Cultural differences part 2

Hello!

So I went out on a walk in the forest today since I haven't been there for a while. I have a tendency to become philosophical in the woods and today was no exception. Well, it's not that I think of great  things like the world peace or the origins of the human being but being me :) And I have to say, that my life is pretty awesome! Not for any specific reason or anything, but because I have had the possibility to do the things I have wanted to and to travel and live in different countries. And this is how I started to think about the people in those countries and their manners and way of life. This is how I came to my favourite topic: cultural differences! :)

Valentine's Day: In many countries that day is full of romance and it's all about love and flowers. Well, for those who are in a relationship. For the singles it might be a little uncomfortable (haha, there's one Sex and the city -episode that popped into my mind: Miranda and Carrie are having a dinner together on Valentine's day and at some point they get really pissed because everyone thinks they are a couple when they are just two friends trying to have a nice dinner together). Well in Finland this day is actually all about friends: even the name is "the friend's day". The day is not abut lovers, it's about thanking your awesome friends for being there, maybe celebrating friendship with a bottle or two :) I have to say I love the idea! I am an awkward Finn and the over romantic dinners and flowers Valentine's day (the movie) -style are just way out of my comfort zone. So I'll keep celebrating the 14th of February as a day of friendship!

Friends since forever :)

  So here are some pics to honor the longest friendship I have  :)
 
              

Oh, those teenage years :D

My 18th Birthday :) Or was it the 17th?

Customer service culture: There are three main types of customer service: The North American, the Finnish and the German. The American customer service is something way out of this world! Especially in the Midwest! People are super, super nice and I don't know weather Americans working in customer service are scarily good actors, if they know the secrets behind up selling or if they actually enjoy talking to customers (any topic except for critic against the US is a perfect topic for having a little chat or even a longer discussion). Then the Finnish: usually the Finns don't say anything extra. They might have a very friendly tone saying "hello" (like bus drivers) - or not. But there's never any off topic discussion. My German flatmates who visited Finland were really surprised when some bus drivers barely said anything. For me it's just normal, he wasn't being rude, I mean he didn't say anything rude (because he didn't say anything :D), but the poor Germans thought it was weird when their "Good morning" wasn't answered. Haha in Finland, unlike in the US I get surprised if the employees are friendly, in the US I get surprised if they aren't :D. Then there's the German.... Well, they always greet you for sure. But they are so incredibly rude!!!!!! It seems like they have absolutely no filter, they just blurt it out! Like: "so what's your problem?" (!!!)
I am so intimidated every time I have to talk to someone who is working in customer service here! And they aren't rude only to me, they are even rude to older people. Once in a shoe shop I got shocked when the sales clerk told the older lady "You do understand the shoe can't be too tight, don't you?!" like the older lady was an idiot or something (ok it doesn't sound so bad written, but imagine the really bithcy voice saying that!). But the older lady didn't see it as rude behavior (oh gosh if I had been like that working in the US someone had probably sued me for being rude :D). It is just the German way of saying things very straight, but oh man I've gotten so mad so many times here! I don't find not saying anything (extra) rude (I mean, if you barely say anything you can't be rude either, can you? ;)), but I definitively do find it offensive when someone has this rude way of saying things you could say in for instance in a monotone bored-ish way (:D) not looking you into the eyes when talking (haha, making fun of the Finns ;)). I mean, at least none gets offended or on bad mood (well, not very happy either, but no feelings at all are better than having your day ruined). Haha, cultural differences for sure, but we even have this saying in Finnish: "Talking is silver but staying quiet is golden" :D


Colours: it's funny how in different cultures for example the color blue has a totally different meaning! For us Finns it's a symbol for calmness and harmony. For hmm was it Chinese it meant fury or anger and for another European country it was envy. (Don't take it too seriously, we talked about it over a beer or two so I can't really remember the countries, the point was, that the meanings were totally different!) Funny, isn't it? :)

Don't you get really calm only by looking at this?? :)

(Summer)job: An old topic already, but very relevant at the moment since I have once again been spending hours, no, days in front of the computer sending tens of applications! I even have my CV in Finnish, Swedish, English and German. And no, I'm not super talented in languages, since for instance students in my faculty have to study Finnish, Swedish, English and a fourth language. Anyway when it comes to summer job I can't not find one. It's during the summer we have to earn the money to be able to live during the semesters. Luckily studying in a university is free for us so unlike the students in the US (I'm trying to avoid using the word Americans when talking about the US citizens because my South American friend told me how he hates when the word America is used when talking about the US even if America is a whole continent, not the US) we don't have to work our asses of year around to be able to pay for the ridiculously high semester fees. To be honest my friends from the US are the ones who work the most (hours) of my friends because I high percentage of them work not only in the summer but aside of their studies. Many Finns do work aside of their studies (but not as many as my friends from the US) but most of the money is earned during the summer. I just checked from the websites of the trade union that the average wage for 2nd and 3rd year economy students (while working on their own field in the summer, 37,5h/week) is approximately 2000€/month (brutto), a little more in the capital city area and a little less elsewhere. So during the summer you'll earn 6000-8000 € (brutto). It might sound like a lot of money but dividing that with 9 (the next 9 months you have to live with that money) and taking all the costs in account (taxes, food, necessities...) you won't be able to save that much.



Blond hair: People, most you you have absolutely no idea what this means!!! :D Haha, my friend nce asked me: "So, all of you Finns are blond like you?". First of all: no, I am definitively not blond at the moment! My hair is light brown. Second, no, not everyone is blond. Actually most of us are hmm how would I call it... The exact translation would be grey as the road (maantienharmaa ;)), yes very depressing. This color is very boring and that's why most of us dye the hair a little. Haha, my hair is more brown than grey but still I've colored my hair many times. Actually I've been blond (well, my natural summer color is blond-ish but in the winter I'm definitively not blond!) and I've also had dark hair. I've also had short and long hair and everything in between :D

Blond

Light brown!!!

 vs.

See the difference? :DD Blond hair doesn't suite me so I'll never go back to what I had when I was 18. Well, it's better to look ridiculous but think you look cool when you are 18 that to look ridiculous but think you look cool when you are 38, right? ;)).

Well I guess that was all for today :)

L

Ps. I was dreaming of being back in Finland so maybe I'm unconsciously getting prepared for returning back :) 

Mixed feelings and confusement

Hello dear friends and family!

Haven't written for a while now, so I'll try to dig the memories, that are well hidden behind all these maths terms that have occupied my little head (studying for an exam!) from the passed week.
So last week on Saturday I went to Hannover to an opera with two of my flatmates. It was Hochzeit des Figaros (The marriage of Figaro) and it was really funny! The women were really good, I even had goose bumps when they sang! The men were just average (haha who am I to judge with my poor musical skills :D), I mean, I did not get goose bumps and wasn't that amazed. Fortunately they were very handsome with their suites so I got something for the eyes and ears ;)

The Opera House in Hannover

From the balcony of the Opera House

See, isn't it huge?? :D

Oh, on Friday, a day before the opera we had some real Swiss food, including cheese and chocolate fondue among other things, yummy, soo tasty! :) My Swiss friend had brought all the ingredients (including the Fondue kettle/bowl/pot whatever it's called :D) from her home country with her :) Unfortunately I also had a friend's farewell party that evening :(
This week I would have had a couple of them too, but I only went once for a dinner since I had to study for the exams. I am one of the last ones to leave, because my last exam is in the end of February, when others have had them already. We had the dinner in a small Gasthouse, which is always full of customers because the food is really good and the portions are huge! :) To be honest I have no idea how people were able to eat all of the approximately 500g Schnitzels! :D (ok fine, maybe they are closer to 300g, but anyway!)

Mmm talking about food I have had the chance to try some
Japanese salad and Colombian food! Isn't it amazing to have international flatmates?? :D We Europeans are always watching the others make really delicious and exotic foods,
oh, we Europeans have horrible eating habits really! Sausages, convenience food, and take-away coffee (well, I as a Finns hate take away coffee since coffee is almost like saint for us :D).

Mmm my roommate made me some traditional food! :)

Plantain! I was so happy to see this, since I really like it but I have only tried it in the Caribbeans :)

Above : Yucca (or however it's supposed to be written :D) And under: Fresh Plantains! :)

  I'd like to prepare something Finnish here to my flatmates now that our oven even works, but I don't have an access to reindeer or moose meat here (and if I do it's probably really expensive :/). Maybe I'll prepare some Karelian pies, but I've heard they are not very simple to make. We'll see what I come up with :)

A moose before it ended up on the plate ;)

Karelian pie :)

 What else, oh yes, I went to see a doctor, once again because of the knee. It is very confusing, because the first one told me from the first beginning, that I should go to the operation to see what's wrong there. I went to the MRI instead, but she couldn't see there anything. So she told me once again to go to the operation, but since I was a little skeptic she told me to go to another doctor in case he'd see something in the MRI. So I did. He didn't see anything either, only the liquids. So he told me, that the operation is unnecessary, but if the knee still hurts in March I have to go to blood test to check if I have rheumatism. WHAAAT?? Well, I guess my knee heard it and got scared, because now it's been better. Well, it's probably because I have tried to avoid walking and have been studying instead. Anyway I can't do anything else right now, speculating the situation only makes me confused. I'll see how the knee is when I am back in Finland in March. Talking about Finland, I start thinking of continuing my actual life there soon. Of course I am happy to go back there, but then again it's soo sad!!! Here I don't have a work where to go to after lectures and I can travel around in this state for free, I don't have the responsibilities I have in Finland - it has been one looong holiday from the end of May when I went to the US for the summer until March when I go back home. Mixed feelings really: my mood changes from excitement to sadness tens of times daily!

Well, now I'll have to start studying again, exam tomorrow! Feels so unfair sitting inside when the sun has been shining the last couple of days and I haven't been able to enjoy it.

L

The view from my window: I can tell by the white lines on the sky that
I'm definitively in the (geographical) heart of Germany.
There's not a minute without an airplane or tracks of them on the sky!

Ps I got an e-mail the other day:

"Thank you!
At Children With Hair Loss, we provide real human aid to children with medically related hair loss. Because of your hair donation, these children are able to receive hair at no cost to their families.
- -"
I can't donate blood since I have too low hemoglobin, but when I cut my hair in the US (10-15 cm) in May I was asked if I could donate the hair. I said yes, it's not that I need it myself anyway so I could as well donate it. The hair had apparently found a new owner :)