s02_e01 how to befriend a finn

Ystävä or kaveri? It may not sound familiar, but those two words have the same meaning —a friend. As two foreigners (Diana, from Slovakia, and Vilis, from Latvia) who met two months ago at Aalto Uni, we are talking about the basic idea behind the friendship focusing on the connections we made during our stay in Finland, living in Helsinki. We were interested in questions like, what does it mean to be friends with someone? How many friends do we have? Is there a mechanism behind this strange chemistry? How long does it take to become real friends with someone here?”

The alternative title of our episode, How to Befriend a Finn, would in fact be: Mission Impossible. The cultural aspect played a crucial role in uncovering stereotypes and different approaches to friendship in Finland. We tried to explore the true nature of the Finnish cultural and social behavior for foreigners and Finns alike. We hope it will help us journey towards new and strong connections with people around us. As you might sometimes feel excluded, or you don’t understand what people are feeling or thinking, this podcast flashes the light on the relationships through the friendly and funny conversation we had during the wonderful, never-coming spring of 2022.

playlist

00:00 Winters in Finland and first encounters
06:00 Silence and awkwardness
10:30 Outsiders understanding society in Finland
12:20 Strange culture, classmates and co-workers
16:30 Integration, some Finnish thoughts
19:00 Finnish stereotypes
23:35 Rules and society. Are they optional?
25:05 Fake politeness, fake smiles
26:30 Honesty matters: Finns need time
30:00 What is real friendship?
33:00 Getting touchy feely
43:10 Early marriage
46:00 Love for your friends and frankness