Culture Shocks I Faced in Finland (and How I Adapted)
Moikka! Since you don’t know me, let me introduce myself. I´m Cemre Elizabeth Dinç. I am a 23-year-old Turkish/Canadian girl here in Finland (Piispala) working as a volunteer for almost 2 months. I enjoyed every minute of my time here, but my time is running out and must go back to Türkiye. Before I was gone, I wanted to share about my experience here in Finland as a foreigner and talk about my adventures and little cultural shocks that I faced and how I adapted to them. I didn’t have so much time to experience things in 2 months, but I rounded up a few for you! Let’s dive in!!!
Finnish Sauna
During my time here I had the chance to experience both the traditional and the electric saunas. The sauna is one of the biggest culture shocks I encountered actually! I mean back home we also have saunas, steam rooms, or hammam’s in our culture. However, before coming here, I heard that Finnish people go inside the saunas completely naked (or with towels). For Turkish people this is a hard thing to do, even if you are with a relative or a friend. We always wear swimsuits or sometimes towels! The only place we are naked is when we get the scrubbing by the hammam lady! However, my colleagues told me that wearing towels was allowed! You should have seen my face when I was relieved. Overtime, I realized that saunas are more about relaxation and equality! The atmosphere is completely free of judgement. This experience taught me a lesson that how different cultures have different perspectives on privacy and social norms. For me the sauna became not just a place to relax but also a space where cultural walls melted away along with the sweat!
Rain? Snow? Storm? Go Outside Anyway!
In Türkiye bad weather usually means hitting the “cancel” button on all plans. Sunny or partly cloudy days are our best time to go out for a picnic, swimming, or shopping. Before coming to Finland, I checked the weather, and I was shocked to see that the whole week was cold and rainy! So, I packed mostly warm clothes with me! Traveling through Helsinki was challenging with my heavy luggage. After I arrived to Piispala I had to go the store for snacks! Except, the closest store from Piispala to the store in Kannonkoski is like 7-8 km and I had to use the bicycle. In Istanbul (city of Türkiye) it is not so common to use the bicycle like the people in other countries. We have so many very high hills and cars on the roads so it’s basically impossible to travel around Istanbul even in bad weather. People here explore around with cars or bikes. They don’t mind the hills, cars or the bad weather. They wear cozy clothes. I noticed that Finnish people prefer bad weather over sunny day! I totally agree with them after being here for almost 2 months because I experienced the sunny weather for almost 3 weeks!!! It’s not like what you think… Sleeping at night was tough, working under the sun (canoeing, beach activities and more) made us exhausted at the end of our shift! From now on I like the bad weather and enjoy my time outside like the Finnish people.
Small Talk? What’s that?
Coming from a culture where chatting about the weather, plans or just daily stuff is something that we need so that we keep the conversation going. Even with people we don’t know or with acquaintances we always have small talk when we see them. We consider it rude if the other person ignores us! However, I don’t because it’s already hard for me to have small talk with people as I have social anxiety. I rather found it a bit weird, like you waiting in line, or sitting next to someone on the bus or bench… there is silence. No “How are you?” or “Nice day isn’t it?” After asking this to my Finnish colleagues I finally had my answer! Not having small talk briefly isn’t rude or cold but rather a different kind of respect – respect for personal space. Finns prefer to skip the small talk and dive straight into meaningful conversation (of course when the time is right!) Now I understand why they don’t have small talk culture. It’s because it makes every conversation feel more honest and less pressured. Yes, the small talk might be minimal here, but the connections. They run deep!!!
Punctuality is the key of Finns heart!
Being punctual is very important no matter where you are. When my fellow volunteers and I were having a group reflection with our coordinator, I learned that Finns really care if you’re on time for meeting, deadlines, or work. Our coordinator told us that Finns like people to come a bit earlier than the decided time, like about 15 minutes earlier. I honestly wasn’t so shocked to learn this because I always like to be somewhere about 15-20 minutes earlier. I really dislike waiting for others and hate making people wait! What stood out to me was that being punctual is more than a habit here, it’s a sign of respect and professionalism. It shows you are reliable, dependable, can be trusted and demonstrates respect for other people and for their time. The Finnish approach made me appreciate how showing up on time help build trust and smooth relationships.
Well, this was all! Kiitos for reading my blog!!!
Written by Cemre Elizabeth Dinç
