Improving the World... One Interaction At A Time.
A Performers Guide to Cultural Interactions
By William Draven
As an actor at a major motion picture studio, and theme park in Hollywood, as well as a magician I frequently get the opportunity to entertain for from all over the world. A year ago or so a document was released within our entertainment department that outlined different countries, and some good information you can use to create meaningful, lasting encounters with their people.
I immediately saw the advantage of this information for the magician community because what are we if not entertainers? We can use just about any tool at our disposal to help create that one magic moment with our audience that can make it even that much more memorable. So I got permission to share the information with you. Of course this project will take some time to post up, so I'll be updating this based upon two factors. The first being how well received, and appreciated it is from you the community, and the second how relevant the community feels this information is as applied to their lives. That is to say if not encouraged, I won't keep it up. Otherwise, I'll post new threads titled: "Improving The World: {country name}" that that specific file relates to.
Without any further delay, I bring you our next country: Finland
Country: Finland
Continental Location: Northern Europe
What They Call Themselves: Finss, Finnish
Primary Language: Finnish
Secondary Language: Swedish
Prominent Cities: Helsinki [capital], Espoo, Vantaa
Currency: The Euro
Starter Phrases:
Hello: Terve!
Goodbye: Heippa
Pleased to meet you: Hauska tutustua
Thank you: Kiitos
You’re Welcome: Tervetuloa
Cultural Notes:
Prominent People/ Celebrities: Esa-Pekka Salonen (Former music director & conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic); Teemu Selanne (pronounced TAY-Moo Se-LAH-nay, hocky plaer, Anaheim Ducks, nicknamed the “Finnish Flash”); Tarja Halonen (President of Finland. She subsequently appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian”).
-Men’s National Hocky team won the Silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
-1952 Summer Olympics were hosted by Helsinki.
-Finland was part of Russia until 1809. The region called Scandinavia includes Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.
-Lapland, the northern most portion of Finland, is above the Artic Circle. The aurora borealis is visible from there. Finnish Lapland is also the legendary home of St. Nicholas A.k.a. Santa Claus. Reindeer are native to Finland!
-In Finnish, the country is actually called “Suomi.” Suomi is pronounced S’WHOA-mee.
-Finland is the home of the sauna. Saunas are small steam rooms, bathhouses, or hothouses used to create hot, humid conditions. It is a cultural no-no to talk while in a Finnish sauna.
-Shipbuilding is a major industry and many of the world’s biggest cruise ships are constructed in Finland.
-Nokia is a prominent Finnish communications & electronics company. It’s NOT Japanese!
-Author JRR Tolkien based many of his made-up languages of Middle Earth on Finnish (as well as olde English).
-All Sundays are official holidays in this heavily Lutheran country. Businesses are not allowed to open on Sundays except during summer months.
-During summer in Finland, the daylight lasts 20 hours.
-Scandinavia and the World is a popular web satire/comic by author Humon which prominently features a character from/representing Finland.
What To Avoid:
Jokes about food. Finland is known for its lack of cuisine and is frequently on the receiving end of jokes from other European countries and their leaders.
A Performers Guide to Cultural Interactions
By William Draven
As an actor at a major motion picture studio, and theme park in Hollywood, as well as a magician I frequently get the opportunity to entertain for from all over the world. A year ago or so a document was released within our entertainment department that outlined different countries, and some good information you can use to create meaningful, lasting encounters with their people.
I immediately saw the advantage of this information for the magician community because what are we if not entertainers? We can use just about any tool at our disposal to help create that one magic moment with our audience that can make it even that much more memorable. So I got permission to share the information with you. Of course this project will take some time to post up, so I'll be updating this based upon two factors. The first being how well received, and appreciated it is from you the community, and the second how relevant the community feels this information is as applied to their lives. That is to say if not encouraged, I won't keep it up. Otherwise, I'll post new threads titled: "Improving The World: {country name}" that that specific file relates to.
Without any further delay, I bring you our next country: Finland
Country: Finland
Continental Location: Northern Europe
What They Call Themselves: Finss, Finnish
Primary Language: Finnish
Secondary Language: Swedish
Prominent Cities: Helsinki [capital], Espoo, Vantaa
Currency: The Euro
Starter Phrases:
Hello: Terve!
Goodbye: Heippa
Pleased to meet you: Hauska tutustua
Thank you: Kiitos
You’re Welcome: Tervetuloa
Cultural Notes:
Prominent People/ Celebrities: Esa-Pekka Salonen (Former music director & conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic); Teemu Selanne (pronounced TAY-Moo Se-LAH-nay, hocky plaer, Anaheim Ducks, nicknamed the “Finnish Flash”); Tarja Halonen (President of Finland. She subsequently appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian”).
-Men’s National Hocky team won the Silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
-1952 Summer Olympics were hosted by Helsinki.
-Finland was part of Russia until 1809. The region called Scandinavia includes Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.
-Lapland, the northern most portion of Finland, is above the Artic Circle. The aurora borealis is visible from there. Finnish Lapland is also the legendary home of St. Nicholas A.k.a. Santa Claus. Reindeer are native to Finland!
-In Finnish, the country is actually called “Suomi.” Suomi is pronounced S’WHOA-mee.
-Finland is the home of the sauna. Saunas are small steam rooms, bathhouses, or hothouses used to create hot, humid conditions. It is a cultural no-no to talk while in a Finnish sauna.
-Shipbuilding is a major industry and many of the world’s biggest cruise ships are constructed in Finland.
-Nokia is a prominent Finnish communications & electronics company. It’s NOT Japanese!
-Author JRR Tolkien based many of his made-up languages of Middle Earth on Finnish (as well as olde English).
-All Sundays are official holidays in this heavily Lutheran country. Businesses are not allowed to open on Sundays except during summer months.
-During summer in Finland, the daylight lasts 20 hours.
-Scandinavia and the World is a popular web satire/comic by author Humon which prominently features a character from/representing Finland.
What To Avoid:
Jokes about food. Finland is known for its lack of cuisine and is frequently on the receiving end of jokes from other European countries and their leaders.