SISU

At least according to Finnish-Americans, the Finnish national personality trait is “Sisu,” bullheadedness.  Vake and Milly called each other “the pig of a German” and a “bull-headed Finn.”

I would hear it in the vociferous arguments among the children of Eli and Sofia,namely my dad Vake and his siblings Gene, Sylvia and Johnnie. The Finnish word for “No” is “Ei,” which I heard pronounced as a long “A.” “Ei ,ei ,ei ,ei,” I would hear.

In English, the family arguments took a condescending tone.  Uncle John in particular would clear his throat before he spoke, then say, “No,” with an upward lilt at the end of the syllable that told you that he was about to inform you of the indisputable truth.

But it appears we come by it naturally. Eric Sampson (Gene-Arnold-Eric) says:

By total surprise, I was contacted today by a former roomate in Finland, a local named Arto Kiviharju ("Arthur Stoneridge" translated) who I had a good friendship with. He was a medical student who hailed from Alavus, like Eli. Even though we spoke English together, he knew right away I was "Alavuden," because I spoke with absolute authority on all subjects. Sound familiar? We laughed hard about that one.