There's an unspoken code we building residents all adhere to in Finland: Keep quiet in the hallways and don't loiter there. Keep common areas tidy. Post complaints on the general noticeboard instead of singling someone out by name or apartment number (we once received a printed complaint about noise through our mail slot that specifically stated it was not given only to our apartment, but to all apartments, and was not addressed to anyone in particular but was written in hopes that the noisemaker would recognize his/her behavior in the note's description and adjust accordingly). (I probably should write a blog post about this because it turned out that WE were the noisemakers.) And to the best of your ability, avoid meeting each other in the hallway. If you do happen upon a neighbor in the hallway, go ahead and greet them, but keep it short. NO CHIT-CHAT IN THE HALLWAYS.
My parents are visiting us right now and we've been breaking the code in small ways throughout their time here. Mostly, we chat in the hallways. Not, like, loitering, but on our way to and from wherever, we talk, using words, out loud. I realize it's against the code, but my parents' visit is temporary and sometimes my Americanness gets the better of me.
Yesterday, though, we demolished the code. Our poor neighbor. The setup was this: we'd been playing in the park where there is a small pool, so Sterling was barefoot with only tiny swim trunks on. He was also filthy, because of the park and also because of the lollipop he'd eaten. My parents and I had gone to the grocery store, so street-urchin-looking Sterling and us waited for the elevator to come, laden down with massive shopping bags and chatting (probably loudly). Basically, the four of us were taking up a ton of literal and social space.
The elevator door opened at our floor to reveal a youngish Finnish man whose eyes were already wide at the sound of us talking so loudly. Before he could recover himself and leave the elevator, Sterling ran in and fell flat on his face, causing us to exclaim loudly and try to help him in addition to our chatting and grocery bag-holding. That man just edged himself out of the elevator, still with a look of surprise and shock on his face. He did not say hello. He did not react to Sterling falling down. He did not acknowledge the horrific tableau in front of him. He just fled the scene. I don't blame him.
Finnish Neighbor Code Fail.