On Loving to Talk During Dinner: Not the Finns, apparently
By george wesley dannells on Mar 5, 2009 in All categories, Mentions
Some analysis of cultural differences here, and input from a Baha’i. -gw
I am no stranger to Finnish culture–I lived in Finland for two years as a missionary, my DW is a Finn. … If you’ve never been in the company of Finns, then you do not understand how truly silent a room can be. I remember actually making the argument to one of my companions when I was a Mormon missionary that the silent nature of Finnish people was a bigger barrier to missionaries learning the language than the ridiculously complex (yet oddly consistent) grammar could ever dream of being. … At times, the silent nature of Finns would result in horribly awkard moments, but after a while you just kind of get used to it.
Somehow, I had forgotten about this until two nights ago at dinner:
Finnish Women: (silence, chewing food)
Me: So…
Finnish Women: (silence, chewing food)
Me: Hrmm…
Finnish Women: (silence, chewing food)
Me: Seriously…is anyone going to say anything at all during this meal?
Finnish Women: (silence, chewing food)
And so it went for the next couple of days. This got me thinking about what other peoples/countries are loud or quiet in general. Some quick searching on Google will make painfully clear how loud Americans are generally considered to be–in the event that you’ve never had the wonderful experience of witnessing an American tourist in a foreign country, which is, truly, a sight to behold.
http://www.deadseriously.net/2009/03/am-i-loud-or-is-your-culture-just-quiet.html
Harlan Lang said… + While on a Baha’i pilgrimage to Israel in 2005 there were several Finnish Baha’is in the group. One couple was a Persian Baha’i born in Finland with a Finnish wife. Persians love to talk even more than Americans. I wonder how the Finnish wife gets on with her Persian in-laws. As a point of interest, I became a Baha’i in Salt Lake City.
On Mar 5, 2009, Scott said:
Hey…thanks for the linkage! I appreciate it.