Stereotypes about Finns and Finland

My name is Ernesta Porutyte, I am a lithuanian student at Vytautas Magnus university in the 3rd year of Baltic Region Cultures studies. I am writing my thesis about stereotypes about Finns and Finland of exchange students, who came to study in Finland. Please answer questions as comprehensively as you can, your answers are very important for my thesis. Thank you for your help!

Female
female
Male
Female
Female
Male
female
Female
Male
Male

23
21
27
21
22
20
20
20
22
24

French
France
Peruvian
American
American
Russian
German
German
Peruvian
Polish

France
France
Peru
USA
USA
Russia
Germany
Germany
Peru
Poland

European Studies
Adapted physical acivity
Ecology
Biology
Biology
Education
Economics
German literature
Accounting and Finance
Mechanical Engineering

7 months
9 months
7 months
5 months
5 months
2.5 month
3 months
3 month
3 months
7 months

Not really, except that Finns are heavy drinkers
Before I came in Finland I heard about the fact that Finns are quiet, and not really open at the first impression. But I also heard that when you start to know them, they are more and more expressive. I also heard about they passion for the sauna and that they are going necked in the sauna (that was hard to imagine for me).
Serious people
Silent, prefer not to talk to strangers or talk at all
I didn't know of any stereotypes before coming here
Blue-eyes blond and high men
blonde, smart, blue eyes, cold, love drinking,
Fins are shy.
I only heard that Finns are discreet and reserved.
I thought that they are shy, but kind and helpful.

Quiet
-quiet -not friendly at first -reserved
Not very social
Stand very far apart, large personal space bubble
none
shy, love drinking, stay in groups of their own nationality
Fins don't speak to foreigners.
Discreed
I didn't know nothing special about this.
Very nice and easy going people.

Drink a lot
-sauna necked
Drinking a lot
drink beer
?
They go hunting a lot.
I don't know.
They love sauna.
Love going to sauna.
Coffee, They do not work hard.

ice hockey and javelin
-Sauna necked
Have saun
sport, fishing
ice hockey, karaoke
Hunting
I don't know
Hockey and winter sports.
No idea.
no idea

Hard?
I din't hear about the language before my exchange
Finnish and Swedish
Confusing
Finnish, Swedish
Finnish
English and Finnish and Russian.
Finnish. English.
I knew that finnish language is similar to hungarian. I was expecting that almost everyone here speaks english.
Finnish

I don't know
-Lutheran religion -I also heard that the 'not open character" of the Finns come from their religion
Ortodox
orthodoxy
?
I didn't know
lutheran christian.
I didn't knew about that.
No idea
Christian

I don't know, maybe many students studying IT
-I only heard that the educain was better than in France
High quality education
Best secondary education system in the world, very free university education
I had heard that education here was really good
Great system of education
really high
Best education in the ranking.
High Education and integral education.
I heard that is on really good level.

I didn't expect anything
-Lake -Forest -No big mountains
Full of forests and lakes
Snow everywhere
a lot of trees and rocks
various and beautiful, lakes and forests
A lot of forest and few people.
Forest, cool , lot of lakes and islands.
In Finland are a lot of natural landscapes and lakes.
Lots of trees, lots of land, lots of nature, lots of snow.

Cold
-Veryyyyyy cold in winter
Freaking cold
"Cold and dark" - the exact quote over three people told me before I came here
Very very very cold
wet
very cold in winter, mild in summer
Very cold.
Cold in the winter.
I thought that Finland in general is a cold country, but about Turku I didn't expect too much difference compare to my country.

No idea
Didn't hear much of finnish architecture before coming
Design capital of the world
old and new architecture and styles
colourful small houses
I didn't know
Post modern.
No clue before arrival.
I had no idea what to expect about Finland's architecture.
Good designed.

No idea
-Not relly an important aspect of their life -They drink alcohol only to be drunk and not to be enjoy drinking one glass of wine for example
Didn't hear much of finnish food
Fish
didn't think about it
fish
Mainly animals from the forests.
Nothing about that.
The most common for me were salmon, reindeer meat and blueberries.
I knew they ate a lot of fish and pastries.

No idea
I only heard about the mid-night sun party before coming
knew nothing
1st May
I didn't know.
Christmas.
Never heard about it before.
Christmas, no idea what else they celebrated.
no idea
nope

I didn't know much about Finnish politics
Didn't know much about finnish politics before coming
parliamentary-presidential republic
?
Domocratic
No corruption.
I didn't knew nothing.
No idea.
Homogenous
no idea

-
?
Nothing
I thought the Northern lights were visible everywhere in the country, I thought the cities were bigger, I didn't know it was very expensive, I thought it was dark a little bit more time.
dark and heavy metal music
nope
Blondies everywhere!! People actually tend to dye their hair quite regularly. And Finland is the capital of metal lmL
Everyone in Finland is attractive!
All finns listen to hard rock, wear black leather clothing and have piercings in their face.
santa claus's hometown

From music (I like Finnish heavy metal music)
One friend and my tourist guide
I don't really believe in stereotypes even if we have some fixed ideas of certain topic but I would say some of the previous statements have changed and some haven't, and on the other hand I have learned much more about finnish cultre
Friends, Family, Secretary at Embassy
The internet
From the internet
media
Friends/ movies/ internet
From the main page of the country . "Visit Finland"
Some of them come from internet, but I got also basic information about Finland from my friend who was here before me on exchange.

A bit, some of them were true but most of the time, they do not fit the whole picture
Finnish people may indeed be serious people in terms of organization, responsability and work, however I have also met a lot of really funny finnish people
While Finnish people are hesitant to talk to strangers they are not rude about it as was how it was presented to be before I arrived. I come from a country where being quiet is to be rude sometimes, so it took a while to become accustomed to the silence, but I enjoy it now.
Like I said, I didn't know many stereotypes before coming here
It didn't change
most of it is true but they are not cold, actually they are very kind and helpful
No change
Finnish Girls are very friendly :) There are a lot of old people , also very friendly. Finns want their own space but i depends most of the time on the person and their own behaviour.
No.
Character: Not everybody likes metal. Traits: Not everyone is blonde but most people have very very light skin.

Quiet, keep to themselves, respect your private sphere
-Most of the student are very open, smiling and speak about themselves. -Only the older adults who don't speak english have some difficulties to speak with us and are sometimes very cold. -They need their personal space and some moments of calm.
I would say a lot of finnish people is shy, however I have met quite a few other that are actually totally opposite to shy
Nope, this one was right, personal space is a thing :)
Finnish people are quiet and like personal space
still mostly shy
Fins are very friendly and help you if they can.
They are not shy anymore after alcohol.
They are very nice people, even more friendly than I thought, even if they say they are not very sociable.
yes, they are quiet and in puplic they behavior of averaged fins is compared to my point of view a little bit rude.

Early lunch
-During the week, they are going to bed very early (around 22h or 23h maximum). -They have a very healthy lifestyle: cycling to the university, doing sport, sauna, not having dinner too late...
They indeed drink a lot
?
I never saw someone hunting
...No idea.
Sterotype about sauna is true, but also they are cycling here a lot and I was suprised about level of recycling garbage here (especially returning cans and bottles for getting back some money)
Yes, they love the sauna. And love partying and drinking too, wasn't expecting the partying.
they like to drink alcohol a lot
nope

Drinking
Sauna +++ Rock
They indeed go to sauna quite often, and I am quite surprised that exercising maybe something quite common here also
Winter activities
?
Some as above
No idea.
No. But additional they like to hiking and doing nording walking.
They have many activities all year round so they have plenty of options to pick from! In the winter going ice skating, or practicing winter sports in general. I would say playing music is common. Going to the library. Drinking lots of coffee.
more icehockey than expected, rest it the same

really hard
Super difficult!!!
Finnish is really difficult, but I would say 99% of finnish people speak amazing english
Still confusing
Finnish
No change
Finnish.
No.
If you don't know Finnish it's not a problem, most people speak English. And of course, depending where in Finland, they also speak Swedish.
They are good at not only English but also other language. However in country side, there are some Finnish people who do not speak English.

still dont know about religion in Finland
Ortodox indeed
Christians
-
Lutheran Christian.
Right now I know that majority people in country are protestants.
Pretty sure they're christian, but practice a specific kind of Christian ism.
Luther
nope
As expected.

good quality education
Excellent education. The children have short day and it's very individualized among their own needs. The schools are open, no barriers (this is unbelievable for me!)
I still think Finland has a great education system even though there are some recent short-cuts in the education budget
While the freedom of the university system is exciting at first, I, as someone who prefers planning everything early on and knowing my schedule, feel a bit overwhelmed by this system and feel the time for finding classes is not enough. I continue t agree that their secondary schools are the best in the world.
Lots of independent studying
very high, as expected
Still very good because of tiny classes.
Integral Education.
No.
Very well educated, very good student council, very good student lunch, very good student events, lots of opportunities for students, everybody enjoys being a student because they have a lot of privileges, and most people study up to a master's level.

really green country and nature is present everywhere and in everyday life
Present everywhere, even the biggest cities have their nature areas.
I was absolutely surprised regarding the forest area and water bodies totally accesible even in urban areas
I hadn't realized the beauty of this country and how much nature plays into the lives of every individual Finn. I feel that this reverence and understanding of nature would be well taught in other cultures including my own.
Same
as expected
Same
Nice. Lot of forest and lakes.
More natural and green areas then I even expected.
It's gorgeous! Lot of nature, and lots of environmental policies and adequate management of natural resources. Finnish people grow up in touch with nature and know how to take care of it.

cold and dark
I was excpected worst. I didn't even buy my winter jacket in France because I was scared that it would not be warm enough but I realize that it would fit perfectly!
Freaking cold still
It is very, very cold here for me, but there is more light then I expected, especially as we reach Spring.
Very cold
even colder than expected (at least in January)
Same
Cool.
No.
The transition between winter and spring is a bit weird because you're not sure when is the last snowstorm of winter. When the sun comes out the weather is lovely.

mixed of a variety of genres
Alvar Altoo is famous
I would say I love Finnish churches
The architecture in Finland, specifically how the styles from different ages blend so well, is something I haven't seen before. I truly can believe that Finland is the design capital of the world.
as expected but a lot of new modern buildings as well
-
Depends on the city. There are some cities that are more modern than others.
Mostly wooden houses and usually out of the city is quite huge space between houses.
They have both old and modern buildings. Most houses look the same and they look nice, they are very simple buildings. The urban planning of the cities look alike a lot.
Swedish influenced (tree houses, colored houses)

not that good :(
A lot of vegetarien They really want to be healthy Alcohol is very expensive
I love dallas pulla, salmon, and even maksalatikko
I'm a vegetarian, and I've found that they have vegetarian options almost everywhere which is nice
Normal food. Same as I'm used to in Germany.
In cafeteria , it's ok.
No.
They eat pretty much all kinds of food, not only the traditional. In the markets they have all kinds of different food -vegan, gluten-free, for people who want to have a specific diet. The student lunch system is far beyond great. Their food is not spicy and doesn't have a strong flavor but it is good. Simple and good.
It's simple but it's tasty.
To be honest, I don't like the food here, especially the cold food.

with alcohol
Vappu, mid-night sun party and christmas are definitely my favourite
Parties for everything
-
I don't know.
1 of May is one of the most celebrated even in Finland.
They have some of the same holidays the rest of the world celebrates. The student day is a big deal, and they also have many festivities and traditions related to education. They have midsummer's, lots of festivals in the summer.
there are many holidays during the semester
nope
Haven't experienced 1st of May yet. Apart from that Finnish students like to party, older people don't seem to celebrate a lot.

i dont know enough to voice an opinion
Trying to help refugees. For example in Jyväskylä, they are teaching refugees how to practice cross-country skiing in order them to be more easily integrated.
All I have heard is that the actual political party ("true-finns") are not doing a good jod
Same
I don't know.
Still I don't know nothing in this topic.
I have no idea how their government works, I just googled it so now I know they have a president.
Finland has stable political system and weak tradition of direct democracy.
nope
Have not had a chance to review it.

Rakastan Suomea
-
-
Finland is a very environmentally friendly country and Finns are very aware and informed people about world problems.
nope
No change.
It's true: everyone in Finland is very attractive.
Most of the people do not wear leather clothing and are not pierced. Not everyone listens to hard rock, although a lot of people enjoy it.
Nothing
no change

Meeting Finns, attending classes on Finnish society changed my opinion Also, living day to day in Finland helped me make my own mind
Just to live here and look around. To meet some Finns also. They are sharing a lot about their country with me. I buit my knowledge here.
Ideas are always going change specially if you haven't experienced and lived in Finland, I really love Finland
By immersing myself in the culture I was able to see these from the eyes of a Finnish person, something that allowed me to accept what I earlier may have seen as more negative quirks.
Experiencing things here and meeting Finnish people has altered my opinions
getting to know Finnish people and hanging out with them
I got a lot of help from fins and Finnish nature is very beautiful.
The relation with others Finns.
Acually my sterotypes didn't change so much, I can say that they just improved - right now I know more after seeing this country by myself and talking and spending time with my finnish friends.
Before coming to Finland I knew nothing about this country and that made it exciting, and when I got here and experienced living in it I learned many new things thanks to my tutors who explained how things work around in here and answered the questions that I had along the way, and to exploring the surroundings having to find solutions on my own, and also I realized some of my previous expectations weren't true.

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