Finnish style and how it’s affected by Finnish culture

It’s been said that there really is no Finnish culture since everything is brought to us from somewhere else. Our national hymn was composed by Friedrich Pacius, who is from Germany. Coffee was invented by the Arabs in and drunk in Yemen since 1200. Sauna is also not a Finnish invention. The American Mayan Indians went to a steaming room 900 years BCE. Finnish have however adopted these creations as their own. The Finnish are often described as shy and quiet. Small talk is not a Finnish strength. People talk when talk is needed and mean what they say.

What about Finnish style in dressing up and does our culture affect it? Does a Finnish person want to dress as unnoticeably as possible to avoid attention from others to minimize possible discussions? One thing that does affect Finnish style and not always in a good way is our ever changing weather. Finland has four seasons and the degree changes vary from winters -30 temperature to summers + 25 degrees. This adds a challenge to looking smart every now and then.

There is one Finnish shoe designer who has made a name for herself outside Finland. Her shoes have been presented in Vogue, Elle and Glamour magazines and they are worn by Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.  Her products can be called many things but one thing they are not is shy.

Bunny shoes by Minna Parikka. (Picture from: http://myfashionblogpost.blogspot.fi/2015/04/chic-shoes-minna-parikka-bunny-ears.html)

Lady Gaga wearing Minna Parikka shoes. (Picture from: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/viihde/art-2000000920667.html)

Do women in Finland wear these shoes? Yes, they do. I’ve seen many Finnish women wearing them and they are always noticed. I think that Finnish women are constantly more daring in the way they dress.  Finnish style is still considered somewhat awkward when compared to our neighboring countries. There are many prejudices about Finnish style. Firstly we try to copy everything the Swedes do but they always dress better. Secondly our women are not as feminine as Russians are, since we don’t always care to wear heels. Thirdly we are not as tanned and blond like the Norwegians who are by these perceptions basically the same as Swedish women.

These are opinions that depend on who you’re asking. I think Finnish women are more daring and unique that the women in our neighboring countries. Style has not maybe mattered to us so much in the past and what we say has mattered more than how we look. This is now changing since Finns have understood that when you’re trying to make a good impression the whole baggage matters. I think Finnish women can dress up well when they want to. They can definitely make a statement when they want to. They can also choose to dress so that they won’t be noticed because Finnish women dress to impress themselves. Not others.

Resources:

https://tuomastahti.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/mita-on-suomalainen-kulttuuri/

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahvi

http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art-2000000144833.html

http://www.everyculture.com/Cr-Ga/Finland.html

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minna_Parikka

Text: Tiina Laukas, a student in Independent Study in English course

Open one's mouth

The idiom of saying open your mouth is to say something, especially that which is indiscreet, boorish, or meant to be a secret a according to the idioms of Free Dictionary. Why did you have to open your mouth about my crush on Tommy? Why couldn't you just keep it between us? You've got to make sure that he never opens his mouth about what went on here today. If you have a big mouth, you talk too much, especially things that should be secret. Helen's got such a big mouth - the news'll be all over the town by tonight. I knew I shouldn't have mentioned the letter. Oh dear, me and my big mouth!

Opening your mouth means that you have something to say. You have ideas and something to tell others. If it sounds mean, evil or unconventional, it means that your emotions are negative or they don’t fit to that certain circumstance. Emotions come usually first, afterwards comes the reason. I think that people who open their mouth in front of a public are courageous, even if they say something funny! At least they say something and express themselves. It is refreshing! They must feel trusted and vice versa trust people around them.

Maintaining trust is very important in our everywhere life. Trust enables us to take risks: where there is trust there is a feeling that others don’t take advantage of me even if I open my big mouth and say something irrelevant. We choose to whom we will trust and we base the choice we are making on cognition-based good reasons. Affective founds of trust consist of the emotional bonds between people and we invest on trust in our relationships. We express care and concern for the people near us and believe that these feelings are virtues and reciprocated. Until I test the trust opening my big mouth,again….

Text by Tea Raatikainen, a student in Independent Study in English course

Not Wrong, Just Different

A little child is naturally thinking only of himself or herself. The world of a child revolves around how he or she can be satisfied. As we grow, we learn to see other people and take them in to consideration. But the tendency to live life in an egocentric way is still there. It is something that we are born with and to some extent it is necessary in order to have a meaningful life. However, it shouldn’t dictate or control our lives. Rather it should be like a spice which we need a little, but not too much.

When we think about encountering different cultures, the situation is the same. According to Merriam-Webster (2016) dictionary ethnocentrism is “based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others”. A man named William Graham Sumner was one of the first researchers who introduced the term back in 1906. After that social scientists have developed many theories explaining the roots of ethnocentrism. It has been a largely studied subject also in the field of psychology. (Bizumic B. 2014)

But why is ethnocentrism is harmful? Barger K. (2014) puts it well when he explains that it leads to misunderstandings. Cross-cultural misunderstandings often arise from ethnocentrism. And where there are misunderstandings, there is division.

Last year Finland received more refugees than for a long time. New refugee centers in small villages are changing the street view. A friend of mine told a story how the whole village of his homestead in Laitila was gathered together last fall to wonder arriving buses bringing refugees in to a new refugee center. Many senior citizens had never seen people from foreign cultures in Laitila as they had used to see and meet only Finnish people. My friend described how the villagers felt confused and even a bit afraid.

I believe that there are two main reasons for ethnocentrism. The first one is simply that one hasn’t encountered different cultures. When you have been brought up in monocultural environment, like many people in the small village of Laitila, it might be hard to value other cultures. The Second reason is the lack of comprehension of different cultures. So often we tend to make assumptions based on outward behavior of a person from a different culture without considering the inward worldview he or she holds. Our behavior is always based on our values and our values are based on our worldview. Different cultures have different worldviews which are affecting behavior a great deal.

One good everyday example of ethnocentrism is connected to eating. Westerners generally think that it is proper to eat with knives, forks and spoons while a person from India for example thinks that it is proper to eat with fingers. When a person from a western country sees a person from India eating with their fingers, it is considered from a western point of view as a primitive way of eating. So in other words it is seen as an improper manner of eating. But one Indian guy put it well: “You see, we wash our hands carefully, and besides, they have never been in anyone else's mouth. But look at these spoons and forks and think about how many other people have already had them inside their mouths!” (Youth Kairos Reader 2015, 6-9).

So the question is: how to fight against the ethnocentrism? I believe there are at least three steps we can take. The first step is to realize your ethnocentrism. Understanding how it affects your attitudes and behavior is crucial, because our behavior has its roots much deeper in our worldview. This step usually takes time, because our values and worldview are deep inside of us. A good thing is to ask from yourself the question of why. “Why I think like I do” is not an easy question but it is a very important one.

Another good step toward a better understanding of cultures is to study culture and to learn new languages. Language Centre of LUT is offering courses in many languages which are helpful for studying the different cultures as well, because language is such a big part of a culture. I have learned to appreciate people from different cultures in the courses of Language Centre. They have offered me good insights and principles for encountering different cultures. The third step is rather practical and straightforward. It is meeting people from different cultures. At LUT we have a great opportunity to meet people from a variety of cultural backgrounds which is a great asset.

One of the keys to a more wide-open life is to have the learner’s mindset. A will to learn more helps you a lot in life. We are on the lifelong journey of learning and we can enjoy it. So let’s remember that diversity is a gift, not a curse. We can all learn from each other, from different cultures. Next time when you think that some habit of a person from another culture is odd or wrong, think again. It is not wrong, just different.

References

Bizumic B. 2014. Who Coined the Concept of Ethnocentrism? A Brief Report [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://jspp.psychopen.eu/article/view/264/html

Merriam-Webster 2016. Simple Definition of Ethnocentric [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnocentric

Barger K. 2014. Ethnocentrism [www document] [Referred 12^th of April 2016] Available at: http://www.iupui.edu/~anthkb/ethnocen.htm

Youth Kairos Reader. 2015. Chapter Six: Culture. 

Text by Timo Raassina, as student of Independent Study in English course

Programming will change the world

But it’s about more than just the code.

Our society has become increasingly dependent on information technology, and the need for skilled computer programmers and other IT professionals is going up at an ever increasing rate. The effects of this are finally reaching the schools around the world as more and more schools and/or whole countries are introducing programming into their curriculums. This is most exciting news indeed. As a programmer myself, I’m all for teaching coding in schools, but I’d also like to propose a little extra while we’re at it.

But why even bother teaching programming to every single student, one might ask; not everyone is going to pursue a career in IT. And not everyone will be so successful or interested in programming, no matter how practical it is. Just like crafts; knitting or making furniture might be fun and marginally useful, but it’s not for everyone. So why bother?

Well, the answer is deceptively simple: even basic knowledge in programming allows one to see the everyday devices we use in a totally new way. These devices will transform from being just ‘things’ with pretty lights to actually having a deeper meaning and logic behind them. And by knowing how the devices work it is easier to invent new ways to use them, or simply improve the old way.  And this new insight isn’t limited just to those devices, rather it goes on and on...

...and on. There’s even potential for a cultural revolution! One of the very fundamental facets of programming is logical thinking, a thing that - at times - feels almost forgotten in today’s society. A high percentage of the overall population settles on doing things along the well-established ways. Maybe they are powerless, or just don’t ever question whether there are improvements to be made. Hopefully this will change as children are taught at an early age that it is ok, even expected of them, to reason with the world.

Programming has traditionally been a niche for very small groups of people; one of the main points of the current pro-programming movement is to get the masses involved. For example in Finland the master plan is to teach every single student to write simple pieces of code, or at least be able to interpret what some other piece of code does. It takes just a single person to invent and implement something great with the power of code. Just think of the impact any one of the persons like John Carmack, Linus Torvalds or Tim Berners-Lee has made. Now imagine how many more inventors like them there are yet to come.

But while it’s awesome to teach everyone to code, it might also be worthwhile to spend some of that time on other aspects of computing. I already mentioned how knowing programming gives one the key insight in how computers work. How about we complement the programming classes by teaching the students about information systems on a general level. The leap from instructing a turtle to draw pretty lines to building actual real-world applications and web-scale services is HUGE, so let’s just stick to the basics.

In the case I’m sounding overly negative, I’ll have to repeat that I am very happy that programming has got a slot in the curriculum. I just rather think that it would be in the best interest of the general population to shift the focus a bit from pure-ish programming to more concrete things. Currently - as far as I know - schools have no lessons on how the internet, computers or information systems work, even on a basic level. I think that this kind of general knowledge is also important, just like knowing how the electrical network or a modern democracy works. It gives insight.

But then again, especially first and second year students might have no chance at grasping such concepts. So, ok, maybe starting with pure programming and only later introducing those practical things is the way to go. For the students that really open up for programming, there is always the possibility to host extra-curricular activities to get them going further. But then again, this might push programming back to being a niche.

Oh well; the funny thing is, these things are hard. Good thing that there are good people working on these things, like the folks at Koodi2016. Go and check out the good work they are doing.

Text by Valtteri Mehtonen, a student in Independent Study in English course