{"id":13810,"date":"2019-03-04T08:42:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T06:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tys.fi\/what-did-you-say"},"modified":"2019-03-04T08:42:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T06:42:21","slug":"what-did-you-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tys.fi\/en\/what-did-you-say","title":{"rendered":"What did you say?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something I call \u201cthe look\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you know that feeling when you\u2019re visiting another country and you have to speak english, so the locals know that you\u2019re not a local? Then they look at you in a certain way, like if they acknowledge you are not the same? <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe people don\u2019t do it in a rude way or because they\u2019re feeling superior, but it\u2019s like if an invisible barrier was built between the two of you in less than a second. They are citizens of that country, and you\u2019re not. It is what it is\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was expecting to live with \u201cthe look\u201d for the two years that my program will last, but Oh surprise! Finns don\u2019t give \u201cthe look\u201d, instead, they switch from Finnish to English and treat you the same way they would treat any other local (at least that has been my experience so far). <\/span><\/p>\n

So unexpected, so happy for it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Does everyone speak english?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Short answer would be yes, but since I don\u2019t do short answers, here\u2019s the long explanation:<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when Finns tell you \u201cI don\u2019t speak english\u201d they do. You can communicate with any person, any time. Elder people might have a harder time trying to explain themselves, but they understand everything. For example, once I needed to buy sour cream, so I went to the area where I thought it would be, and I found tons of small containers with different names, looking all like sour cream. I was so confused that I decided to ask an old lady standing next to me. She looked nervous for the fact that I was breaking the unwritten Finnish rule of \u201cavoid talking to people as much as possible\u201d, she told me she didn\u2019t speak english, -in a perfect english, of course- and started searching for what I was looking for, grabbed one and gave it to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

She even gave a smile after I said thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn’t me, but it’s the exact same face all the international students make when they realize it’s all in Finnish and Swedish<\/p>\n

Is everything in english?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Short answer: no. Long explanation: since there are two official languages in Finland, most of the products are in Finnish and Swedish, instead of Finnish and English. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s hard, which turns grocery shopping in an adventure, or you get surprised by the fact that the bus driver on your way to Helsinki gives announcements in Finnish, so you spend the next two hours wondering what he\u2019s saying and if is of relevance for your trip. But you get kinda used to it after a few months. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, how\u2019s the language?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many people say Finnish sound strange, but to me, is a language I like to hear. Somehow, makes people sound very polite. Many say it\u2019s difficult to learn, and I can\u2019t say anything about it because I haven\u2019t tried yet, since I haven\u2019t really needed it. <\/span><\/p>\n

The only two words I\u2019ve learnt are: Moi, -which translation is hello, and people use it to say hi and goodbye-, and Kiitos, which means \u201cthank you\u201d, and that\u2019s basically what a person need to survive in Finland. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, when I go grocery shopping, I can say \u201cMoi\u201d, wait for the amount I have to pay, make the payment and say \u201ckiitos\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

And just like that, I can have a normal conversation for Finnish standards. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something I call \u201cthe look\u201d. Do you know that feeling when you\u2019re visiting another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat did you say? | TYS | Turun Ylioppilaskyl\u00e4s\u00e4\u00e4ti\u00f6<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tys.fi\/en\/what-did-you-say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What did you say? | TYS | Turun Ylioppilaskyl\u00e4s\u00e4\u00e4ti\u00f6\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s something I call \u201cthe look\u201d. 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