THINGS YOU MUST UNDERSTAND BEFORE MOVING TO FINLAND!

If you are either thinking about moving, or already planning a move to Finland either for work or for your studies, there are a few things that you need to know about this country before you move here…

Strong seasons

Due to the geographical location of Finland, we experience very strong seasons with stark differences between the summer, winter, autumn and spring. If you come from a country where you do not have strong seasons or even proper winters, the seasons in Finland can really mess with you – both physically and mentally. This is true especially during your first years in Finland.

The long dark of the Northern winter

First, Finland experiences very long and very dark winters during which the sun barely comes out at all. To name a few examples – here in Helsinki (which is in the southernmost part of Finland) the shortest day in the year (winter solstice) only sees around 5 and half hours of sunlight. However, this gets worse the higher north you go. In fact, the northernmost part of Finland experiences something called a Polar Night, or Kaamos in Finnish. This time period (which lasts around 52 days) is a period during which the sun does not rise above the horizon at all. Instead, what you get is the magical glow of the sun peaking from below the horizon. Check out these incredible pictures from Jouni and Nella Sakki that perfectly capture the colours of the Polar Night.

Summers where the sun does not set

While the winters in Finland are long and dark, the summers here are the exact opposite. During the summer, Finland sees an exceptional amount of sunlight with the northernmost part of Finland experiencing a phenomena called the midnight sun – a 70 day period during which the sun does not dip bellow the horizon. So thats the opposite to the polar night. On the other hand, here in the capital region, the longest day of the year lasts for around 19 hours. For example, in mid July the sun rises around 4am and sets around 10:30pm. Since the longest day of the year is at the end of June, from now on, the days are actually already getting shorter, by just a few minutes each day.

The changing seasons can really mess with your mind

If you have not experienced these kinds of drastic changes in the amount of sunlight, you might be asking why should i care? Well during winter, many international students have reported feeling somewhat depressed and continuously tired, while in the summer some report not being able to sleep because the continuous sunlight messes with their internal clocks. You should know that this is totally normal in Finland and even some local people experience the same feelings every year. However, you will get used to the seasons over time and in fact, the northern seasons are one of the reasons why I personally love living here.

You should also know there are many tricks that you can use to deal with these issues and I recommend that you follow our YouTube channel for future videos about this topic.

Finland is an expensive country

Anyways, the second thing on the list is the fact that Finland can be a rather expensive country to live in especially if you come from outside the Nordic countries. Everything from your rent to groceries to alcohol can feel rather expensive and i really recommend that you should look into some of the local prices in Finland before moving here just so that you can get prepared to the local price levels. You can do this by going to this really cool website called Numbeo from where you can see some of the current prices, for example, for groceries, travel and so on. Of course, keep in mind that these are statistical averages so the final prices that you will pay might vary somewhat. Regardless, it’s a great tool to use.

If you are interested in learning more about cost of living in Finland, I have a dedicated video to this topic that you can check out below 👇.

Not everything is in English

Moving on, the next thing to take into account before moving to Finland is that even though it is true that Finnish people speak good English and that most normal things like road signs, public transit ticket machines and government websites are translated into multiple languages, there are still language barriers that you will encounter. Just as an example, the most common case that I’ve heard of is that people get surprised when they go into grocery stores or into super markets and notice that not all product labels have english names on them. This can be a bit of a pickle as many of the products here are naturally very different from those that you guys have in your country.

Another example that actually sucks is that most of the relevant job and recruitment websites in Finland are available only in Finnish or Swedish. This is a really big problem especially when international students and expats look for their first jobs. In Finland it is super common that people apply for jobs through these websites and the fact that some of the biggest and most important ones have not been translated into English is just idiotic.

Finding a job as a student is hard

Talking of jobs, another thing that you should take into account is that finding a job in Finland as a student is not easy – especially if you have just started your studies. However, I would like to note that this applies to both international as well as local students, so we are not talking about discrimination here! Simply put, most employers prefer hiring people with more experience. University students who are in the beginning of their studies (especially those doing their Bachelor’s studies) are not always that attractive for employers. This is why many students, both internationals and locals, start with simple service sector jobs. However, while finding a job in the beginning is difficult, the further you get in your studies, the easier it gets. Also, the hardest part about all of this is finding your first “real job” relevant to your field. After that things get easier and easier over time as you accumulate experience and expertise. Anyways, just be aware of this by not expecting to find a good job in your field right at the start of your studies. 

Having said this, job hunting is naturally easier if you know where and how to look for jobs. I’m currently working on a comprehensive course about this topic and if you are interested in finding a job in Finland, I recommend that you sign up for the waiting list using the button below 👇.

Making friends can be hard

Next up, it is good to note that the cliche about Finns being reserved has some truth to it. This means that it can really take quite a lot of time and effort to become friends with Finnish people. This is partly because Finnish people’s emphasis on mutual trust meaning that you basically have to earn our trust before we open up and really start developing a deeper relationship with you. However, this is also partly due to the fact that we Finns are usually not that proactive towards new people. This means that if you want to get to know Finnish people, you have to be proactive towards us.

Also, another important point about friendships and personal relationship in general – while it is still relatively easy to get to know Finnish people on the surface and it is easy to get to know people especially through work you have to note that there is a rather huge difference between an acquaintance and a quote-on-quote “real friend.” I think the best way of explaining the difference between a real friend and a friendly acquaintance is that with the latter one, we don’t really practice this, “favours-for-favour” kind of attitude. This is where favours are exchanged for personal gain. We Finns really do not care for this kind of attitude. Instead, if you need a favour from a Finn, you really, REALLY need him or her to trust you before you can even approach the subject. I have a few unfortunate personal experiences from my studies that summarise this issue well. In short, I knew a few international students (who I did consider as acquaintances or not-so-close friends) who basically expected other students to carry their water and help them get good grades even if they didn’t put in the effort themselves – you know, just because “thats how friendships work”. Thats really not how things work in Finland. Sure people help each other but you really cant expect Finnish people to help you further your career or personal position if you haven’t built that mutual trust first. It just doesn’t work that way here. Many Finns will actually deem it very inappropriate to call for favours if you really haven’t put in the effort to build that relationship beforehand.

Having said all of this, the emphasis on personal trust also means that once you actually have built that common trust, what you get from your Finnish friends are real, genuine and honest friendships that you can expect to last for the rest of your life. So, please don’t be offended if we seem a bit cold at first. It’s not about you. It’s just that we are not that proactive about new relationships. But don’t worry! We Finns will definitely warm up to you once we’ve had the opportunity to spend enough time together.

Next I recommend you to watch the video below where I talk about some of the most important things that you have to know about Finnish people before moving to Finland 👇.