What I Learned about Nudity at a High School Graduation Party In Finland

Me (far right) with the party attendees in the yard of the villa in Oulu. Courtesy: Ike Nykänen

There is this country in the north of Europe where it is almost a nightmare for the people to strike up a conversation with strangers, but taking clothes off around each other is a piece of cake.

Nudity is not something you ‘tolerate’ here; it is something very natural, something you accept as part of who you are as a human being.

Welcome to Finland.

Recently, I attended the high school graduation party of my friend, Halla, in the northern Finnish city of Oulu. I also interviewed her for my 2017 ‘Finnishness’ project, which you can read here:

‘Everybody Should Be Feminist Because Feminism Means EQUALITY’ [Finland 100/Suomi 100]

I have this insatiable curiosity about Finnish people, their culture, their way of life and Finnishness in general. So when I got Halla’s invitation a few months back, I knew that I would certainly be attending.

Halla rented a beautiful wooden old villa in the tranquil district of Hietasaari for the event and I was the only foreigner (and also the only non-Finnish speaker) there. There were over 20 people, mostly young…