Findependence Day?

The 6th of December was the Finnish independence day. Not many people know Finland does or stands for. Yes, there's only 5 million of us, but there's only 500 000 Icelanders (that's a tenth of our population!) and everyone seems to know about them much more than they know about Finland. Why? Here, I am going to put forward a thought that this is all due to the complete inability of the Finnish people to fake a smile.

DISCLAIMER: To my kinsmen, I would like to say in advance that I am deeply, deeply sorry - but someone's gotta say it first.

To explain what led me to this conclusion, I need to go back to the most recent Independence Day celebrations. I was celebrating this glorious day with some friends. The evening before, I had prepared some Christmas Stars (or Christmas tarts) that my boyfriend said resemble more ninja shurikens than actual stars (click the links to decide for yourself!). I had also made a Swede casserole (ironic, isn't it. However this is not made out of Swedish people, but the vegetable and it's a very traditional Christmas dish).

These items travelled with me from Manchester to a little village where I work, and back again. Some people on the train suspected I was carrying a covered bomb around in my armpit, when actually it was just a casserole. I felt all this hassle was however just a minor inconvenience, as this is a great day and needs celebrating.

I got to the party. The theme seemed to be old youtube musicvideos of Finnish pop music. Incidentally, the youtube was in Swedish, as our host was half-Swedish. Grr. They'll soon take over the world just like they took over our country!

We ate (mainly meat and rye bread), we drank (mainly Koskenkorva Vodka), we danced (mainly humppa and letkajenkka) - but there's one thing we didn't do. Talk. If there's one thing you should know about the Finns is that they don't talk. Especially we don't do the 'small' variety. Big talk, we can handle. But small talk, that is just far beyond our scope of ability.

Everyone else had only been in the UK for a maximum of 1-2 years. None was a true Angloveteran like me, I have now been here for more than 5. I tried to talk to three new people according to British rules of smalltalk. Soon I decided to give up. I got nothing back. I had asked several people a bunch of questions, none of which was reciprocated. Later in December I realised this isn't just something restricted to strangers - even my cousins seemed wholly uninterested in actually finding out about me during our family gathering around Christmas.

Finland has some of the smartest people in the world. This is testified by the PISA studies, that show that already at a young age, our kids beat the rest of the world in their mathematical and linguistic skills. After all, we manage to develop some of the best mobile phones in the world - Nokias! (However, when I tell most people that Nokia is from Finland, they normally seem very surprised.)

But what use is having a country full of nerds, when we can't make the most of it, I ask? How do we put these these great minds to use in a wider world, when no-one actually knows what Finland does and stands for?

It is often said that the Finns don't do small talk or promote their products and innovaiton because of a lack of confidence. Sure, we were first under Russia then Sweden then Russia again - but that was a century ago! And if we don't catch up to the rest of the world, we will soon be forgotten.

The bottom line here is that our lack of national confidence comes across as rudeness and arrogance. This is how I felt at the independence party and our family gathering myself. If Finns are unable to show a genuine interest in other people (and by extension, other countries and their businesses), how can we expect anyone to reciprocate this interest in us? The answer is that we can't.

So big up and learn how to fake a smile, is what I would recommend to my fellow kinsmen. It's not only the way to get ahead in this world, its actually vital for survival. This I have learned in England. Networking, that dreaded thing. To the Pommies it comes naturally. They are born with the ability (or then it's hammered into them, which is more correct, I do not know). I myself have had to learn this through conferences, job interviews, mingling events - if you don't network, you don't get ahead. That's exactly the same for my beloved Finland. And if we can't smalltalk, we sure as hell can't network. This will in the worst case lead to Finland remaining the 'odd one out' country in Europe, not really Western enough, not really Eastern enough, that most people have know knowledge of. Thus far I have been asked such questions as "Do Polarbears roam the streets?" and "Finland, isn't that the capital of Sweden?" Yes, I been asked these silly questions before.

Maybe this is why the Govenment is worried about our future and has put forth a new 'branding' motion entitled "A task for Finland". Yes indeed, Finns need the Government to tell us to get some self-esteeem, thats how bad the situation is. The newly released report urges Finns to not only make their country a better (reads: 'friendlier') place to live in, it also recommends ways in which we can secure our position in an international business climate and thereby enhance our economy (yes, Finland was also strongly hit by the recent global recession).

As I usher in 2011, I'm very excited to see what the new year will bring for Finland, and most importantly; whether we are up to the task. I pray in my heart that the answer is 'yes'.