When trying to fit in to a new culture, think Divergently. There are many ways you can INCORPORATE Finnish culture into your own lifestyle. Don't hesitate in trying out new things.
Here are some suggestions, strategies and examples
WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
"Thinking outside the box"
Creativity is the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns to generate solutions. A situation involving a problem is perceived through a frame within which a solution has to be found. This frame can be set by habits, social norms or past experiences. In other words, when looking for a solution, people tend to unconsciously limit themselves. Creativity consists in getting rid of this frame in order to enlarge the field of possibilities and therefore increase the chances of coming up with an idea.
Sternberg and Lubart define creativity in the following terms: “A product is creative when it is (a) novel and (b) appropriate. A novel product is original not predictable. The bigger the concept, and the more the product stimulates further work and ideas, the more the product is creative.”
How to be creative ?
- Value creativity. Acknowledge its importance.
- Encourage freedom of thoughts and expression.
- Make time for brainstorming.
- Tolerate mistakes. The fear of failing induces the fear of trying innovative things.
- Practice with concrete exercises
FOOD
`Making your own recipes with Finnish products can be a great way of incorporating Finnish culture into your own identify. If you enjoy cooking, try making new versions of your favourite recipes with Finnish ingredients. As Finnish cost of living is quite high this is a great opportunity of getting creative with the ingredients.
Some examples and suggestions:
- Grill Nakki sausages marinated in Terva:
Grill Nakki sausages are cheap, you can buy 840 grams for about 3 euros. Terva siirappi is a traditional finnish hickory wood based syrup. Marinate the nakki sausages in terva, spice them according to your taste (We would recommend: garlic, chili, onions, pepper and salt) and then bake them in a pan on full wack.
- Salmon:
Salmon in finland is reasonably cheap compared to the finnish meat prices. You can buy it in many different forms and its very fresh. Its great for making sushi and the wood smoked salmon one goes great in a salad.
- Reindeer and elk meat:
Just like salmon elk and reindeer meat have a great price value in Finland. Try making one of your favorite meat dishes with elk instead of beef. Keep in mind that wild meat tastes better with lower graduation of cooking opposed to your normal preference.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
As you may know, Finland is a pretty expensive country. Bad news is, we did not come up with a miracle solution for that. However, what you can do to feel better about your purchases is comparing them to the price of beers.
Here is an example: Instead of saying "This shirt will cost me 20 euros", you can say "This shirt will cost me 2 beers".
Which is way less depressing!
Here is an example: Instead of saying "This shirt will cost me 20 euros", you can say "This shirt will cost me 2 beers".
Which is way less depressing!
Extraversion:
The Finnish people aren't the most extraverted. But this doesn't mean that they don't appreciate extraversion. In our experience Finnish people love enthusiastic, emotional and extraverted people. Most of the Finnish friends you'll make won't like you for being "finnish", they will like you because you're "different". The trick is not to overstep certain boundaries and to take it slow in the beginning.
If you want to learn more about finnish etiquette press the following button
If you want to learn more about finnish etiquette press the following button
Making Finnish friends:
A stereotype you'll here quite frequently is that Finnish people are cold and closed. This is one stereotype we find isn't very accurate. It is true it Finnish people don't easily initiate conversation with strangers. Yet once the conversation is started, Finnish people tend to open up really quickly and are very hospitable.