Hi jrslv,
I can offer my rambling thoughts ... which could be quite the opposite to other views ...
Sometimes I think I am more of a Finn than my wife is.
We spend about 2 months, or longer, per year in Suomi. When we arrive, and for the duration of the trip, the people I know there will not stop talking, and they are Finns. Entire day, talk, talk, talk ... mostly the women, but do not rule out the men as well ... even people we see on the street stop and talk 10-20 minutes, when the only thing I want to do is get going! I say in my mind, "Voi v***u, another one". My wife's aunt is non-stop talking machine, as soon as I see her, until we are out the door ... but I do have to say, I think it has helped my Finnish comprehension by a long mile, considering I get the gist of most conversations (after the first week headache has worn off from the overload). Sometimes I have understood every word in a conversation, and I say "Hallelujah".
On the other side of preconceived notions, I find a lot a negativity, a lot. We bought a new house, and someone we know said, that is such a lonely place (thought they have never been there), so I said to my wife, "We should just all go kill ourselves then."
In group conversations, most things are positive, unless we are talking about the darkness or winter time. Our relatives are a constant barrage of "the sky is falling", and "we should just crawl into a corner and die." I almost find it comical now.
One thing I have noticed, our cousins have small children, and when they were say, 1-3 years, they were very out-going, and very talkative. We come back one year later, and I joke not, these children seem like the life has been sucked out of them, do not look you in the eye, and are practically silent. I thought it might have just been this particular family. We go visit two other family, with children the same age, same thing ... my wife was even shocked. My wife read a paper (do not know where), that says Northern European families (including England), put there kids down tremendously, so they do not think they are "special". I concur, as I see that in my brother-in-law and father-in-law relationship (and previously when my wife interacted with her parents). Constant berating if anything good is accomplished. btw, not saying all families are like this, just the ones I have had a continuing interaction with over the years.
I will say, the Fazer chocolate, coffee, and TV time help tremendously, as well as long walks outside. I like going there, I guess I have become accustomed to everything.
.