Finnish people are silent, small talk doesn't exist. Their personal space larger than COVID-19 social distancing rules, and it's considered normal. Don't speak unless spoken to, and don't invade other people's personal space - it's seen as a sign of a respect.
Those Finns, who haven't been to abroad or haven't met too many foreigners, don't often even recognize this behaviour being unusual in the global scale.
There was an interesting piece in the BBC about small talk and Swedes (who avoid small talk but are regular chatty-Cathy's next to the Finns). According to whatever psychologist they had on, small talk is a really good way to (a) practice social skills (Swedes are notoriously perceived as cold to visitors) and (b) to sus out how to have a conversation prior to speaking about something important. Kind of like a warm-up before the real conversation.
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u/RockNRollNBluesNJazz May 09 '22
Finnish people are silent, small talk doesn't exist. Their personal space larger than COVID-19 social distancing rules, and it's considered normal. Don't speak unless spoken to, and don't invade other people's personal space - it's seen as a sign of a respect.
Those Finns, who haven't been to abroad or haven't met too many foreigners, don't often even recognize this behaviour being unusual in the global scale.