Dear Editor,
I must say that when reading stories like the one written by Jewel Aldea makes us Europeans look at some Americans as ignorant and arrogant, presenting with a lack of both cultural sensitivity and a deeper knowledge of the target country. Her article consists of generalizations rather than focusing on the individual experience. As to drinking, the Finnish people has the Nordic drinking style called binging along with other ‘Northern countries’, and they have infrequent but high intoxication rates, which are somewhat lower than those of the Brits and the Swedes, according to the latest British alcohol research. It is like people in Finland would think that all Americans carry a handgun and if you disagree with them they will pull the trigger at you without further consideration, or that all Americans are really loud when they talk. Of course these and many others are all false statements; people in the Northwest are actually quiet and soft-spoken and go on binges.
The Finns are called the linguists of Europe because they have to study so many foreign languages and they speak them very well. They also travel extensively and many foreign students are attracted to Finland thanks to its high educational standards and multilingual environment.
Turku, the 800-year old castle city has been a destination for many nationalities throughout the last thousand years, including Britons and Americans! The rate of suicide in fact is not the highest in the world, even if it is among the highest – among men! Maybe this is the high price Finland pays for not having 30 percent of the population on Prozac, as is the case in the U.S.?
Remember that Finland is currently, according to many reports and statistics, one of the most advanced countries in the world. A quick glance at levels in technology (Nokia, Linux), education, infant mortality, competitiveness, poverty, corruption, freedom of the press, political stability, social service sector and so on, put Finland at the very top globally. And it is driven by private economy with a high taxation in the Scandinavian tradition.
Read your newspapers carefully! I live in the U.S. and every time I visit Finland I feel how superior the Finns are in many ways, especially knowledge-wise, to the Americans.
Thanks!
Eric Holmsten

Author