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.

When we did Band B, my favourite guests to host were Scandinavian men.

An interesting fact I learned about Finland is that they are nation of preppers, determined since the 1950s never to be invaded by Russia, they have around 500,000 bunkers and laws regarding keeping stocks of food and essential supplies. Even their roads have been designed to help deter invasion.

@CantankerousCrab · Yesterday 20:00

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.

Very similar to north Scotland; lots of nice men here too.

I was actually surprised about Finnish men's attitudes. I thought being Scandinavian they would be more into equality of the sexes than say Brits. And whilst this is certainly true for Finland as a nation and historically (one of the first countries to grant women the vote, 2nd in the Global Gender Gap index etc etc).

It is not true for Finnish men's attitudes which are way more traditional than say British men (women as stay at home mothers etc). But from my experience not in the least leery or anything and generally respectful but definitely traditional.

Lastly they don't talk much are quite reserved and the stereotype about being obsessed with saunas is 100% accurate.

ooh Kimi

I only know of some rock bands but am fascinated by Scandi culture. Love Moomins.

And remember it’s naked saunas.

At uni in France I shared a room with a Finn. Silence was the main thing from her and low level racism.

Also had another Finnish friend and she was the best in the world. Also dated a Finnish boy and he was sporty and great.

They are as varied as any other people.

See I found Finns and Finnish men to be quite warm towards me, but then I'm introverted myself, so maybe I'm just their type.

My husband still mocks me about my Finnish boyfriend from when I went there solo.

I love him! Definitely not a quiet Finn if you follow him on social media lol

Most of the bands I like are from Finland and I’ve been to Helsinki. Everyone there was pleasant and polite.

I went to university with a Finnish couple. They met over here, found out they lived quite close in Finland and were both adopted. The woman was shy and introverted, the man was more of an extrovert and cheated on his girlfriend with at least two of the other students he lived with!

Switzerland is like this too. They have nuclear bunkers under most buildings by law. There was outcry a couple of years ago when the government decided coffee wasn’t an essential for the prepping supplies 😂

Meh, I’ll just close my eyes and think of England when I’ll be naked in a Finnish Sauna. Ugh.

Ha, fair enough, I made a comment saying they were introverted and big drinkers. I think that is based on older generations though, and my family are rural and from near Lapland so probably different to people in Helsinki I don't know much about the younger generations.

Ok... from my experience (been to Finland several times and know several Finns) and if you are happy with generalising OP...

Heavy drinking is common
A bit whacky/ dark side / mad twinkle in the eye
Seemed more relaxed, open and approachable than other Scandinavians
Young people less Americanised than in Norway or Denmark
There are more fireams and more violence against women than you think
People spit on the streets
It's the only place in the world where I (who don't look stereotypically Scandinavian) have been followed around by security in shops, young children have pointed their fingers at me etc.
Beautiful country, love the language and culture

The girls I knew were lovely... the men were fun for a night out but could get rather weird

HTH

I don't know which Finnish men and which British men you have met, but as a citizen of neither country this is not my experience at all. Every Finnish man I know under the age of 80 has been an involved parent, if they have kids. Work is a cultural expectation of everyone. This has certainly NOT been true of the British families I've known, where only one man has taken any of the parental leave, and three of the mums are SAH

She wrote attitudes as in 'women should be SAHM' not what they actually do.

but as a citizen of neither country this is not my experience at all
Really helpful then.

Because you have to be a citizen to have experience of a country....oh, wait.

My point was that I don't have a vested interest in saying one was better than the other.

@CallItLoneliness

I wasn't trying to say that one country was better or worse than the other.

I guess the point I was trying to make was that I just found it a surprising contradiction that whilst on a national and governmental level Finland has been very progressive in terms of feminist policies and issues. But on an individual level my experience has been that Finnish men held quite traditional values. It just seemed like an odd contradiction.

I'm a fin that lives in the UK. I moved here for uni and stayed after. I would say to consider it carefully, maybe do a longer holiday there first to see if you like it? There are plusses and minuses, like anywhere.

I found the job prospects much better here as well as the socialising side.

Finnish people can be more closed off and prefer to stick to their friend groups, so it's harder to make friends later on or to meet new people and we don't have that same chill pub culture you have here. The man are often more of the strong silent type as well, though not all.

On the flip side people are very honest and you can take them at their word as well as being a little less superficial.

You can get by with English there but if you want a deeper connection or to travel in the country learning the language would be good, but it's a hard one to pick up, as my husband can attest to.