From the memory archives - Houston like multicolor movie

Before starting to catch up on the travel experiences and related posts, had to put out the thoughts triggered by the below peculiar article. It is amusing to read how American journalist considered a group of Finnish immigrant men in New York during the 1800.

Today I find the below article even more amusing than I did some months ago. This is simply due to the current situation in Europe and some of the comments, which one gets to read about in Finnish media or social media. It is too hilarious to read how Finnish men in New York were considered as undersized albinos. They were strange, standing out from the crowd.

This article and the current situation in Europe, made me think back to my adventures around Asia, Kenya, Russia and in Mexico. There would be many stories about those but one lesson, which is one of the most valuable lesson I got to learn:
It is very healthy and humbling experience to be THE minority, be the one who stands out.

Among many other great memories, I remember trying to shop in Changshu, China. It was an activity always coated with mixed feelings. Sales clerks shadowing me through the shop and giggling.
People in the grocery store taking items out of my shopping basket, while I was holding to it still and looking at what the "white devil" is buying and then putting it back.
Children staring at me and then looking at their parents with the look "Mom, dad...what is that?!" The smaller children just started crying because of being scared of the sight of my blond hair and blue eyes.

In Kenya some of the children we met just wanted to stroke my skin, cause it was so different. Also the way I dressed or wore my hair was very different compared to the local females.

I did not always feel comfortable and often hoped that I could blend in better. Not much one can do about that when blending in would mean changing eye or skin color or one's size/height. Hair one could dye black but it would not serve the purpose, as the white skin would stand out even more. Very soon I turned the experience around and took the positive out of it. After being the minority, the stranger, I learned to understand how other people must feel when they enter a country, where they stand out of the crowd.

How does that all relate to my settling in Houston?
After my adventures in the previously mentioned places, settling in to Houston has been very easy and comfortable. Yes, I stand out with my accent and sometimes with my lighter than average appearance. Thanks though to the long and prosperous history of immigrants coming to US, I can also be just one among the many.

My accent is not familiar and only twice the shop owner knew to link my accent & appearance with Finland. Mostly the guess is...Canada :) Which I do not mind at all either, Canadians are lovely people. Too bad I cannot claim to be one and state that we won all the ice-hockey gold medals last year ;)

Things are not perfect even in US. There is no such place in the world, which would be perfect. Things are different here and everything new takes time to understand and learn. Yet, especially in recent months, I have gained even higher respect than before to how things work in US.
Right now what I am thinking is mainly in the values that people I know have shown: acceptance, kindness, open mind, tolerance and readiness to help. Accepting also that there is no such thing as "one norm" in this country. I still make the error sometimes thinking that this would be a country, rather than remembering that US is more like e.g. Europe. Each state has its history, culture and specific features.

I think the best other example in the diversity, though on a smaller scale is Singapore. Being the melting pot of so many nationalities and religions. So many areas there, where buddhist temple, hindu temple and church are as neighboring buildings in the same street. People greet each other with a friendly smile and respect. One has people of various nationalities and backgrounds living as neighbors. All in peace with each other.

After having been and seen some of the rougher places in the world too, I got absolutely nothing to complain here. What I appreciate in US and in my American family is the open mindedness. They have heightened my appreciation to accepting that there is no one norm to anything, yet from state and nation level one is giving the solid framework & game rules for everyone to follow.

I still remember how it all felt at first.... After having lived 7 years back in Finland, the first weeks in Houston were like someone would have changed the movie from grey & white to full color. Suddenly I was surrounded by wide scale of nationalities, accents, dialects, languages, cultural nuances and food. It was a shock in the beginning, a sensory overload, and required my senses getting used to it. Now it would be tough to imagine living without it.

Come to think of it...my fellow Finnish immigrants from 1638 onwards have helped to build US and bring in their share to the mixed population and skills. Link to: How Finnish Immigrants helped to build America

Below just some good examples of the Finnish influence brought to US with the immigrants from before: log cabin building / log carpentry (in particular the V notching style) and roof construction, John Morton, Eliel Saarinen and Eero Saarinen, Larry Thorne, sauna and few other words.

More details about Finnish Americans and the culture, influence in US: LINK.

The time here has also made me realize; having a mixed influential factors is actually how it should be in the best case scenario. This is how one can develop and learn from life, not just as a person but as a community or nation. Being too homogeneous as environment / population / culture, even as per the laws of biology, is never good. Positive development stops when things get too homogeneous.

One of my dear friend in Finland, who for her research related profession "does cancer and alzheimer". I find it super hilarious the way she initially expressed her nature of work. Common sense, yet funny!
She has said in so many occasions, when we were catching up with the group of girl friends: "Girls bring foreign blood to this country. We are too homogeneous as a nation and thus have increasing amount, among other things, risk to have cancer or high blood pressure due to the homogeneous DNA structure. Go out there and bring foreigners with you! It is healthy for the country and for the next generation!" :)

Seasonal Cultural Funnies

For anyone else this blog post by Martha Stewart is story like any other. But from a Finnish perspective this gets really a hilarious twist. I posted this originally to my Facebook wall and it got so many laughing reactions, that I decided to post it here too. Just to spread the laugh attacks.

Anyone, who is not Finnish speaker, please check as a preparation the translation from Finnish to English for the word Paska.
Then you can move on to the hilarious reading experience. I have read the text several times...each time I end up with a laugh attack, tears in my eyes and oxygen running out. This is too funny! Want to point out that one should take No offense towards Ukrainian baking culture. It just so happens that the story and the play with words hits the humor spots so well!

Martha Stewart Blog Post about Paska

Have fun!!!

You may experience....

One of my personal favorite comedy show has turned out to be the American medicine commercials.
They are hilarious!

I do agree that it is good to make people aware of the all the side effects before they buy the product. In that sense it is not bad to be make sure everything gets listed.
Though after hearing 5 minutes all the side effects, I keep thinking, who in their right mind wants to buy the product anymore?
One could think this being very counterproductive marketing.

A rough example from just one of the many commercials that run every day and night on most of the tv channels:
"XX can relief your pain significantly and make you feel better.
But XX is not for everyone, it can cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have any of these: new or worsening depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior,  swelling or trouble breathing, rash, blisters, changes in eye sight, including blurriness, muscle pain, fever or feeling of tiredness. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hand and feet. You may find answers to your pain in XX, ask your doctor for XX today!"
(I got tired of writing all of the side effects and what one should not do while taking the medicine...so this is just a rough example)

I keep joking with my own version to my husband when we watch tv and those kind of commercials are on: " This medicine heals your headache or any other minor ache, which would go away with rest as well. You may experience severe difficulties to breathe,  your organs may stop functioning, you may get a stroke or die when taking this medicine...but ask your doctor for this medicine today, it is so worth it!"

If you want to see a one example....check this out: LINK

Real life comedy at its best!

A best thank you very much EVER!

,

Less is more....
This is very much the Finnish thinking. In particular when it comes to compliments or feedback. At work we used to joke that "no feedback is positive feedback".

Which of course is the complete opposite of American approach. The two extremes have caused interesting situations in my every day life in US. Below just few examples from the many :)

I noticed a difference during a restaurant visit when my husband talks e.g. to the restaurant staff compared to when I answer to their questions about if everything is satisfactory.
My answer would be something like:"Everything is good, thank you." Which seemed to cause a twitch in their facial expression. Like the waiter had just swallowed a lemon or was about to get an allergic reaction.
At first I did not understand the reason to this. I thought maybe my English was the reason. Thinking that the way I pronounce somethings was about to cause a laugh attack which the waiter tried to hide.
For those who do not know me, my husband describes me as highly fluent in American English without a regional dialect.

I love making own research and doing unannounced psychological tests (do not tell this to my husband, he has not yet figured this out)....when we were asked the question next time in a restaurant, I kept silent and waited my husband to respond. With high interest I observed the reaction of the waiter.
My husband responded something like:" Yes, everything is great. Thank you very much!"
The waiter walked away with a smile....NO face twitching.

HA!!! I nailed it....Simple sincere "thank you" or even the expression:"everything is good" is simply not enough here.

I can only wonder why though....
Those are positive expressions and it should be more than plenty to show that one is satisfied. Or is it that people say those simplest forms of gratitude because they do not dare to express being unhappy? US is THE country of unlimited return policies and flexible customer service "customer is the King". Which means that saying out loud honest opinion about food being too salty or too greasy should be totally ok. It should result to being able to get another portion or discount at least.

In Finland if one gives the direct feedback of e.g. food being too salty, it is often received in a constructive manner, yet it does not mean that you get a new portion or your money back. Regardless we do say our honest opinion, especially as customers. That is the only way to make things better, keep making our world a better place.

Back to my way of showing I am content....
To proof my hypothesis I tested myself the reaction if I answered like my husband does. I did not get
any facial twitching reaction. Nobody swallowed lemons or got any other sudden allergic reactions.

Still if I am generally just happy and thankful, I will continue say "thank you" and "good". With the risk of getting twitch reaction on the waiter's face.
The logic is simple...at my work, which is also at customer service related industry, I do not get anything else either for an average performance.  Average is actually not really preferred by my employer.
When I do my work well it means that I need to be one step ahead of my client and be able to be proactive instead of reactive. It does not matter what time the work day ends if my client needs me, I am there. I need to spot their needs before they ask for it. The same I expect from the waiter before I say "great" "thank you so much".

Same goes for the hotels. I do not leave tips to get better service. I leave tips IF I get better service or I leave a positive written feedback. Finns in general leave tips e.g. for restaurant staff if they think service was good. At hotel one would generally never leave tip for cleaning, as one pays for that already in the room price. If the room cleaning service was great, one would leave few dollars.

It is the simple thinking again, the money needs to be earned. Somehow in US the consumers seem to have forgotten it. How does one help anyone to improve their performance by leaving money in advance in the hope of getting better service? That trains the whole service industry to get reactive instead of proactive. Also, leaving the money before one has seen any results means that one is throwing money out of the window. As the fact is...how can you ever really compare if you actually got any better service?
I have tested this scenario in all possible forms as well during my lengthy stays at certain Hilton...and guess what? Spoiler alert: It made no difference whether I left the tip on day one or at the last day or did not leave tip at all. The room was in the same condition each time.

We Finns generally say what we think but not more than that. We have the joke that on the second day of the relationship the Finnish male says "I love you and I let you know if it changes".
Which brings me to one slang expression that keeps wiping me off my feet: "best XXX ever!"

I asked one evening from my husband what does it literally mean. Simply because I had the feeling that I might not understand its full meaning. To me the magnitude of the expression and how carelessly it is being spread around created a contradiction.

To me it sounded like it would mean that e.g. "best cocktail ever!"
(please do not hang yourself to the cocktail...just wanted to come up with something neutral and something you could relate to) would mean that:
A) one is comparing to all "cocktails" one has drank previously (which in all cases would not be valid...as sometimes one seem to state this slang saying about first time objects / experiences)
B) the "cocktail" one is now enjoying is better than ALL the previous cocktails. If it was cocktails my Finnish sense of humor wants to ask:"Would you even remember how each one of them tasted?" ;)

Little did I know...this one goes even further, which knocked my socks off totally. Apparently in the full meaning of the saying one is not only stating this comparing one's own previous experiences but everyone else's...int the whole world. As a Finn....I can only say: :"No huh huh! Holy smokes!"

I consider it as hard work and true accomplishment if I am able to rank my life time experiences. I find it so hard to rank e.g. the cities I have lived; best to least liked or top 3. Not to mention that I would consider overruling everyone else's opinions and experiences. No way....I respect their opinion, experiences and feelings too much. We Finns tend to be modest anyway on the "tuuletus" front. We say one is "airing" when one is boasting or expressive about something positive.

Which means that you can probably forget about hearing this expression from my mouth.

I know it is probably one woman mission but I am going to continue my way to show that even small positive expressions are POSITIVE. Thank you! :)

The roots behind the saying "less is more":
http://www.abstractconcreteworks.com/essays/lessismore/ls_s_mor.html

Funniest person in The world....is a Finn!!!!

This week I came across with a funny news indeed....world's funniest person is a Finn!
Ismo Leikola, who is a Finnish comedian and been working hard to get his jokes to reach audience outside the Finnish borders as well. He won the Funniest person of the world-competition, which was organized in US by Laugh Factory (http://www.laughfactory.com/).

Nice that Finns make this break through on US ground, as otherwise one tends to refer to us as more serious and silent folk, mainly referring to the Finnish male representatives. My beloved big brother, who means the world to me and has always been in many ways my idol. He fits often many of those categories. I used to joke that for his 50th birthday I can take his mobile phone off, cause he would not have any use for it. That statement I have had to take back though....as the result of our American side of the family  (all being in Facebook). He finally got into Facebook and has surprised all by being very active.
Also for our wedding he really broke all the rules of Finnish male....he laughed, cried and not silent at all. I enjoyed seeing him so happy at my wedding. One of the many memories, which I hold dear from that day.

My brother breaking the ice and Ismo winning the competition does not change the whole nation to being funny people over night but it reminds that Finnish humor can succeed e.g. in US and when done well, it translates well also to English.

Also I think Ismo's humour is funny just because he allows the Finnish style to come through. Talking in the normal style (intonations are tough to recognized), rather as-matter-of-a-fact style to express things and very minimum body language. Yet he is making some of the best jokes I have heard for a long time. I admit having checked the same video several times, cause it makes me laugh with tears in my eyes. It just simply hits the laugh nerves without giving any heads up, mostly so that one does not even notice it until afterwards. You become aware few seconds in delay that you have been laughing about his joke. It kind of sneaks up on you.

Here is the link to Helsingin Sanomat (Finnish national newspaper), which shows Ismo's performance in English at the Laugh Factory finals. Take time to watch it....you will find youself laughing :)

http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/a1414385339674
The videos shows only Ismo's performance at the finals.

All finalist videos: http://www.laughfactory.com/IsmoLeikola
(Ismo's performance starts around 17 minutes into the clip)

Numbers and alphabets in American style

Though I am not native speaker, one thing that Finnish school system is great about is grammar and spelling in foreign languages. Which is good cause in average in US one gets to spell things lot more than what I was used to in Finland and e.g. in Germany.

Finnish tends to be more phonetic with the logic "what you see is what you get". So, for names and addresses one does not come across the need to spell them out loud unless they are of foreign origin.
US being the mecca of everything-being-originally-more-or less-of-foreign-origin and with some localization attempts in between something that sounds the same can be written in dozens of different ways.

It seems that here I tend to get myself in trouble, has happened more than once. No matter how carefully I try to spell.

When spelling my current last name it tends to always get still wrong.
In the beginning I spelled it on the phone the way I had gotten used to doing it e.g. while living in Singapore: R-double O-S.
I stopped saying the "double O", cause nearly 90% of the time that resulted to ROSS or RWS :o)

After the wedding in June I will have really easy name from local perspective...so I trust that will decrease the need of spelling my last name :o)

When it comes to giving the address or talking about numbers, getting married won't solve that one...
Again, I have started giving the address the way I learned to do it in Singapore (and honestly it worked there!!). But here for some reason when I say " seven-hundred and five" or "seven-hundred-five" it results to 7005. Thanks to that I have been waiting for my laptop now for 2 weeks back from the repair. The poor UPS courier must be so fed up by now..... Running around and trying to find a building that does not exist. Every time UPS called I confirmed the address to be " seven-hundred and five". Which basically continued the poor UPS guy to get totally confused and the computer was sent back few times to shipper.

As I was guided by my fiancé I should give the numbers as: seven-[oh]-five. Though he confirmed technically I was saying correctly as " seven-hundred and five".

After 4 calls and changing the way to seven-[oh]-five I have been successful and get my laptop back tomorrow :o) :o)

When I am at the store, if the amount to pay would be, let's say the same 705 dollars. Then the right way is " seven-hundred and five". Though, there it seems to have variations....depending on where one is :o)

I learned a lot again.....knowing how to spell perfectly or how to technically do it right, does not guarantee the right results :o)