American REACTS to Finnish Lifestyle | Finland Is Amazing

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  • Опубликовано: 3 ноя 2019
  • American REACTS to Finnish Lifestyle | Finland Is Amazing.
    An American's view on living in Finland (food, culture, traditions, people, language, etc.) Living in Finland vs living in the United States.
    Comment below things you love about life in Finland (Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Oulu, Espoo, Vantaa, Vaasa, etc.)!
    Download the Lifey app to watch tons of travel vlogs about Finland, Norway, Sweden, etc.

Комментарии • 439

  • @ninefingerdeathgrip
    @ninefingerdeathgrip 4 года назад +3135

    Nobody is speaking english and everybody acts like it's completely normal, well, that's just because it is completely normal in non english speaking countries.

  • @SSavolainen
    @SSavolainen 4 года назад +2397

    Finland isn't baltic. It's Nordic.

  • @KoreHelsinki
    @KoreHelsinki 4 года назад +1509

    Finnish history and mythology is actually very, very rich..

  • @mikaelpeltonen96
    @mikaelpeltonen96 4 года назад +1846

    Wow, this guy knows a lot about Finland. All of it wasn't 100% accurate but still.

    • @juholaaksonen7455
      @juholaaksonen7455 4 года назад +198

      Mikael Peltonen i was thinking the same. This is a genuine reflection on how he sees Finland. Not the typical video format of a Wiki page.

    • @marenkia
      @marenkia 4 года назад +38

      Good that he tries xD

    • @2506754250675
      @2506754250675 4 года назад +62

      nothing is 100% accurate. everything is subjective. you don't have to agree with everything someone says but it doesn't mean they are wrong

  • @hannakorhonen6393
    @hannakorhonen6393 4 года назад +796

    Finnish people speak english very well, and almost everyone here does speak it.

  • @Caldera01
    @Caldera01 4 года назад +982

    There's something that amused me when you mentioned that there isn't much history or religiousness in Finland.
    As it happens, Finland had its own pagan religion where the shrines and churches were the rocks, trees, and lakes in nature.
    This is the main reason why some huge boulders and lakes are considered holy to even this day.
    This also leads to the reason why Finnish religious practice is so very solitary and private. You're supposed to go out into the nature to have your own spiritual journey.
    The old Finnish paganism also had plenty of spirits, deities andother entities that either brought fortune, were benign, or was more or less evil.
    All Finnish forest homes have their own gnome/elf that would help protect and bring good fortune to their habitats.
    Another sacred place is the sauna. In history, saunas were used not only as places to cleanse oneself, but the majority of people would be birthed in saunas or would receive their baptism in saunas.
    Like the rest of nature, saunas also hold a very strong spiritual bond in Finnish culture as for many it too is the shrine for spiritual moments rather than churches.
    Especially during the Finnish civil war, it wasn't uncommon to hold executions behind the sauna.
    So if you're traveling in a Finnish forest and happen upon a large boulder, or a large pond, or other unusual natural sightings, it would be adviceable to keep nature's peace and not disturb the spirits and deities as Tapio, Mielikki, or even and Kivutar are likely listening in while Ajattara might bring her own revenge on those that disturb the peace by making you lose your way.
    Tapio, king of the forest.
    Mielikki, Goddess of the forest.
    Ajattara, an evil female spirit that misguides travelers.
    Kivutar, a female Goddess of pain and disease. Aides and guides those that have come down with something unpleasant.

  • @MikkoVille
    @MikkoVille 4 года назад +552

    "You walk down the street and nobody is speaking english but people are just carrying on like it's completely normal, and it's like really really weird."
    LOL. Yeah, it's really really weird that people act like everything's normal when everyone is speaking Finnish in Finland.

  • @noora_aurora
    @noora_aurora 4 года назад +217

    0:41 and when you go to America almost nobody speaks Finnish....😂😂🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮

  • @Aquelll
    @Aquelll 4 года назад +769

    "Winning" against the Soviets is debatable. We had to accept the peace terms and lost some land area and islands in the Gulf of Finland. But still Finland remains the only country in the world that has been invaded by the Red Army and not get occupied. And we did it twice. So I would call it a defensive victory.

  • @anidaria
    @anidaria 4 года назад +650

    What? Who doesn't like christmas food?? The dinner is literally the highlight of the whole evening?

  • @gorillalover3337
    @gorillalover3337 4 года назад +59

    I'm from Finland and I don't know a single person who doesn't like christmas food.

  • @hennasalokangas
    @hennasalokangas 4 года назад +1400

    I feel so bad to comment this, but Ä and Ö are Finnish but the Swedish one is Å. Great video all way!!:)

  • @Nightskyline1
    @Nightskyline1 4 года назад +1774

    So the nicest part of finland is turku because it's old and *swedish*. Thanks

  • @anniespassion1093
    @anniespassion1093 4 года назад +83

    I adore Finns so much that I married one 30 years ago. 😂❤

  • @pinja5036
    @pinja5036 4 года назад +122

    heittäisin "kuusi palaa" - läpän mut en jaksa kirjottaa.

  • @tuikkur.5655
    @tuikkur.5655 4 года назад +140

    Finland is called a land of thousands of lakes, and according to Wikipedia we have about 180 000 lakes here. 😃💙

    • @villepore7013
      @villepore7013 4 года назад +41

      We have most lakes in the world, because Russia, Canada and other large contries haven't counted theirs, so because we can count, we have most lakes.

  • @_riippuu
    @_riippuu 4 года назад +151

    Btw, the hymn starts with the words "Oi Suomi" but it's actually called "Finlandia hymni" = The Finlandia hymn. The lyrics were fitted into a peace called _Finlandia, op. 26_ which was composed by Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer.

  • @largonius
    @largonius 4 года назад +322

    I forgive u for bashing our delicious christmas food, because you seem like a nice dude.

  • @MoMsUuH
    @MoMsUuH 4 года назад +100

    Finns don't hate Russia that much. But they will take them as a serious threat. That's why the border is so strictly watched

  • @Daimaah
    @Daimaah 4 года назад +275

    While we might laugh at some weird pronunciations, we're not trying to be mean. We might find it a bit funny, but we always appreciate the effort :)

  • @sazupupu
    @sazupupu 4 года назад +24

    I got chills when you talked about our independence.
    Younger generations do say I love you a lot more, it’s the really old people who almost never say it. But yes in Finland I love you really means love, it’s not just casual words.

  • @jukka-pekkatuominen4540
    @jukka-pekkatuominen4540 4 года назад +88

    I do consider the effort Finns had after the war a really strong statement about what it is to be a Finn. If I ever get to be even half of that I think that would be super. The thing is that Finland was not a rich country after WWII. Yet Finland paid all their war preparations which more hundreds of millions US dollars (calculated to the amount before the war). And not only that. Finland had a very unique position between east and west. So when US offered their help to the countries that were effected in WWII Finland denied. And Finland also denied the help from Soviet Union as they didn't want to favor any country (and the political environment was very difficult for Finland at the time).
    So in my books Finland did really well. Much better than many other countries that did get help from either from USA or from Soviet Union. And (also in my books) that is how Finland did earn its reputation as a neutral country which is not really useful when negotiating for peace all over the World.

  • @PoorCoyotee
    @PoorCoyotee 4 года назад +59

    I think most of the "sniper towers" you have seen is being used to hunt moose for the most part.

  • @kaisarautiainen6288
    @kaisarautiainen6288 4 года назад +494

    Nobody says "I love you" because it sounds ugly in Finnish 😅

  • @sarahstyle4618
    @sarahstyle4618 4 года назад +29

    I live in Finland, and I can say that i love this place and always will, bc this country is amazing and every view is beautiful. Finnish people likes to make fun of Sweden with jokes, for example: what Sweden has, but Finland doesn't. A good neighbor country 😂

  • @timomastosalo
    @timomastosalo 4 года назад +389

    The ä, ö, y:
    -Finnish ä vowel looks tricky but it's the vowel sound in 'man' - We'd spell it 'mään'.
    -The ö vwel is close what Americans hae in thE, A, An, bUrn, lEArn, bIrd, hEr, OccUr, neArEr etc. It's technically not the same, but we Finns hear it to that of our vowels.
    -The y has no American English equivalent, but French and Germans have that sound. The funny thing is, so does Scottish English (mostly), when they say yOU.
    That ruotsalainen Å, 'Swedish O' means the same as O (in spOrt) - that's why the small cicle over the A; but it appears in Finland only in Swedish names, not in the Finnish language per se.
    Double letters mean the sound is long, about double long: vowels or consonants. Just imagine you put too simple sounds together. English does it across the word boundary - like lamP Post. Just this same can happen inside a word in Finnish.

  • @juukyll
    @juukyll 4 года назад +162

    And don't bother about the "we're devils" sentence 😁 paholainen is not really that bad word in finnish. It is not considered as a curse word, it's the correct term for devil. Satan or in finnish saatana and sometimes perkele, are curse words that refer to devil and they're like bad words.

  • @666Malinka
    @666Malinka 4 года назад +272

    One thing we do different in Finland, when we enter a home, we take off our shoes and leave them in the hallway. In Finland it's disrespectful to walk around the house with your shoes on. Great clip, and you speak finnish really well btw! :)

  • @deborahchapman222
    @deborahchapman222 4 года назад +33

    My mom was a first generation Finnish American. She said after the sauna in the winter, they would roll in the snow. Is that common in Finland?

  • @Haukka3
    @Haukka3 4 года назад +103

    I just have to quickly correct you! "Paholainen" is just a basic word for a devil. "Saatana" is the curse word. And yes, they both mean "the devil". Also you have to understand that "pahoillamme" and "paholainen" is for us like we mixed words "sheer" and "smear" for you. Hope you understand my point!
    And also sorry for any possible grammatical mistakes...

  • @palipalli4348
    @palipalli4348 4 года назад +31

    This guy has more to say about Finland than most of us finns do :)

  • @rebatsu
    @rebatsu 4 года назад +116

    Finnish christmas food is the best ever!!!! it is not bad if you have born into that culture. I'm starting to dream for christmas dinner about in late summer 😂

  • @MsDragonslayerprince
    @MsDragonslayerprince 4 года назад +225

    "they drink Non-alcoholic beer at Christmas" 😁all fellow Finn's and other ppl know that we have had major alcoholism within our people and included in our culture for years .

    • @stephenbradley3153
      @stephenbradley3153 4 года назад +14

      Yet still not even in the top 20 countries for alcohol consumption per capita. The Czechs, Irish and Germans can drink any Finn under the table

    • @juhanikyllonen1899
      @juhanikyllonen1899 4 года назад +8

      Oh irony - again :)

  • @valdomies7370
    @valdomies7370 4 года назад +212

    3:25 Correction:
    Finland didn't win the wars but it survived them.

  • @annarasmus8737
    @annarasmus8737 4 года назад +42

    Being a finn (swedish being my mothertounge) myself I found this so fun to listen to. And our icecream being that good was surprising 👍🤗🇫🇮 Props to you for learning finnish!!

  • @jukka-pekkatuominen4540
    @jukka-pekkatuominen4540 4 года назад +95

    To me that Finns don't tell others they love them is a big misconseption. The thing is that they usually do (at some point). And everyone knows that unless they tell them otherwise they still do. So why bother to repeat that from time to time?

  • @jacknordli7630
    @jacknordli7630 4 года назад +41

    What a very observant person, he learns a lot from a visit, and shares it well.

  • @badatgames137
    @badatgames137 4 года назад +30

    I absolutely love christmas food and everyone in my family loves it too. It's pretty simple but the feeling and traditionality of it all makes it so good.

  • @weedidi7144
    @weedidi7144 4 года назад +10

    "They're really into what they call makkara, it is just like sausage"
    Makkara literally translates as sausage. You had sausage.

  • @konstavalkama3670
    @konstavalkama3670 4 года назад +66

    The only time people cry in finland is when we win in icehockey

  • @bige1106
    @bige1106 4 года назад +45

    Well, Finland did not really "win" in the typical sense of the word in war. On paper and through negotiation the ussr actually "won". However what the Finns did was to save their independence by making it so costly for Stalin to annex Finland that he realized it was too expensive of a price to take all of Finland. the Finnish army never surrendered to the red army and showed they had plenty of fight left in them in the summer of 1944 when Stalin amassed an offensive as large or larger against Finland than the whole of the D-Day invasion the allies set up against the German army. And in the end the Finnish army had major defensive victories against Stalin's best troops. After the major defensive victories of Tali-Ihantla and Vuosalmi, Stalin decided to cut bait for a second time(and the final time) and send his troops onto easier land grabs and the race to Berlin. As Molotov later stated, "it was better we(the ussr) did not annex all of Finland as it would have been an open wound for the soviet union as the people there are a stubborn people, very stubborn, even the minority would have been dangerous. "

  • @inkak.2010
    @inkak.2010 3 года назад +7

    I literally gasped out loud when you said younger people don't like christmas casseroles - WE DO! xD And turnip is my absolute favourite one! It's so under rated! I'm sorry you felt sick tho!

  • @2506754250675
    @2506754250675 4 года назад +35

    09:35 nope. the border is guarded, but it is long. no-one will be shot. once in a while people try to cross the border but ..... there is over 1300km border where most of it is just wilderness. unless you know how to live there for 2 weeks and build your shelters for the night you can try to cross the border

  • @kasperipulkkinen2993
    @kasperipulkkinen2993 4 года назад +79

    Ajaja means driver but we prefer to use the proper word kuski

  • @nabinbudujapun8774
    @nabinbudujapun8774 4 года назад +35

    its like listening to a story. I really enjoyed it alongside with my dinner. Thanks.

  • @lexluthor6497
    @lexluthor6497 4 года назад +143

    Finns not having firewood.the whole country is full of trees.

  • @ikurauta6592
    @ikurauta6592 4 года назад +98

    Can we just appreciate that he put on finland colored shirt for this video.

  • @Mr.Beginning
    @Mr.Beginning 4 года назад +28

    Now I've seen the combination of Eliah Wood and Bam Margera.

  • @tersmoh
    @tersmoh 4 года назад +60

    As a food enthusiast and a pretty decent cook. I have to say Our food is not bland. We dont use many spices true, but we use tasty ones. Lovage(lipstikka) one of the oldest herbs we have it creates a salty and rich flavour without any salt. There are many more spices too.

  • @juukyll
    @juukyll 4 года назад +32

    Until the part about christmas food i thought that this is the most accurate explanation about finnish traditions and culture. About the christmas food - the cassarolis are not food that only old people like. Yes, they're traditional and like always, everybody has their opinion, but i think in general the potato, liver and rutabaga casseroles are quite appreciated food. Of course nowadays theres also more common food at christmas, like meatballs and mashed potatoes and salmon. Great video though 😊

  • @mariiam5912
    @mariiam5912 4 года назад +13

    From finland🙋🏻 the land of introverts xd or something, we do cry maybe too much 😅 there's lot of songs that say's "we live in land that is made of tears"

  • @chiasanzes9770
    @chiasanzes9770 4 года назад +47

    I Love turnip casserole :) salmon and turnip casserole and carrot casserole, wild mushroom salad with lingonberry jam are the best part of Finnish Christmas meal but I HATE the ham. I know tens of young people in Finland who enjoy Christmas casseroles very much, so you must have met only very picky young people in Finland,

    • @shake544
      @shake544 4 года назад +5

      i absolutely detest turnip casserole since early childhood and love the ham :)

  • @seetaami5810
    @seetaami5810 4 года назад +5

    You have such a lovely and insightful way of telling about these countries. Warm and sincere thanks to you!

  • @viuhtn
    @viuhtn 4 года назад +20

    Im from Finland
    Moi kaikki=hello everyone

  • @innocentiuslacrim2290
    @innocentiuslacrim2290 4 года назад +2

    This was a really nice interview. I am glad you liked your Finnish experience :-)

  • @MikkoRantalainen
    @MikkoRantalainen 2 года назад +5

    Finnish verbs indeed have thousands of inflection forms. However, Finnish is very logical language compared to e.g. English and you don't need to remember verb specific inflection forms, just the generic rules and then just become familiar enough with those rules to be able to create needed inflection forms on the fly.
    The really hard part of Finnish is the compound words where the only way to correctly read the word requires understanding the word as a whole. There's Finnish comic called "Fingerpori" which uses puns based on multiple meanings of the same written word or an expression said out loud. One example would be "lastenneurologi" (pediatric neurologist) which could be misunderstood as "lastenne urologi" (your child's urologist) when pronounced with an incorrect syllable break. Surprisingly Google translate can figure out this difference, too. And some words require you to understand both parts of the compound word to be able to figure out the correct syllable break.

  • @piipaatirullaa
    @piipaatirullaa 4 года назад +1

    Thank you for the video. I enjoyed watching it. Nice to get an outside perspective of our country and our ways and felt it was actually a pretty good and honest summary of Finland and finnish in good and bad. Impressed of the amount of knowledge you have.

  • @MBSKLAR
    @MBSKLAR 4 года назад +3

    What a thoughtful and respectful recounting of your time in Finland. I'm inspired to visit!

  • @Otto3339
    @Otto3339 4 года назад +31

    Ok i just have to say that the finnish christmas food is amazing. The casarolls and ham are the best.

  • @dragonfairy22
    @dragonfairy22 4 года назад +51

    Most people I know, including myself, love the traditional Christmas foods! Except for ham in my case, as I don't eat meat. The home-made foods at least are very good! 😃

  • @karitoivonen93
    @karitoivonen93 4 года назад +2

    Excellent video! You have made so interesting and accurate observations.

  • @christervainio
    @christervainio 2 года назад +1

    Very well put - Thank You.
    This is the best thing I've seen on RUclips for a long time.👏👏👏👏👏
    Melts my heart, hearing you describe my home country with so much love🇫🇮.🙏❤️
    It makes me even more proud of my heritage.
    All the best.🌞
    Thank You so much.❤️

  • @77sailordude
    @77sailordude 4 года назад +3

    thank you for your nice words about my country, really enjoyed listening to you talking about my contry. i hope to visit yur country also sometime.

  • @TapsaTre
    @TapsaTre 4 года назад +5

    This was a nice review of someones time in Finland. Cheers from a Finn! :)

  • @ikanuutinen
    @ikanuutinen 4 года назад +5

    This guy knows more about Finland than i do and i'm finnish

  • @mosvaldez9875
    @mosvaldez9875 4 года назад +18

    Wow. Thanks for telling your take on Finland. It was really insightful and you know a lot about Finland. 😘

  • @lauraprusila7120
    @lauraprusila7120 4 года назад +12

    "Go to Turku, it's the nicest. It's very Swedish."
    Hahahahahahahah

  • @jaakkopitkanen6736
    @jaakkopitkanen6736 4 года назад +1

    Good stuff ! Thank you for the video. Your Finnish accent is natural !

  • @darkphoenix474
    @darkphoenix474 4 года назад +3

    Smoked reindeer on pizza is AWESOME. Vaasa represent

  • @YugeYun
    @YugeYun 4 года назад +3

    This is very thorough. I haven't heard many foreigners know Finland this well.

  • @raitajokinen4076
    @raitajokinen4076 4 года назад +6

    I love Finnish Christmas food, except for carrot casserole :D
    It's always nice to hear someone complimenting the Finnish lifestyle etc because we're quite unable to do it ourselves :P

  • @2506754250675
    @2506754250675 4 года назад +9

    05:19 true. but it also got the industry ongoing and kickstarted the economy

  • @tili7618
    @tili7618 4 года назад +5

    I'm a 19-year-old Finn and I LOVE christmas food, all the casseroles. People say that I'm not a true Finn 😂

  • @adalinakuoppala9886
    @adalinakuoppala9886 4 года назад

    loved this video could listen to you talk about finland all day

  • @ironjavs1182
    @ironjavs1182 4 года назад +10

    There is a church in western Finland, Ulvila which is medieval church... You should go to check that.

  • @eevaf953
    @eevaf953 4 года назад +9

    Wow, you know incredibly much about Finland! This video was spot on and very informative. Even learned a few things even if i’m a Finn myself. And glad you loved Turku haha!

  • @daveandrade8189
    @daveandrade8189 4 года назад +2

    This is such a nice guy. It is really interesting to hear the history of these strong good people. la post

  • @anttirajala1556
    @anttirajala1556 4 года назад +1

    Thank you sir, i hope you enjoyed your stay in Finland

  • @burkkis
    @burkkis 4 года назад +37

    I really like this guy. I could listen to him talk about Finland all day. :)

    • @yesviews
      @yesviews 4 года назад +2

      LOL my thoughts exactly

  • @KoskiK
    @KoskiK 4 года назад +6

    Had to like this video when i heard your, "tuo ajaja on lämpimämpi kuin tuo ajaja" sentence. Made my day

    • @Jako1987
      @Jako1987 4 года назад

      Hamilton is definetly a warmer driver than Räikkönen! 😎

  • @ayeepatricia7967
    @ayeepatricia7967 4 года назад +1

    I love this video!❤
    (I'm from Finland🤘🏻)

  • @emilretee6932
    @emilretee6932 2 года назад

    Great video. Nice to hear a really smart guy who knows what hes talking👍

  • @Febard
    @Febard 4 года назад

    Finally quite accurate experience from Finland :D most of the videos i have seen here in the youtube has been too rosy, can definitely tell you spend quite some time here in Finland. ps. that last part was hilarious you devil :'D

  • @YkaPra
    @YkaPra 4 года назад +11

    SUOMI FINLAND PERKELE🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮

  • @PHI35
    @PHI35 4 года назад +3

    One part of the country you should also visit is Lapland. If you can drive or take a bus to Kilpisjärvi the environment looks very different from other parts of the country. I think best times are March or early April if you want to ski or drive snowmobile. Or during summer or autumn when there is no snow.

  • @FinnReaper1
    @FinnReaper1 4 года назад

    Nice video & greetings from Finland 🇫🇮🙂

  • @ImForwardlook
    @ImForwardlook 4 года назад +12

    This guy is the greatest! 10 points from the Finnish jury!

  • @panza.
    @panza. 4 года назад +2

    YesYes I love my country! Nice video mate! Haha paholainen

  • @aksukas4427
    @aksukas4427 4 года назад +3

    10:26 This is 100% true. When i wake up at 6am for work, it is dark outside. 1pm is the brightest hour of the day, after that it starts getting darker again. At 5pm when i leave from work, its already dark outside. Basically i spent the whole bright time at work. Needless to say, it makes the people little depressed and moody.

  • @cooliojr3865
    @cooliojr3865 4 года назад

    Thank you for making this video! It was mostly very accurate but the non alcoholic beer drinking was hilarious!! 😄😂✌️🇫🇮

  • @mattilinden7229
    @mattilinden7229 4 года назад

    Thank you. Very touching how you speak about my homeland. Greetings from Turku!

  • @larrymcfagerstrom9172
    @larrymcfagerstrom9172 4 года назад +1

    I'm Finnish and this guy knows more about my country than I do. I'm impressed!

  • @hilzzer
    @hilzzer 4 года назад +3

    🇫🇮 Greetings from Tampere, Suomi Finland. Perkele!

  • @nightnope
    @nightnope 4 года назад +4

    Thanks for your interest for our little country. I really enjoyed this video. If you ever end up to Uusikaupunki (google the history since you are interested in that), hit me up!

  • @ollivainionpaa684
    @ollivainionpaa684 4 года назад +4

    This guy is actually very accurate on the traditions, history and culture.
    But the only Swedish letter we pronounce "Swedish letter" is Å which we call "Swedish O" because it isn't used in Finnish language.
    Also "paholainen" isn't a bad word, it is just weird as in any other language to call yourself the devil.
    There can also be more weight over saying that you are (a/the) devil in Finnish since we don't have the "the" word to describe specific things. You calling yourself (a/the) devil in Finnish would more likely to specify yourself as *the* devil not just *a* devil, since people are required to think more logically when reading/hearing speech. And since it is not normal person to call himself a devil they consider you saying "the devil" which has more weight over it and calling yourself "the devil" in English sounds kinda mental also.

  • @DNA350ppm
    @DNA350ppm 4 года назад +11

    Such charming enthusiasm - best ambassador for Finland ever!

  • @estershelby8583
    @estershelby8583 4 года назад +7

    Your appreciation of us Finns made me cry, thank you

  • @sofiasalo5577
    @sofiasalo5577 4 года назад +2

    Finland never won the winter war, but we did do pretty good

  • @sket179
    @sket179 4 года назад +3

    Quite accurate but it's Swedish O, written Å. Ä and Ö are normal finnish letters, we don't refer to them as Swedish

  • @mikatorkkeli4932
    @mikatorkkeli4932 4 года назад +14

    yeah we are machine people, we dont have souls nor emotions :)