Finland: Public Behaviour

From ExecutivePlanet.com

Public Behaviour

The rules for greeting strangers or introducing yourself are very similar to northern European practice, though Finns are more restrained and don’t show much emotion.

Men and women shake hands quite comfortably.

Shouting loudly, making a scene or drawing too much attention to oneself are considered rude.

Finns maintain eye contact when talking with others and this is considered important as they think that people who do not maintain eye contact are hiding something or are dishonest.

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The Finnish Sauna

For the Finns, the sauna is more than just a place to wash themselves. It is a complex of many traditional customs and beliefs. Whereas still in the beginning of the 1900´s almost all saunas were traditional smoke saunas, today the electric stove has almost completely taken over.

Because of its naturalness, the Finnish way of sauna bathing comes in many forms — no Finn could ever say to another about sauna bathing that “you are doing it wrong”. No clothes or swimming suits are used in the sauna. Usually men and women do not go together to the sauna, except in families.