarity between Finns and Russians, neither cultural differences nor linguistic difficulties will be able to interfere with our mutual understanding. The world is beautiful in its diversity. And you can get tremendous pleasure from destroying existing national stereotypes.
4.7 Creation of yourself and your country

One of the most interesting features of the Finnish consciousness is the belief that the Finns created themselves, their nation, their country. More precisely, they consciously created their country, reflecting well on the process. “In Finland there are neither rich monuments of art, nor famous medieval castles; this country does not have a political history full of general interest.” This people “never played a leading role in history; they lost their political independence early, etc.......