Describe
All started when I was in a VR train that went from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. I had been 7 hours inside that train to reach at 1 am my destination, Kokkola. The train was in complete silence but for me, that I was speaking with Albert and Catalan girl we just met there. When the time to get off the train arrived, I observed that the other passengers were sleeping, they had their shoes off on the floor, their luggage was unattended and they were sleeping like their where in their own house (occupying two seats and completely lied down). At that moment I was really surprised to see that and I felt a little bit embarrassed.
Interpretation
I think that this behavior is due to that the train wouldn’t reach Rovaniemi until the next morning, so most of the passengers thought it would be better to sleep so that time goes faster. Also it could be possible that the weather, which was not very nice, influenced their mood and made them tired. Another interpretation could be that it was late at night and passengers were tired. But anyway, the fact of leaving their luggage unattended in a trip with different stops along the way and people going up and down the train who could stole from them proves that Finnish people are trustful and also, I would say, a little bit naive.
In Spain it is not very common that people sleeps in trains, because people tend to use the car for long journeys or high speed trains, in which you leave your luggage in a locker. But under any circumstance should someone take their shoes off, in my country this is very disrespectful towards the people around you.
Evaluation
From this experience I don’t take any negative nor positive feelings, as far as I am concerned, in different countries we have different interpretations of the same situation. But if I was a Fin and all the people around me did this, I would probably do it and I wouldn’t consider it disrespectful. What to me it is like common sense (our feet can smell and bother others) to Fins it may be more important to feel comfortable and to sleep.
Thank you Paula! You have done a thorough description, interpretation and evaluation. Great! Could you please add the titles to the different parts in the text? Have you changed your behavior e.g. leaving your luggage unattended, after being in Finland?
ReplyDeleteI am surprised and impressed by the Finnish also. They are truthful and there is no need to worry being robbed or stolen even when you sleep on the train or even the bus. And I think the Finnish's sleeping habit is kind of strange to me too. They are usually shy but not while sleeping I guess ;)
ReplyDeleteAnswering to Linda's question, I come from a small village in where if you leave your things unattended there is no problem, everyone knows each other. But when I first when to Barcelona I wasn't used to keeping an eye on my things (I left my bag on a table while I was going to order in a bar). My behavior changed that same day, because my parents prevented me. Now a days I care much more for my things and here in Finland the same even if Finnish people are trustful.
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