Observations From an Ordinary Life

The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York's recurrent essay series, FCINY Observations, presents cultural commentary at the intersection of Finnish and New York perspectives. 

A bit over five ordinary months spent in NYC. When I look forward, I see Helsinki clearly. So it is a good moment to observe in both directions. What has happened, what did I learn? The Knicks won a championship, a lot of wars kept happening, and I watched Sex and the City for the millionth time (when in New York…).

New York City is full of busy people. So I've become one of them, and you'll get my last observations as a long, slightly elaborate list. Suits the city.

Helsinki is soooo small. Oh my. Might as well call it a town from now on. And don't get me wrong, this is not a hate comment! Just a remark from the comparison. I think I already know everything in Helsinki. In NYC, I think I could live forever without figuring everything out. I'm a small town girl I guess, since I can’t wait to get back! I want to stand in Puistokatu (a street in the city centre of Helsinki) underneath all the old trees without really seeing anybody, since it is so calm there.

Doing my laundry, while living in New York, was a task I had to add to my calendar for it to happen. In Helsinki, almost everybody has either their own laundry machines, or a convenient, usually free, laundromat in their building. So when it is made so easy, you just do it on the side of life's other hustle. I think it makes doing the laundry somehow even more stressful, since you don't reserve a specific time for it. In New York, I did my laundry on a day off. You can turn it into a pleasant routine, and you cannot speed it up. I would either read a book at the laundromat waiting for my clothes, or go to the cafe next to it. At those moments I was present in my life. Cozy!

In NYC, everything is far away. I've lived in Ridgewood, so I've gotten used to having to commute almost an hour everywhere. In that same time I could already have gone from Helsinki to Lahti. I knew beforehand that I'd be pretty used to commuting long distances, since I've lived in Helsinki while studying in Lahti. But I used to complain about the distance so much (and skipped school often). In New York, I read a book or stared at other people in the metro, not bothered by it. In Helsinki, I might schedule meetings back to back, assuming everything is a short trip away. In New York, I got to settle down in between places. I hope I get to keep my relationship with commuting and times, because I dream about having the time to walk to work. It would only be like 40 minutes, but before, I wouldn't have time for it and I took the shortcut: the Helsinki tram.

Work culture seems to be overall different here. I can't say much, since my workplace has been the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, which mostly follows Finland's legislation and ways of working. But from our program partners I've picked up one huge difference: summer vacations. In New York, things get done in the summer too, a shocker! In Finland, the spirit is “let's get back to this in September.” I cannot say this is unequivocally a good thing. I like summer holidays. But I have noticed it myself as an irritation, that from the beginning of June through September nothing really moves forward as it should in Finnish working life, because someone on the team is always away and decisions cannot be made. It only takes one team member being away for the team to be incomplete. And in winter we are, understandably, inefficient too, because it is pitch black dark and everyone is tired. Should the summer holiday be moved to winter? We could live like Moomins and hibernate. Please do not send me hate mail.

Odd behaviour is normal in New York. I noticed I was more relaxed here. I dressed however and jammed to my music shamelessly in public places. With clothes and identity created by dressing up, I can see how this place could have the opposite effect to the one it's had on me. If you want to stand out in any way, you really have to try twice as hard to create the impression that in Finland comes easily with reasonably stylish dressing.

In New York, I am no one to anyone, and I can be anyone. The thought is partly freeing, but also frightening. In Helsinki, the context is already there. Not because I am anyone famous, but because the city, the town, is small enough that your style, your way of being, and the people you know are all read as one picture. If I wear a feminine dress with my hiking Crocs, people in Helsinki read the combination as a statement. They share enough references to take it as a comment, or a joke, about a certain way of seeing things, even if no one could say exactly what. Here those references do not carry the same way, because the cultural context is so much wider, and nobody reads my outfit as a statement at all. That is partly a relief and partly a loss. You can find the small city effect here too, of course, if you move in a narrow enough world, like the commercial art scene where the same faces keep circling.

In New York, no one shows up anywhere if it looks like it might rain that day. I carried a raincoat if it looked likely, and my readiness for rain was laughed at. I do not know whether the dogs here have litter boxes, because the same poodles do not appear on the streets on rainy days, even though on sunny days they are out parading.

The water is different. It tastes different and it acts differently, I guess since it has more chlorine and other particles in it. My hair has to be washed twice and it never dries.

NYC is noisy. You get used to it, but you notice it especially in two instances: 1. When you speak out loud and suddenly you cannot be heard anymore, because of a train passing by. 2. When you leave the city. I went on a road trip to North Carolina and relaxed immediately.

America is beautiful and it is wild. When I was on my roadtrip, I tried to see “the real America.” I found a rodeo with a gun raffle and great hiking trails on beautiful mountains. (There are no mountains in Finland, only hills.) I listened to “country roads, take me home” a thousand times and excluding the gun raffle, really saw why the States are so precious.

After 10 states, Rosalía and Peso Pluma concerts in MSG, gallery openings, a couple of Emergency Alerts on my phone (those are not a thing in Finland), 3 hypnosis sessions, Planet Fitness (counts as a culture experience), Swedish midsummer festival, amazing Mexican seafood, countless matchas and many flus survived (probably caught them from the Subway), I can say that I am eternally grateful for it all and wish that many young professionals dare to leave for another part of the world for a bit. It is refreshing.

Mimosa Tast
29.6.2026