The silent Finns

The first time I ran into the stereotype of silent Finns was in February 1992 in Boston. I had just decided to learn Finnish just for the hell of it (I was not considering moving to Finland yet) and I had just found the guy who would teach me the language. We had our first lesson, and continued chatting after it. For about two hours Urpo was telling me that Finns are very quiet people and don't talk too much, and I was looking at him and thinking "yeah, right".

I've lived in this country for over ten years now, and I am still not sure where the stereotype of silent Finns come from. Maybe all the silent ones just run away always when they see me.

Yes, more Finns looks shy when talking to strangers than Americans or central Europeans. This does not however prevent them from talking. Finns don't usually do pointless small talk. Many Finns don't do pointful small talk, either, but that's just because they can't wait to get to the real talk.

There are some differences in communication cultures between different western people, but Finns are not any more unusual than most. They don't speak to strangers a lot, but still do it a little more often than, say, Bostonians. The most unusual in their way of communication are the French. They want you to say a lot of polite words first, and if you don't they think you are being mean. They speak to strangers less than Finns, too. The Spanish and Italian don't speak to strangers a lot, but apparently find it quite natural when strangers speak to them. The nation that I've seen speak to total strangers the most is Swedes - I wonder whether the stereotype of silent Finns was born fron the comparison with them.

The most amazing thing is that the Finns tend to buy into that stereotype. I've heard many lengthy explanations about how Finns never speak from those same Finns who allegedly never speak. I've heard Finns complain about how here - as opposed, apparently, to the rest of the world - people sit on the bus silently and always choose an empty seat rather than sitting down next to another human being.

Just what do they imagine the people in other countries do? I've lived in the US and in Russia, and traveled all over the Western Europe with the exception on Greece, Ireland, Andorra, San Marino and Lichtenstein, and everywhere the people behaved exactly like the Finns. Why would anyone want the total strangers on the bus to sit next to them even when an empty seat is available and immediately start some polite small talk? And where are the people who do that? They are probably all in Lichtenstein.