Too Much To Tell, Too Little Time

It is a beautiful morning in Emporia, Kansas. The temperature is a bit cool but the sun is shining. Last rays of summer sun trying to touch the ground but they don't have enough strength anymore. The fall has come to Emporia. This, to me, is kind of sad because I escaped it by flying from Finland to live in the United States and hoped that the fall and winter couldn't catch me that fast if I came here. I guess I was wrong.

First month of living in Emporia is behind me. My five months in the United States as an exchange student have been already shortened to 4 months. Studying at Emporia State University has been interesting and rewarding. Still it is so hard to study here, when all is new and you just feel like exploring. So much to see, so little time. So quickly has the time passed by and in a way I'm already afraid of going back. Even though Emporia is a small place, I've learned to treat is as my home and the people I 've met as my friends and classmates.

The warmth and friendliness of the local people have charmed me. For a person coming from a country of shy, quiet people the atmosphere in Emporia and in all the other cities I've been to is so much warmer, caring, helpful and nice. What is it with us people in Finland that we can't act like they do in here? Why are we so distant, not willing to talk and keep to ourselves so much? We ought to learn from the people living here in Kansas that it is not that frightening to ask how a person is doing or greet friendly. Of course we have our basic norms of good behaviour which we follow but they surely are stripped from all additional warmth. And of course there are exceptions to this rule; not all people are like I depict but, I feel, the overall look on life is so different compared to people living here that it is almost tangible.

I believe that if we Finns got more sunlight for a longer period of time than we do, we would also be more willing to smile, talk sweetly and reflect that sunlight to other people. How could I drag the sun to shine on us back there for a longer time? Our summer lasting from June to the end of August evidently isn't enough.

I on the other hand have always struggled against the stereotypical Finnish mentality. I'm mostly positive, happy, talkative and enjoy socializing with others. I think that is why I have enjoyed the atmosphere here so much. I might still have slight problems with adjusting myself to the small talk-culture because here it thrives and in Finland we don't have it, not at least in the same scale. At first I felt really awkward at the cashier while doing shopping somewhere, because I didn't know how specific answers to give when asked by the sales person "How are you?". In Finland we are used to giving longer, detailed answers when asked that; you usually don't cover that topic with a one-sentence reply but here I had to start learning how to answer briefly. " Fine thank you. How are you?" and then I would feel idiotic asking the same thing because who asks the sales person about their well-being? Well...once again I have to remind myself: "You are not in Finland; new country, new set of rules."

I think what bothers me about the small talk is the superficial aspect. Of course some people actually are interested in knowing how I'm doing but sometimes you might not even want to start explaining because you feel like there's no real interest there. Still, if I could bring the small talk culture to my country, I probably would. It makes you feel welcome for example in a store and you might end up telling an event that happened in your life that day that otherwise no one else probably wouldn't had heard. I'm going to enjoy the small talk as long as I can.

I think it's time to kick start this day and go explore some more. The time, for now, is up!

anniini.