NORMAL LIFE: The Big C

Culture, that intangile thing that unites nations and defines groups of people. Before I lived abroad, I had no idea what culture actually was. Even though I was born in London and lived there for the first sixteen years of my life, I wasn't really subjected to much culture other than my own national culture with its associated traditions. Not that there's many English traditions in evidence these days, nor is there much influence from other cultures.

We are raised to believe that London is a melting pot, but to be honest there are more and more distinct groups of people living in the same communities these days; certain parts of London contain a heavy concentration of black people while, throughout parts of the country, Indians form the majority. But who can blame them? It's no different to a gay man preferring to go to gay bar, rather than a straight bar; there certainly is a sense of security in being around people who are just like you.

While Finland is predominantly white, it might be politically incorrect for me to say that there's a sense of safety in knowing that, hey, we're all the same. With a government that is indisputably neutral in its international participation and it's whiter-than-white homogeneity, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the Finnish government is trying their best to keep non-native (at least, non-white) people out. True or not, one thing that is for sure: this neutrality and homogeneity actually highlights some rather annoying traits of the Finnish people which might not otherwise exist. Upon my return to full-time employment recently, I have been confronted with these annoying, constant traits once again.

Cultural differences are those things you notice when you go to live in a foreign country. And when you try your best to learn the local language, participate in the customary pastimes and eat the way they do, you're confronted with differences and lots of them. Sometimes the day ends and you're left wondering, indeed stumped, as to why they do things the way they do. I'll give you some examples, both from the workplace and from my personal life.

There is no hierarchy nor a class system in Finland, or so the Finns claim. Who can blame them for not wanting to be bossed about after being occupied for more than 700 years? In the workplace, however, the lack of a hierarchy proves difficult sometimes, especially for a Brit who is used to some kind of basic management. Anyone with a the job title MANAGER is expected to manage a team or function, but Finland is an exception. Here, you are left to your own devices and no questions are asked. The key method used by employers is to stick new employers in front of a computer with an internet connection and let them aimlessly navigate the intranet for days on end while your manager pays no attention to you whatsoever! This trait is heavily linked to Finnish ignorance.

If you make a Finn angry, be prepared, for the 'Finnish silence' is deadly and always wins. Studies have proven that native English speakers cannot remain quiet for very long, that we engage in such sensless small talk to make up for those silences that make us feel uncomfortable. While we might actually perceive this silence as being ignorant, it is actually a combination of two things; Finns despise confrontation and their distinctive lack of emotion makes you wonder where do I stand with this person? The fact that a colleague might not speak to you for days on end, or might pass your desk never saying 'good morning' as she turns up for work isn't because she doesn't like you. The thing is this: if communication doesn't have a concrete purpose, a Finn will choose to just not speak to you, refraining from small talk. For the country that invented Nokia, Finns communicate surprisingly little, preferring to chat online, email, send text messages and communicate by phone rather than face-to-face.

We've covered their assuming traits (e.g. that you're left to get on with it and that you must learn-by-doing) and their silences, but they are also somewhat naive. Yes, naive. You wouldn't think so because they are oh-so-educated. However, too much time reading books can make the brain go soft. Due to its homogeniety, Finland is much safer than most countries in Europe. Regardless, I completely object to the fact that seven year olds wander around Helsinki, aimlessly entertaining themselves. While it is admirable to afford a child such freedom in the 21st Century, it's also damn risky. Only last week, a 33 year-old Finnish man was charged with 800 sex crimes with children as young as 14. Despite this, parents are still happy to let their kids roam the city solo. While London can't be compared to Helsinki, would you let a seven-year old child roam the streets when there was evidence that such monsters existed in your country?

Moving onto Finland's recent Eurovision success with the oh-so-different Lordi and his monster band. Following their success, the band's singer asked the press to respect their privacy for they didn't wish for their true identities to be revealed. Naturally, but quite unrealistically, they wanted Lordi and their monster apperance to be their public image and not the ugly bastards they really are. I mean, how naive an expectation is that? Naturally, within days, one of the magazines printed a picture of the lead singer, to the dismay of many fans who immediately cancelled their subscriptions to the magazine. The magazine was actually forced to apologise, even though the photo had already appeared in several publications in 1999! Such is the power of the Finnish people in their own country, but if a foreigner upsets then, they go quiet for days, months or even years as in the case of my once-upon-a-time best friend, JP (this incident will be featured in a future flashback entry).

Despite the assuming nature, the ignorance and the naivety of the natives, I love Finland. I'm just glad that Bree isn't a typical Finn - he prides himself on travelling around the world, absorbing other cultures and living, as he jokingly claims, under British occupation! But culture, the Big C, is hard to stomach sometimes. I realise that I will always be an outsider in Finland. I will never truly adopt such a culture and, from time-to-time, my ex-pat friends and I ethnocentrically claim that we are better than them. Such is human behaviour!