Your impression of Finland and Finnish men as a UK woman?

[CantankerousCrab]

What is your impression of Finland and Finnish men as a UK woman (compared to UK men)? Has someone in your family/social circle either befriended or married a Finn and how did that turn out? I suppose Finnish Millenials (and largely continental European Millenials) are capable of conversing at a near-fluent level due to the prevalance and influence of Anglosphere media.

Beautiful country. The men are quite reserved, but can be witty. Love the outdoors and are usually good cooks.

No

This seems appropriate for this thread

This Finnish comedian is rather funny!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V5aDB7WgTeo

My son lives in Finland as he married a Finnish girl. I would agree with Snowandicicles. The Finns I have got to know are friendly but on a quiet way and all have a very outdoorsy lifestyle - may be different in Helsinki but DS is in a "big" city and he can cross country ski, paddleboard, lake swim 10 minutes from his flat. His city has 140 free ice skating areas in winter.

But the language is fiendish to learn and if you want to work you mostly need to.

My SIL went to Finland to work for a year after she finished uni (in around 1980). She met a Finnish man and got married. Three children and two GC later she still lives there. She is fluent in Finnish and loves living there. We have visited many times. It is a much quieter, slower pace of life. Lots of outdoor activities. My nieces and nephews both came to the UK for uni. The nephews are back and well settled in Finland. My niece has settled elsewhere with her DH. I'm not sure what else you need to know. It seems a lovely place to live.

Cha Cha Cha

I'm married to one. His dad is American, mum Finnish. Lived there until late teens. He's not a standard Fin though, they're a wealthy family who were influenced by their travels. He's built like a viking and was very gentle mannered, mature and sensible when I met him. His family and friends from home are similar, they're quite formal when meeting new people. All very funny though.

One of my closest friends, a gregarious, demonstrative, creative, loud, talkative American married an archetypally quiet and reserved Finn - it is like hot lava meeting ice; the lack of friendliness and near muteness drives her to distraction but she's lived there for nearly 30 years now - has never mastered the language in spite of many attempts - the cultural mismatch is a real source of unhappiness for her in spite of her love of the Finnish landscape, the way society works, the values and culture. I too would like to try spending some time there but the winters are incredibly long and hard.

I guess realistically speaking I’d stick to English and learn to speak a bit of Finnish at conversational level and if I were to fall in love with a Finn, I’d expect him to translate everything for me. I think the temperament/mentality is important if one wishes to integrate with the society of a foreign country.

Yeah, I’ve heard that at 60th Parallel North (Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Saint Petersburg etc.) there’s about six hours of sunlight during December and the sun never sets during Midsummer.

Seriously, I had a chat with a Finn recently and his (small) family owns 3 saunas for their personal use. I'm attracted to Finland because of the weather. I love cool weather and don't mind the winter. I also like quiet, introverted people and a country that has lots of space. Fuck Brexit.

Thanks so much for this it really made me laugh. Proper tears in eyes laughing 😂

KAARIJA

CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA CHA

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I sat next to a Finnish woman at a work conference dinner pre-COVID and she told me about how introverted/reserved most Finns are. There were delegates from many European countries present so we compared notes. She said the Dutch and Brits were the most talkative & sociable of the delegates she’d sat with over the course of the conference.

I knew a Finnish lady and she was absolutely lovely. When I think about Finnish men - I don’t think I have ever met one but I would expect them to be family oriented and intelligent!!

Very good at washing up.

I'm Finnish and grew up in Finland until I moved to UK to go to uni.

Nature, 4 proper seasons and a more equal society are things I miss.

I don't miss my hometown/area - rural with a general feeling of "left behind" - there are a lot of such areas in Finland. I'd happily live in the countryside within community belt of one of the bigger cities though.

Finns come in many varieties, some averages probably are that they tend to be a bit reserved & dry but also loyal, genuine and honest.

Well I think they like ice hockey and saunas. I had a Finnish housemate when I was a student and the winter Olympics was on. Heard a rose from the living room, went to investigate and found it packed with Finns watching ice hockey on a laptop.

I went to Norway to a scout jamboree and helped a young Finnish man build a sauna in a tent. Good times!

Here endeth my encounters with Finns.

Amazing education system. Teachers highly educated, paid and valued. That's a big one.

I don't know any Finnish men but Sanna Marin is my girl
crush

I reckon the same rule applies to Finns as with all nationalities: you will meet one sort outside their homeland and another sort in it.

Tove Jansson, anxiety for the people as so few of them and vuknerable to being bullied by NATO neighbours and Russia alike (although now NATO members themselves), beautiful scenery, exceptionally high incidence of suicide and alcoholism, trouble getting enough and enough variety of fruit and veg, enviably confident with isolation and introversion as a people, sorry that a trailblazing young female PM’s tenure ended less than trailblazingly. These are my pitiful stereotypes about Finland!

I've met a couple of Finnish blokes and they both were very mellow.

I know a Finnish man from work, he keeps to himself but will have a good chat if you start the conversation. Smart, speaks excellent english, and very naturally outdoorsy- always taking long hikes or going kayaking at the weekend. Really gentle but sharp. If he were 20 years younger I’d definitely be interested!