Reaction To 10 Things That Will Shock You About Finland

[@js0988]

The "logic" in the Stockmann escalators is that on each floor you have to go through the whole floor to get to the escalator that goes down=possibly more shopping.

[@Songfugel]

Alko that sells the higher alcohol content drinks is owned and regulated by the government, you can still buy beer and such from normal stores

[@Antony_Oscar]

I actually really love mämmi, it's especially good with vanilla custard or whipped cream! As a kid I didn't like it, but in the last couple of years I've really grown to love it.

[@pasiojala3227]

Salmiakki is ammoniumchloride (salt), often paired with licorice. It has a tangy, stingy taste. Try salmiakki ice cream (there's licorice ice cream too -- but that's much milder), that's I think that's a good introduction and entry point to the acquired taste.

[@PC_Simo]

I miss the salmiakki ice cream. I need to find it for sale, again.

[@T291]

Greetings from Finland man!!! Yes i have my own sauna in my apartment and i go to sauna 2-3 times a week but in the winter i might use it even more. Salmiakki is a candy that i think most people of Finland has grew up with and you like it or not.. I mean it's not bad but my favorite is Salmiakkikoskenkorva witch is salmiakki flavored vodka. Idk How many people here speak Swedish and they teach Swedish in schools here but i prefer speaking English. "I'll be back" 😎

[@TheWilho87]

Salmiakki... you grow in to it... and start to crawe it :D

[@Antony_Oscar]

Finland used to have really strict rules about hard alcohol until they started getting more liberal in the 80s and 90s. Allegedly it's because it will lessen people's drinking but in the last ten years or so the nation has had discussions about if that's actually true, and some people want to be able to buy proper wine or liquor from the supermarket.

[@AHolicPole]

Swedish is manditory subject when you go to third grade. But when you get out of high school, it changes to voluntary, so if you don't continue that, or live in a city that is mostly swedish or finnish/swedish, you forget the swedish language

[@annina134]

Hi from Finland. I am very interested in Japan and its culture and I think many things are very similar in Japan and Finland. Different, but similar. I like to think Finland is like a northern cousine of Japan. 😄

[@TheGuilty11]

when i was like 16-17 one of my friends mother made salty salmiakki vodka. she boiled some tuskish beper candies with water and mixed with 96% alcohol. Damn it was good when we stole it....but can't remember much more :D

[@hcattilanoobian4839]

Best candy. Always goes 😊

[@TheGuilty11]

About 5% of people are totally swedish speaking. They teach us swedish in school but it is only "relevant" in western coast and in Helsinki/Turku region. Further you are from there less the people speak or understand swedish in general. Ofc it is individual and some smart people want to learn it. I was stupid and didn't.

[@lentas4921]

It is hard. I can just speak finnish and english

[@House_of_Caine]

It's really not that hard, but totally unnecessary, most of that 5% speak perfect Finnish.

[@PC_Simo]

The American guy: **Offends salmiakki.** Me: ”You have summoned Perkele! 🌩️⚡️”

[@annina134]

And answering your question of the swedish part. Not many finns speak or use swedish, only a minority used it these days. I myself speak swedish as my mother language, as well as finnish. That's because my father was swedish and mother finnish. Most finns understand and speak some swedish even though they don't admit that very easily.

[@PC_Simo]

16:00 The separate store (in addition to the insane tax) is to fund the public healthcare, and to control the drinking, because people would go crazy, if it was totally unregulated (probably).

[@calculus77]

I think the logic behind Stockmann's escalator placement is purely commercial. Their arrangement forces you to walk by more stuff you can buy on impulse. 🤷‍♂

[@saturahman7510]

Come to visit Mikkeli, eastern-Finland.

[@iLoveTheseRemoras]

Strange that even I as a Finn don't know anyone who speaks while inhaling 😂 he might have met one person and though "oh, so that's a Finnish thing" Also, no one eats with a fork and knife in places like McDonald's or Hesburger. In a nice restaurant, yes. But in the aforementioned ones there aren't even those available unless you've ordered a salad 😂 The escalator thing - seen the same in stores everywhere in the world. The idea is to make you browse around more.

[@Antony_Oscar]

It's called Ingressive Speech and I do agree that it's not super common in Finnish, but it definitely is a thing! It's also done in Swedish and Norwegian to name a few. As someone else said in the comment section, you might not even realize you're doing it.

[@Bloodygat]

"Juu" is often very easily said in inhale or "jep", especially if p is popped with lips, "okei" as well to say a few. Positive little words 😅

[@jussikemppainen7904]

I loved as a kid to go to sauna whit my cousin and play whit legos in a vessel full of water and pretending to have pirate sea fight. I lived my childhood in tornio. Near border of sweden town called haaparanta(haparanda). Yeah we learn swedish at school at young age. But funny thing in my youth was. When i went whit my bike as a kid to haparanda. Yeah to another country 😊. And went to store to buy candy. Sale clerk speaked me finnish. So it was kinda hard to learn swedish on the border of 2 countries. Since people adjust and speak language you speak 1st. Which is your more native 1 😂

[@markoruotsalainen1161]

Everyday sauna warm up at home.

[@Hairysteed]

The inhale talking is mostly just one-syllable words, like confirmations. It's not uncommon to hear an inhaled voiceless "juu/joo", but pretty much anything beyond that (even "kyllä") is just weird or they've run out of breath before finishing a sentence.

[@lentas4921]

Fin means ”evä” in finnish

[@Spugedelia77]

Hello, Mert! May I ask you why you are so interested about Finland? Do you have someone special here (it's the most common reason)? I'm a Finn myself and ofc I like it that you are interested about our small but wonderful country, but why on Earth would someone choose Finland of all the countries at this planet? I really like your videos, keep up the good work, brother

[@MsElias64]

No ei ...🤪👍

[@SSavolainen]

Never as a Finn heard or had problems with she or he like we had 5-9 years of English thought in schools...

[@Antony_Oscar]

I feel like that's mostly a problem with older people, my parents have definitely made that mistake multiple times.

[@vl292]

Lets put it this way, chocolate pudding would not be the way I’d describe the looks of mämmi. Looks a bit suspicious, but It’s like Guinness. Thought it does not have alcohol in it. I find it funny how enthuistically positive some travellers are about Finland. That’s proper weird.

[@PC_Simo]

13:51 Most of us can understand the basics (because it’s mandatory on every level); but we try to forget it, because we hate it (unless you’re 1 of the 4%, who speak it natively (Finlandsswedes)), because there’s some pretty ugly history between Finland and Sweden.

[@R1X4FIN]

yes, we are forced to learn swedish in school and most of us hate swedish and we don't really understand it or speak it. There is some cities where almost everyone speaks swedish but most of us Finns don't speak or understand it. i can only remember few words like jag heter (my name is), jag inte talar svenska (i don't speak swedish) but that's about it. I don't hate Sweden or Swedish people but i hate that we have to learn Swedish. We have english too in the school but that i do understand, because alot more people in the world speaks it

[@Mojova1]

Yeah that inhaling and speaking thing doesn't really happen. Also I have never seen slippers that you give to a guest anywhere in Finland.

[@HolmoPasi]

I mostly agree, but I feel like it sometimes happens with short words. Usually like "joo", "ei", "niijoo" and so on. I mean like even tho I don't do it normally, I'm pretty sure that it sometimes (pretty rarely) happens without even noticing.

[@Jantzku]

It does. For those short answers/words atleast

[@arrtttuurri]

I didn't even realize that it was a thing, until some friends of my who are not finnish made fun of me for it. So it does happen, but you might not even realize it

[@Bloodygat]

For short words it is certainly a thing. I can say right away I use it with jep Juu type of words. Slippers for guest not really, but for yourself, certainly nowadays, but woollen socks are more likely. Maybe some people have tried to accommondate americans with slippers? With their weird aversion of feet especially bare feet that could be a thing