Welcome to Finland, the happiest country in the world. With lots of beautiful nature, a wonderful education system, a passionately burning love of saunas, and deep respect for their fellow human beings, Finns are truly great. And you’ll know that if you have any Finnish people in your social circles, dear Pandas.
However, the Finnish can also seem mysterious, even peculiar. For one, they stereotypically love being left alone and social interactions allegedly scare them more than the local wildlife, the biting cold, and the fairytale creatures that lurk in the dark. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what it means to be a Finn, as presented by the ‘Finland Jokes’ Instagram page.
As you’re scrolling down and upvoting your favorite Finnish memes, don’t forget to read through Bored Panda’s interview about introversion and extroversion with Dr. Andrew Spark from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia.
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Stayed for a month in a Helsinki, not a forested place, but I absolutely loved it! And it was December!!
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Iceland wanted to keep people away, so claimed it was all ice. Greenland wanted to attract people, so insisted it was green. Hellsinky... well, ...
It starts with "Hell" to keep tourists away from polluting forest😂
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Silliness aside, this intrigued me so I went to Google Street View. From what I could see, Helsinki is definitely NOT one of the greener cities of the Western world... Like any city, it has a lot of parks... Johanneskirk (St. John's Church) is beautiful. But OMG! The downtown streets are positively bleak!!! Endless featureless mid-rise buildings (typically 3-6 stories, but all the same height within a given block) with pavement from one building right to the very walls of the opposite building.
Fun fact for people who think Scandinavia is all fjords: Helsinki is quite very, very far from a fjord, (closer to Moscow than the fjords of Norway) but the city near where I come from is along the world's largest fjord. Ya gotta say this like the Ortega Taco Sauce cowboys: New York City??? (also bleak in parts) Yes, the Hudson River isn't a river, but a flooded fjord. The New Jersey side is 1,000 foot cliffs.
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They all look like sound visualisations to me and now I'm imagining the music for each of these cities. London looks very quiet.
It looks a bit like a fairground to me - a big wheel and a few things to swing on!!
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As a finn and someone who lives in Hellsinki, I can assure you that we don't have big forests anymore. Our government is doing all it can to cut down all the most valuable old forests it possible can. We might have a lot of forests, but they're more like tree fields than actual lively forests. Sad, but true
That is so sad to hear. I'm sorry that your government is killing off all the big beautiful forests. So very sad. 😢
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Yes! I walk and run in forest every day :) So lucky to live in Finland!
Nothing Like Real Life Helsinki Like Im Finnish And To Make It More Obivous My Name Is Pekka!!!!!!!!!
Yas. As someone who lives in Hong Kong, I am disgusted by the small amount of nature.
I'm offended that New York City is not one of these skylines. Just saying...
I'm offended they New York City is not one of these skylines. Just saying ...
Sure, but who wants to vacuum all that forest underbrush? I heard it on FOX news and it must be real.
I love trees. living in Washington must bring out the Fin genes in me
The ‘Finland Jokes’ page has been posting memes about what it’s like to be Finnish since way back in 2017. In the half-a-decade since then, the page has carved out a comfortable niche for itself on Instagram, having drawn in 73.1k followers.
Make sure to follow the account on Instagram if the jokes they post made you chuckle, dear Readers.
Most of the memes showcase a slice of Finnish life. From their love of the cold and the great outdoors to learning to embrace the calm, the silence.
It is perhaps this stereotype about Finland, the deep introversion the country’s citizens supposedly live by, that is best known around the world. That and the sweet tooth they have for licorice in all of its forms.
I'm Russian and grew up with a children's story in which to illustrate the characters going to a "cold place" they go to Lapland, which is a region in Finland.
Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Spark from the Queensland University of Technology to have a chat about introversion and extroversion. We asked him about the upsides of extroversion and how introverts feel when pressured to act in a different way than their instincts tell them to.
The expert told us that there are several options that introverts can take to reduce the stress they feel when outside forces are pressuring them to act extroverted.
“We can simply force ourselves to push through it and act out of character (i.e., to act more extroverted),” the expert suggested that powering through an uncomfortable situation is one way to deal with things.
According to Dr. Spark, there are scientifically proven benefits to being extroverted rather than introverted. It’s something that some people might not like hearing, of course. However, there’s also absolutely nothing wrong with being introverted either. Though, at the end of the day, different situations call for different behaviors and mindsets. In short, sometimes it’s very advantageous to act extroverted even if you want to be alone in the middle of a snowy forest.
“Many introverts don’t like hearing this—and I can understand that—but the science is quite clear. When we act extroverted, we experience more positive emotion,” he said, adding that this can, actually, make us feel more tired later on.
“However, if this idea [of pushing through] does not appeal to you (and there has been some research looking at why introverts don’t like the idea of acting extroverted), it may be a better idea to remove yourself from the situation or to reframe how you are thinking about yourself,” the expert told Bored Panda.
According to Dr. Spark, even being aware of the research on extroversion and introversion can help alleviate some of the stress that some people feel in situations they’re uncomfortable being in.
“As part of any such reframing effort, try to keep in mind that there is nothing inherently wrong with being an introvert, but you also have to be realistic and accept that there are certain situations that are better suited to either extroverted or introverted behavior,” the expert noted.
It's better to be happy inside and not show it, than the other way round... :/
“Take heart in knowing that we all have a lot more agency to act out of character if we really want to—and introverts have shown to be quite adaptable when it suits them,” Dr. Spark explained that we are far more flexible than we sometimes give ourselves credit for. Human beings are incredibly adaptable. Whether or not we’re comfortable with change is another question entirely.
I'm from Minnesota. It's colder here than in Helsinki. We still go to school.
Despite the Finnish having a reputation for enjoying being all by their lonesome, their country is actually widely known for its strong feelings of communal support. In fact, it’s one of the things that helped Finland rank as the happiest country in the world in 2021.
Except it's dark in the morning and dark by mid to late afternoon.
Some other factors that contributed to Finland’s overall happiness index include a thoroughly transparent government with very little corruption, as well as the level of autonomy given to the country’s citizens. The Finns felt like they were free to make their own choices at all times.
This will definitely be Winnipeg if the Jets ever win the Stanley Cup.
I kinda ... okay yeah, lol relatable here, too. But more like when it gets above -10C in April.
If I had to experience a long bout of not seeing the sun for a while I would do the same.
Okay so the ones in bottom left and bottom right do have blood as their main ingredient. They are blood sausage (musta makkara) and blood pancake (veriletut). They are both served with lingonberry jam and they are delicious. The one in the middle that looks like poop is called "mämmi". It is traditional dessert that we serve with cream and sugar on Easter. It contains rye flour (not blood :D) and is in my opinion also delicious. The one in the top right is called "hernekeitto" (pea soup). It is traditionally served on Thursdays (because before reformation Friday was the day of not-eating in the Catholic culture, and we needed some nutritioning and cheap food the day before.) When you put some mustard in it it also tastes quite good. I have to admit I googled the one in the top left. It is in facr chocolate with fishs, from Finnish trademark Taiga, but it's not a common thing in Finland.
Note: this post originally had 77 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Some years ago, in Tampere, friends told me once to avoid some suburbs, saying it's dangerous. I imagined some petty criminals or something like this. They replied : No, you have to be careful for the bears !
That was very interesting and entertaining...Please more posts about life in different countries🤗
My friend who's from Cape Cod moved to Finland to be with his Finnish girlfriend, they married and had a beautiful daughter. He says life in Finland is so calm, peaceful, respectful and at a pace where you can actually live your life. He says he looks back on his life in America and honestly can't think HOW he managed in USA, with the endless back-to-back jobs, paying for education, high cost of living, constant stress. He says everything is set up in Finland so you can just prosper, enjoy life and be a member of a flourishing community. He said he's never moving back. I envy the crap out of him. Any of you Finnish lads need a wife? I need a greencard back to Europe. Fuc* this for a game of soldiers.
I could use a wife. You are not one of those talkers, are you? 😏
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I still remember the line from how to train your dragon," it snows 9 months here and hails the other 3"
So...serious question; as an American who is...concerned about our proto-fascist Rethuglicans, I'm wanting to immigrate to Finland. I feel like the introvert in me would prefer a country like this. Should I start looking into the process now? For some countries it can take several years. I'm in the medical field and gathering certificates to become more valuable, but is that something that is needed?
I would advice you to look it up at Google. And to visit us before you make any huge decisions. We are not perfect either, but some of us are quite good. Tervetuloa (welcome), if you decide to move.
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All of these are correct for me, except for the sauna ones, I'm still not a true Finn.
Loved these memes about the Finns! Educational and hysterically funny!!🤣🤣❄️🥶🧊☃️👏
Nice, you can also check https://www.accountantsacademy.in they are one of the best accounting professional coaching Centre
Being antisocial, nature-loving, and tolerant to cold weather... I may have to move to Finland!
Nice. I'm Brazilian and I know very few things about Finland. I knew, now I know a lot. 50 memes is like the entire Finnish history.
I first became interested in traveling to Finland when I discovered that one of my favorite bands is Finnish.
I don't mean to offend anyone, but in #4 about the whole school food thing- yes, Finland, we know you get good food in your school lunch, but in California, the school foods don't have coke and chicken nuggets or even burgers. If you're lucky, you'll get a small cookie and a calzone.
Have you read it? Full of violence, hate and weird incest stories. Also it's an old storybook written by various people and heavily edited. It's like believing every nightmare storybook being true.
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Some years ago, in Tampere, friends told me once to avoid some suburbs, saying it's dangerous. I imagined some petty criminals or something like this. They replied : No, you have to be careful for the bears !
That was very interesting and entertaining...Please more posts about life in different countries🤗
My friend who's from Cape Cod moved to Finland to be with his Finnish girlfriend, they married and had a beautiful daughter. He says life in Finland is so calm, peaceful, respectful and at a pace where you can actually live your life. He says he looks back on his life in America and honestly can't think HOW he managed in USA, with the endless back-to-back jobs, paying for education, high cost of living, constant stress. He says everything is set up in Finland so you can just prosper, enjoy life and be a member of a flourishing community. He said he's never moving back. I envy the crap out of him. Any of you Finnish lads need a wife? I need a greencard back to Europe. Fuc* this for a game of soldiers.
I could use a wife. You are not one of those talkers, are you? 😏
Load More Replies... I still remember the line from how to train your dragon," it snows 9 months here and hails the other 3"
So...serious question; as an American who is...concerned about our proto-fascist Rethuglicans, I'm wanting to immigrate to Finland. I feel like the introvert in me would prefer a country like this. Should I start looking into the process now? For some countries it can take several years. I'm in the medical field and gathering certificates to become more valuable, but is that something that is needed?
I would advice you to look it up at Google. And to visit us before you make any huge decisions. We are not perfect either, but some of us are quite good. Tervetuloa (welcome), if you decide to move.
Load More Replies... All of these are correct for me, except for the sauna ones, I'm still not a true Finn.
Loved these memes about the Finns! Educational and hysterically funny!!🤣🤣❄️🥶🧊☃️👏
Nice, you can also check https://www.accountantsacademy.in they are one of the best accounting professional coaching Centre
Being antisocial, nature-loving, and tolerant to cold weather... I may have to move to Finland!
Nice. I'm Brazilian and I know very few things about Finland. I knew, now I know a lot. 50 memes is like the entire Finnish history.
I first became interested in traveling to Finland when I discovered that one of my favorite bands is Finnish.
I don't mean to offend anyone, but in #4 about the whole school food thing- yes, Finland, we know you get good food in your school lunch, but in California, the school foods don't have coke and chicken nuggets or even burgers. If you're lucky, you'll get a small cookie and a calzone.
Have you read it? Full of violence, hate and weird incest stories. Also it's an old storybook written by various people and heavily edited. It's like believing every nightmare storybook being true.
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