Cultural happiness

In my previous text I wrote about what makes me happy, but now I will look into happiness in other countries. Because of the different cultures and the ways of living people do different things to relax and to be happy, or do they?

In Europe people are considered to be wealthy, healthy and happy. Because we have a good education and opportunities to follow a career so basically we have the future that we want. It gives us lots of opportunities but also lots of responsibilities. In a world that’s full of competition, how do we find time for ourselves and for our families? Here are some examples of how some families do it. 

When I was in Valencia, Spain for my family friend’s wedding I saw that people were the most happy with many people around them. We were in lots of parties where there were over fifty people and although they didn’t really speak any English, the warm, loud and happy atmosphere made me feel like I was a part of something. 

Couple years back I was in London and we visited again one of our family friends and they told us that what relaxes them the most is going to a pub after a long day of work. Unlike Finland apparently English pubs aren’t places where you go and get drunk and forget about the world. It is a place where you meet your friends and just hang out and relax for a bit.

The first time I went to Paris was about five years ago. We went there with our orchestra and me and my two friends stayed with this French Family. The family’s house was so close to the Eiffel Tower that we walked every night to the view point wearing our pyjamas to see the lights. But that wasn’t the point. One night we came home very late after a concert and I remember how the parents were watching a movie on this big screen and they had a bottle of wine and different kind of cheeses and grapes and other amazing foods.

Last year we were in California and that was the first time I went out of Europe. Again we met our friends there and they told us that the most relaxing thing is to sit with the whole family watch a good movie and eat popcorn, but they also do lots of activities together as a family even thought the oldest children are already moved out. They liked to go hiking, swimming, camping etc.

I know some of these stories sound kind of stereotypical, and these were just certain examples of families. I am still sure that the culture does affect what we do to relax or how we like to spend our time. Happiness is different for everybody but the important thing is to find the person or thing what makes you happy and to respect other's way of thinking.