Yet again, a young guy breaks in a high school in Finland and start killing people with a shotgun. When it happens once, you can consider: bad luck. Then, it happens twice in just one year and you know that it is not a coincidence when this kind of events have never ever happened in any other European country. I wonder if Finns are aware of the great impact that this event has created in other European countries. In Spain, for instance, where Finland and Finnish culture are mostly unknown, all newspapers and talkshows on TV are trying to analyse why in Finland, a very developed country, a place which is considered as highly safe, can occur such tragic and violent happenings. "Firearms, alcohol and suicide: Finland the powder keg in Europe": that was the headline in one of the most read newspaper in Spain. I think that most people consider that the introspective Finnish society is responsible for these events. According to a psycologist, young people in Finland live mostly alone, with very limited or no contact at all with their families or friends. I know that sometimes in Finland families do not have very tight family relationships. Youngsters leave home when they are 18 or so and the contact with the family is rather infrequent and not very fluent, I would say. Another point is the type of family relationship when it exists: express feelings, giving kisses and hugs is extremely uncommon even between relatives and almost never seen when you are in front of somebody else, outside, in the streets...In the newspapers they reported that Finland has the highest teenager's suicide rate in Europe and these young people tend to be depressed and they have the feeling that they have been, in a way, left apart from their relatives. I can confirm that loneliness is something very, very common in this country. Students' flats are so different to any other students' flats in Europe. Finns make their living in their rooms and they hardly ever talk to you and they are sharing the same flat!!! It is not only my own experience, quite a lot of people could tell you exactely the same. There are so many differences between only-Finnish student's flats and international students's flats regarding contact and friendship!!! I can confirm this extent absolutely. Living in an international flat is like being in the "Friends" TV serial and the Finnish version is more like "28 Days Later" movie: impossible to find anybody and when you meet somebody, he/she seems to be affected by some kind of anti-socialise virus. Sometimes (mostly wednesdays or thursdays) "the others" appear at daylight, start drinking and the terror movie sharply turns to an Almodovar's movie for a while. Behind this funny comparison there's a steady truth: You can even be sick on the bed for several days or weeks and your flat mates will never go and ask if you need something. Sad to say and sad to admit but it is the truth. At the beginning you think that it is just that you are a foreigner and that you are not welcome or they just do not feel like speaking English. Then, you realise that it is nothing against you personally. They do not have contact between them neither and they will never expect nobody knocking their doors when they are sick: I guess that they have been raised to work out their problems themselves. So I was surprised when the killer's flat mates said that he was not solitary but an easy-going guy, quite normal...They were not surprised because probably they all behave similarly. According to Finnish standards, I believe he was a funny guy but probably he never talked more than two minutes to some of them.
But I want to clarify something: All Finns are not the same and you can find every kind of person in this country. To talk in general terms is sometimes tricky and unfair for those Finns who make efforts to know other people and socialise. On the other hand: Does it mean that all shy and very introvert Finns are potential killers???? Absolutely NO. I have always understood that the introspective attitute and the tendency to depression is just one of the many aspects of Finn's personality. Not the nicer but just one aspect of many others like sincerity and honesty. Yes, I do think that most Finns are what is usually called as "good people": they will never try to hurt you without any reason and dislike arguing (to save unecessary words ;-) and dislike creating conflicts. It is the truth: they might not create a wonderful atmosphere around you, full of nice words, politeness, laughing, hugs, kisses and caress but they won´t try to make your life complicated neither : that's what it takes not to talk at all ;-) Just joking. You really learn to appreciate that they are so respectful with your life and with your own space. And of course, you can mistake that respect with indifference, apathy or even antipathy (sometimes you find those also...). I still think, for instance, that Finland is much safer than Spain to raise a child. I would feel much more confortable having my child in a Finnish school than in a Spanish one. In the latter bullying is extremely common and cruel events between children are happening very often. I won't expect something like this to happenn in a Finnish school.
I am just wondering if this will happen again in Finland (regretfully, most experts think so) and if something can be done to avoid a new massacre. Finns should look within their own problems and customs and start removing those which could be related to these terrible events. Definitely, the problem is within the country. If the government and social powers are intelligent they should open their eyes and start analysing the Finnish society with a strong self-criticism. You hardly ever hear a Finn complaining about anything in Finland and believe me: the health-care system, the social services and the purchasing power, amogst others, are not as good as many people outside and inside Finland tend to think. In Spain we know which are our problems and we are critisizing our own country all the time. Actually, there is a saying: "if somebody's talking bad about Spain, then, that somebody is certainly Spanish". To admit your own problems and to be very critical and demanding is the only way to improve and develop. Alcoholic problems? Easy to buy a gun? Depressing problems? You need more than just beer, a gun and problems to kill 10 people. If the problem with Finn's new generation is related to the way Finns are raised and become adults, that need to be changed and for sure that it will change and it is changing right now. My colleages at University and most of the Finns that I know personally are nice, good people and I believe they raise their children with love and caress. However, it is not normal that in a developed country like this, it is not generally acceptable or even inappropriate to kiss in public but totally normal share your normal life with lots of alcoholic people (Finns can patiently wait several minutes until the alcoholic person find the way to pay the bus ticket as if nothing would be happening). Something is not going well in a society if you are criticized for kissing and hugging your girlfriend and politely tolerated if you are totally drunk. I try to collaborate in this issue and I think that Finland is in need of new blood and foreigners could be helpful in changing the current situation. Finland is now opened to the world but they should take advantage of positive customs from other European countries, not imitate the worst from USA. Get used to express feelings and get rid of ghosts from within. Change internet, computers and ipods by love, kisses and fucking, lots of crazy fucking. That is probably the real problem, but we´ll talk about that another day.
Thanks Kevin for your comment and your good point about the cover of the Metro newspaper the day after the killing: make tribute to an assassin is as sick as being an assassin. Is there any other stupid guy willing to be the starring of such a cool picture?
