Young Russians in Helsinki region stick together during free time
Teenagers united by common language and Russian values
By Teemu Kuusimurto
Russian pop music plays on Friday nights at the Grecia restaurant. The tables are covered with glasses containing fancy-looking cocktails, and Russian is the language that is heard. "We come here every week to dance and meat friends", says Margarita Sorokina, 19.
When Sorokina gets up to go to the dance floor, all men at the table stand up. "It's polite."
The restaurant, which is located in Katajanokka in Helsinki, starts filling up after midnight. The new arrivals shout out greetings to the bar, and men shake hands with everyone at each table.
The disco has more the appearance of a meeting of friends than a nightclub. "Helsinki is a small city. All of us know each other", Sorokina says.
There are more than 3,000 Russians aged 15 to 24 living in the Helsinki region. The number is growing by the hundreds every year. The Russian youth include both recent arrivals and those who have lived in Finland since childhood. Many of them attend Finnish schools and speak excellent Finnish, but they spend their free time exclusively with their Russian friends.
"There are so many of us in the Ressu High School that it was easy to build up a circle of friends on the basis of Russians alone. At work, nationality is not so important, however", says Olga Tatti , 25.
In her doctoral thesis on the language identity of Russian-speaking immigrant students, Sanna Iskanius has studied the attitudes and adaptation of the young Russians in Finland. Reasons for the small number of Finnish friends mentioned by the young people include language problems as well as differences in world views, character, and behaviour.
The Russian youth fall back on their own group to seek support for their Russian identity on the basis of their common origin, culture, way of thinking, and especially language.
"I am my own self with Russians", Tatti notes. Language and background are important in her circle of friends. "We have watched the same cartoons as children and listened to the same bands."
Cultural differences between Finnish and Russian young people can be seen on the level of everyday life. "We have been brought up to be Russian. Our basic values are different. Would any 23-year-old Finnish man visit his mother twice a week?" asks Aleksander Lioutik, 23.
Many Russian young people say they could never date a Finn. The reasons for this include cultural differences as well as different views of gender roles. "Finnish girls do come to Grecia to look for Russian guys who look like pop star Dima Bilan, says 32-year-old Mishell.
The youth organisation Alliance brings many young Russians in Finland together. It has about 100 active members. In the first years of the decade there were several Russian youth organisations, the largest of which was TOK, with 500 members.
"We needed an organised community which supported us in adapting to Finland, and helped us in everyday matters", says Maligna. Now there is not such a need, and especially those who came to Finland as children have done well. The Russian community in Helsinki is also so large that this helps adaptation as well.
Young Russians follow both the Finnish and Russian media. Russian websites are the most popular, and television and newspapers are watched and read in both languages.
"I don't watch Finnish war films. It feels strange to be the enemy", says Olga Koiverianine, 25. However, the young people do not long for a Russian language television channel in Finland.
"Having their own TV, Radio, and newspapers could lead to the isolation of the Russian community. This has happened in other European countries where there are large Russian minorities", notes Koiverianine.
So what do Russian young people want of Finland? "We have come here as guests. Finland owes us nothing. Helsinki is a good city to live in. If someone doesn't like it, he can leave", Lioutik says.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.1.2007
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 22.1.2008 - THIS WEEK |
 Young Russians in Helsinki region stick together during free time |
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