Culture Shock- Part One (Getting in my car with no coat to go eat a huge amount of artificial food with super friendly people)

After living in Finland for over 12 years, I was preparing for a bit of culture shock after our move to the U.S. this fall.  Oddly enough, I haven't had any kind of shock at all.  Yeah, things are different, but I wouldn't say that I'm shocked.  There are some really great things about Finland that I miss (especially my friends!), but there are also some really great things about the U.S. that I am enjoying.   Here are a few of the most notable changes in our lives:

Parks and outdoor clothes-
As a stay at home mom in Finland, taking the kids to the park in the morning was a daily routine.  There were usually at least 10 moms in our little neighborhood park to chat with while the kids were playing.  No matter the weather, we had great clothes for it: rain gear, snow gear, sun hats, you name it.
Here, our neighbor park is empty.  EVERY SINGLE DAY.  When the weather has been beautiful and the sun has been shining, there have not been other kids to play with.  I have asked a few moms here about this, and they have said that the reason is that it's too cold.  45 degrees (+10 C) in January is too cold?  Huh?!?  And then I figured it out.  There was a day where another girl and her family were leaving the park as we arrived and I was surprised at what she was wearing.  She had ballerina shoes with no socks, leggings, and a lightweight spring jacket.  No hat, no gloves, no proper coat.  Not sure if that's the norm here (because I never see anyone outside) but that would make it pretty easy to understand why people think it's cold.  We went for a hike a few weeks ago when it was also about 45 degrees.  My kids had fleece jackets with a waterproof jacket and pants over the top, plus hats and gloves.  One 3-year-old boy we saw walking down the mountain had only a long-sleeved shirt and jeans.  I can't even imagine what people are thinking when they see my kids with all their gear on.

Food-
Oh my, American food.  Doritos, Oreos, Costco muffins, corndogs, mac and cheese.  Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, Applebees, Starbucks.  There is so much yummy food here and there are so many fun family restaurants to go to with the kids.  The portion sizes are ridiculous, but we were prepared for that.  The food from the store is what has taken some getting used to.
When I've looked at the packages in the store, I have been amazed (and grossed out) at the list of ingredients.  It's really important to check the labels here!  There is so much artificial stuff that sometimes the food doesn't even taste 'real'.  It makes you wonder what it is you're actually eating.  The food seemed to taste better and healthier in Finland.
There if of course an organic option for most things, but even that is hard to trust anymore since there is so much of it.  I especially love it when a label advertises, 'only NATURAL** ingredients', and the bottom of the box has some small text to explain how it's actually not really natural.
Like I have said in my food blog, I am totally not obsessed with organic food or anything like that.  I just try and make a healthier version of something if I know how (and especially if it tastes better than the artificial crap!).
One great example is that in Finland there aren't really canned soups.  When I was cooking and needed a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, I just made my own from scratch.  It's really easy (takes 5 minutes) and tastes really good.  When we moved here I thought, 'Great, now I can save some time and just used the canned soups.'  That is, until I looked at the list of ingredients on the can that I bought.  My cream of whatever soups have about 4 ingredients plus some spices.  The canned soups I bought here have way more ingredients, some of which I can't even pronounce.  I think I will continue making my own!  I used to eat all of this stuff when I lived here before, but maybe my taste buds have changed since living in Finland.  Well, I know they have considering that pea soup and salmon are now 2 of my favorite things to eat when 12 years ago I wouldn't have touched either of those foods with a 10-foot pole.

The necessity of cars-
This is both good and bad.  I really don't like being dependent on a car.  In Finland I never needed one.  I loved that a bus or train or tram or metro could take me wherever I wanted to go quite easily.  I loved that I could walk to the store, the park, the mall, the post office, the library.  I walked everywhere and got free exercise while I was at it.
Having said that, I LOVE having a car here now.  I can just take the kids in the car whenever I want and drive anywhere...a friend's house, hobbies, the store, IKEA, wherever!  Anywhere!  Whenever!  No checking bus schedules, no waiting at bus stops with grumpy kids, no worrying about missing a bus connection.  Just driving the car, singing kids' songs, and going wherever we feel like going.  It's so great!  I feel such a huge sense of freedom.
After the girls were born, I was so trapped at our home in Finland.  Not only could I not go anywhere with the girls for the first year because of their condition, I couldn't too easily go anywhere anyway.  The huge twin stroller didn't fit on the old trains or trams, and I also didn't fit in the buses if there was already another stroller in the bus.  This made going anywhere a nightmare because I couldn't guarantee that after 10 minutes waiting in the rain at a bus stop that I wouldn't actually even be able to get on the bus anyway.  I didn't too often go anywhere with the kids except the neighborhood shops.  I think having a car is one of my favorite things about being here.  Life just feels so much easier.  Plus, there is so much fun stuff to do! (More on that later...)

The people-
I really really really like Finnish people.  Most of the time I feel I'm more Finnish than American because I feel so comfortable around Finnish people.  They are just honest and genuine.  There is a stereotype that Finns are really quiet and hard to get to know.  Maybe that's true in the beginning.  But if you can speak a little Finnish (or even if you can't) and make an honest effort, I think you can make some pretty amazing friends.
Americans have the opposite stereotype put on them.  They are 'Super Friendly' and 'Super Fun' and 'Super Outgoing'.  I kind of like this.  I like people saying hi to us as we pass them on the street.  I love people coming up and making cute comments about the kids.  However, I find it almost harder to make friends with Americans because almost everyone is nice and you can't always be 100% sure when the friendliness is sincere or not.  If someone says, 'Yeah, let's definitely meet up again!', there is a chance that they don't really care if they ever see you again.  If a Finn says they want to see you again, they do!


To be continued....