It's half past five on a Thursday afternoon in Helsinki in March. There are 12 women and 4 men in the small classroom, ranging from 20 to 60 years of age. They have all come for the first time to Eila Kaarresalo-Kasari's course in flirting. Presumably they all want to believe in themselves and to seduce you. But you can hardly tell by looking at them - yet. It is pretty quiet in the room, everyone is sitting at their desks.

In half an hour, The Brave and the Beautiful will be on TV. But that will have to be given a miss this time. Not that anyone really minds, because they're all going to experience something much better in real life. The course brochure promises that life will become a party, it promises you'll trade your timidity for new friends.

The atmosphere of quiet expectation is disrupted when Eila bustles into the room. She makes everyone get up in turn to shake hands and introduce themselves. Although the hand is not shaken, it's given a firm, friendly squeeze while looking the other person into the eyes and smiling. The first exercise went well. But no more flirting, not yet. First it's time for some theory.