The term "Amis" comes from the
Finnish word "Ammattiopisto" - vocational institute, which is one of the choices of
education after the finnish comprehensive school. "Amis" is generally considered as s social status and a special kind of youth-
culture that really isn't that heavilly related to the education itself. Majority of the Amis-people establish their social "amis" status even before they continue their education after the comprehensive school.
It's pretty difficult to write an
absolute definition of the term "amis", as the implementations of the amis-style, vary with different areas/cities/towns. But there are some basic rules that apply to almost every amis-community.
Amis-style can be divided roughly into three basic principles.
First, common
behaviour.
Amis-people are generally known for
obscene language, regular drinking of
beer or
kilju (home-made alcohol drink, made by fermenting of water/juice with yeast) and by their contempt towards people who like to study further in hope of getting a job that pays well.
Second,
clothing.
Amis-style clothing consists of two quite popular and distinctly different styles and their simple variations. Primarily the amis-dresscode is somewhat a combination of 80's common clothings and Jake's wardrobe (in
Jake and the Fatman).
Levis/Lee Cooper with a flanel shirt (buttons open with preferrably a white dirty t-shirt under) and a jeans coat from the
80's or a geen/black airforce pilot's jacket. Pants can also vary from
adidas's excercise pants (the one with buttons on both sides of the trouser legs) or more casual college trousers. Also, a
baseball cap (commonly one advertising a beer brand) is generally used extremely often.
Also worth mentioning, is the optional amis-beard/moustache. (generally pre-teen fluffs of a beard)
Third,
transportation.
Before you can have a drivers license (18, in Finland), mini-
moped is the ONLY way to move from place to another, for amis-people. And remember, helmets are for
geeks.
Mopeds
muffler should be removed and the engine should be tuned to the limits for extreme noise-terror and for that great fallacial feeling between your legs before your actual
genitalia starts to develop.
After you get the long-awaited drivers license, it is absolutely crucial to get yourself an amis-credible vehicle. To maximize your amis-credibilty and to get a decent amount of attention and appreciation from fellow amis-people, you should invest in a decent 1970's and 80's
Japanese car. (Wunderbaums and those furry dices hanging from the rearview mirror are optional but highly recommended).
The amis-culture is extremely interesting as a subject for research. Some people claim, that this is solely a finnish phenomenon, but it's been reported that similar cultures exists in many other post-industrialized countries.
There are also many other smaller guidelines/principles for amis-activity. But I tried to explain the amis -term generally, so if anyone has something to add, then be my guest. I appreciate all your opinions/views, just go ahead and write a
paragraph or two.
I would especially like to read some views and/or feedback from users outside of
Finland, so we might be able to compare notes and maybe even come to the conclusion, that this is an
international phenomenon. And not just a small cultural group in Finland.
This node is not intended as an
insult to anyone who might find him-/herself matching the above descriptions.
reference: http://www.nettilinja.fi/~kkaapeli/amis.htm