Silence please

Finns love nature, in fact they love nature almost as much as they love solitude and silence. Don't get me wrong, the Finnish people are very friendly and hospitable, but to be alone with ones own thoughts is highly treasured. Whether it be fishing or hiking, berry or mushroom picking in the forest or would you believe on a busy day in the middle of town. Many Finns will do anything possible to be alone even in a crowd, this can often be seen on public transport, for instance on a half full public bus.

Often you will notice when you get onto a public bus that everyone tries to find a seat where you do not have to sit next to anybody else. Often the whole bus is half empty with every seat taken next to an empty seat. Only when there is no other option do people sit next to a stranger, but then the choice of who to sit next too is often put down to skill. For example, does the person you are going to sit next too look as if they may try to talk to you? The best way to conquer this possibility is to sit down with out making eye contact, in fact during the whole journey, just look straight ahead as if there is something extremely important ahead. Even better text someone on your mobile phone, or in case you have no one to text, pretend that you are texting.

But really nine times out of ten there is no need to go to these extremes! Because if you are sitting on the bus and a stranger sits next to you, then you have your own measures to conquer the possibility of being pulled into unwanted conversation. You can play with your mobile if you have it to hand, or you can stare out of the window at some exceedingly important object thus avoiding any eye contact which can lead to conversations.

Of course if you really want to be alone on a public bus you can do what the lady in the picture is doing, sit on the aile seat and not next to the window. But this is a risk, as if the bus is full a stranger may have to ask "Excuse me, but is this seat taken?" This will mean that you have to acknowledge that you are not alone, and heaven forbid, you may find yourself having to answer. But this is not being rude or unfriendly, it is just a way to find solitude.

Ice fishing has its attractions, where often during the coldest of days you can see little dots of people sitting alone on the ice. They have their lines through a drilled hole in the ice and sit intently watching for the line for the slightest of movement for hours on end. It is the silence and solitude as much as the excitement of the hunt which attracts people to this sport.

Berry and mushroom hunting is another great way for Finns to find solitude and silence, hours alone in the forest is a great way to avoid those unwanted crowds and conversations. I remember not long after arriving here in Finland, I was told a joke which I think sums up the situation very well.

One day a wife was packing lunch for her husband, he had been invited by two of his friends to go berry picking in the forest and was not happy about it. "It will be a disaster" he complained to his wife, "all they will do is talk all day!" "Don't be silly, you will enjoy it in the forest" his wife replied. So the husband met his friends, and off they went for their day in the forest. In the morning one of the friends said, "I know a good place to find blue berries!" At mid-day the other friend said, "It is disappointing how few blue berries there are!" In the afternoon, the first friend said, "I am sorry that there were not as many berries as I had hoped for!" In the evening the husband returned to his wife, "Well, how did it go?" She asked. "As I had expected," moaned the husband, "They talked all day long!"

But what about this silence? It certainly has its attractions, the less you speak the more you see. If you look carefully at the photograph above, you will see an elk, pictured from a distance which is why the picture is not so clear. Elk are very shy creatures and although one of the largest animals in Finland they are not easily seen when crashing and talking through the forest. This Elk seemed unaware of us for many minutes until the crack of a branch sent it running back to the forest.

What does silence mean for me? Coming from the outskirts of a large town in England, my first encounter with Finnish silence was at the summer cottage. Late evening, with the sun just disappearing behind the forest, the silence was absolute. I have often heard the term that silence can be deafening, but did not understand properly what it meant until I experienced it here in Finland. There was absolutely no sound at all, not a car in the distance or a bird, not even the ripple of the lake, everything was just still and silent. The silence of Finland, silence please.