I had never been to Finland before moving to the country to do my engineering studies. Everything seemed exciting, new and unknown. The moment me and my parents came out of the car loaded with ubiquitous stuff, I felt the calmness. That very Finnish calmness. The three Russians, constantly stressed and expecting to be deceived by everybody, we were in awe in the face of Finnish simplicity and serenity.
It’s been five years since then. Here is a tiny fraction of what Finland has taught me so far:
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Calm down. Have you ever lost a credit card? Have you ever forgotten to save a document you needed 5 years after you had last seen it, or have you just simply ever gotten into trouble? Back home these situations would equal a nightmare and a stressful day, if not a week. Here, on the other hand, I learnt to calm down. Once you realise that you are the only one stressing out, you can’t help but wonder if it’s really that grave.
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Don’t judge. Here people are generally more tolerant to pretty much everything: undisciplined kids in a restaurant, different sexual orientation, unconventional political views and so on and so forth. Here these things are not judged and are definitely not pointed out publicly, which is in certain situations relieving. In Russia people are more prone to express their opinion about sensitive matters and expect strict behavioral framework from others. It felt nice to have broken free from it.
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Stop worrying. I haven’t mastered this skill, but I have indeed made progress! Here you are not alone with your problems.
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No one has to work overtime or remain at a job they hate. Here, no one expects one to get a profession and work in it for the rest of one’s life. It is ok to change the field of expertise in case your current job dissatisfies you. It is also fine to leave the workplace at 4 pm without having to prove you deserve the job by working overtime.
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Cheating at exams is not ok. When in middle and high school, I was perplexed by the fact that someone could do better than me just by means of cheating. Moreover, the society dictated this norm by teaching children to reach one’s aim no matter the means, no matter the costs. Here no one is taught that and I feel better knowing that everyone is armed with the same weapon – their brain only.
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Patience. Since Finns have learnt a long ago what I am learning now, that is, to relax and calm down, they don’t see any reason to hurry. This taught me to be patient myself and not to expect all of my inquiries to be processed at this very instant. Such expectations are more typical for Russians.
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Spending time on your own wellbeing is ok. In my home country an expression “loving oneself” is still more often associated with egoism rather than with mere taking care of oneself. The latter interpretation liberates you from constant obligation of putting the needs of others (your boss, your partner etc.) before your own.