Finland: A Paradise in the northern hemisphere
Hope you all are doing well. After a long time, I finally got a chance to start writing again.
I moved to Finland last year (2022), mainly for my higher studies. Finland was one of my dream travel destinations, but I didn’t expect to move here to live and study. But in life, you won’t be able to predict every milestone. Nevertheless, I’m grateful that I got this chance to live in this significant country. I’m living in a city called Oulu which is in the northern part of the country. Although this city has a cold climate almost all the year I feel it home now. ️
Let’s move straight to the topic. In this article, I want to highlight life in Finland, Finnish culture, people, and what are my experiences so far. After spending almost a year here, I can say it is quite an exciting and peaceful country to live in. Also, Finland might not be suitable for everyone because of the long-spanned winter time. Some get easily depressed even including Finns. Also, there’s a bit of a language barrier when finding jobs (except in the IT industry), although almost every local speaks English fluently. But I found more positives than negatives here in Finland.
Gender equality
The first thing I noticed about Finland once I landed here is the level of gender equality that the country has. It’s not necessarily about the care that they give to women (including other underrepresented genders) but also equality in the sense of work, education, reputation, and many more. For example, I have seen several brave ladies working as bus drivers and construction workers here. Whereas in my home country, such professions are more stereotypical and I haven’t seen any woman driving a bus, or taking such a responsibility to their hand. I’m pretty sure you know that the country just had the world’s youngest female prime minister as well. I know gender equality is now common all around the world but the freedom a woman has here is at the next level. It is not just for the papers or media it is actually happening here in Finland.
Lifestyle and hospitality
When I found that Finns have become the world’s happiest country in consecutive years, I searched on the internet to find out how much happiness and what type of happiness we are talking about. But only after moving here, I understood, the happiness of a Finn is somewhat of a middle path that enjoys self-love and freedom. No one tries to bother other people’s lives but just minds their own business. Simple as that.
Finland is considerably a big country and the population is around 5 million. Since, this country is not overpopulated there is plenty of free space to roam freely.
Finns normally do not do small talk. Coming from a South Asian country where people openly talk and smile with strangers, it was a bit hard at first. But they are not fully-closed people. At least I encountered enough incidents where I had to believe so. For example, a few months ago an elderly lady helped me to choose good winter jackets. Also, one person helped us to choose a good pair of shoes by explaining what type of shoes we need to wear during the harsh cold winter. I didn’t ask for help on any of those occasions. But they willingly stepped up and offered their helping hand. Which was a great gesture of hospitality. Also, neither of them could speak English properly and I also could manage to say only a few words in Finnish. However, all of us understood each other and it was heartfelt. Those incidents boosted my eagerness to learn Finnish and engage more with Finnish people.
Second-hand shops and Recycling
I admire the fact that Finns are into buying second-hand goods and recycling. Also, the mechanism that they have introduced to collect used bottles and cans for recycling in exchange for money is something impressive. I know these kinds of initiatives happen in some other countries too but this is the first time I have experienced it. It is very effective and it shows the Finns’ love towards nature and concern for environmental pollution. I believe, in general, Finland is a very clean country because of these little but good practices.
Coffee culture
Finns love drinking coffee as in every Western country.
It comes as a surprise for many that Finnish people consume the most coffee in the world per capita with 10 kg consumption per person yearly. Though, Finland isn’t known for its coffee culture even though it is deeply rooted in the culture.
I found it fascinating that many restaurants here provide free coffee for everyone after their meal. This is also a new experience for me. You can read more about the coffee culture of Finland here.
Also, I have noticed that in Finland, people consume a lot of milk. Milk here usually contains more vitamin D, therefore people get the required amount daily. In the winter times, daylight in Finland is very low as the other countries in the northern part of the world. This is why we need to increase vitamin D intake around the winter season.
Sauna
After a busy week sauna is the best place to get relaxed. I found that it helps to heal dry skin caused by cold weather. So now sauna has become a mandatory weekend routine for me. Almost every apartment complex has one or two saunas and residents can reserve it once a week. These saunas are very clean and maintained well, therefore anyone can use them without any hesitance. Some apartments itself have private saunas.
Every man’s right
And finally, I want to emphasize again that I enjoy the freedom that Finland offers to every living being. You can roam freely on every small forest or path at any time. No one is there to stop you and no need to feel insecure, even if you are a woman. It doesn’t matter if it is morning or night, I have seen plenty of women take on very secluded paths and walk or cycle on their own. The quietness here in Oulu (despite it being a city full of students) just amazed me. Some might can get depressed experiencing this quietness but being an introvert I enjoy every bit of it. But if you want to socialize with people many events are happening each week in the city or at the university so if you want you can visit them and make friends.
Also, it feels wholesome when you pick berries and make your own jam bottle rather than buying one from the shop (which I already had the luxury to experience). Finland is teaching me to enjoy the little things in life. And I’m loving it.
Also, you can read more about Finland and its culture from this article by Very Finnish Problems Facebook page.
These are just glimpses of the positives I encountered. But I hope this article helps someone who’s planning to visit Finland. Hope to write more about Finland in the upcoming years. Keep in touch.
Thank you! 🍀
References
https://www.baristainstitute.com/blog/jori-korhonen/september-2018/finnish-coffee-culture-one-kind
