I agree with some of Peter's points. And also would like to add that Hank is one of the most helpful persons on this forum, no matter what your nationality is. As a Finn he has had to put up with a lot of Finland bashing, but this has not deterred him from helping all of us out.
Having said that, I would like to respond to Hank's comments.
As for the prostitution camps in Northern Finland... It sounds kind of wild, but just because the Finns can't believe it, doesn't mean they don't exist. It is worth the investigation. (It might have been a Dutch business idea
)
As for the housewives. If that's what they want to do and their families are happy with it, let them be. One can say equally bad things about Finnish couples wanting to keep everything separate, not want to have joint bank accounts, parents not being there for their children. Actually, in Finland both partners need to work to be able to pay the bills. Both arrangements have their up-sides and down-sides.
Finally, I see a lot of America-bashing in Europe, even anti-Americanism. My girlfriend is a Finn who grew up in The States, in Florida even
. I have met many Americans in the last 6 years, some are nice, some are not. Some are smart, some are not. Some are ignorant, some are not. Just like any other group of people / nationality / cultural background. And that includes the Finns. I have met many Finns I like and many I don't like. I have met some real Finnish "juntit" over the years that definately score high in the category stupid and ignorant. The same goes for the Brits, the Dutch, the French and the Germans I've met.
My point is, it doesn't make sense to generalize based on nationality or any other common denominator for that matter. It is good to be critical, but stereotyping doesn't help.
/Jeroen