Culture shock, what everyone warns about before traveling abroad. “People do things differently over there” is what you’ll hear. But frankly, what I found most shocking was how little “culture shock” I experienced. I hate to make any broad sweeping claims about Finnish or American culture, but for the most part, the tendencies and norms of the Finnish people I interacted with, were very similar to what I was used to back home.
I did find, however, that the stereotype of Finns being quite reserved to be very true. But as someone who is quite reserved and introverted themselves, I didn’t have too much trouble adapting. One thing I did struggle with though was reading people during casual conversation. Back home it is quite common to use active listening and have more open body language when just having a causal chat with a friend, like simply nodding your head, making eye contact, etc. But most Finnish folks I spoke with were quite expressionless and rarely made direct eye contact, so sometimes it was tough to read if they had any interest in what we were talking about, or if my own smiling and head nodding was coming off as a bit too strong. I’m not sure this would quite qualify as “culture shock” but it took a little getting used, and some extra attention on my part to make sure I wasn’t being too overbearing in conversation.
Along that same vein, another difference I picked up on was in how we introduce ourselves with a handshake. When meeting someone new, I always used my usual firm handshake we were taught in our co-op prep courses, making sure not to make a bad impression with a “floppy fish” handshake. Several times, however, I was told I had a “very American handshake”. I wasn’t sure what that meant so I asked and was told my handshake was “very strong and firm”. Still unsure why that was such a bad thing, I inquired further, and was told a typical Finnish handshake was still secure (unlike the floppy fish) but much softer and lighter than how the typical American business person is taught. This habit was a bit tougher to break, as my group of friends always greets each other with a firm handshake, like we’re 45 year old businessmen running into a coworker at the office. Hopefully I didn’t scare off too many people with a death grip handshake, maybe that’s why folks were a little more shy and reserved in conversation…
