Hug me I'm a Finn

Yesterday I got back in Italy after my "winter" holiday in the Motherland. Mostly I spent my time in a horizontal position, as in laying on my ass on the couch watching TV, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I also met up with friends and "business partners" (sounds cooler than saying I met up with the dude who I do the radio spots for), went to the movies to watch the Hobbit (not a "granchè" as we here in Italy would say) and had my hair cut.

And I hugged people.

We Finns aren't natural huggers. We only do it when someone gets married or if someone dies (and in that case you hug the relatives of the deceased, not the dead dude in the coffin). Since I've been living abroad I've discovered that Finns also hug Finns who live in another country. Now, of course it's normal that my friends and family hug me when we see each other, or not, that's ok too, but I also get hugs from people who normally wouldn't hug me. Like my hair dresser. Or my bank lady (yes, I've been with the same bank all my life and yes they know me and my family very well and yes we occasionally hug each other). All because I live abroad.

Now, if I was to move to another city in Finland, and these people saw me twice a year (as they do now), I wouldn't be hugworthy. But since I live abroad and come home twice a year, I'm SO hugworthy. It's like going abroad means going in space and there's the possibility of no return.

I kinda like this new hugging-tradition. In Italy you get your traditional hug and two kisses even if you've been away for two days, so needless to say I've had my fair share of touchy-feely-stuff here, but now I also get the same thing in Finland. During my 3 years abroad I've been hugged more times than during my 30 years in Finland all together. It pays to live abroad eh?

We usually don't hug in my family. Still, when my parents came to see me off as I was leaving for Italy, they mustered up a nice 8 second hug each. That's something that some Finns don't get to experience in a whole life time. Of course since then the hugging has been toned down to 3 seconds and without the consoling back stroke, but still, the hugging goes on. Sometimes you need to go far to get close to someone.

My Italian friends are used to the fact that I'm the cold Finnish person who doesn't touch anyone. My favorite movie quote is from Dirty Dancing: "this is my dancing space, that is your dancing space". When a female friend of mine once accidentally touched my boob we made a huge deal out of it and I still sometimes ask her if she would like to cop a feel now that we've broken the ice. Still, I've come a long way from that Nordic girl who greeted people with rubber gloves and felt violated every time an Italian person landed that smooch on my cheek.

I'm a natural born hugger now.

Living abroad may not always be as miraculous as you'd wish, but by god it teaches you things that you can't learn otherwise. Not only does it open your eyes, but also the eyes of people near you. So go abroad people, travel, live, watch, learn, touch, taste, dare yourself, and see how it changes you. And you just might learn to hug.