Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia. Really.
Area: total: 338,145 sq km (which is slightly smaller than Montana)
Border countries: Norway, Sweden, Russia
Climate: Summer is Warm and Sunny and the winter is Bloody Cold.
Terrain: Flat as a pancake.
Population: 5,2 million (which is about five times as much as in Montana)
As everyone knows, there are some particular things to know about a country and it's inhabitants. If you want to get the whole nine yards, Virtual Finland is the place to start. It has a huge amount of information in it, mostly useful stuff, from the point of "Finland in general". Visitors coming to Finland looking for Juha/Aino will profit from the comprehensive Lonely Planet's Finland-guide, with facts and figures and information on real life and answers to real questions and not all this "maybe" and "in theory" -type of stuff.
Whether you are interested in Finns in general or an explanation on particular person's behaviour, Johanna Laakso's excellent clarification on the subject might help you a lot. In it you'll find reasons for many questions usually arising from a situation in which a Finn has left you puzzled.
If you have something to you want know about Finnish sex life, there is an exerpt from the book "Sexual Pleasures" by Elina Haavio-Mannila and Osmo Kontula available. Sadly, with no pictures, but hard scientific data. Those of you who've read that one might be interested in some pointless stats when still considering "will Juha/Aino be the perfect mate for me?". Also people interested in Finnish women in particular might want to read through the Finnish Maiden. Again, sadly, with no pictures. Don't you just hate pages with just text and no pictures?
Before heading over to Finland, be sure to check the handy alternative online dictionary. This one will help you to reach a better understanding especially when dealing with young(er) Finns. And later on, as you have become fluent with the basics, there is of course an online-grammar of Finnish. In Finnish, which is kinda reasonable. In a way, it is.
Finns are not overtly talkative, usually all you'll get are grunts and very short replies to no matter how long questions. On overall people talk english rather well so you need not to worry about not being understood. It's just that most people here feel that a grunt is as good an answer as any. Really, try it. "Have you eaten your breakfast?" - "Hrmph". "How about you give me half of your salary?" - "Hrmph". See now?
Finns are not keen on small talk, and an expression of feelings or strong emotions may be received with just a blank stare. This, however, doens't mean that the person you are dealing with would not appreciate it: It just is received like that. There generally is no "compliment-return compliment" -policy in Finnish communication. For good examples, see a Kaurismäki movie, you'll get the picture. There's an excellent reference site called Siunattu Teknologia for those of you not familiar with the director.
Still not certain? If you want to meet Finns online, you've easily set. Being a technologically enthusiastic country almost half of the population are internet users (2.65 million in 2002). All the usual mediums are in constant use, and you're well off using IRC (which is of Finnish origins, btw) or any of the instant messengers. Well, maybe not AOL but that goes without saying.
Not an IRC-wizard? No problem. All you need is a browser and the newest shockwave-plugin, and you're good to go. An easy way to meet Finns online is the Habbo Hotel, where online people are represented as 2cm-tall pixel dudes which can subsequently talk with other 2cm-tall pixel dudes. Doesn't this sound like fun? Anyway, Habbo's Finnish menus might distract you first, so a handy place to practice is the american version of Hotel Habbo. Why there? The technology used is Finnish.
Meeting Finns the old-school -way, that is to say offline, in real life™, has been known to occur a lot in bars and clubs. Finns refer to "going out" as "going to a bar or a club" as we seldom have suitable weather for continuos beach-parties and everybody is thus used to this.
Finns generally have a strange sense of humor and are social, if not extrovertly so, after a few drinks. People interested in more traditional (or generally older) Finns are sure to find us at any traditional festival, dancing waltz and polka. Also, older Finns abroad in mediterranean countries can be easily recognized by the worn-out bermuda-shorts combined with a handy waist-bag and grandpa's sunglasses.
And let's not forget the important one: A few of you really know what to do in a sauna, let alone what a sauna is. So here's a clarification from Michael Cancar's excellent sauna-site.
When you're done with your with the stuff above, you might want to read some recent remarks about travellers who've been to Finland.
The usual picture is that Finns are able to drink a bottle of vodka and stand up straight. Or that we're constantly drunk whenever we can, when not working. And, depending, while working.
This is both true and untrue. Drinking is stereotypically considered to be the social norm, and it is not considered an really weird to be overtly drunk at the office party and throw up in your bosses handbag. It is, of course, incredibly stupid but it's not weird.
Since people usually drink a lot, they tend to start early. And as they drink a lot for all their lives, it usually means that people have a good(ish) tolerance to alcohol. So yes, on many occasions you'll find people who actually can drink a bottle of vodka and stand up straight. For awhile, at least.
Finns are known to be drinkers who don't even know what "social drinking" and "personal limits" mean. Social drinking is sometimes consired to be the occasion when a group of people get really drunk together, just sitting down somewhere and concentrating on the drinking. On the other hand, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Most Finns drink with reason and just to enjoy themselves, I've been told.
The drinking issue is usually not so very much different from every other country's habits. Finns have just a remarkable talent on behaving incredibly stupidly while abroad, and this makes the idea visible in itself, and leads to people thinking that all Finns always behave like this.