Thread by @freetonik

Let's do this.
One like – one interesting thing about living in Finland as a foreigner.

1. Finland is a bad place to learn Finnish :D 99% of people (at least in the south) speak better English than I ever hope to speak Finnish. BUT! If you resist the temptation to switch, many Finns will slow down and naturally help you practice.

2. Finland is optimized for zero human interaction, if you wish. I can rent cars, send and receive parcels (domestic and intl), buy medicine, book doctors, buy and sell used things on local "craigslist" — all without talking to a single person.

BUT there's always an alternative.

3. Finns are generally pretty critical, they have high standards. Browse local Finnish apps on app stores — most of them are below 3 stars with horrific reviews.

American 4.5 stars is Finnish 2.5 stars. Just get used to the conversion :)

4. Finland is very, very safe. This relaxed me so much that I got my laptop stolen when travelling in Europe after a few years of Finland only.

5. There's implicit discrimination towards foreigners, which, afaik, is common in Europe. It was one of the biggest shocks for me after Canada. It's difficult to rent a decent apt. in Finland: each viewing has many applicants; naturally, local landlords feel safer to chose locals

6. One viewing, only 1 other applicant, local uni student. Landlord asked how she's gonna pay. She said her mother helps. He asked my wife and I: we have full time jobs.

He then proceeded to make a live auction! We lost and the girl got the place 250€ higher than advertised.

7. You can rely on people in Finland. I was never stood up, nor did anyone was ever late to a meeting. Ever.

You can book a meeting 6 months ahead, and they'll be there, do the dot. This is one of the best things ever.

Especially after Kazakhstan, where people are never on time

8. Finland society is based on trust. I can't quite explain how warm and safe and calm this makes me feel.

I bought my first used car by just driving it off the lot, promising to transfer the money later. The guy trusted me even though I didn’t speak Finnish.

9. After moving to Finland, I started reading a lot more books. Maybe just a coincidence, but libraries are awesome. There's also a good selection of audio and e-books. And everybody has access to university libraries!

I check out math/CS books from U of Helsinki library often

10. I once applied to Univeristy of Helsinki Masters program. For Canadian graduates, they require to send transcripts from the alma mater directly. My Canadian uni is pretty slow with documents. There's like 5 weeks deadline, and I couldn't get in because it took more :(

11. I often feel kinds of jealous of kids here. In a way that I'd love to have had a childhood in Finland. Kindergatens and schools seem genuinely fun.

(also, kids play outside in ANY weather, and it's encouraged. pic by reddit user /u/joumak)

12. Finns (all Nordic people I think) generate coziness and hygge naturally :)

Even when it's hard. Here's a street in Helsinki near Sörnäinen metro station. A long, messy ongoing construction work. Yet, there are two lit up Christmas trees in the middle of the ditch.

12. Finns love dogs. I haven't been to any country where there're so many dogs.

Supermarkets and malls have "dog parking" spots outside. (the photo isn't one :-)

Even the smallest convenience stores sell dog food.

13. Back in Canada, I thought Ottawa and Montreal are very bike friendly.

Compared to Finland, I have to say they suck :D

Most of the capital region is filled with picturesque bike paths and MTB trails. I keep discovering new spots around my town still.

14. Bikes are allowed on metro and commuter trains (in non-rush hours). People bike in any weather. Just google "Oulu winter biking" for example.

15. Government agencies in Finland have the nicest people. Police, immigration services, tax office, social services (healthcare) — all interactions there had been extremely positive. I'd never felt that people don't want to help me.

16. In Canada, immigration services were lifeless, soulless bureaucracies with whom you can only interact via outdated e-services. In Finland, it's just an office in city center where nice people answer your questions and help get necessary papers.

17.1 I don't think I ever felt unsafe or threatened or whatever. BUT every once in a while I meet The Guy.

17.2 Once, I went to customer service in a large store in Helsinki. The guy was super nice and friendly. His hands covered in tattoos. I love tattoos, have 5 myself, so I'm curiously checking out his skulls, flames, the good stuff

Then I see a large "14/88" in gothic font.

FUCK

17.3 Sometimes I see those "Soldiers of Odin" white supremacist jackets around... And nazi propaganda stickers or posters on lampposts. I don't know how to feel about this all...

18. Taking a ferry to Sweden is a very romantic, traditional summer thing in the southern Finland. For us, it's such a warm, pleasant experience.

There used to be a lot more drinking on the ferries, but it's different nowadays.

19. Hares, foxes and deer roam around the cities. You can meet them in city centers even, because there are ALWAYS parks and green zones close by, wherever you go.

20. Among western European countries I visited, Finland and the Netherlands have the easiest to understand public transport system. Germany (Frankfurt, at least) has been pretty confusing.

21. Developer scene in Finland is very active. Lots of companies, events, meetups, conferences.

Virtually all meetups and conferences are held in English. Even when the room is 90% Finnish, everybody speaks English.

22. Even though salaries aren't as high as in UK/US, I think Finland is a great place to be a developer. The demand is crazy, the clients are plenty, and the working conditions are very, very good.

23. E-commerce is pretty big in Finland. There are dozens and dozens of online stores (most of them with horrible UI), selling everything from electronics to cosmetics. It's usually much cheaper than brick and mortar stores.

24. Banking!

Banks play an important role in Finland: they provide a universal e-identity service. When you need to login to government, insurance, healthcare etc services, you do it via your online bank. It mediates the verification process.

25. It's sometimes problematic to open a bank account for a foreigner. By law, a passport should be enough, but banks often violate this and require Finnish ID. I got one only for the bank and never used it after. It took 3 additional weeks of having no bank account :(

26. Google Pay and Apple Pay aren't very popular here. Local alternatives like MobilePay are used, but most people still prefer regular credit/debit cards. Even though there's a low limit on contactless payments.

27. Payment terminals in stores always face the customer. The cashiers never see or touch your card. In Canada, I'm used to hand over my credit card to the cashier.

Very few people pay with cash. Everybody accepts cards. Even flea market sellers often have terminals.

28. In Finland, private space is a fundamental right. Nobody bothers you. Nobody comes close unless there's no other way. People keep distance.

The bus is full when there's one person on each 2-person bench.

I love it.

29. There's a stereotype about Finns being grumpy and never smiling.

Let me tell you: IT'S BULLSHIT

Finns are among the nicest, most genuinely smiling people I've ever met. Yes, people in Canada smile more, but one could never tell whether it's genuine. In Finland, you can tell

29.2 You know where people truly rarely smile? In Russia. Finns are like extra positive, weed-high hippies compared to residents of Russia.

30. This Finnish ad tells you all you need to know about Finns :D

The father in the end asks "are you hungry or not?"

31. Oh, in addition to the "no human interaction" part: I can drop a bicycle for service at my local bike shop 24/7 without people! They just send you a locker combination as SMS and you open this container, leave your bike and wait for a pickup notice.

32. Back to the trust thing: a family left their dog and their house to me while they were gone for 4 days. We didn't know each other at all, met online and exchanged 5 messages. They just trusted a complete stranger.

My wife and I had a great time with her :-)

33. Finland is relatively multicultural. Not like Sweden, Netherlands or Germany, but very different to Finland ~20 years ago. Eastern Helsinki looks and feel the most foreign in the capital region.

From friends and acquaintances I know that being dark-skinned is difficult here

34. I look asian and locals usually assume I'm Korean or Chinese or Japanese. I never felt alienation or any sort of resentment. But I'm pretty sure it'd be different were I black or had a lot of facial hair.

35. Yes, winters are dark and gloomy. Right now it's 3pm, no snow, no sun. Some people can't stand it. I don't care for some reason.

In a week, we're gonna travel north, beyond the Arctic Circle. There's gonna be around 2 hours of sun each day!

36. The fact that I can drive my car to the Arctic Ocean is amazing. I never imagined to live in such a place.

We go north every winter, it's a magical trip every single time. If skies are clear, you can spot auroras!

37. And snow, endless snow, oh man...

38. I feel like this is such a fanboy thread :) let me try to write something negative.

Finland is expensive. Everything is expensive. Living the way I lived in north america is just not sustainable. I can't afford to eat out every day for example. Gasoline costs around 1.5e/l.

39. Finns try to save and get the deals when possible. At the same time, they are often happy to buy domestic products which are much more expensive than imported.

Finns are very proud of their stuff. Made in Finland, "from homeland" and "100% domestic" can be seen everywhere.

40. A popular banking/shopping app can even show reports about how much of your food comes from the homeland. Our household is apparently eating 58% Finnish food.

41. RE: @SerGoliney: yes, everybody in government agencies speak excellent English. All government websites provide info in at least 3 languages (fin, swe, eng). They also provide translators if you can't speak either of those.

42. Taxes are high, but progressive. Low-ish income can actually mean zero taxation!

Tax cards and tax returns are generated automatically. The whole North American issue of "doing taxes" is basically non-existent here.

43. There's a church tax if you belong to a church. I love the fact that religion organizations are funded directly by relevant taxpayers.

44. Con't taxes: if you make about 40k per year, your tax rate is about 18%.

25k → ~9.5%.

This is very reasonable I think.

It goes up quickly though. Which makes me feel very content about income. For the first time, I don't think I really want to earn much much more

45. In Canada and then in Kazakhstan, I was always stressed out about money and making MORE money. I don't put all responsibility on Finland, but I do think it helped me realize that having 10 times more won’t make me happier.

Do I have all I need? Yes.
Good.

46. Cont'd the expensive living: yes, everything is expensive. But THE BEST THINGS IN FINLAND ARE FREE.

Amazing and truly accessible nature. Freedom to roam. Libraries, which not only provide books, but woodworking workshops, 3d-printers, sewing machines, audio-video studios...

47. I can bike to the ocean and have a bbq on the shore. I don't need my credit card there.

48. In Finland and other Nordic countries there's a thing called “The Everyman’s Rights”. It allows everybody to freely roam the countryside, forage, fish with a line and rod.

This means there's never fences or unaccessible nature areas.

visitfinland.com/article/everym…

49. Healthcare is NOT free in Finland, contrary to popular belief. But it is cheap.

Municipal health centers are good, I haven't feel a difference in quality between private and public health services. Main benefit of private doctors is speed. Public appts could take weeks.

50. Surprisingly, dentistry is covered by public healthcare. I had several teeth fixed and removed when living in a small village ~40 min from Helsinki. As always, everybody spoke English and were super nice. Cost me less than private doctor in KZ. And 10 times less than Canada

51. One Christmas eve I ended up in an emergency room. My pain wasn't too sharp, so I guess they realized that and did their best, but I waited for the doctor a long time.