I'm ok.

I wonder: is the concept of Finnish politeness changing? We've usually taken pride in being honest (blunt) people. It is totally acceptable to reply "I'm not too great today" to "How are you". But lately, I've noticed I've started to reply "I'm ok" even though in fact I've been practically on the top of the world for the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't wish to lose my ability to be straightforward (though it is a little frightening when, after knowing a person for only a few hours, they ask you for "an honest opinion since you always speak your mind"!).

On the other hand, maybe it's more about the very Finnish way of not bragging. "Tears from a lot of laughter" is definitely a Finnish rule-of-thumb... Similarly we seem to put special importance to sports and other events that we're relatively bad at: soccer, icehockey, formula1, Eurovision. Losing becomes a matter of national unity. The occasional victory makes us confused but soon we say "well, that just proved the point".

Oh joy. It's interesting to see oneself living up to some of these stereotypical characteristics.