北歐國(guó)家向來(lái)在人類(lèi)發(fā)展指數(shù)、性別平等、社會(huì)福利待遇等方面在世界范圍內(nèi)名列前茅。

但如果有“社恐指數(shù)”這回事，它們可能也會(huì)拔得頭籌。

傳聞?wù)f1987年以前，冰島每個(gè)周四都沒(méi)有電視可以看，因?yàn)檎Ｍ藗兌喑鋈ド缃弧?/p>

也是，寒天凍地的，誰(shuí)愿意沒(méi)事兒在外頭溜達(dá)啊，得用政策工具把人們逼出去才行。

Thursdays in Iceland were traditionally a day to connect with family and friends. This may sound strange, but until 1987, there was no TV broadcast in Iceland on a Thursday.

冰島的星期四傳統(tǒng)上來(lái)說(shuō)是與家人和朋友聯(lián)絡(luò)感情的日子。聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能有點(diǎn)奇怪，但1987年之前，冰島都沒(méi)有周四的電視轉(zhuǎn)播。

It’s believed that this came from a desire not to have a nation filled with TV-addicted zombies. As a result, many Icelanders born before 1987 joke that they were most likely conceived on a Thursday.

人們認(rèn)為這是因?yàn)檫@個(gè)國(guó)家不能全都變成沉迷電視的僵尸。因此，許多1987年以前出生的冰島人都開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)，他們很有可能是在星期四被懷上的。

還有一種說(shuō)法是，不止周四，過(guò)去有段時(shí)間中整個(gè)7月份都是沒(méi)有電視可以看的。

If you were to visit Iceland in 1966, you would have noticed that nothing was shown on the country’s only state-run television station on Thursdays. The idea behind the decision was to reserve Thursdays as a day for socializing.

如果你1966年去冰島，就會(huì)注意到冰島唯一的國(guó)營(yíng)電視臺(tái)在星期四不會(huì)播放任何節(jié)目。這個(gè)決定背后的想法是把星期四定為社交日。

The ban expanded to the month of July when it was decided that nothing would be shown on television during the whole month. As July was considered a vacation month, it was also expected for locals to spend their days outdoors. Luckily the Thursday ban ended in 1983 while the July ban lasted until 1987.

隨后，禁令擴(kuò)大到整個(gè)7月份，當(dāng)時(shí)決定在整個(gè)7月內(nèi)都不在電視上播放任何節(jié)目，因?yàn)?月被視為休假月，當(dāng)?shù)厝艘蚕Ｍ趹?hù)外度過(guò)這個(gè)月。幸運(yùn)的是，周四的禁令在1983年結(jié)束，而7月份的禁令一直持續(xù)到1987年。

這些可能都只是人們的猜測(cè)。不過(guò)，北歐人民的社交距離的確一直是被調(diào)侃的對(duì)象。比方說(shuō)，芬蘭就常常被人稱(chēng)為“社恐福音”。

Certain things you do at one place are totally OK and understood. You do the same thing in another place and it does not come through at all or it might even be totally misunderstood.

某個(gè)地方的習(xí)俗在當(dāng)?shù)厥峭耆珱](méi)問(wèn)題的，但一旦到了另一個(gè)地方，就行不通甚至?xí)煌耆`解。

1 排隊(duì)隔老遠(yuǎn)

To start with an easy one: personal space. Finns respect the personal space of each other a lot. You might have seen this funny picture already about Finns waiting at the bus stop.

就拿個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的說(shuō)：私人空間。芬蘭人非常尊重彼此的私人空間。你可能已經(jīng)看過(guò)這張關(guān)于芬蘭人在公共汽車(chē)站等車(chē)的照片了，真的很有趣。

2 對(duì)話(huà)別對(duì)視

People do not like to make eye contact with strangers and, even when talking to friends and family, constant eye contact is not very common. It might be a sign of rudeness in other cultures not to look each other in the eye when talking—in Finland it is simply just the opposite.

人們不喜歡與陌生人進(jìn)行眼神交流，即使在與朋友和家人交談時(shí)，持續(xù)的眼神交流也不常見(jiàn)。在其他文化中，交談時(shí)不直視對(duì)方的眼睛可能是粗魯?shù)谋憩F(xiàn)——在芬蘭，情況恰恰相反。

If you are standing too close to someone while talking you will notice that the other person is trying to get a bit further from you. You should notice and respect it and leave as much personal space for the other person so that he or she can feel comfortable.

如果你說(shuō)話(huà)時(shí)站得離某人太近，你會(huì)注意到對(duì)方會(huì)試圖離你更遠(yuǎn)一點(diǎn)。你應(yīng)該注意并尊重這一點(diǎn)，給對(duì)方留下盡可能多的私人空間，讓他/她感到舒適。

3 動(dòng)口別動(dòng)手

Also, touching strangers while talking to them might feel awkward to the other person. In more southern cultures it is acceptable, for example, to tap someone`s shoulder or hold his arm for a second as a sign of sympathy.

另外，與陌生人交談時(shí)碰到他們可能會(huì)讓對(duì)方感到尷尬。在很多歐洲南部的文化中，輕拍對(duì)方的肩膀或握一下對(duì)方的手臂表示共情是可以接受的。

In Finland, for most people physical contact while talking even among friends is not so common. Finns do not give kisses on the cheek when greeting each other. Mostly the greeting is saying hi or shaking hands (even with women). People who know each other and are friends or family greet each other with a hug.

不過(guò)在芬蘭，對(duì)大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)，即使是朋友之間交談，身體接觸也不常見(jiàn)。芬蘭人互相問(wèn)候時(shí)不會(huì)親吻臉頰。大多數(shù)的問(wèn)候就是打打招呼或者握手（哪怕是問(wèn)候女性）?；ハ嘀g認(rèn)識(shí)的朋友或家人問(wèn)候時(shí)會(huì)擁抱。

4 隱私別探問(wèn)

People do not talk about their salaries or financial status and it is very uncommon (and sometimes even considered rude) to ask even friends about how much they earn. It is simply considered a part of their personal space. No one comments about each other’s appearance or clothes unless it is something positive or someone asks for an opinion.

芬蘭人不會(huì)談?wù)撍麄兊男剿蚪?jīng)濟(jì)狀況，甚至連朋友之間都很少見(jiàn)問(wèn)對(duì)方掙多少錢(qián)。這是個(gè)人空間的一部分。也沒(méi)有人評(píng)價(jià)對(duì)方的外表或者衣著，除非是積極的評(píng)論或者是對(duì)方在認(rèn)真地征求意見(jiàn)。

In the same way, it is totally unacceptable to ask married friends or couples about if and when they want to have children and how many of them they want. The logic behind this is that people will tell things themselves anyways if they want to talk about them. A lot of unwritten social rules in the Finnish society represent the principle of “Live and Let Live”.

同樣，詢(xún)問(wèn)已婚的朋友或情侶是否會(huì)要孩子、想什么時(shí)候生孩子、以及想生幾個(gè)孩子是完全不可以接受的。這背后的邏輯是，如果人們真的想談?wù)撨@些事情的話(huà)，他們反正都會(huì)說(shuō)的。芬蘭社會(huì)有許多不成文的社會(huì)規(guī)矩，而且都代表著這樣一個(gè)原則：各自安好，別管閑事。

5 心情自己知

Finns tend to keep to themselves and not discuss their personal life. Talking about feelings is seen as socially unacceptable. Only the very necessary is uttered. When Finns receive a gift, they will very briefly thank the gift-giver but are not expected to tell whether they like the gift or not.

芬蘭人喜歡自己待著，也不太談?wù)撍麄兊膫€(gè)人生活。在社交場(chǎng)合傾訴情緒被認(rèn)為是不可接受的。一般只在非常必要的情況下才表露情緒。當(dāng)芬蘭人收到禮物時(shí)，他們會(huì)非常簡(jiǎn)短地感謝送禮人，但不會(huì)告訴他們自己是否喜歡這個(gè)禮物。

This type of behavior is often seen as sullen by Central Europeans and easily mistaken for unfriendliness. Finns rarely smile or laugh, and for this reason, they are often seen as hostile by more sophisticated folks.

這種行為常被中歐人認(rèn)為對(duì)方是在生悶氣，很容易被誤認(rèn)為不友好。而且芬蘭人也很少微笑或大笑，因此，世故的人也經(jīng)常覺(jué)得芬蘭人有敵意。

另外，芬蘭的性別平等狀況也經(jīng)常被拿來(lái)討論。

There is a high degree of equality between the genders in Finland, as can be seen in the relatively high number of women holding advanced positions in politics and other areas of society.

芬蘭的性別平等程度很高，在政治和社會(huì)其他領(lǐng)域擔(dān)任高級(jí)職務(wù)的女性人數(shù)相對(duì)較多。

Chauvinistic or patronizing attitudes toward women are generally considered unacceptable, although such attitudes do persist in practice. Women are usually independent financially and may offer to pay their share of a restaurant bill, for instance. A man may politely refuse such an offer, but it is equally polite to accept it.

大男子主義或者性別傲慢通常是不可接受的，雖說(shuō)這種事情在現(xiàn)實(shí)中也確實(shí)存在。女性通常經(jīng)濟(jì)獨(dú)立，她們也愿意吃飯后AA。男性一般會(huì)禮貌地表示愿意請(qǐng)客，但跟女性AA同樣也是禮貌和可接受的。

芬蘭的這些特質(zhì)經(jīng)常被歸結(jié)為氣候因素的影響——道路結(jié)冰，人們不愿出門(mén)社交；空氣太冷，講話(huà)要短要快要精煉；極夜太長(zhǎng)，要少加班，多福利，等等。

芬蘭的鄰居瑞典和挪威也或多或少分享了這些特點(diǎn)。

想一想，不需要無(wú)謂社交，也挺讓人動(dòng)心的。

Notes

sympathy /?s?mp?θi/ n贊同；支持

utter /??t?r/ v出聲；說(shuō)；講

sullen /?s?l?n/ adj面有慍色的；悶悶不樂(lè)的

sophisticated /s??f?st?ke?t?d/ adj見(jiàn)多識(shí)廣的；老練的

chauvinistic /???v(?)?n?st?k/ adj沙文主義的（此處指認(rèn)為某一性別優(yōu)于另一性別的）

patronizing / ?pe?tr?na?z?? / adj自認(rèn)為高人一等的

編輯：陳月華

來(lái)源：guide to iceland; the culture trip; word press; nordicrpg