Hi! Many Americans living in Finland? What are you experiences?

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" I''ve been in Finland for three years. I''ve had mostly good experiences. The only bad ones have been when I''ve had to deal with the US Embassy here. It''s been easier to deal with the Finnish police regarding visas, etc., than it has been to do anything with the US Embassy. I''m in the process of changing my name after my marriage to a Finn. I feel like I''m being punished for not marrying an American. As for the Finnish people, they are all very nice. Finland is a beautiful country and I can''t imagine living anywhere else. The language can be a bit difficult in the beginning, but practice makes perfect. I work at Nokia and a couple of friends and I started a club within Nokia for foreigners and for Finns who have foreign SOs or who just like to do things with an international flair. In less than one year we have grown to almost 350 members. I didn''t know anyone other than my future husband when I moved here and I remember how lost and lonely I felt. I think the club has been very successful as far as providing information about living in Finland and an easy way to get to know people. I''m also a member of a much smaller group that gets together once a week in a local pub or will meet to play games or even celebrate Pancake Day. It really helps to have support groups. How about you, what are your experiences in Finland? "

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" I''ve been traveling back and forth to Finland since 1983. In April 2000 my wife, a native Finn, and I moved to the Tapiola area of Espoo. It has been a wonderful summer, however, I''ve been a little disappointed at the lack of Embassy assistance for ex-pats. Karen does the group at Nokia accept outside particapation? Frank Langella "

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" I relocated to the Lahti area the first of August. Now that the dust has settled, I am interested in discussing experiences in Finland with some Americans living here longer than I. Any suggestions? "

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" dear all, reading your posts, curious to find out from expats alike in Finland, where should I go, and what should I see, do? I will be touring by myself, traveling on my car up from Moscow Russia, 5 days aroudn helsinki, the other 14 days around finland, norway and sweden. any ideas, or thoughts? would be appreciated, please email me. what route should I take,.. top 10 list would be well. cheers! Kato a NY''er in Moscow "

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" dear all, reading your posts, curious to find out from expats alike in Finland, where should I go, and what should I see, do? I will be touring by myself, traveling on my car up from Moscow Russia, 5 days aroudn helsinki, the other 14 days around finland, norway and sweden. any ideas, or thoughts? would be appreciated, please email me. what route should I take,.. top 10 list would be well. cheers! Kato a NY''er in Moscow kato_ny@yahoo.com "

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Hi Karen I am a spanish woman who just arrive to helsinki two month ago....because my boyfriend is fron here....i dont speak finnish but i do speak english and litlle french and of course spanish i would like you to help me with some information about that group in nokia that you build.....i really need to find a job and it maybe help me that information......thanks a lot..
Maria ISabel .

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I have had many nice experiences touring Finland. Someday, I would really like to go back! I came from a place where population is almost unimagineably big and there I was in a country with less than 7m people? I felt so much at peace. I really wish I could have an email Finn friend. I am a female Asian.

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I read Karens' experiences of living in Finland. I lived in Finland and intended to live there forever with my Finnish love of my life. It is not as easy as it sounds. Karen works for Nokia, possibly she has a degree in computer or communications etc. I am a nurse, I could not even get the information on how I should go about getting my licence to work as a nurse in Finland. I tramped from department to department and from hospital to hospital. Getting a job very much depends on your particular profession. Finnish is difficult. If after 3 years Karen speaks good finnish then congrats. to her - most english speakers never learn. I liked the finnish language its very interesting. But unless you have a very special skill to offer, getting a job means you are competing with the local population and so you must speak good finnish. Count on that taking at least 18 months unless you are really talented or dilligent. I am sorry I did not stick it out, I bitterly reqret it, Finland is a wonderful country and culture. I should never have left. The people are great. But I think one of the mistakes people make is moving there because they have a finnish boy or girlfriend and thinking everything will just fall into place. Make enquires as to how soon you could expect to get a job at your particular profession. Set the ball rolling before you go, and take language classes before you go if possible. If you are super-skilled MBA etc. then it will be easier to find a job, but if you are a secretary, teacher, nurse, cop, firefighter,etc, well it will be difficult and will hinge on you speaking finnish.

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Dear Duff:

Indeed you are right! To be able to find a job, you must have a good command of the Finish language. I had a German friend who wanted to so much to work there....she had tried for a couple of months, but always the major factor was that she couldn't speak Finnish. If you are really that determined, why ot give it a shot and try out how you would be able to learn the language? There had been recent article where it said there are many nurses and they need doctors more. But, you know what? I know as a nurse you could have many choices, global choices. Here in the States, there is always a need for them. I wish you all the best! Godspeed!

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I'm married to a Finn, I speak fluent Finnish, and have lived in Finland for about 5 years. It's been an interesting and valuable experience, but lately things are just too difficult here, and we're happily moving back to the U.S. sometime this fall.

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I've had a completely different experience with the U.S. embassy here. They've always been friendly, efficient, and have given good advice...I've never had any complaints or problems with their service.

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We are a retired couple and moved to Finland from USA in Sept of 02. We are generally happy here, except we have found the language very difficult to learn, even though we have been taking lessons ever since we arrived. Maybe it is our ages, I am 75 and my husband is 78. We would like to find an informal study group just to practice speaking what we have learned. We live in Valkeakoski, and haven't been able to find a group The local opisto has a beginners Finnish class every fall but they are mostly new immigrants from Russia who speak very little if any english.
Does anyone know of other USA citizen who have migrated to Finland?

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I'm interested in learning why things have become to difficult for you here in Finland and why you are moving back to the US.
There have been times when I have been very homesick. Even though people here are very nice it is hard to make friends. And I think it is more than the language that is the barrier. Still we are going to stay, as going back to USA is not attractive either. Thank goodness for email though.
P.S. How did you learn to speak fluent Finnish in just 5 years?

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Your decisions will be based on what you have experienced. Indeed experiences could open ur door to a lot of opportunities, challenges, and learning. Whichever u decide to go for, I wish you the best.

eunie

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There are a lot of reasons. My husband is Finnish and he does not want to live in Finland despite the fact that he had a very good job. He's somewhat patriotic of course, but he does not feel like he belongs in Finland, and he is not very close to his family. I'm proud of what I accomplished in Finland, but I see little future in the country. Everything is so expensive, homogenous, cold, dark, I got tired of Finns asking me "why did you come here?" I had a serious loss in my family back in the States and I found no support in Finland, so I will forever be a little bitter towards Finnish society because of that.

On the other side of the puddle, things are the opposite. I come from a warm, loving family that has welcomed my husband with open arms. It was very easy to get a greencard for my husband, and he has a professional job waiting for him when we move (we leave tomorrow actually). We have good financial support in the U.S. And overall, living abroad has made me realizehow much I miss my country. Additionally, I come from an area that is a goldmine in quality education, multiculturalism, writers, philosophers, artists, performers, and technology, so that has influenced our decision. In Finland I've also become so tired of America-bashing (I wouldn't say that it happens a lot, but when it does, it really hurts), so at least when we're back in the U.S. and someone criticizes the country, I can say well, you're free to leave then- what's keeping you.

Finnish in my opinion isn't that hard. I guess a lot of people think it's hard because it's an unusual language, but the language has been the least of my problems in Finland. It's hard to speak perfectly, but then again all languages are. I learned it simply by practicing. I've also been living in an area of Finland where most locals prefer not to have to speak English, so it forces expats to learn Finnish.

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Finland is an amazing place to go, particularly I think for an American. I lived there for a year. The culture and lifestyle were so different from my own in certain ways that I found myself changing things about myself that I never thought would change. The Finnish diet is wholesome and simple, and in my opinion very good. Helsinki has so much to offer in terms of night life and the arts. Nature is a part of everyone's life. There's a strong outdoorsy fitness culture that you will probably come to appreciate. Social rules are relaxed, and honesty is paramount. Stockholm and Tallinn are both just a short ferry trip away, and you can fly cheaply from Tampere to most countries in Europe. The winter is challenging, but the summer then feels magical and amazing when it finally comes. There is a strong design culture; Finnish fashion, glassworks, architecture etc have such a strong national character and are in my opinion extremely pure and interesting. Culturally Finland can feel a bit isolated and even agrarian, but the purity and simplicity of life more than makes up for any sense of isolation.

It is a fantastic country to live in.

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Hi
I hav been in Finland now for more than 10 months.I am shifting to Tampere region(Valkeakoski) in the month of April 2009. Please if someone could help me get a job in Tampere or Nokia it would be great.If possible do let me know about any rented apartments in Valkeakoski.Please mail me on hep_pooja@rediffmail.com
Thanx

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