From last year's Christmas Glögi with the international students of the Faculty, I remember some anecdotes about what struck the new-comers in Finland when they first settled in Jyväskylä:
- The drivers are so polite and everyone drives soooo by the book - they always give way to pedestrians! (Student from India)...
- It's sooooooooo quiet! Finland is just so quiet?! (Students from Russia and India)...
- When I arrived in Finland, I sat down next to another passenger in an empty bus from the Helsinki airport to the city center and I thought that the person sitting next to me really didn't like me! He just scowled at me and I was quite upset. Only afterwards I realized that it is really rude in Finland to sit next to somebody if there's space to sit alone! The Finns have much bigger need for personal space and it is polite not to "bother" people! I've learned it now and it doesn't upset me anymore! (Student from Pakistan)...
- Everywhere is so clean and tidy it's unreal! (Student from Bangladesh)...
- People are so straightforward, they just blurt it out and they really do not say anything if they don't have anything "worthwhile" to say. There's no chit-chat. And they love their mobile phones. (Student from Pakistan)...
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