Summer can be very pleasant in Finland indeed.
Tag Archives: finland
In Finland we have a lot to learn from the Canadians
When I was a high school student in Mexico, some of our classes had to do with the different characteristics of our North American neighbours, so I had some understanding on Canadian multiculturalism. However, I was pleasantly suprised in my visit to Vancouver when I basically didn’t feel like a foreigner there, as they’re very much used to people of varied appearance and culture, and their approach tends to be curious and inquisitive rather than hostile or uneasy.
There were three instances where their approach to multiculturalism showed through.
- The first one was on TV, where you had an Islamic preacher in one channel and a Christian in the next, both speaking English.
- Then they had a report in the CBC about their transmissions of the Stanley Cup, a quintessentially Canadian sports event… in Punjabi. I wondered if the Finnish Hockey World Cup games would ever be broadcast in Somali or, God spare me ;-), Russian.
- Finally, there was the Terry Fox Memorial at BC Place. What struck me was not only the story behind it, but the fact that their advertising includes the face of a girl of slightly Asian features. Given that Finnishness seems to be rooted in ethnicity that was a very refreshing, and at the same time sad detail, as I thought that in the end it would be easier for people like me to be Canadian than Finnish even though I’ve never even lived there. Somebody has to be the pioneer, though ;-).
Vain yksi joukosta
Kun olin Seattlessa pari viikkoa sitten eräässä tapahtumassa, siellä oli muutamia suomalaisia, jotka tapasin lähtölennoilla. He olivat hyvin ystävällisiä ja näimme Yhdysvalloissa useita kertoja. Oli todella hauskaa että pystyin vaan hengailla sekä heidän että meksikolaisten kanssa, joita oli myös muutamia.
On tosi mukavaa kun voin olla vain yksi joukosta.
McDonald’s localisation
And I keep on joking that Tex-Mex is to Mexican food like this is to Finnish food…
Vappu feeling
Banking as a foreigner
From my experience, I would say that in general Finland has a very modern, developed banking system. I haven't seen a cheque since I moved here (thank the Lord), and you can handle most of your affairs electronically. Personal service is not as consistent.
In general, over the counter service is pretty friendly and at the bank you also have access to an advisor. The issue I encountered, however, was when checking with other banks about mortgage options. Whereas my bank treated me really well, the same was not repeated when checking out with another. Although I understand perfectly (especially with the current economic climate) why they would be cautious, some of the reactions from the bank representative puzzled me a little bit.
We were discussing our background and when we mentioned that I am also educated her answer was something along the lines of "Really?". When she asked for my profession she was also rather sceptic, but the one that really made me unease about the whole deal was when she asked for my job title, as she suggested "So, are you an assistant?" which was completely out of line with what I had told her about my professional experience, meaning that basically she didn't believe anything I said, even though all of that is easily cross-referenceable, e.g. my income.
When I mentioned the issue to my mates, they suggested that I shouldn't have spoken Finnish to the person at all even though I'm fluent. I wonder what kind of prejudices kicked in?
Immigrant entrepreneurs
I've read a couple of stories about immigrants and their children starting up their own companies here in Finland, especially in the service sector. There are two companies whose services I use that are founded by immigrants: my barber (Figaro barbers in the corner of Albertinkatu & Uudenmaankatu, Helsinki) and one of my favourite fast-food places (Habibi Lebanese cuisine in Forum, Helsinki).
Given the simple facts that there are quite many barriers to open a business (capital investment required, cultural, regulatory, etc) I find their belief in their success quite admirable.
I'm just waiting to see when would somebody open a proper Mexican restaurant, as the stuff hereabouts is Tex-Mex. Maybe I'll have to do it when I retire. Mole poblano and tacos al pastor anyone?
The Finnish NATO predicament
Finland has a continuous history of being a non-aligned country, but some politicians hereabouts have started to wonder whether they should be joining NATO. They know that they would be most welcome, but domestic public opinion seems to oppose it, preferring the status quo of universal military conscription. Somebody close to me summarised the situation with the following line:
"Who do I trust to defend Finland, crooked foreign politicians or drunken Finnish teenagers?".
Tototoromoomin
What happens when you mix Finnish & Japanese cartoons?
Work in Finland
This is a marketing campaign for Kauppalehti, the leading Finnish business daily that brings forward the labour shortage in Finland. The English language version of the online component of the campaign is actually quite bad, whereas the Finnish one has real content in it. I guess that contrary to what the campaign seems to be about, they didn’t care too much about the immigrant / foreign audience after all.
Funnily enough, there was a completely wasted bum/drunk just next to this ad, but I couldn’t bring myself to take that picture. I guess it would have been too poignant of a social commentary.