Finnish Taciturnity
If you've got time to read just one book about Nordic countries, check out this:
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: The Truth About the Nordic Miracle by Michael Booth
Michael is a British journalist, and in this book he's going to tell you — as concisely and excitingly as possible — about 5 neighboring countries: Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden. Attention: all of those 5 countries are in the Top 7 of the world's happiest!
One thing the author will tell you about Finns is that they don't talk much. In fact, they are almost as taciturn as I am!
Check out this cute story from the book:
A Finnish acquaintance told me this story, which he said perfectly sums up the Finns' attitude towards the normal conventions of human interaction. He and his brother-in-law were driving in a blizzard in the countryside when their car broke down. They waited for half an hour before another car finally passed. It stopped and the driver got out to help them. He peered under the bonnet and managed to get their car started for them, all in silence. There was a nod or two of acknowledgement, but my friend swears not a single word was exchanged. The man drove off. My friend said, 'Wow, we were lucky there. Wonder who he was?' To which his brother-in-law answered, 'Oh, that was Juha, we went to school together.'
Yes, this sounds like one of the secrets of happiness. Even our favorite sexy physician has made an episode on silence last week :)
P. S. Yes, I'm an interpreter and I love booths, but this book is chosen not because of the author's last name. It's just good, and I loved it even before simultaneous interpreting. Seriously.
If you've got time to read just one book about Nordic countries, check out this:
The Almost Nearly Perfect People: The Truth About the Nordic Miracle by Michael Booth
Michael is a British journalist, and in this book he's going to tell you — as concisely and excitingly as possible — about 5 neighboring countries: Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden. Attention: all of those 5 countries are in the Top 7 of the world's happiest!
One thing the author will tell you about Finns is that they don't talk much. In fact, they are almost as taciturn as I am!
Check out this cute story from the book:
A Finnish acquaintance told me this story, which he said perfectly sums up the Finns' attitude towards the normal conventions of human interaction. He and his brother-in-law were driving in a blizzard in the countryside when their car broke down. They waited for half an hour before another car finally passed. It stopped and the driver got out to help them. He peered under the bonnet and managed to get their car started for them, all in silence. There was a nod or two of acknowledgement, but my friend swears not a single word was exchanged. The man drove off. My friend said, 'Wow, we were lucky there. Wonder who he was?' To which his brother-in-law answered, 'Oh, that was Juha, we went to school together.'
Yes, this sounds like one of the secrets of happiness. Even our favorite sexy physician has made an episode on silence last week :)
P. S. Yes, I'm an interpreter and I love booths, but this book is chosen not because of the author's last name. It's just good, and I loved it even before simultaneous interpreting. Seriously.