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Home NATIONALYoung Finns changing themselves, says US envoy
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Wed, 15 Jul, 2015 01:25:03 AM
FTimes – STT Report, July 15
US ambassador Bruce Oreck spoke in a discussion at Pori on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Photo – Lehtikuva.
The ambassador of the United States to Finland,  Bruce Oreck is startled by European infatuation for the rear-view mirror in cars as well as in corporate life.

"What would be the perfect car? We (in the US) have one speed -- fast. Or fast and very fast. And the windows have to be big in order to see where you are going," Oreck said on Tuesday while speaking at the Suomi Areena event.

"How about in Europe? Here too, the cars have big engines, but the speed limit is really low," he said.
"There is always something in front which prevents the view, and the rear-view mirrors are very big," Oreck said adding, "Every time when you look back, it blocks the view in front."

The car comparison, according to Oreck, explains why US companies are dominating new markets in the digital age and the Europeans have not fared well.

"The Americans are not smarter, only faster," he stressed.

"And the Americans have (uprooted) the Europeans. It is about the environment," he said.

The Finnish, characterised Oreck, retain big love for rules and processes. "Stop that!" retorted the departing ambassador who at the end of his term is planning to lecture at Aalto University.

In the eyes of the American, the young people in Finland have changed compared to when he came to Helsinki in 2009.

"They stared at the shoe-tip and mumbled," he recalled."Now they come with their hands outstretched and introduce (themselves)," Oreck pointed out.
 
 
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