FSTDT Forums
Community => The Lounge => Topic started by: Askold on January 16, 2015, 02:57:41 pm
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This is not a serious thread but I just came across this and thought it was funny and mostly accurate:
http://matadornetwork.com/life/3-american-habits-lost-moved-finland/
1) Being naked in a sauna is quite normal and there is nothing sexual about it. The only part I disagree with is that the writer claims that unisex saunas are considered creepy, this depends on location/group. Some consider them creepy but in some circles unisex saunas are common and normal (though there is still nothing sexual about them. Make a mistake and you won't be invited again.) ...And even in places where there is an unisex sauna there is usually a women only sauna reserved (sometimes men only sauna as well.)
2) IF someone asks "how are you?" it will receive a detailed answer. This is not a question that is made as a part of a greeting unless the asker is prepared to hear all about the other person's medical history and problems at the farm and so on.
3) Who the hell walks while drinking coffee? Do you eat while walking as well?
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Hell, I eat while driving. And people keep telling me I need two hands for driving.
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Yeah, Americans do a lot of stupid shit while driving - eating, texting, drinking coffee, applying makeup... and then there's this lady (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/cops-woman-crashes-car-shaving-privates/story?id=10065885), courtesy of Florida.
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Yeah, Americans do a lot of stupid shit while driving - eating, texting, drinking coffee, applying makeup... and then there's this lady (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/cops-woman-crashes-car-shaving-privates/story?id=10065885), courtesy of Florida.
That's nothing. I heard about some guy who decided to clean one of his guns while driving.
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Yeah, Americans do a lot of stupid shit while driving - eating, texting, drinking coffee, applying makeup... and then there's this lady (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/cops-woman-crashes-car-shaving-privates/story?id=10065885), courtesy of Florida.
That's nothing. I heard about some guy who decided to clean one of his guns while driving.
Yeah, but that doesn't allow for "Pubic Enemy Number One" jokes.
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3) Who the hell walks while drinking coffee? Do you eat while walking as well?
I do. I also eat while walking (if I'm having a sandwich or something). I like to walk while doing nothing at all, too, it helps me think.
(on a perhaps unrelated note, restless leg syndrome runs in my family).
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Hell, if I'm eating at home, I quite often prefer to pace around the room rather than sitting at the table like a normal, well adjusted person.
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I can't really eat meals unless I'm sitting down because I feel so unsatisfied otherwise. I need a place to set my food down if I want to pause midway, and I always need a drink on hand. I see some people who can eat entire meals without a drink, and it kills me. I nearly choke if I don't take a drink after 2-3 bites.
As for saunas, they seem to be the complete opposite of relaxing, to me. I don't quite see the appeal of sitting in the heat with a bunch of strangers and their naked junk. It sounds like a perfect social anxiety nightmare, really.
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There are only two things I won't do while drinking coffee. Number one is make more children. Number two is, well, number two.
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2) IF someone asks "how are you?" it will receive a detailed answer. This is not a question that is made as a part of a greeting unless the asker is prepared to hear all about the other person's medical history and problems at the farm and so on.
3) Who the hell walks while drinking coffee? Do you eat while walking as well?
Number two might be unique to Finland. Most other places, especially the UK, it seems "How are you?" Is used almost like "Hello" and almost no one is actually expecting or wanting an honest, detailed reply. Especially with strangers, sometimes it might be different with close friends of course.
As for number 3, I don't drink coffee whilst walking - I've tried and it's too difficult but I do drink bottled water and eat whilst walking, all the time and I'm not American. You don't always have time to stop and eat. If you have a half hour lunch break and it takes you almost 25 mintues to walk to the nearest shop and back you have to eat on the move, as at lunch time you can expect to spend a while in the queue at the till.
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I must say, it's quite interesting that a culture that's perfectly comfortable lounging around in the buff with complete strangers somehow finds it shocking when a stranger asks "how's it going?".
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The thing is that we DON'T get shocked when someone asks "how's it going?" we just assume that they sincerely want to know how "it" is "going." And we are prepared to answer in full length. Because when a Finnish person asks the same question they really want to know how their friend is doing and if they have any troubles.
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That's why is specified asking a stranger. The article seemed to indicate that it's a social faux pas to ask someone you've never met "how's it going" as part of a greeting.