In contrast, they do expect to be addressed by their title in professional and official contexts: Doctor Virtanen, Managing Director Savolainen, etc. The familiar form of address in Finnish i.
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However, young people still tend to address middle-aged or elderly people by the formal second person plural if they do not know the persons well. It is relatively easy to get onto first-name terms with a Finn, especially if it is evident that the parties will continue to meet regularly for business or pleasure.
However, it is felt appropriate that the use of first names is specifically and mutually agreed upon. The use of first names is always proposed by the older or more senior person to the junior, or, in the case of equals, by the woman to the man; the agreement is enacted by shaking hands, making eye contact, with each party saying their first name aloud, and nodding the head.
Raising a toast with schnapps, wine or champagne lends a festive air to the occasion. Apart from this, Finns are not nearly as demanding in remembering names as many other people are. It is not usual to address people by name when greeting them regardless of how familiar one is with them or in the course of a normal conversation.
Businessmen and persons in public office are expected to distribute business cards as a means of ensuring their name and title are remembered. There are no special rituals related to exchanging business cards in Finland. For a visitor, receiving a business card provides a convenient opportunity to ask how a name is pronounced or what a cryptic title might mean. When meeting, Finns shake hands and make eye contact. Handshakes are brief and firm, and involve no supporting gestures. When greeting, the parties shake hands and make eye contact.
A deep bow denotes special respect — in normal circumstances, a nod of the head is enough. A Finnish handshake is brief and firm, and involves no supporting gestures such as touching the shoulder or upper arm. When greeting a married couple, the wife should be greeted first, except on a formal occasion where the hosts should first be greeted by the spouse to whom the invitation was addressed.
Children are greeted by shaking hands too. Embracing people when greeting them is rare in Finland. A man greeting someone in the street should raise his hat; in the cold of winter, a touch of the hand to the brim of the hat is enough. Finns can kiss as well as the next nation, but they rarely do so when greeting.
Friends and acquaintances may hug when meeting, and kisses on the cheek are not entirely unknown, although this habit is not generally found in rural areas. There is no special etiquette regarding the number of kisses on the cheek; however, most Finns feel that three kisses is going a bit far. Men very rarely kiss each other in greeting, and never on the mouth in the manner of our eastern neighbours. Finnish cuisine has western European, Scandinavian and Russian elements.
A guide to Finnish customs and manners
Table manners are European. Breakfast can be quite substantial.
Lunch is usually eaten between The once common long business lunches have shrunk to 90 minutes or two hours. Evening meals at home are eaten around In most restaurants, dinners are served from Many restaurants stop serving food about 45 minutes before they actually close, so it is worthwhile checking the serving times when booking a table. Concerts and theatre performances usually begin at Restaurant menus and home cooking rarely involve food that western visitors would not be acquainted with. Increased nutritional awareness has made the once heavy, fatty Finnish diet lighter, and the better restaurants can cater for a variety of dietary requirements.
Ethnic restaurants, constantly increasing in number, have added to the expanding choice. Beer and wine are drunk with restaurant food in the evening, but at lunchtime these days they feature very little, if at all. At a dinner party, the host determines the seating order if necessary. The guest of honour is seated to the right of the hostess or the host, if it is a men-only dinner.
This is a seat dreaded by most Finns, since the guest of honour is expected to say a few words of thanks to the hosts after the meal.
A guide to Finnish customs and manners - thisisFINLAND
It is not appropriate for guests to drink before this, unless the beginning of the meal is badly delayed. Finns seldom make speeches during a meal, but they do so on formal occasions. In such cases, the speeches are made between courses. During the meal, the host may toast individual guests, or guests may toast each other, by raising their glasses and making eye contact. Once the toast is drunk, eye contact should be made again when lowering the glass to the table. A meal normally concludes with coffee and postprandial drinks are served with it or immediately after. If the hosts allow smoking, this is the moment to bring out the cigars and cigarettes, unless of course the host has already allowed or suggested this earlier.
When leaving the table, the guests should thank the hosts briefly for the fare when they get the chance, regardless of whether the guest of honour has done so or not. Finns drink coffee anywhere and everywhere.
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More coffee per person is drunk in Finland than anywhere else in the world. Finns consume the equivalent of slightly over ten litres of pure alcohol per person per year, which is close to the European average. Drinking habits mainly follow Scandinavian and European practices. There are fewer national characteristics than one might think, considering that Finns do have a reputation for drinking; and indeed binge drinking is fairly common, as it is throughout northern Europe and parts of the UK. However, consumption of wine and beer, as opposed to spirits, has increased in recent years, and as a result more decorous drinking behaviour has become more common.
Consumption of alcohol at lunchtime is less common in the business world than it used to be, and in the public sector it is extremely rare. Alcohol consumption varies somewhat, according to socio-economic differences and, to some extent, by region. The influence of central European or Mediterranean drinking habits is primarily visible among urban middle class young adults and slightly older Finns with tertiary education. The import and sale of wines and other alcoholic beverages is largely controlled by the state-owned Alko organisation, and private individuals can only buy alcoholic beverages in Alko shops, with the exception of medium strength beer and cider, which can be bought in food stores.
Alko is a major buyer of wines and stocks a wide and geographically representative selection of all qualities, including top labels. Many restaurants import their own wines directly from suppliers abroad. In households wine is normally reserved for weekend meals, but meals prepared for guests or eaten in a restaurant usually involve wine. Often — and in the case of Swedish-speaking Finns, almost always — a meal is preceded by schnapps, a shot of vodka or aquavit in a tiny glass. This is considered an integral part of cold fish courses, and absolutely essential with crayfish.
Swedish-speaking Finns have a custom of enlivening the occasion with a line or two of a drinking song before each shot of schnapps. Big dinner parties have an appointed toastmaster who determines the interval between shots and leads the singing. Finnish-speaking Finns have a less elaborate and less structured drinking etiquette, although there are schnapps songs in Finnish too.
Schnapps is usually accompanied by mineral water, or sometimes beer, which is also commonly served with meals. Beer is also used to slake the thirst created by the sauna. Visitors can approach Finnish drinking customs as they see fit.
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It is not necessary to drink a shot of schnapps in one gulp even if your neighbour does. It is also perfectly acceptable to request mineral water or non-alcoholic wine with a meal. Lunch is usually accompanied by non-alcoholic beverages in any case, and non-alcoholic drinks are usually provided. Abstinence is also supported by legislation; in Finland, the blood alcohol level for drunken driving is very low, and the penalties are severe.
Tipping has never fitted very comfortably into the Finnish way of life. This may have originally been due to the traditions of a religion which emphasized frugality; today, the rather blunt reason for not tipping is that the price paid includes any unusual instances of service or politeness i. Tipping does nevertheless exist in Finland, and you can feel safe that while nobody will object to being tipped, very few will mind not being tipped. As a rule, service is included in restaurant bills.
Those who pay for their own meals and in cash often choose to round the bill up to the nearest convenient figure.
Tipping at hotels is fairly rare. If you know that you have caused extra inconvenience for the room cleaner, it would be regarded as an appropriate to leave a tip. Receptionists should be tipped only by long-term guests at the hotel. Like their colleagues across the world, Finnish hotel porters will be glad to be tipped the price of a small beer. It is also OK to leave a few coins on the bar for the bar staff.
Taxi drivers do not expect to get a tip, but customers often pay the nearest rounded up figure to the actual fare.