Finnish etiquette, customs and taboos

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavalta, Swedish: Republiken Finland), referred to as Finland (Finnish: Suomi, Swedish: Finland), is located in northern Europe and one of the five Nordic countries. It borders Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It borders the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bosnia to the west. The coastline is 1100 kilometers long, and the inland water area accounts for 10% of the country's area. There are about 179,000 islands and about 188,000 lakes. It is known as the "Country of Thousands of Lakes". Finland has long winters and mild summers, and one-third of the country's land lies within the Arctic Circle.

Finland is the hometown of Santa Claus. The earliest residents were Laps, so Finland is also called Lapland. After the Finns moved in, they established the Grand Duchy of Finland. It was ruled by Sweden in the second half of the twelfth century. After the Russian-Swedish War in 1809, it merged into the Russian Empire and became the Grand Duchy. In December 1917, the Republic of Finland declared its independence and became a permanent neutral country.

Finland is a highly developed capitalist country and a highly industrialized and liberalized market economy. Finland is a member state of the European Union, but its per capita output is much higher than the EU average and is comparable to its neighbor Sweden. Citizens enjoy a very high standard of quality of life. Finnish government civil servants are honest and efficient, and have formed a broad consensus in society. Transparency International, a non-governmental organization that monitors corruption in countries around the world, released the 2012 Global Corruption Perceptions Index report. Among 176 countries and regions, Finland ranks first and is the cleanest country.

Finland has long winters and mild summers. One-third of the country's land lies in the Arctic Circle, and the rest belongs to a temperate maritime climate. From south to north, the average temperature in January is about-4~-16℃; the temperature in July is 16~13℃. The annual precipitation is about 400-600 mm (one-third of which is graupel and snow).

Finland is known as the "Country of Thousands of Lakes". Its inland water area accounts for 10% of the country's area, has about 179,000 islands and about 188,000 lakes. Finland has a flat terrain. Haltitunturi in northern Lapland is located at an altitude of 1,328 meters on the border between Finland and Norway, making it the highest point in Finland. The longest river in Finland is the Kemijoki River, 512 kilometers long. Most of the islands are in the southwest and on the south coast of the Finnish Peninsula. The famous ones are the Aland Islands.

The majority of Finns are Finns, of which 90.9% are Finns, 5.4% are Swedes, and a small number of Sami people (once known as Laps). Finnish and Swedish are both official languages. 77.7% of residents believe in Christian Lutheran and 1.2% believe in Orthodox Christianity. The rest include a small number of Protestantism and other denominations, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews. Finland has two official languages: Finnish, spoken by 93% of the population, and Swedish, the mother tongue of 6% of the population.

social customs

The general characteristics of Finnish social customs can be summarized in the following sentences:

Finns in northern Europe, introverted and deep;

Be elegant and elegant, be generous and energetic;

Treat others warmly and politely, and have a kind and amiable attitude;

White is favored and loved, giving people the purest impression;

The number "thirteen" is not welcome for fear of bad luck.

There are the following characteristics in terms of life details:

In social activities, Finns have a tradition of popular advertising that "emphasizes style, values cultivation, likes novelty, and loves freedom." They generally entertain guests warmly and casually. When guests come, in addition to inviting them to dinner, some will also take the initiative to invite guests to take a steam bath according to local folk customs. Helsinki people in Finland are hospitable and often like to host fish food banquets when entertaining distinguished guests. At the beginning of the banquet, the host lifted the white cloth covering the table with a smile. On the table, a large, roos-shaped, dark brown toast was revealed. This bread contains fish, pig nuts, etc. The beauty of its taste will make you praise it. They love to drink beer, and are also used to toasting guests repeatedly to show their enthusiasm and sincerity. They love art, read, and attach great importance to sports. They have a strong sense of time. When dealing with guests, we are generally accustomed to making appointments on time. Thaksin prefers white and regards it as a symbol of peace, purity, justice and a winter where snow on the land of the motherland lasts forever. They love bell orchids and hydrangea. Because it brings joy and a beautiful environment to people. Therefore, people still refer to lily of the valley as the national flower.

Etiquette

Finns usually shake hands when meeting guests on official occasions. They also perform kissing, but usually between relatives and sweet friendships. Lip kissing is generally only performed between couples and couples.

General etiquette

Etiquette and customs certainly differ between the five Scandinavian countries, but it may be more important for foreign guests to understand the similarities. Although Finland is different from its neighbors in terms of language and ethnicity, the customs and lifestyles of Scandinavian peoples are broadly the same.

Service charges are generally included in the hotel bill, so tips are rarely given. There is no need to tip when taking a taxi.

Appellation and greetings

The Finns shook hands tightly when they met. Hug and kiss only to close friends and family.

Don't schedule a business trip to Finland in June and July.

Appointments should be scheduled in advance. Make appointments on time.

Hospitality and gifts

If you are invited to a Finnish home for dinner, it is best not to forget to send some flowers to the hostess.

There were a large number of different wines at the dinner. If you don't drink much, be careful. In addition, Finland, like all other Scandinavian countries, has laws prohibiting drunk driving, which must be strictly observed.

Although Finns do not pay attention to etiquette, they usually toast at the beginning of a meal. In addition to being invited to eat, guests may also be invited to take a sauna with the host, but it is rare for men and women to take a bath together.

talk

Appropriate topics include the host and guest's hobbies, sports and travel. Finns also like to talk about politics-but remember that Finland is a multi-party system with many different political views.

Belief taboos

Finns are subtle and simple. Severe climatic conditions, beautiful natural environment, special geographical location and historical reasons have formed a very distinctive national character and culture. They like to use "sisu", a word that cannot be translated in other languages, to describe their national character. It probably refers to the Finnish people's kindness and honesty, law-abiding, introverted character, poor speech, as well as their tenacious spirit and extraordinary patience. Enjoy holidays is considered everyone's right, and there are relatively many holidays. Every holiday (including Sundays), all shops close their doors to welcome customers, and even the bus frequency is less than half the usual. Sauna is the quintessence of Finland. There are approximately 1.92 million saunas in the country, with an average of one for every three people.

The vast majority of Finns believe in Christian Lutheran), and a minority believe in Islam. Finns avoid "Friday" with the number "13" and regard it as an unlucky number and date, believing that it will bring bad luck and disaster to people, so people are reluctant to touch these numbers and dates. They avoid crossing handshakes or crossing conversations with each other. I believe that these two methods belong to the category of impoliteness. When chatting with guests, they generally do not want to be too close to each other. According to their psychological habits of hospitality, the distance is about 1.2 meters.

Muslims in Finland abstain from pork, avoid using pig products, and also avoid talking about pig issues. Finns are not accustomed to eating strange seafood in their diet; they do not like to eat ginger and coriander; and most people do not eat animal offal.

Finns take off their shoes when they enter, don't ask for privacy, don't take a shower after 8.9 p.m., or make a loud noise that affects others, try not to go to a bar. No matter where you are, you come home so late, opening and closing the door will be annoying.

This is the first time you go to someone else's house to bring a gift. Finns don't care about how much the gift costs. They can buy some black tea from China (black tea is more common). Later, instead of bringing it from China, you can buy a bottle of wine or coffee from a local supermarket.

Everything else depends on their living habits. You can't leave leftovers when you eat. How much you want, how much you eat (including water). No matter how bad it is, if you put it on your own plate, you will eat it all. It's a very polite thing.