8 Things That SURPRISED Me About Finland
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- čas přidán 28. 12. 2023
- Looking back on my travels in Finland...
Since I really had no expectations about Finland, here is what surprised me the most
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It's not just the blueberries, we love all the berries. The forests are just full of all different kinds.
So many berries !
The observations here about Finland are a little bit more real and deeper than the usual cliches.
Thank you I appreciate that. Still, I’m a little bit disappointed in myself cause I normally don’t like these type of generalizations. Thank you though :)
@@Schabelmania
Pah! Military service lasts 6, 9 or 12 months. And there is also civil service option. 12 months.
Finlad was the eastern part of Sweden nearly 700 years and was called "Österland". I wouldn't call that "occupation". Swedish is the second official language of Finland.
This is helpful sorry for the use of occupation. Some people seemed angry about it or some negative energy toward the Swedes as it pertained to the history ?
@@Schabelmania I think you analysed it well. We have a resentment for the 'occupation/upper class' being Swedish speaking, but actually a lot of the Swedish speaking inhabitants of Finland turned out to be the most patriotic. Most of the great grandfathers of Finnish 'grand' culture are of Swedish origin. My own family is of Swedish origin.
When it comes to Russia, I'd never call them a brother. Swedes are brothers. Russians are at cousins if not just neighbours. It has got to do with the political culture/violations of it, not so much with habits.
Also, I think you point about Finnish men being deep is the first time I've understood that they actually are. Thank you for that.
I really appreciate you clarifying these complex neighbor relationships in such depth and nuance!
As a Finnish man, I feel heard and understood :) This was a very fresh and I'd dare say up to date take on our Finnish spirit. Kudos
THANK YOU :)
Who on earth wouldn't be obsessed with blueberries? 🫐 The blueberries are the best! And sauna!
Hello from Finland. Great video! 🙂
Hello now from Mexico and thank YOU!
@@Schabelmania Do they eat blueberries in Mexico. Just wondering. 😃
I had blueberries today but they didn’t carry as much passion ;)
@@Schabelmania 🥺
But! The "normal" Finnish blueberries aren't blueberries, but bilberries! Blueberry is pensasmustikka 🤯
Finns may seem silent, reserved or shy from an American point of view. But personally I see it in a different way: We don't have the irrational fear of silence that is common in English-speaking countries. We occasionally do initiate conversations with strangers, but we don't have to, if we don't feel like it. Also, when spending time with people we already know, we don't have the obsession to fill every second with meaningless babble, if we don't have something to say. Personally I can spend time with my best friend, and be completely silent for half an hour, without feeling awkward.
We also don't have the ridiculous type of politeness, that makes Americans say or promise things that they never intend to do. For example, we don't say "let's go and have a lunch some time", unless we actually intend to do so in the near future.
I really like the ability to be in silence with someone and especially in nature. Big fan of Finnish culture :)
Traveling abroad as a Finn I also started doing this :D "Let's see sometime!" And then we might never see...! I hate doing it but I feels like you wanna say it in that situation to be nice and there is is still that possibility that it will happen. But of course it feels uncomfortable, deep in my heart I never want to promise anything unless it will be done!
Finns don't like to talk nonsense. we prefer to be silent. and when a Finn speaks, that's when it matters and you should listen to what the Finn says.
I’m listening :)
Abroad we Finns are either loved or hated, but it is not as much based on who we are but more on the honesty of the person in we are in contact with. Our overtly honest conduct is often intimidating to people who rely more on facades.
I liked the Finns a lot and could see “through” the facade and found really open people on the other side!
I've met a lot of Finns who speak too much, so not everyone is that way.
I’ve heard that now! Next time I want to meet them :)!
I'm obsessed about blueberries 🫐 too! I hope I can visit or maybe make Finland my new home one day! Stay proud Finland!❤
You should !! It’s quite a special place; I was kinda caught off guard !
Really deep observations -good summary! ...and silence is respect towards others ;)
I love that form of respect! Thanks for watching !
Thank you for these videos! Om From Rovaniemi Finland and its allways nice to hear how people thinks about Finland and Finnish.
I’m a big fan :)
Wise words! Cheers for the video!
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it !
I agree...
Pretty spot on! Also about silence. You dont have to talk all the time when in a group. I eat blue berrys every day ;)
I want to get on the blueberry train :)! Once I get off the Keto train I’m hoping on the berry train immediately!
As a person from Eastern Finland I disagree about small talk. We are more talkative and we do chat with with strangers when they seem to be in a talking mood.
It's true that North Karelians and North Savonians are pretty jovial and rambling, but perhaps not in English though.
Well Leo I am from South Karelia, Kaakon kulmilta. We talk, too, with whatever language. 😄
Next time I want to go to those regions. I already love the Karelian pastry thingy :)
Very good observations. I didn’t know hardly any who spoke to trees. Talking to animals more.
Love this relationship with nature - the world would be a better place I think if we communicated with the animals (and plants/trees) more!
You can find blueberries (bilberries actually) everywhere, because they grow everywhere and everyone can pick them, even from other peoples land.
I want bilberries in my backyard !
@@Schabelmania Fun fact is that 90% of wild berries(bilberries, lingonberries, cloudberry, cranberry etc) in Finland go unpicked each year. We only pick around 20 million kilos.
Wow that’s berry impressive !
The part of talking about religion... That is kind off true and yet not. It's seen as rude to talk about religion and politics 'cos everyone has their own opinions about it. It's not so much as frowned upon, but as general consensus that these two topics might end up with bickering, heated emotions and end up to a fight for no good reason. That is based on freedom of religion. Everyone has the right to worship how they like, but it is not ok to shove it in to anyones face so that the other person might feel like the other one is trying to force them into believing something they do not believe in. Same with the politics topic.
That makes sense and thank you. I was referring to a couple of moments w specific people - like in the business world - who didn’t want me to put on camera that they were spiritual because they were afraid of not being taken so seriously in business as a result of their beliefs. And then I met this person who was afraid if people knew how spiritual she was, she wouldn’t be able to raise money. Maybe though that’s not connected totally to Christianity and persecution, that may have been a bit of a stretch from me :)
@@SchabelmaniaFinland today is hyper secular so religious, especially spiritual pursuits can cause quite the stigma here. It's very different from Southern Europe or America in terms of attitudes towards religion/spirituality. However, cautious, traditional religion is tolerated much better here than spiritual, more engulfing religiousness.
That makes sense! Thank you
@@varmastiko2908Still a lot of committed christians appear in Finland.
@@butterflies655A lot less than in most European countries.
It's mostly billberries because they grow here naturally. Blueberries you can sometimes see on top of the cakes but usually they are very tasteless.
It was confusing cause like on Finnair they serve coffee, waters and blueberry juice but I heard on my TikTok that yeah that billberry juice was more common potentially?
@@Schabelmania
Because blueberries and bilberries are so similar, most people just assume they are blueberries. And most Finns mistakingly translate the domestic ''Mustikka'' as blueberry.
@@rustyspace900 Also 'bilberry' is 'mustikka' and 'blueberry' is 'pensasmustikka' so easy "mistake" to make.
Ahhh see these are the info we needed in TikTok-land cause it was getting feisty over there ;)
@@Schabelmania Blueberries are bigger than billberries.
Blueberries are superfood and natural medicine towards poison. It also tastes really good 😊💙
Win win
Nice observations. I also think that Finns are more in touch with the nature. It's important to know the difference between different plants and trees. You can talk for hours witch birch tree this is. And nature is accessible for everyone easily.
About the military service, it's shorter what you mentioned. It's just 6 months, not 2 years. And very few do battle unless they're attacked at a peace keeping mission somewhere.
You should have mentioned sauna, which is an essential part of Finnish culture and way of life. Families and friends do sauna weekly together and sauna is a place where you open up. There's no mobile phones or other distractions.
Blueberries are very tasty. The wild ones, not ghe cultivated ones, which have not much taste. The juice is given to the tourists on Finnnair flights. Not so much used by the locals.
Thank you!
Yesssss! Good observation.."not that long ago everybody in Finland had a connection to the land through agriculture"
And yes, silence is golden and small talk is BS.
Thank you for the kind words!
Interesting video. However, there were some iffy things, e.g. the relationship between S and F. Even Swedes are ignorant, as a Swedish girl I met recently wondered why some Finns know more about the history of her country than herself. Well, we don't, as it is simply that S and F share the history from about 1250 to 1809, and it was absolutely not about colonialism or occupation. During these 550 years we were simply the same country.
I see I see- yeah I could have done better research there. I was going on what people told me rather than verifying…but I will next time!!
@@Schabelmania Firstly, i loved your observations and points. I am not here to correct or argue, since i ususally try to avoid it online. Its endless swamp😅. But this S and F relationship, it is understandable and common "error" or mistake to foreigners, who are not specialized for this issue. Like the first answer for this allready said, we were one country. Also keep in mind that there were never country Finland before that. I think it is quite widely understood in Finland, and thats why we speak about "bigger brother effect" etc when speaking about Sweden. That meaning that Sweden have been existing much longer, culture and history as an nation much older. I think in Finn's psyche, that we tend to look upward to them, is about that. Not so much about modern situations, as we realize its a bigger country etc etc. But your point of view cannot be overlooked 100%. These are not simple issues as u know.
Just wanted to do this small add to your mature and enlighten view of Finland. All the best 👍🏻👌🤟
Yes thank you ! It is helpful for someone who knows more than me to add color to my horrible generalizations :) cheers and thanks for watching !
The forests are full of blueberries in the summer....just for everyone to pick as much as they can....
So lucky!
The blueberry thing gets me everytime😂
There’s a discussion happening now on my TikTok that maybe they were Billberries the whole time but I’m not sooooo sure.
@@Schabelmania Blueberry is a name for a bunch of different berries. Bilberry is a slightly more precise name for the berries you likely saw. Neither is technically wrong, but when you call them bilberries, it at least makes it clear they are not those big American berries from a cultivated bush but those smaller ones from a (wild) shrub.
The reason you saw people giving them to each other was probably because they were in season and they had been picking them in the forest some time earlier. Tons of them are picked every year, also commercially.
Finnair probably uses them for branding and to look different and they are also Finnish, fit the colour-scheme, etc.
So as a child it was blueberries and "woodland strawberry" that small wild version. As an adult its lingonberries or cranberries and mushrooms. I did eat em all as a child but what I preferred at what age. Like you can use lingonberries instead of ketchup so it has so many uses, plus that lingonberry drinks do quench the thirst better. Some want raspberry of everything and some are so picky that they only want the wild ones because they are usually sweater. So I would say all berries that you can find in your forest next to you, like everything you can forage because its like a gift from mother nature to us after having to donate liters of blood to her hungry buzzing creations or maybe they are there to guard the berries :D
I like that vision of spiritually - to guard the berries :) also very cool on the thirst quenching properties of lingonberries!
greeting from Morocco bro
Greetings back ! From mexico !
@@Schabelmania if you back to Finland let me know. you are very welcom,also morocco
Agreed with other comments saying these were quite fresh and new "things we didn't know about Finland".
The talking to animals thing got me by surprise.
Is that not a common thing?
Surely everybody talks to their pets at least?
thanks for the kind words! I tried to talk to an animal today on Miami Beach and it didn’t go so well :)
We are not shy per se, we just don´t want to bother others without an actual reason. If you check the Winter War, you´ll find out that the nature also fought for us. Most of us, I believe, value nature, and yes, I too have a summer cottage, a place on lakeshore. Both of my parents came from farms.
Thank you for your comments and lucky for you to be from such an incredible country.
@@Schabelmania Thanks, I love it here. There are things to fix, and one of the best ways to see to that is feedback from those not from here!
Perhaps perhaps, but I still think there’s more to learn from Finland than vice versa :)
Finland was not "occupied" by Sweden. Finland was just the eastern part of Sweden and was called the "Österland".
I see I see. There are people that have commented differently in these threads. Is it possible that some people would have considered it an occupation? Or it 100% def was not?
Conscript service lasts 8 months to 1 year. Depending on what field you want to serve.
Fascinating and seemed like people really enjoyed their time in the service
@@Schabelmania Perhaps enjoying isn't exactly the right word. At the time when in service it often does't feel that great, but most of us look back on it and have good memories about it. Compared to civilian life, there is a lot to complain about, but that doesn't stop from having fun and memorable moments. It is not those weeks spent in cold weather or crawled in mud, or hours spent marching with 1/5 of your weight on your back that people first remember, but the good moments.
Amazing how the mind works !
The habit of gathering wild berries and mushrooms etc is remnant from times before finland became wellfare state. Most of it´s history Finland was poor country with poor soil conditions in most of the country. So it natural that people gathered all free food from forests to store for winter. Many finns still like to fish,hunt, gather or do gardening as a hobby that also feeds you and yours.
I wanna go back to Finland and gather mushrooms and wild berries with great humans in beautiful places !
nice video, but I don´t think we are spiritual. but we do love nature :)
I feel like you can’t be in awe of nature without some amount of a connection to spirituality but who knows?! Also these videos are annoying cause generalizations are ignorant. I’m sorry for that.
@@Schabelmania I can't be an atheist and be in awe of nature? Weird argument.
It’s a weird argument, but I think it could be ‘harder’ to be in full awe of nature if you KNOW there’s nothing greater out there.
@@Schabelmania Connecting with nature is spiritual. Not everyone just thinks of it that way.
Finns in gen are not religious and quite many of us are atheists. I guess in a way one could look at it as spiritual connection. But what you say about it being harder to be in full awe of nature when you know there is nothing greater... It is a hard disagree and I think that kind of thinking is one big reason humans are destroying the planet as hard they are (especially ppl in the US).
Nature is the "greater" thing in itself and the thing that is keeping you alive, if you think about it.
Blueberry juice?! Not a thing in Finland. Yes, we go blueberry picking and bake many things with them and the jam is very delicious but juice, not a huge thing. Black currant juice is more popular I think. Now come to think of it, we have blueberry kissel/custard which is quite popular and it's drinkable. And come to think of it even more we have drink called "love potion of a lappish witch". Yeah, we love our blueberrier or they really are bilberries.
It is just a thing on Finnair.
It is a thing. Usually mixed with other berries because it has such a mild taste.
Ohhhh cool! I should have just said Berries generally - cause I also had cloudberries and some other berries I’d never heard of before. There was even one that was served with the reindeer in Lapland!
@@Schabelmania With reindeer it must be lingonberries. :) But yes, berries are big thing in Finland. Because we have freedom to roam and pick berries and mushrooms wherever.
Finnair blueberry juice is absolutely the best juice in the world!
Some say that if you're in an elevator with a Finn and blackout stops the elevator, the Finn may comment about the situation after waiting around 4 hours if you're still stuck in the elevator. No need for small talk.
Haha I like this saying!
Being close to nature and taking pride in defense of the country aren't mutually exclusive when the land itself, the nature and everything in it is worth protecting.
That is a very very good point. And it’s not like nature is soft and gentle all the time - my mind is changing here :)
A man kissed you on the cheek in Finland??? He must have been a foreigner.
A good man :)
Obsessed with blueberries??!??
I would hardly call it an obsession. You could make the same observation about mushrooms, both are freely gatherered in the forest, are abundant, and are generally useful for everyone so people who gather them as a hobby give them as gifts to people as they are usually well recieved (and people giving them usually have three or four freezers full of them already).
Yes! If you watch my full Burly Man video, you’ll see I go foraging for mushrooms in the Joutsa forrest !
We are number1, 6 straight years😂
Number one :)
Some really nice and deep insights man. That spirituality part.. lets just start with this. The first bishop to ever come here was hit in the head with an axe and thrown to a lake. So Christianity was forced on us like on most northern countries in Europe. We still have shaman's, people who like viking stuff a lot, kalevala and our gods/demigods/deities used to be about nature. Finnish army is voluntary for women in here. So some go but its like there's 100 men and 3-6 women in a battalion. Yeah the border to russia was closed few months ago. Sweden is like a brother country to us indeed, unless it's hockey season ;) Blueberries are just super healthy, good and you can pick up like 10litres in a hour if you go to the forest so and we love our forests so.. :p I hope this gave you some new info and have nice day dude :)
Thank you for the great info and follow up. Thanks for watching too. And I also am a big fan of your forests. I got a chance to go pick mushrooms in Joutsa - majestic place ! Take care !
finns being shy is definetly a misconception. for example karaoke is really popular here.
Yeah that guy Aimo that showed me around Lapland did so much karaoke!
I'm from Pohjanmaa in the west, which in conservative, then Jyväskylä in Central Finland, then Helsinki. Even in Eastern Finland we have our cocks out when meeting among friends for a sauna.Just the way of doing it changes.
Only Western/North-Western Fin is religious, otherwise largely atheist (not everywhere). At least progressive and liberal the further to Hki you go.
Your knowledge of Fin is annoyingly lacking. Hung up on blueberries?
Tips in the comments, but if look-arounds for a visit, pm. Spring is very close.
Well I tried but yah I’m no Finn. Thank you for watching though !
@@Schabelmania Not knocking you, sorry for being rude. Good content, but the blueberry-thing got to me. Great berries.
Haha yes great berries all around. Was just surprised as an outsider how much berries were part of the culture !!
Small talk is overrated and it really is not a conversation. Finnish people are not quiet, they talk when they have something to say.
I like that approach !
Nobody eats commercially grown blueberries in Finland. We eat wild bilberries.
I’ve been corrected and demolished over on TikTok for this :)
There IS a thing with Finns and talking: If a Finn has nothing meaningful to say when among others, the default mode is to say nothing. If English-speakers find that weird, it is THEIR problem, Finns are not afraid of silence...
Totally our problem but I have no problem with it ;)
Why wouldn't Finns love blueberries? Haven't you tasted any homemade blueberry pie with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side?
I guess you are right !? Why wouldn’t all cultures be obsessed with blueberries !
What facts do you have that Sweden is more developed than Finland?
I think I don’t have any FACTS and I think I kind of misspoke or didn’t express myself fully. What I meant to say is that Sweden has had a longer time more deeply imbedded in the global financial system, I think from my time in the tech world, there was a larger global impact or at least more well known, Swedish startups that made it out of Sweden successfully, and I think there has been a larger impact in popular culture of Swedish artists becoming more mainstream, also Swedish futbol. That being said, I personally am more drawn to cultures that retain their own vibe as oppose to play more into the global financial system, and because of that I found a lot of resonance with the Finnish culture. And I also must apologize cause these are all awful generalizations ;)
This is also linked to attitude. Swedes will make their presence known. Finns can build space shuttle in their back yard and be like its nothing, meanwhile swedes would have already branded and sold that blueberry juice to Brooklyns health stores.
There is also some hidden bitternes because many of these things is based on WW2. Swedes skipped it and caricately sipped champagne while finns sacrifized whole nation for decades. But we can proudly -untypically- say Finland was only country to pay full war reparations. War has affected Finland and finns so many ways and like you said, almost everybody have connections to farmland but also almost everyone has connection to someone in their family who was on war, died there or went missing.
You didnt think about start ups or red carpets in post war Finland, it was tough survival ang the burden have transferred from generation to generation. Economically, societly, mentally, culturally etc.
@@Schabelmania
World economic Forum conference in Switzerland Davos ranked Finland the best country 2019. One of the reasons is that Finland is a very developed country. It is as developed as other Nordic countries.
In Finland the church was not persecuted for their beliefs. I think you are mixing Finland with Eastern European countries who were under communism.
Finland was never a communist country. Never a part of the Soviet union and never an eastern bloc country. Finland was fighting for its independence and freedom against the Soviet union in the winter war and retained them.
The Lutheran church is the state 's religion in Finland.
It is a Christian and protestant church. It has been said that Finland is the most Lutheran country in the world. The majority of the finns still are the members of it or other protestant churches.
Interesting and thank you for the education. Next time I’ll be more careful with the observations or make it clearer that they were my observations and not make historical statements cause I think I may have confused some people. Thank you.
@@Schabelmania I think your observation still stands, although "more developed" might not be the right word.
Sweden has always been bigger than Finland. It has a longer history and is better known than Finland on the world stage, though that gap has lessened quite a bit.
What's there not to love abt blueberries.
I want them right meow !
It seerms you rely on what random people say or how they feel about the relation with Sweden. If you go by historical facts, there has never been occupation nor colonialism. Finland was simply the Eastern part of Sweden since the beginning of Sweden becoming a real kingdom in the 1200's. We were in the same boat from the very beginning.
The language is a separate issue, as Finnish speakers were a minority in their own country, Sweden. However, this was not a big issue before nationalism of the late 1800's. It was quite common to cross the language barrier - part of my ancestors switched to the Swedish language and that branch of the familly is still Swedish speaking. Likewise during the nationalist movement many Swedish speakers translated their Swedish family names into Finnish and adopted the Finnish language.
I did rely mostly on what people told me. This is fascinating and I will do my research next time before saying such things based on what people were telling me. Thank you
@@Schabelmania Some people have strong opinions, mostly based on the nationalist history writing and the language battle, that really took place as late as the early 1900's. A huge source of misunderstanding is that all through history, the upper class and aristocracy was Swedish speaking. This gave the idea that the Finns were somehow a lower class. In reality, the old Swedish kingdom was a class society and the conditions of the commoners were the same everywhere, also in the present day Sweden. Finns were not an exception in any way, they had exactly the same position in the kingdom as the Swedes - again with the exception of speaking a minority language.
That’s fascinating. Thank you so much for educating me.
Somehow Finland ended up part of Sweden. I doubt they were invited. The native religion was also wiped out. Any previous social structures and history got lost too. So, obviously some expansion happened somehow and I don't see how people were necessarily that happy about some speaker of foreign language suddenly lording over them and wanting tax. Even if there were existing local bosses of some sort, why would they want to do it either?
I don't know what happened, but something happened. I get it may be lost to history and I'm not butthurt about it, but I also don't necessarily like seeing claims to either way because it's so pointless as people are clearly thinking about different points in history.
There is a youtuber Propaganda Talks explaining in a video about how in Russian school history texts the way the small principality of Moscow becomes the largest country in the world is apparently very vague and largely glossed over. (This is part of how Russians believe they never attacked, invaded or colonized anyone.) This thread reminded me of it, but Swedes are no longer expansionist and don't claim not having conquered anyone, so there's a huge difference in the relevancy of these arguments.
@@blechticA fact that is easily verified is that Finland became part of the Swedish Catholic church before it became part of the Swedish state. To me what happened is quite clear. The Finns turned into Christianity in the 1100's and started paying tax to the church. Language was no issue as it was Latin also in Sweden. In 1249 Birger Jarl appointed a relative of the king to be the Bishop of Turku. At the same occassion it was agreed that part of the church tax would be paid to the king. This way the Finns became taxpayers to the Swedish crown. The beginning of state taxes only started in Sweden during the 1200's, Finland was not 'occupied' or 'invaded', people lost their independence to the state and became taxpayers and the exact same thing happened in mainland Sweden. The exception was the region of Häme, where people were partly pagans still at that time. As they paid no tax to the church, they would not pay to the king either. That is the reason for the 'crusade' to Häme in 1249. The results was that the people of Häme started to pay taxes to build the Häme Castle, a stronghold against Novgorod. The main reason why the Finns became 'Swedes' was the trade with the Swedes (the ancient swords of the Finns are western, traded to furs, the main route being the Baltic Sea) and the religious ties. The population was too small to form a kingdom, therefore The Finns had to choose Sweden or Novgorod, and the results of that we know.
The transition was for the most part really smooth, as starting to pay taxes to the king meant nothing, as the same amount was reduced of the taxes collected by the church. The society was already structured around parishes; becoming part of the kingdom had no effect at the local level. Moreover, there were no foreign overlords. The Finns were allowed to vote for the king and free to rise to nobility. They were full members of the kingdom.
Here in the US, even though I was born and raised here, I hate all the noise. That is to include silly small talk and faux niceness, the noise of living in a consumer driven economy, and the noise of modern life. The last point is probably not unique to the US, since probably most modern cities around the world are noisy. But I live in a small town that borders a medium sized Midwestern city. It's a 1950s subdivision, and it's ridiculously noisy. There is a major highway nearby, everyone has all manner of power equipment to do all manner of yard work, and there are sirens, trains, etc, that add to the din.
And then there is the political and cultural noise here in the US. Don't get me started.
I think I would like Finland, even with the cultural differences, the northerly latitude of the country with its long winters and long, dark nights.
I think you’d like Finland too. And thank you for your points and for watching :)!
Typical Finns always think twice before they say nothing.🤐
Great saying :)!
We DO NOT look up to Swedes :D
Oopsss sorry - these generalizations are poop at times :)
Combat will be reality soon . fortenality. Seems so.
Nooo. I sure hope not.
Finns hate Swedes lovingly. ;) I guess it's similar between many neighboring countries in the world. But to say that Sweden is "more developed" is not accurate (certainly since like the 1970s). It's bigger and it has a more prosperous history, but any differences in "development" in the 21st century are negligible. Both are among the most developed countries in the world. On the other hand, it was said during the Cold War that there was the steepest economic gap in the WORLD at the border between Finland and the SOVIET UNION. Still today the difference between Finland and Russia is like night and day.
That makes sense thank you. I think maybe I was trying to say that it seems the Swedes are more imbedded in the global capitalist system than the Finns but I don’t have any specific data to back it up. For better or worse…
@@Schabelmania Most countries in the world are tightly imbedded in the "global capitalist system", and Finland is certainly no exception.. Just because Finland seems remote and a bit laid back does not mean that we don't do trade and business. That's where our wealth comes from, not some magic wall. Although some leftists believe that such a magic wall exists. That is another story...
@@Schabelmania Most countries in the world are tightly imbedded in the "global capitalist system", and Finland is no exception. Even if it seems that Finland is quite remote and laid back, business and trade are obviously where our wealth comes from - not some "magic wall" (even though some leftists believe such a wall exists..). For example here in the South Eastern Finland we have the largest concentration of wood industries in Europe.. Google has a major data center in a former paper mill here, so times keep changing and business changes with it.
Yes yes I understand that Finland is part of the global north and deeply embedded in the capitalist system. I was merely comparing it to Sweden, which seems more embedded BUT I also don’t exactly know. It’s based mostly on my experience in tech where Sweden had some relevance in terms of strategic growth value for the companies I worked for and Finland much less so. But it was certainly an N of 1, ie my experience. So I do think I could be wrong. Just mere bs comparison making…
@@Schabelmania Sweden is obviously a bigger country and economy than Finland. So obviously Sweden plays a bigger strategic role in many industries. However, from the average person's point of view, size of a country and economy isn't very relevant. What is happening per capita is more relevant. Sweden has a bit more going on per capita, but not so much that Finns would somehow "envy" Swedes or something. Besides, Sweden has more problems in some aspects of life, such as social unrest.
No such thing as akward silence, only comfortable silence and akward small talk. Don't ask Finn how they doing if not ready to listen half hour rant how they really doing.
Truth!
NATO never was a choice of Finnish people but politicians (for to benefit to themselves) !
Okay thank you
looking up to sweden part is bullshit
Okay sorry :(
99% of people watching this are finnish. 😁
I think that’s my main audience at this point! Argentina coming out soon though so maybe I’ll add another core community :)
@@SchabelmaniaThats why I as a Finn salute you. I hope you all the best with Argentina also. They gave us tango for heavens sake..😅
Haha that’s true Tango and Messi and Maradona and I highly suggest you try their dulce de leche at some point :)
You are soooooowrong ,you really didn’t meet peopple from Suomi
Well you can’t win them all ;)
It seems, that You don't know anything about Finland!
Well thank you :) your words are also welcome here. Have a lovely day
Finland was part of Sweden from 13th Century to 1809 AD. So there basically was no Finland. Instead Finns were a distinct ethnic group in the "Eastern Sweden". Finnish Cavalry was highly esteemed part of the Swedish Army.
Very cool on the Cavalry! Thank you for the history lesson :)!
For some odd reason that I can't understand this man feels like a colonial officer. 😳
Wait haha me? Tell me more I’m intrigued !!
@@Schabelmania
There is a sense of americasplaining. Correct me if you are not from US.
Yes yes I agree with you, I’m def americasplaining mostly cause people watch that shit. And for my basic generalizations I do apologize. Still I was trying to understand the colonial officer comment. I thought it was in my delivery or my looks, and I wouldn’t have liked that. Oversimplifying, generalizing, basic, lack of nuance I’ll accept though ;)
@@Schabelmania
Your colonial history is well known. You took Havaiji. You took Haiti for twenty years. You took Philippines for fifty years....
What do you mean by me? My family arrived to the US in like 1976? Something like that. But I hear you. The US has def done some shit.
Many small mistakes, but OK.
Thank you for watching despite the mistakes :)
I don't have a connection to farmland. Family farm was lost during World War II. Military service is not required for women. Finnsh have often relatives that live or have lived in Sweden and in Russia, also many other countries, such as Canada, Australia, USA.
Interesting! Thank you !
At first I have to watch the Finn reaction, to not step on anyones toe!
And then.. you have got everything wrong about Finland.. its rather this you have got to know more about Finnland!
And the high topic. why dont you bring self picked bluberrys to your friends, your own bluberrys is the best gift.. isnt this the best in the rest of the world.. change the world then!
Thank you :)?
@@Schabelmania Okey, blueberrys dont taste that great, but one pick them self, in the forrest, its the strugle to pick them thats the real gift!
Picking your own foods and eating with your hands makes it taste better !!