Those Finnish Faces

My friend Cindy asked:
I'm curious about the no facial expressions. Do they just not show emotion at all through facial expressions, or is it that they're just so different and hard to read, or that they're bundled up all the time so you can't see faces?

Great question, Cindy. A few thoughts:

1. No, they are not so bundled up. They actually don't cover their faces with scarves, no matter how cold, because breathing through your scarf makes it all wet, which then freezes and makes you even colder. So, bare face is LESS cold. I learned this the hard way, and also through observing how the Finns dress for cold. (In a driving life-style I always covered up my mouth and nose, but then, I wasn't out in the cold that much and I wasn't breathing hard from exertion. It's a whole different thing when I am walking.)

2. They DO make eye contact and don't look away, but their faces remain perfectly still. Very odd behavior if it was the US. It can almost seem confrontive or hostile, but I know it is not because it is so ubiquitous. They can't all be feeling hostile to me, can they?

3. From what we've read, Finns are SERIOUS introverts and the lack of facial expression is another aspect of that. They do not share themselves with people they do not know, but once they make a friend, our books say, they are friends for life. (One might ask, "Then how do they get to know people?" I do not know the answer to that. We have met people through Charles' work and through Kalee's school.) People we have actually met (as opposed to people we pass on the path) are very friendly and I feel like I can understand their facial expressions most of the time, even if they are a bit more subtle than ours. Finns are also very comfortable with silences in conversation. No need to fill every moment with some kind of communication. Maybe that is a piece of the answer, as well.

4. Our Finnish culture books also say that Finns distrust people who smile too much, like American business people. Finns don't smile unless they have a reason to smile. The smile with no relationship or specific reason to smile behind it is interpreted as trying to hide something.

4. Another thought I've had is that with sooooo many people on the path and on the bus, you would forever be smiling and acknowledging people and that could get sort of tiring. It is easier to go through your day without greeting everyone you meet. As I have accepted this as normal I (an introvert myself) have relaxed into enjoying an anonymous walk down the street, through the mall, along the path, wherever. There is a sort of freedom to it which I am coming to appreciate.