About my Finnish friend.

When I was told that for this blog post we had to conduct an interview, the first person that crossed my mind was my friend Konsta. The reason behind my decision was the fact that Konsta and I are very different. Coming from different countries (even continents) and cultures, our friendship emerged when we met at a German introduction course earlier this year in March. To me, it is interesting to compare my friendship with Konsta with my other friends because we are literally different people. It is not just our culture, but our languages and our characters that set us apart. Despite the differences, he has become one of my closest friends here in Munich. 

From late night talks to road trips, we have exchanged a vast number of conversations about many different topics ranging from music and hobbies to politics and feminism. My approach for this interview was a very casual style, in order to resemble one of our every day conversations. 

Mariana: Hello friend, could you please introduce yourself?

Konsta: My name is Konsta. Karttunen. I am 24 years old. Born and raised in Finland and I currently reside in Helsinki. I study Biology and I’m currently working on my Masters Degree. 

M: Why did you decide to come to Munich?

K: I’ve visited Germany before and had a very nice experience here. However, when I decided to go on exchange, Munich became a random choice to me. In fact, at first I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go study abroad to a different country but I’m glad I did because I don’t regret that decision at all. 

M: During your stay here, have you ever felt homesick or do you miss Finland?

K: No and yes. Okay, I’m sorry. That’s not a concise answer. I think I do miss the little things from my country but generally I’ve had such a great experience here in Munich that I don’t think I’ve felt homesick. 

M: What is the biggest difference you have noticed between Finland and Germany?

K: Germans really like to use cash and I really hate that. In some places you just can’t pay with any type of card. But if there’s something I could change would be the interconnections, if I go outside my apartment, I just automatically lose my connection and that can be a bit frustrating.

M: What about education, what is the biggest difference you have noticed between both countries?

K: To be honest, there is not much difference because both countries have very similar education system. So here I haven’t really struggled with my classes, it is quite similar to the ones I take back in Helsinki. 

M: What is your favourite thing from Munich? 

K: I love the drinking culture. It is quite enjoyable to be able to go to bars with my friends and have a good time. Alcohol in Finland is very expensive so I definitely pick the beer as my favourite thing from Munich. 

M: What do you do here to keep yourself distracted?

K: I like to hang out with my friends as much as possible in my spare time. I also go to fencing classes every Monday. It’s a nice way to de-stress. 

M: Okay. Now I want to go for a hard question mostly because I’m intrigued as to what you have to say.

K: Alright, go for it. 

M: If you could choose just one adjective that describes you the best, which one would it be? 

K: Oh, okay. Hard one indeed. I am very quiet. At least that is what most of my friends here say about me. But I do consider myself as an introvert so “quiet” seems like the perfect adjective for me. 

M: You have told me about your music band in Finland. As an introvert, do you think music is a way to express yourself?

K: Totally. I play the drums and the band has been together for quite some time now. We are in the “hard” spectrum of music so people are often surprised when I tell them about it. It all started as hobby about ten years ago.Now that I am here, I do miss playing some tunes with them. 

M: What about your social life here, has it been easy to meet people?

K: I would say so. Everyone here is so friendly. I have a very international friend group and compared to Finnish people, everyone here loves to talk all the time, which at first it was a thing I wasn’t quite used to. For example, you are very talkative and it is very easy to keep the conversation going. In Finland in comparison, people are not very chatty and it is very stereotypical for Finnish to not be good at leading conversations. 

M: Since you are surrounded by people from many backgrounds, have you noticed a huge difference between cultures?

K: For sure. I feel like people here are sometimes too friendly and very eager to say something and making their voices heard to the point that they interrupt you during conversations. I wasn’t used to it at first but now I am getting the handle of being asked a lot of questions [like this interview].  

M: Is there a culture that you would like to explore more?

K: I have met many Australians here and compared to what I am used to, they are very outgoing and nice. I would love to go there sometime. 

M: Do you think that your international friends and the difference in cultures has had an impact in you?

K: Yes. I can now say I am less socially awkward. I am now confident that when I go back to Finland I will be able to lead conversations easily. Being surrounded my many people from different backgrounds has truly opened my mind and the way I used to see my surroundings. 

M: One last question, what are you planning to do once you go back to Finland?

K: I’ll be in Finland by the end of July. I’m planning on getting a job related to my field of study and to start working on my thesis. As for my band, I will continue to have some gigs from time to time. I will definitely miss Munich but know for sure that will take with me great memories.