When I publish a new comic, there's always that one comment that seems to pop up. "Not only in Finland". Because almost all of my pictures have this kind of comment in their comment section, it's reasonable to question if Finnish Nightmares are truly only about Finnish people.



And, obviously, they are not. You cannot pinpoint a behavior or personality type to one country or group of people in a way that "Only Finns are introverted" or "Only British people drink tea".



Why then call these comics Finnish Nightmares and not "Global Introvert Nightmares".



Well, I see it that some traits that are present with introverts are also present in Finnish culture and code of conduct, such as giving a lot of personal space both physically and mentally, and Matti is a stereotypical Finn who respects these codes of conduct and tries to live by them the best he can.



As I see it, being "Matti" is a global thing, but also it's very common to encounter this kind of situations in Finland.



And of course, not every Finn is like Matti. Like not every British person enjoys a good cuppa tea :)



- Karoliina





