Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World
Small Talk satwcomic.com

Small Talk


Every time I make a comic about Finnish saunas I'm told it's a running joke in Finland that Finns only make small talk in saunas.

Finland Sweden Norway Denmark
5th May 2015
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8 years ago #9470096        
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Our icy layer starts to melt a bit in high temperatures of sauna, so we'll get a bit more chatty. After leaving sauna, our natural subzero core quickly cools down and we're back to the familiar cold facade.


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8 years ago #9465010        
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Saunas are to Finns what dogs are to the English. It's a permit to talk to strangers. If you want to talk to strangers in England, borrow a dog and walk down the street. People will smile at you and ask you what the dog's name is, how old, and say how nice it is. . . . Otherwise they never notice you, it would be intrusive.

6 years ago #9723134        
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Am I the only one who enjoys Finland's speaking?


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9 years ago #9410310        
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I'd love see this as an animation!

6 years ago #9770899        
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Still my favourite after all those years. Cracks me up every time

txag70

27
9 years ago #9403028        
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Amazingly, the word "Perkele" was nowhere to be found here.

Lumpex

18
3 years ago #9861319        
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Yep. In high school our class went swimming but me and my friend didn't ever get to the pools because we got stuck talking to some stranger in a sauna for 2 hours.

Lhinden

23
8 years ago #9484719        
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Silentium est aurum


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6 years ago #9749925        
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"I had chicken for dinner."

Finland is too freaking adorable.

8 years ago #9463258        
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"Finnish people are most stoic human beings on earth"
http://www.iep.utm.edu/stoicism/

Finnish people are defined by silence. Is that healthy?

"The key to the Finnish character is quietude. Finns rarely enter into conversation with strangers; words are chosen carefully; small talk is considered suspect. Instead Finns revere "sacred silence" and hold that keeping quiet is healthy and promotes thoughtfulness. In his book Cultures in Conversation, author Donal Carbaugh quotes a young Finn who admits, "I never realized that people in other cultures might regard the word 'shy' as a negative word... 'Ujo' or 'shy' in Finnish has a neutral or positive meaning."
"Finland is no place for complainers, and long, dark Arctic winters have shaped some of the hardiest—and most stoic—human beings on Earth.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200701/global-psyche-no-need-words

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