Thanks for watching guys! What do you think about this topic - do you agree or disagree with me? Tell us about your experiences of Finland in the comments so that we can have a discussion.
I live in Sweden and I'm dreaming about moving to Finland in the future, and this video is really helpful with some stuff I didn't know. I'm familiar with the seasonal changes, especially Winters in Finland after being there a couple of years ago for some days
I was in Finland a long time ago and only for 2 weeks but I keep very warm memories of the people who were so kind, friendly and hospitable. I will definitely go back there soon.
This is why FINLAND is doomed. They allow foreigners to move there and destroy their clean beautiful culture. Now they have some young girl leading country and making it more globalist. RIP Finland. Yikes
I love Finnish culture and Finnish language. Maybe it’s cold but because it’s so cozy inside of the buildings and because of the good level of infrastructure, all those smells of coffee it’s much easier to handle the climate. My grandmother was Ingeri Finnish so I just love Finland.
All 4 of my grandparents came to the USA from Finland and I am finding it fascinating when you speak about Finnish relationships. I already think that the way I interact with people is the same. I really have to trust people before I become friends. I like to do what I say I am going to do and expect the same from others. I dont like to pry into other peoples lives. My whole family is like that. And I am always on time or early!
I’m from the USA and watched this simply out of curiosity about the unique Finnish culture. What an excellent video! And what a truly special place!! 🙌🏻 🇫🇮
Another amazing and beneficial video, can't wait to have the feeling of being in the safest country in the world and make true friendships instead of the fake ones I have, I keep loving Finland everytime, and the negative things is nothing compared to the positive things that Finland has, even though I can see the beauty of being in a dark day full of stars everywhere! Thanks for the video Oliverr.
Thanks again Houssam for the very nice feedback! As ive mentioned before, I do really appreciate it 👊. No country is perfect and Finland does have its downsides. However, I think that they are overweighted by the positive things. For example, my gf lived in Brussels for three years and she has told me that there are a lot of small details that Finland gets right that many other European countries don't. Also, id love to hear more about your experiences with making friends in your home country.
@@RoadtoFinnish You are right Oliverr, no country is perfect, but what makes me believe that Finland is more special than the other eu countries and that your theory about your gf is true is that I have heard that many Finnish people after they go abroad and meet with a partner they come back with them to Finland to live their life, which is fascinating and wonderful.
@@RoadtoFinnish I come from Morocco, a North African country right below Spain, pretty warm weather, I am very concerned about the cold weather because literally I have never been below 5 degrees Celsius ( which is only in the coldest nights in winter haha ) and if everything works out I am going to have the most weather shock ever hahaha, I am not used to cold at all, but I am so excited because it's a new experience for me, about relationships with friends, here in Morocco we give a good example of the opposite of what you mentioned in the video about Finnish people, we do a lot of scratching of the back of others when we need them, and after then we don't usually think about them, which is something I dislike, I love to have good friendship full of respect and care, and ongoing support and interactions!
@@houssam2076 Thats really interesting! Thanks for sharing this information. Its funny how "small" cultural differences might have a huge impact on your life as a whole. Also about winter and the weather here: im have plans for videos on preparing for the move to Finland + how to cope with the winter here. I hope that those will help you mentally with the shock 😁. Its so hard for me to understand how big of a difference it is for many people who come from countries where the thermostat doesnt dip below freezing but ill try my best to get you some good tips 👍
@@RoadtoFinnish That would be so great and helpful, that's all I needed and no one is talking about it, your channel is a heaven for people like me, I am looking forward to it, thank you so much! And yes I can understand how strange my world would be for you, as your world for me, I really wish to take you for a day here for a swim when it's 40 degrees in the summer, I mean it would be fun if the heat won't make you faint 😂!! One last question, do you have any social media rather than TH-cam where you Interact with viewers from your channel?
I worked in Finland as a student. No-one spoke to me for weeks. We took off our shoes to work in glasshouses and put them onagain to run to the hostel for breakfast. One morning slipped in to my shoes, set off at a run and fell flat on my face. The other students had nailed them to their decking. Once we finished laughing I was included in the group as one of them. It was a wonderful year.
Hey man and thanks so much for the positive feedback! It would be awesome if you chose to do your phd here. May i ask what field you are working on? Ive mentioned this in a few live streams so im not sure if youve noticed it but my older brother is doing his phd in biology and im planning on doing a couple of videos with him talking about pdh studies in finland. It would be awesome to know what kind of questions you have about doctoral studies in finland so that we could address them directly in those future videos 👍. Also, if you have any general questions about studying or living in finland, do let me know here in the comments. Also, consider joining us live on my weekly Q&A live stream where i answer questions about anything related to studying or building ones career in finland. I go live every week on thursday at 6:30 pm (EEST)
Awesome! There are a lot of really cool companies working on innovative and more sustainable solutions. I cant for the life of me remember the name of a certain battery technology startup that is operating in finland but they had some really cool new tech that they were developing so im sure that talented researchers as yourself would do really, really well in finland.
I have an aunt, uncle and two cousins in Finland, I last visited three years ago in the winter and it was one of the best experiences I've had in another country(I'm in the UK). Can't wait to come back! 😁
Hey Josh, thats super interesting to hear! You should be here right now. Its absolutely incredible. The sea outside Helsinki is now frozen and the ice is thick enough for people to walk and skate over it. Its been one of the best winters in years in terms of snow and the overall weather ✌️
i love finnish culture and finland its self. i hear a lot of ppl complain about darkness and coldness but i love winter and cold and i think more clearly when its dark. i cannot wait to move to finland
In 1964 I spent about 13 weeks in Greenland at the base of the ice cap. It was summer so we had sunlight 24 hours. It was not difficult to get used to but I don't think I could spend winter there with 24 hours of no sun at all. Southern Finland sounds nice though. It is one of the two major countries I have not yet visited in Western Europe so maybe someday.
Planning on moving to Finland next year. I’ve been twice and stayed for a month on each visit. I want to say it’s slightly cheaper from NYC. I actually felt like my money had more value.
A note to Americans: Finland is not expensive compared most urban areas in U.S. I actually save a lot of money in Finland. What really helps is that healthy food is cheap, sales tax is already included in the price, and there is no tipping anywhere. Another note to everyone: I not only survived winter, but I thrived. Winter is now my favorite season thanks to Finland... and I have seasonal depression! But, you NEED to adopt and adapt to the sauna culture. If you're not comfortable in high heat, or you're shy around nudity, you need to just dive into the challenge and get over it... ease out of your comfort zone little by little, and you'll be quickly enjoying that sauna with your friends... trust me, it's how you survive winter. To thrive, I recommend ice swimming. This is more challenging, but if/when you start dipping into cold water during winter, it is a game changer. After starting to ice swim regularly, I had more focus, more energy, reduced mood swings (due to seasonal depression), and I slept better, which all combined improved my mood.
haha during my visits to finland ( theres alot) i am very used to the cold and sleeping with still alot of light. its actually pretty fun for me to sleep with light as i still have a slight fear of the dark and yes i can read finnish as my mom is, i can speak it perfectly, and read it. i can also write it. also im still very surprised most supermarkets there have these small trolleys ( im in love with them ) im not sure of the use of them but theyre very cute i must say. i like that its a very peaceful and beautiful country and i think, it has less poloution than england. my mother has been thinking of us moving there, only a few times but i know we will. someday. and when i tried a school there ( in sotkamo ) alot of kids wanted to be my friend and i was freaking out as i never really had any? i became friends with this girl, i forgot her name as it was a few years ago we had a fun time until i had to leave :( anyway it was fun to write this but this is all i have for right now. hehe bye.
Thanks for the video! Very interesting. Moving to Finland in February 2025, to Tampere, and looking forward to it. My biggest fear is in fact making connections with other people and finding local friendships as I hear it is quite difficult in Finland. I lived in Russia before and people said the same about Russia that people seem cold and uninviting at first. But once the people there opened up, they become the best people I have ever met and helped out everywhere they could. I hope it works similar in Finland, too :)
Thank you for the 5 pointers,the friendship trust is universal I think though not practised by some,regards and looking forward to more videos,❤❤❤South Africa
I'm an Australian with a Finnish wife about to move to Finland! Two things raised in this video: I went there for Christmas last year and I experienced the worst jet lag I've ever had in my life. Usually I can recover OK from jet lag after about 3 days of purposefully conforming to local rhythms and getting out in the sun. One problem - no sun. It took me over a week to recover. I kept waking up at 3 am, because my brain would go "well, the sun set at 3 pm, it's 12 hours later, it must be morning!" The way I got around this? You might have heard that blue light ie from a computer/phone can stuff up your circadian rhythm if you're on your phone/computer too late at night, hence all the apps and programs to change the colour temperature as it gets later in the day. I just exploited this and did the reverse - from 3-7 pm or so I really tried to get some computer time in so that my brain would start to realise that this was still, in fact, daytime. RE grocery stores being only in Finnish - I don't really understand how anyone would expect anything else? Every country I've ever been to in Europe is the same - grocery stores will only be in the local language. If you're buying say, biscuits, you might be lucky enough to have a language you know on the ingredients list, but for fresh produce it's only going to be in the local language. The good news is you can totally stand in the biscuits aisle for 10 minutes painstakingly translating individual words if you like. I have a nut allergy so I definitely was reading the boxes and either seeing if there were ingredients in a language I knew, or translating words if I needed to. OTOH Finns hate asking for help, so while it's normal enough to ask for help from an employee, if you're with a Finn they may well cringe at the thought, because Finns often don't like to talk to strangers. I was in the supermarket with my wife and wanted to try mämmi. We couldn't find it. So I went to ask someone, and my wife was cringing with embarrassment.
The more I hear these real stories of reality in Finland, the more I love Finland. I love that these "cringey," "anti-social" things exist. That way, less migrants will enter Finland. All the better.
@@JohnSmith-nz2yq lmao dude has a problem with people moving to a country he was only born in 💀 I love the thought of making you uncomfortable by asking a simple question
Well mämmi is more of a seasonal food and there is lots of differend brands and size mämmi packages on sale. It is eastern "delicasy" so spring time it is easier to find. At that period you will find mämmi everywhere and from every market. But if it is not mämmi season you propably find it only from freezers.
Having lived in Finland, the only downside is the authorities such as KELA, the local ‚maistraatti‘ and so on, as well as the public health sector- slow and clueless (but then again, that might only be a problem in Uusimaa). Apart from that, you won‘t find a better place to live.
Great video. Great key topics, explained in a very clear way. I liked very much the way that the meaning of key terms commented appeared in the left bottom corner. Thanks for creating a very nice and useful video. Cheers!
The alcohol prices were crazy... luckily Tallinn is not that far away 😄 our way back from there to Helsinki was interesting, I’ve never seen people carry that much alcohol before 😄
Yeah this is the part of the Finnish tax law that makes absolutely no sense for most people. The principal idea behind the high taxes are to lower the consumption of alcohol for health benefits. But what happens is that people simply go to Tallinn and buy one years worth of booze on one go 😅. Would be better to have slightly lower domestic prices so that we could get the taxes into Finland. Im sure you heard of different crazy stories about this "kaljaralli" as we call it when people go to Tallinn just for the alcohol. For example some student organisations that organise huge parties need a lot of booze. However, there is an annual limit to how much you can import from Tallinn for "personal use". The students go around this by renting a van and taking turns driving it to Tallinn, packing it to the brim and then taking the van back to Finland. Doing this usually gets them a year long ban for importing alcohol, but its no problem because they simply send the next guy for the next party 😄.
@@Emppu_T. You can blame mostly EU for that. It´s only legal in Sweden where snus is part of the Swedish culture for very long time. Total ban of selling snus came 1995 and before that it was very rare that people even used it. I remember when it was available at some store in west coast and there were only Ettan löss snus. Mostly it was used in swedish coast from Vaasa to Kokkola and most users were athletics that didn´t want to smoke (smoking was cool back then). So most ice hockey and football player used snus alot.
Nice. I would like to visit sometime since my ancestry goes back to Finland. I almost got to travel there once for a Fulbright. I passed the national exams, but not the internationals because my Finnish was lacking.
Hey Aliki and thanks for the positive feedback! Have you already applied to a university or are you planning on doing it in one of the upcoming application periods? Also, I hope you don't mind me asking what subject are you interested in studying?
@@RoadtoFinnishHello! Thanks you for your answer! I m thinking of applying on the upcoming application periods. My bachelor's is in oceanography and marine biosciences and i want a master's in genetics and evolutionary ecology or something similar to my field.
@@alikikalli4754 Oh that sound really interesting! I guess you have already checked the Master's programme on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Helsinki. Not sure if that's exactly what you are looking for but might be interesting to check out: www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions/degree-programmes/ecology-and-evolutionary-biology-masters-programme
@@RoadtoFinnish Yes i have already checked this one , and its my first choice for now. Have you considered making a video about part time jobs for english speaking students in Helsinki? Job hunting etc...might be interesting
@@alikikalli4754 Oh definitely. I already have a content plan for late summer and early fall when the topic of job hunting is more relevant. Theres a lot to talk about so I have to split it into a larger playlist.
I was there 2 time.. There is awesome.. On summer, Lapland 24 hours with sun.. After covid i want move there, and still look how to get work and study when im there
Thats really cool to hear! If you are interested in moving to Finland one great way is to specifically first move here for your studies. Not only is this an easy way to get a residence permit but it also gives you great career prospects to continue with 👍. I hope you dont mind me asking what field you are interested in?
Great video. I am from Denmark and I can say that, unfortunately, you will do fine in Finland if you understand Swedish. Once it dawns on you how difficult the Finnish language is, it is easy to rely on Swedish and English without putting in the time required to learn Finnish.
Cant really argue with that 😏. I do appreciate the straightforwardness. I hope that some of the newer videos are better in terms of the presentation. Especially considering that i have a bit more experience compared to when i recorded this video.
I disagree for Finland being expensive. Bills maybe, rent, yes, but in Helsinki you can find any kind of food, including vegetarian, vegan, snacks, drinks, healthy food and in so low price and so good quality. There's food everywhere! You travel all day with one single ticket card and not paying at every bus. Yeah, mall is expensive but stock is so great, quality is perfect, and other stores sell not bad things too!
The strong seasons alone is good enough for me to visit. Long winters & the midnight sun is right up my alley. Will have to save a lot though by the sounds of it. As for the language barrier, well, I'll have to play it by ear. Love from New Zealand, another safe country🥰
Hey Paul and thanks so much for sharing this! Awesome to have people from NZ check out these videos as well. We could swap countries for a while if you are interested. Ive been dying to visit NZ for many years now and i really hope to do that after we are all rid of this damned plague 😅. Long winters are indeed awesome. They are not for everyone but i happen to love them. Most importantly, we have a lot of peace and quiet. Drive 15 minutes outside the city and you are in the middle of nature. This is a huge thing especially with the modern and hectic lives with social media and everything else..
@@RoadtoFinnish Sounds like a great place buddy ☺️ & You're more than welcome here too. We love to have visitors from abroad. When we finally overcome COVID, please visit😀
I found it helpful. Tried learning Finnish want to get back to Finnish lessons. Also, I have been to Finland many times as a tourist. I would like to find a way to work in parts of Finland that are close to the Russian border such as Lapperanta
Hey Rosie and thanks for the suggestion. What kind of vocabulary were you thinking about? Just day-to-day basics or something more specific and related to studying?
Your content is very helpful! I want to ask you.. what's your opinion about HAMK? I was recently admitted there for my first bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering (seems that I have to choose ahahah). I've just finished high school in Greece and I'm planning to move there by the end of the 1st upcoming semester.
Hey Konstantinos and huge congrats on being admitted! 🍾 I do not have any personal experience about HAMK nor have any of my close friends gone to HAMK so cant say 100% sure. However, the overall picture that ive gotten from Finnish universities of applied sciences are very positive. The approach to teaching is a bit more hands-on than in universities, where education is much more theoretical. What I can say is that graduates from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering have good employment numbers in Finland and you should get a very good degree. Also, the good thing is that if you stay in Finland after graduating from HAMK, you can apply for a permanent working visa which will allow you to at some point apply for a Masters degree (if you are interested in getting a higher degree). This would make your position even better and open a bunch of new higher paying job opportunities. 👍 Do let me know if you have any further questions about studying or building your career in Finland. Id love to make more videos based on subscriber suggestions.
@@RoadtoFinnish But as much as I am thinkin of moving to Finland, I'm gonna visit first. Hopefully during the summer if possible. I wanna know how well I can handle summers in Finland given that I hate heat and humidity, on top of findin it a bit difficult to sleep when the sun's up.
@@sensen7216 If you hate heat and humidity, Finnish summers will be mostly great for you. Sure, it *can* occasionally get somewhat hot (dunno what you consider hot; for my Finnish hide, above about 25 degrees Celsius outside is getting too warm.) and some summers I really wish I had air conditioning, but it extremely rarely gets hot and humid at the same time (at least inland), so even 30 degrees celsius can be perfectly bearable. If Finland ever experienced crazy 50+ heatwaves like some countries have, I think we'd just go extinct. Oh, and we also have lots of lakes, so if it ever gets too hot, just jump in one for a bit.
@@chousuke1282 Honestly my ideal temperature is anywhere between 4° celsius to 15° celsius. -6° celsius is where I finally decide I should put on more than just a t-shirt and jeans, and 21° celsius is where it's startin to get too hot if there's no humidity. Although sometimes I do enjoy a dry heat that's well above my normal limit.
Moi Oliver. Mä oon asunut viimeset 20v. Ecuadorissa ja oon aina 3-5 vuoden valein kayny suomessa pariks kuukaudeks. Nyt asiat on vahan vaikeampia Ecussa ja oon ajattelemassa suomeen takas muuttoa. Taalla ystavien tekeminen on helppoa. Liian helppoa. Onko sulla mitaan vinkkia miten vois paasta vahan nopeammin takas suomalaiseen kulttuuriin?
Hello Oliver! I have a question regarding the language barrier. Can I use basic Swedish as an alternative to Finnish or would the language barriers still be the same? Thanks!
Hi, nice video and good information. Links given are also usefull. One question,where can i find information on furniture, crockery, kitchen items. Like what is the price and where to get cheaper.
That is a great question! I actually have a previous video about this topic that i recommend you to check out: th-cam.com/video/alddMQw6HR4/w-d-xo.html Do note that in this video i mention that dualingo does not yet have a finnish language course. HOWEVER, they have now launched a comprehensive finnish language course that i can definitely recommend 👍. Anyhow, id say that the tools and courses that i mention in the video that i linked will get you very far. I would also recommend that you first start with free tools before paying for a course. This is simply because you can get quite far with free tools and these help you test your motivation to learn the language before you invest into your learning.
Howabout first learning something about Finland ! You need to have something - that is Finnish to know ! #1 Everybody knows sauna - The Only Word in Everybody knows ? #2 Howabout some History before 1917 #3 Howabout some Sports ? #4 Howabout some Books - The list is ENDLESS ! You need to know something about Thre People & Country ! Just pick ANYTHING and look it up on TH-cam or WIKIPEDIA ! Have Fun & The First STEP has been taken !
Hey Oliver I just had a single question stuck in my head since days about Finland. This may be too straight forward but here it is - I do understand that Finland has a high of gun owners . But I was concerned of the fact that US faces these gun violence in school and stuff and imagining those incident makes me freak out so how is Finland in term of that . I mean how frequently does it happen or it happens or not . Bcoz I searched up this everywhere but found not much data regarding this . Pls do reply. Coz this is I think the only reason that causes hesitation in me for moving to Finland
We don't really have that much violence in schools. There's five real cases where someone died. These happened 1981, 1989, 2007, 2008 and 2019. Sure we have lots of guns, but most guns are owned by hunters or those who have shooting as a hobby. We don't have the USA kind of culture where almost everyone owns a gun and is trigger happy.
Yeah that is sometimes a bit crappy 😄. But i do love the amount of light that we get on the northern hemisphere. It makes me so happy after the winter. E.g. right now im feeling so energetic because its already light outside when i wake up at 6
In Brazil we have a variety of milk too (none special for coffee, but all other you mentioned exist here 😅). I think we must expect to find different products when moving abroad, specially when the weather/climate is so different. What would you say about starting business relationships with finns? Do they need to trust you to buy the products or services from your business (both: B2B and B2C).
This is actually really interesting. I think milk products tells you quite a bit about your country and its people. If you think about, say Switzerland and the insane variety of milk based products (particularly cheese), its pretty insane 😁. Also thanks for the very interesting question. Yes, trust is absolutely crucial in Finland when doing business and sales. My professional background is actually in B2B sales and marketing and having done business for the entirety of my short career, i can say that B2B is pretty much all about trust. Doesnt matter if another company has a better product, purchasing decisions are done mostly based on trust in the end. You need to be able to understand your clients and their issues and also to be able to offer them solutions and ideas already before selling them anything. This is actually why content marketing is such a huge deal. Being able to give your potential customers value already before they have a concrete need will build trust and your brand over time. If you provide them with enough value, once the customer has a need, the choice for them is pretty easy. This is a bit different in B2C sales because most B2C companies are faceless. However, people still identify themselves with company values and the way that they conduct business and hence, trust in the brand is also important. Its just not as heavily highlighted in B2C as in B2B. Just my opinion. Super interesting question!
@@RoadtoFinnish I’m planning to move to Finland to work (as self employed). Probably blogging as I already do this, but I have other possibilities. Although it’s not your focus, your content is very useful for me. Thanks.
Thanks so much, i do appreciate this. If you are interested in working in Finland as an entrepreneur, please note that you need to have apply for a specific residence permit meant for entrepreneurs. Im not 100% certain of the differences between this and a "normal" work visa but you can find more information on the website for the Finnish immigration service right here: migri.fi/en/working-in-finland
Oh thats a fun question 😀. I guess this depends on the weather and your personal style but during the summer we can have anything between 10-30 degrees celsius and from rain to clear skies and sun. So pick your wardrobe based on the weather. The cool thing is that we have people from all walks of life so you can see a beautiful variety of styles especially during the summer months. For some reason though, Finns like to all dress in black or otherwise dark colours during the winter 🤦♂️. I guess we all go super emo during the dark winter months.
@@RoadtoFinnish soon I'm going to study here because I want to became a lawyer (hopefully a judge) and then when I will have enough money I will surely start to learn Finnish ( I already speak English, Italian, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian) and learn the Finnish laws and constitution end somehow move there.
If the situation was following your thoughts, the Finns would be migrating to where you are. Follow their rules, they didn't send for you nor win you in a drawing, you chose them. Learn from them and be welcomed to their country. We don't wear shoes indoors either.
Well Finland is a large country with a range of different cities and cost levels so this is a pretty impossible question to answer :D. However, based on what ive heard of the housing situation in LA, id guess that Finland is going to feel super affordable after that.
i have recently applied for phd program in economics in finland. i have lived in usa for 3 decades and making a transition. my main worry is looking for a apartment. any advice ?
Hi oliver! I am sorry if I offended you in anyway, I really didn't mean to. I just uploaded your video with spanish subtitles because I made them as a part of a subtitling course practice and decided it would be nice to share it with the Spanish speaking world. Here in South America, those things do not work the same way as in your country and are not seeing the same way. Anyway, I'm sorry again and if you want I can email you the video or something, so you can share it with the world. I would mind!
Hey Indira. Im sorry but i cant let people upload direct copies of my videos on other channels. Three reasons: 1. Its agains t TH-cam's terms of service 2. Uploading a plain copy is not in accordance of fair use th-cam.com/users/howyoutubeworkspolicies/copyright/ 2. My videos include licensed music and other media that i pay for monthly. By uploading a copy of my video, you are infringing the copyright of those 3rd party licenses meaning that if i dont pull your video down, they will. If you want to get subtitles to the video, i would love to add them to the original version on my channel. TH-cam actually used to have a feature that allowed channel subscribers to write subtitles to videos that they like. However, TH-cam removed this feature just a few weeks ago. Again, id love to get help with the subtitles, but i would need them in a .srt file format. This is the most common subtitle format that TH-cam uses 👍
@@RoadtoFinnish Thank you for your answer! I didn't know anything of that, but now I know. That's OK with me. I can a work with you and do you those subtitles. I'm a Bachelor in Modern Languages (English and French), a translator and now I studied subtitling and already know how to do it. I let you my email address here, so we can get in touch soon... salima.gauna1@gmail.com. Write me!
Hey Andrey and thanks again for a great question! So the official requirement from the immigration service is 560€ per month for the entirety of your residence permit. This is a minimum for you to get a residence permit to study in Finland. However, my experience is that while you can survive with 560€ per month in most of the cities, this is not that much in the capital region. Surely you can survive but you wont have much money left each month and this means that you will not be able to partake in a lot of fun activities or e.g. travel. I actually have an older video where i show the math of how much it costs to live in Finland as a student. While this is not exact math, i think it will give you a good benchmark: th-cam.com/video/5MejDbyRbDc/w-d-xo.html
If I wanted to move out of country for a college education, would Finland be good for me? Also if I went to a university there would they teach in english or should I pick up the Finnish language before heading there?
As a Finnish person, I feel I can answer your questions. In regards to if you should come to Finland for education, I think it would depend on what you want to study and where you wish to work after. The Finnish education system is concidered very high class, but it depends on the major you choose. There are also "better" universities out there in the world if you are concerned about your CV. But your other question is easier to answer, most universities offer english studies especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. I would recommend to take on a beginner course on Finnish language before arriving though, just to survive in life, but I wouldn't count on your skill with the language to be enough for actual Finnish studies with just one course. It is a rather difficult language after all :)
@@hilppap2825 Thank you!! I am still not dead set on a certain route yet but if I were to study there I would definitely make sure to learn some Finnish before the move. It really seems like a wonderful place, and I would much enjoy spending my life there.
This is wrong. Im really late to the party, but this dude is only talking about Helsinki. Other towns and cityes are MUCH more affortable. You can get 3-4 rooms anywhere else than Helsinki with the same price. In helsinki you pay ~1000€ for one or two rooms. In Turku, its about 500-800€. In my city, 4 rooms costs aprox 800€ in the middle of the city. 5Km from the centrum, the price is 400€.
Hey and thanks for participating in the discussion! You do have a point here, and the information given in this video does generalise heavily AND i do use prices in Helsinki as a benchmark. The reason for this is not to understate the cost of living in Finland especially since most international students coming to Finland do consider the capital region at some point. I do appreciate the feedback 👍
Great Video am a Ghanaian mixed with Ugandan , Lesotho , Senegalese and Belizean Ancestry but i was born in America i want to relocate or move to Finland in the nearest future i want to migrate there and become a Permanent resident what is the process for American Citizens ??
Thanks for the interesting question! This will naturally depend on your definition of hot, but summer in Finland is generally defined as the period between June and August. July is usually the hottest month in Finland and its also when most people have their summer holidays.
As a software developer student, would my BS in computer science work well with a finnish software development job here? Bc i am READY to toss my USA citizenship? Also, are they friendly towards black/latin individuals…?
The good news is almost the only jobs you can get in Finland that are in English are software/computing jobs. Sucks for me cause I don't know any of those skills.
@@kofiaduagyekum I agree. Should not be a problem, but do remember that having a sponsor in itself is not enough. Do keep in mind what I mentioned in the comments of the previous video - you need to have the funds on an account that only you have access to and you need to attach specific documents proving the origin of the funds to the permit application.
@@kofiaduagyekum If you could share with me any of your social media accounts if you feel okay with it I would love to benefit from your experience please!
There is a specific milk for making e.g. rice porridge. Very good, because it does not burn into the bottom of your kettle. But, alas, I think 99% of foreigners are not interested in this dairy finesse, because kaamos makes them too depressed.
Weeell that might not hold true as much as you believe. I hear way too many stories about internationals who get super confused about these kind of details when they first move here. Things that seem obvious to us might feel a bit odd to people immigrating to Finland.
Thanks! I do appreciate the feedback (both the positive and the constructive). Getting feedback is the best way for me to develop myself so im open for all ideas on how to make these videos better in the future 👍
Thanks for watching guys! What do you think about this topic - do you agree or disagree with me? Tell us about your experiences of Finland in the comments so that we can have a discussion.
I live in Sweden and I'm dreaming about moving to Finland in the future, and this video is really helpful with some stuff I didn't know. I'm familiar with the seasonal changes, especially Winters in Finland after being there a couple of years ago for some days
I was in Finland a long time ago and only for 2 weeks but I keep very warm memories of the people who were so kind, friendly and hospitable. I will definitely go back there soon.
Great video
Lived in similar but on the other side of the world. Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
This is why FINLAND is doomed. They allow foreigners to move there and destroy their clean beautiful culture. Now they have some young girl leading country and making it more globalist. RIP Finland. Yikes
"During winter many felt depressed, and continuously tired..." lol I always feel this way :) Finland here I come.
Yeah as a Canadian, whatever lol
I love Finnish culture and Finnish language. Maybe it’s cold but because it’s so cozy inside of the buildings and because of the good level of infrastructure, all those smells of coffee it’s much easier to handle the climate. My grandmother was Ingeri Finnish so I just love Finland.
All 4 of my grandparents came to the USA from Finland and I am finding it fascinating when you speak about Finnish relationships. I already think that the way I interact with people is the same. I really have to trust people before I become friends. I like to do what I say I am going to do and expect the same from others. I dont like to pry into other peoples lives. My whole family is like that. And I am always on time or early!
Wow
I’m from the USA and watched this simply out of curiosity about the unique Finnish culture. What an excellent video! And what a truly special place!! 🙌🏻 🇫🇮
After the quarantine I was planning to move to Finland, very nice video!
Thanks for the positive feedback! Lets hope that everything settles down as soon as possible so that you can make that plan a reality 👍
What are you planning to do in Finland? Any suggestions?
@@SKVLE Have You thought of playing FINNISH BASEBALL ? They are LOOKING for PIONEERS !
@@holoholopainen1627 what is it about?
@@SKVLE It depends - from where are from ? If They have People already ? This is a Short Cut - to get to know People ! Its Our NATIONAL SPORT !
Another amazing and beneficial video, can't wait to have the feeling of being in the safest country in the world and make true friendships instead of the fake ones I have, I keep loving Finland everytime, and the negative things is nothing compared to the positive things that Finland has, even though I can see the beauty of being in a dark day full of stars everywhere! Thanks for the video Oliverr.
Thanks again Houssam for the very nice feedback! As ive mentioned before, I do really appreciate it 👊.
No country is perfect and Finland does have its downsides. However, I think that they are overweighted by the positive things. For example, my gf lived in Brussels for three years and she has told me that there are a lot of small details that Finland gets right that many other European countries don't.
Also, id love to hear more about your experiences with making friends in your home country.
@@RoadtoFinnish You are right Oliverr, no country is perfect, but what makes me believe that Finland is more special than the other eu countries and that your theory about your gf is true is that I have heard that many Finnish people after they go abroad and meet with a partner they come back with them to Finland to live their life, which is fascinating and wonderful.
@@RoadtoFinnish I come from Morocco, a North African country right below Spain, pretty warm weather, I am very concerned about the cold weather because literally I have never been below 5 degrees Celsius ( which is only in the coldest nights in winter haha ) and if everything works out I am going to have the most weather shock ever hahaha, I am not used to cold at all, but I am so excited because it's a new experience for me, about relationships with friends, here in Morocco we give a good example of the opposite of what you mentioned in the video about Finnish people, we do a lot of scratching of the back of others when we need them, and after then we don't usually think about them, which is something I dislike, I love to have good friendship full of respect and care, and ongoing support and interactions!
@@houssam2076 Thats really interesting! Thanks for sharing this information. Its funny how "small" cultural differences might have a huge impact on your life as a whole.
Also about winter and the weather here: im have plans for videos on preparing for the move to Finland + how to cope with the winter here. I hope that those will help you mentally with the shock 😁. Its so hard for me to understand how big of a difference it is for many people who come from countries where the thermostat doesnt dip below freezing but ill try my best to get you some good tips 👍
@@RoadtoFinnish That would be so great and helpful, that's all I needed and no one is talking about it, your channel is a heaven for people like me, I am looking forward to it, thank you so much!
And yes I can understand how strange my world would be for you, as your world for me, I really wish to take you for a day here for a swim when it's 40 degrees in the summer, I mean it would be fun if the heat won't make you faint 😂!!
One last question, do you have any social media rather than TH-cam where you Interact with viewers from your channel?
I worked in Finland as a student. No-one spoke to me for weeks. We took off our shoes to work in glasshouses and put them onagain to run to the hostel for breakfast. One morning slipped in to my shoes, set off at a run and fell flat on my face. The other students had nailed them to their decking. Once we finished laughing I was included in the group as one of them. It was a wonderful year.
This is really a great video. I'm from South Africa and thinking of doing my PhD in Finland. More than anything, I like the safety there.
Hey man and thanks so much for the positive feedback! It would be awesome if you chose to do your phd here. May i ask what field you are working on? Ive mentioned this in a few live streams so im not sure if youve noticed it but my older brother is doing his phd in biology and im planning on doing a couple of videos with him talking about pdh studies in finland. It would be awesome to know what kind of questions you have about doctoral studies in finland so that we could address them directly in those future videos 👍.
Also, if you have any general questions about studying or living in finland, do let me know here in the comments. Also, consider joining us live on my weekly Q&A live stream where i answer questions about anything related to studying or building ones career in finland. I go live every week on thursday at 6:30 pm (EEST)
@@RoadtoFinnish You most welcome. My field of research is in Chemistry with more focus on the lasted battery technologies.
Oh that sounds super interesting! Did you research the same topics in your master's thesis or is this focus specifically for your phd studies?
@@RoadtoFinnish Thanks man. No, this focus is specific for my PhD. However, I will be using the same techniques and tools I used in my masters study.
Awesome! There are a lot of really cool companies working on innovative and more sustainable solutions. I cant for the life of me remember the name of a certain battery technology startup that is operating in finland but they had some really cool new tech that they were developing so im sure that talented researchers as yourself would do really, really well in finland.
I have an aunt, uncle and two cousins in Finland, I last visited three years ago in the winter and it was one of the best experiences I've had in another country(I'm in the UK). Can't wait to come back! 😁
Hey Josh, thats super interesting to hear! You should be here right now. Its absolutely incredible. The sea outside Helsinki is now frozen and the ice is thick enough for people to walk and skate over it. Its been one of the best winters in years in terms of snow and the overall weather ✌️
@@RoadtoFinnish Sounds amazing! I'd love to move over there one day I think, it's such a beautiful country and I don't like small talk so its ideal! 👍
Sounds like a perfect match :D
i love finnish culture and finland its self. i hear a lot of ppl complain about darkness and coldness but i love winter and cold and i think more clearly when its dark. i cannot wait to move to finland
Thats super cool to hear! Its seems that you will fit in great 👌
Hhahaha. i too live thinking in the dark. Meet you in Finland
In 1964 I spent about 13 weeks in Greenland at the base of the ice cap. It was summer so we had sunlight 24 hours. It was not difficult to get used to but I don't think I could spend winter there with 24 hours of no sun at all. Southern Finland sounds nice though. It is one of the two major countries I have not yet visited in Western Europe so maybe someday.
Planning on moving to Finland next year. I’ve been twice and stayed for a month on each visit. I want to say it’s slightly cheaper from NYC. I actually felt like my money had more value.
A note to Americans: Finland is not expensive compared most urban areas in U.S. I actually save a lot of money in Finland. What really helps is that healthy food is cheap, sales tax is already included in the price, and there is no tipping anywhere.
Another note to everyone: I not only survived winter, but I thrived. Winter is now my favorite season thanks to Finland... and I have seasonal depression! But, you NEED to adopt and adapt to the sauna culture. If you're not comfortable in high heat, or you're shy around nudity, you need to just dive into the challenge and get over it... ease out of your comfort zone little by little, and you'll be quickly enjoying that sauna with your friends... trust me, it's how you survive winter.
To thrive, I recommend ice swimming. This is more challenging, but if/when you start dipping into cold water during winter, it is a game changer. After starting to ice swim regularly, I had more focus, more energy, reduced mood swings (due to seasonal depression), and I slept better, which all combined improved my mood.
Wow you are amazing in the way you are articulating this.
Thats very nice of you!
You just gave me more plus points to consider moving to Finland.
Awesome!
haha during my visits to finland ( theres alot) i am very used to the cold and sleeping with still alot of light. its actually pretty fun for me to sleep with light as i still have a slight fear of the dark and yes i can read finnish as my mom is, i can speak it perfectly, and read it. i can also write it. also im still very surprised most supermarkets there have these small trolleys ( im in love with them ) im not sure of the use of them but theyre very cute i must say. i like that its a very peaceful and beautiful country and i think, it has less poloution than england. my mother has been thinking of us moving there, only a few times but i know we will. someday. and when i tried a school there ( in sotkamo ) alot of kids wanted to be my friend and i was freaking out as i never really had any? i became friends with this girl, i forgot her name as it was a few years ago we had a fun time until i had to leave :( anyway it was fun to write this but this is all i have for right now. hehe bye.
Thanks for the video! Very interesting. Moving to Finland in February 2025, to Tampere, and looking forward to it. My biggest fear is in fact making connections with other people and finding local friendships as I hear it is quite difficult in Finland. I lived in Russia before and people said the same about Russia that people seem cold and uninviting at first. But once the people there opened up, they become the best people I have ever met and helped out everywhere they could. I hope it works similar in Finland, too :)
Thank you for the 5 pointers,the friendship trust is universal I think though not practised by some,regards and looking forward to more videos,❤❤❤South Africa
I'm an Australian with a Finnish wife about to move to Finland! Two things raised in this video: I went there for Christmas last year and I experienced the worst jet lag I've ever had in my life. Usually I can recover OK from jet lag after about 3 days of purposefully conforming to local rhythms and getting out in the sun. One problem - no sun. It took me over a week to recover. I kept waking up at 3 am, because my brain would go "well, the sun set at 3 pm, it's 12 hours later, it must be morning!" The way I got around this? You might have heard that blue light ie from a computer/phone can stuff up your circadian rhythm if you're on your phone/computer too late at night, hence all the apps and programs to change the colour temperature as it gets later in the day. I just exploited this and did the reverse - from 3-7 pm or so I really tried to get some computer time in so that my brain would start to realise that this was still, in fact, daytime.
RE grocery stores being only in Finnish - I don't really understand how anyone would expect anything else? Every country I've ever been to in Europe is the same - grocery stores will only be in the local language. If you're buying say, biscuits, you might be lucky enough to have a language you know on the ingredients list, but for fresh produce it's only going to be in the local language. The good news is you can totally stand in the biscuits aisle for 10 minutes painstakingly translating individual words if you like. I have a nut allergy so I definitely was reading the boxes and either seeing if there were ingredients in a language I knew, or translating words if I needed to.
OTOH Finns hate asking for help, so while it's normal enough to ask for help from an employee, if you're with a Finn they may well cringe at the thought, because Finns often don't like to talk to strangers. I was in the supermarket with my wife and wanted to try mämmi. We couldn't find it. So I went to ask someone, and my wife was cringing with embarrassment.
The more I hear these real stories of reality in Finland, the more I love Finland.
I love that these "cringey," "anti-social" things exist. That way, less migrants will enter Finland.
All the better.
@@JohnSmith-nz2yq lmao dude has a problem with people moving to a country he was only born in 💀 I love the thought of making you uncomfortable by asking a simple question
Well mämmi is more of a seasonal food and there is lots of differend brands and size mämmi packages on sale. It is eastern "delicasy" so spring time it is easier to find. At that period you will find mämmi everywhere and from every market. But if it is not mämmi season you propably find it only from freezers.
Thanks a lot Buddy ! Got lot of Information from you ! Love and Respect from Bangladesh
Thank you very good video i was thinking about moving to Finland
Thanks Sonny! Hopefully this gave you an idea of what to expect.
Thanks for your sharing and I am planning to apply a master program in Helsinki, looking forward to learning more about Finland.
Im from Sweden and none of the 5 seem difficult except the language barrier, love 🇫🇮 from 🇸🇪
We are pretty similar in cultures arent we :).
@@RoadtoFinnish Yes we have been the same country there is a blood bond between us
Having lived in Finland, the only downside is the authorities such as KELA, the local ‚maistraatti‘ and so on, as well as the public health sector- slow and clueless (but then again, that might only be a problem in Uusimaa). Apart from that, you won‘t find a better place to live.
Everyone in Finland hates the bureaucracy. We joke about authority inefficiency all the time 😅
Great video. Great key topics, explained in a very clear way. I liked very much the way that the meaning of key terms commented appeared in the left bottom corner. Thanks for creating a very nice and useful video. Cheers!
Thanks so much for the positive feedback! I do appreciate it. Are you perhaps interested in applying to study in Finland at some point?
Hi! Oliver 😊 , thanks for this information...
thank you bro, for your lesson i feel its, so very educative thanks.
The alcohol prices were crazy... luckily Tallinn is not that far away 😄 our way back from there to Helsinki was interesting, I’ve never seen people carry that much alcohol before 😄
Yeah this is the part of the Finnish tax law that makes absolutely no sense for most people. The principal idea behind the high taxes are to lower the consumption of alcohol for health benefits. But what happens is that people simply go to Tallinn and buy one years worth of booze on one go 😅. Would be better to have slightly lower domestic prices so that we could get the taxes into Finland.
Im sure you heard of different crazy stories about this "kaljaralli" as we call it when people go to Tallinn just for the alcohol. For example some student organisations that organise huge parties need a lot of booze. However, there is an annual limit to how much you can import from Tallinn for "personal use". The students go around this by renting a van and taking turns driving it to Tallinn, packing it to the brim and then taking the van back to Finland. Doing this usually gets them a year long ban for importing alcohol, but its no problem because they simply send the next guy for the next party 😄.
Alcohol is killing Finns. I don't think it's expensive enough.
Estonia needs - All The Money !
@@RoadtoFinnish this is also a reason why the Snus ban is stupid in Finland. People just go to Sweden to buy it then.
@@Emppu_T. You can blame mostly EU for that. It´s only legal in Sweden where snus is part of the Swedish culture for very long time. Total ban of selling snus came 1995 and before that it was very rare that people even used it. I remember when it was available at some store in west coast and there were only Ettan löss snus. Mostly it was used in swedish coast from Vaasa to Kokkola and most users were athletics that didn´t want to smoke (smoking was cool back then). So most ice hockey and football player used snus alot.
Nice. I would like to visit sometime since my ancestry goes back to Finland. I almost got to travel there once for a Fulbright. I passed the national exams, but not the internationals because my Finnish was lacking.
Thanks for the info .
even though I am not Finnish nor have any Finnish ancestry, I think I am a Finnish person by soul. we have exactly the same personalities
I m thinking of moving to Finland for my master's degree. Thank you for your videos, have been really usefull :)
Hey Aliki and thanks for the positive feedback! Have you already applied to a university or are you planning on doing it in one of the upcoming application periods? Also, I hope you don't mind me asking what subject are you interested in studying?
@@RoadtoFinnishHello! Thanks you for your answer! I m thinking of applying on the upcoming application periods. My bachelor's is in oceanography and marine biosciences and i want a master's in genetics and evolutionary ecology or something similar to my field.
@@alikikalli4754 Oh that sound really interesting! I guess you have already checked the Master's programme on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Helsinki. Not sure if that's exactly what you are looking for but might be interesting to check out: www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions/degree-programmes/ecology-and-evolutionary-biology-masters-programme
@@RoadtoFinnish Yes i have already checked this one , and its my first choice for now. Have you considered making a video about part time jobs for english speaking students in Helsinki? Job hunting etc...might be interesting
@@alikikalli4754 Oh definitely. I already have a content plan for late summer and early fall when the topic of job hunting is more relevant. Theres a lot to talk about so I have to split it into a larger playlist.
I was there 2 time.. There is awesome.. On summer, Lapland 24 hours with sun..
After covid i want move there, and still look how to get work and study when im there
Thats really cool to hear! If you are interested in moving to Finland one great way is to specifically first move here for your studies. Not only is this an easy way to get a residence permit but it also gives you great career prospects to continue with 👍. I hope you dont mind me asking what field you are interested in?
Very interesting 👌
Thank you.
I love to live in north of Finland where the sun never rises in the winter . This looks like my ideal place to live
Finnish people are great but they re very shy and reserved.
Thank you for your channel Oliver!!!
You are most welcome, i do hope that you get value out of these videos!
My wife's family is from Hamburg Germany and when we have visited you could read a book outside with no artificial light.
Thank you. This is a lovely informative video. Can you make a video informing us about retiring to Finland?
The last one is very informative to me.. Like the videi
Glad to hear that! Please let me know if you have any further questions or perhaps some ideas for future videos that you'd like me to make 👍
Great video. I am from Denmark and I can say that, unfortunately, you will do fine in Finland if you understand Swedish. Once it dawns on you how difficult the Finnish language is, it is easy to rely on Swedish and English without putting in the time required to learn Finnish.
The presentation is a bit dry, but this is actually helpful. You put some thought into it.
Cant really argue with that 😏. I do appreciate the straightforwardness. I hope that some of the newer videos are better in terms of the presentation. Especially considering that i have a bit more experience compared to when i recorded this video.
making freinds is easier than trusting but we make mistakes on trusting easier ,thanks bro .
Sure thing! I think you are pretty on point with what you said.
I disagree for Finland being expensive. Bills maybe, rent, yes, but in Helsinki you can find any kind of food, including vegetarian, vegan, snacks, drinks, healthy food and in so low price and so good quality. There's food everywhere! You travel all day with one single ticket card and not paying at every bus.
Yeah, mall is expensive but stock is so great, quality is perfect, and other stores sell not bad things too!
Loved the video
The strong seasons alone is good enough for me to visit. Long winters & the midnight sun is right up my alley. Will have to save a lot though by the sounds of it. As for the language barrier, well, I'll have to play it by ear. Love from New Zealand, another safe country🥰
Hey Paul and thanks so much for sharing this! Awesome to have people from NZ check out these videos as well. We could swap countries for a while if you are interested. Ive been dying to visit NZ for many years now and i really hope to do that after we are all rid of this damned plague 😅.
Long winters are indeed awesome. They are not for everyone but i happen to love them. Most importantly, we have a lot of peace and quiet. Drive 15 minutes outside the city and you are in the middle of nature. This is a huge thing especially with the modern and hectic lives with social media and everything else..
@@RoadtoFinnish Sounds like a great place buddy ☺️ & You're more than welcome here too. We love to have visitors from abroad. When we finally overcome COVID, please visit😀
I found it helpful. Tried learning Finnish want to get back to Finnish lessons. Also, I have been to Finland many times as a tourist. I would like to find a way to work in parts of Finland that are close to the Russian border such as Lapperanta
Great video, thank you for all the advices! I really wish to be a student in your country. I'd be very happy if you could put me through.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Great content and very informative 👏
Glad you think so! 👍
Nice content 🇧🇩
Thanks man! Let me know if you have any questions about these topics.
I'm 1/4 Finnish, and after watching this video, I don't think I'll be moving there. Looks like a nice place to visit though!
Can you make a video with essential vocabulary we are going to need?
Hey Rosie and thanks for the suggestion. What kind of vocabulary were you thinking about? Just day-to-day basics or something more specific and related to studying?
Your content is very helpful! I want to ask you.. what's your opinion about HAMK? I was recently admitted there for my first bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering (seems that I have to choose ahahah). I've just finished high school in Greece and I'm planning to move there by the end of the 1st upcoming semester.
Hey Konstantinos and huge congrats on being admitted! 🍾 I do not have any personal experience about HAMK nor have any of my close friends gone to HAMK so cant say 100% sure. However, the overall picture that ive gotten from Finnish universities of applied sciences are very positive. The approach to teaching is a bit more hands-on than in universities, where education is much more theoretical. What I can say is that graduates from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering have good employment numbers in Finland and you should get a very good degree. Also, the good thing is that if you stay in Finland after graduating from HAMK, you can apply for a permanent working visa which will allow you to at some point apply for a Masters degree (if you are interested in getting a higher degree). This would make your position even better and open a bunch of new higher paying job opportunities. 👍
Do let me know if you have any further questions about studying or building your career in Finland. Id love to make more videos based on subscriber suggestions.
OliverR Great, thanks for the info!
Hello! Are u studying in HAMK?
Did you later go there
"A very long, and very dark winter, in which the sun is barely up"... stop I can only get so excited for something.
😂 lord of darkness is luring you into his trap
@@RoadtoFinnish But as much as I am thinkin of moving to Finland, I'm gonna visit first. Hopefully during the summer if possible. I wanna know how well I can handle summers in Finland given that I hate heat and humidity, on top of findin it a bit difficult to sleep when the sun's up.
@@sensen7216 If you hate heat and humidity, Finnish summers will be mostly great for you. Sure, it *can* occasionally get somewhat hot (dunno what you consider hot; for my Finnish hide, above about 25 degrees Celsius outside is getting too warm.) and some summers I really wish I had air conditioning, but it extremely rarely gets hot and humid at the same time (at least inland), so even 30 degrees celsius can be perfectly bearable. If Finland ever experienced crazy 50+ heatwaves like some countries have, I think we'd just go extinct.
Oh, and we also have lots of lakes, so if it ever gets too hot, just jump in one for a bit.
@@chousuke1282 Honestly my ideal temperature is anywhere between 4° celsius to 15° celsius. -6° celsius is where I finally decide I should put on more than just a t-shirt and jeans, and 21° celsius is where it's startin to get too hot if there's no humidity. Although sometimes I do enjoy a dry heat that's well above my normal limit.
Moi Oliver.
Mä oon asunut viimeset 20v. Ecuadorissa ja oon aina 3-5 vuoden valein kayny suomessa pariks kuukaudeks. Nyt asiat on vahan vaikeampia Ecussa ja oon ajattelemassa suomeen takas muuttoa. Taalla ystavien tekeminen on helppoa. Liian helppoa. Onko sulla mitaan vinkkia miten vois paasta vahan nopeammin takas suomalaiseen kulttuuriin?
Hello Oliver! I have a question regarding the language barrier. Can I use basic Swedish as an alternative to Finnish or would the language barriers still be the same? Thanks!
It will still be there because the majority of Finns do not speak Swedish even if its the second official language in Finland.
@@RoadtoFinnish Kiitos paljon!
Hi, nice video and good information. Links given are also usefull.
One question,where can i find information on furniture, crockery, kitchen items. Like what is the price and where to get cheaper.
What would you say would be the best way to learn accurate Finnish to help with language issues someone moving there may have?
That is a great question! I actually have a previous video about this topic that i recommend you to check out: th-cam.com/video/alddMQw6HR4/w-d-xo.html
Do note that in this video i mention that dualingo does not yet have a finnish language course. HOWEVER, they have now launched a comprehensive finnish language course that i can definitely recommend 👍.
Anyhow, id say that the tools and courses that i mention in the video that i linked will get you very far. I would also recommend that you first start with free tools before paying for a course. This is simply because you can get quite far with free tools and these help you test your motivation to learn the language before you invest into your learning.
Howabout first learning something about Finland ! You need to have something - that is Finnish to know ! #1 Everybody knows sauna - The Only Word in Everybody knows ? #2 Howabout some History before 1917 #3 Howabout some Sports ? #4 Howabout some Books - The list is ENDLESS ! You need to know something about Thre People & Country ! Just pick ANYTHING and look it up on TH-cam or WIKIPEDIA ! Have Fun & The First STEP has been taken !
Hey Oliver I just had a single question stuck in my head since days about Finland. This may be too straight forward but here it is - I do understand that Finland has a high of gun owners . But I was concerned of the fact that US faces these gun violence in school and stuff and imagining those incident makes me freak out so how is Finland in term of that . I mean how frequently does it happen or it happens or not . Bcoz I searched up this everywhere but found not much data regarding this . Pls do reply. Coz this is I think the only reason that causes hesitation in me for moving to Finland
We don't really have that much violence in schools. There's five real cases where someone died. These happened 1981, 1989, 2007, 2008 and 2019. Sure we have lots of guns, but most guns are owned by hunters or those who have shooting as a hobby. We don't have the USA kind of culture where almost everyone owns a gun and is trigger happy.
@@TheSanezu thanks
I live in Saint-Petersburg for all my life and I can't sleep in summer light nights as well here
Yeah that is sometimes a bit crappy 😄. But i do love the amount of light that we get on the northern hemisphere. It makes me so happy after the winter. E.g. right now im feeling so energetic because its already light outside when i wake up at 6
Informative
Thats very nice to hear!
I'm scared of the weather 😳 in my place it's almost even day and night length
In Brazil we have a variety of milk too (none special for coffee, but all other you mentioned exist here 😅). I think we must expect to find different products when moving abroad, specially when the weather/climate is so different.
What would you say about starting business relationships with finns? Do they need to trust you to buy the products or services from your business (both: B2B and B2C).
This is actually really interesting. I think milk products tells you quite a bit about your country and its people. If you think about, say Switzerland and the insane variety of milk based products (particularly cheese), its pretty insane 😁.
Also thanks for the very interesting question. Yes, trust is absolutely crucial in Finland when doing business and sales. My professional background is actually in B2B sales and marketing and having done business for the entirety of my short career, i can say that B2B is pretty much all about trust. Doesnt matter if another company has a better product, purchasing decisions are done mostly based on trust in the end. You need to be able to understand your clients and their issues and also to be able to offer them solutions and ideas already before selling them anything. This is actually why content marketing is such a huge deal. Being able to give your potential customers value already before they have a concrete need will build trust and your brand over time. If you provide them with enough value, once the customer has a need, the choice for them is pretty easy.
This is a bit different in B2C sales because most B2C companies are faceless. However, people still identify themselves with company values and the way that they conduct business and hence, trust in the brand is also important. Its just not as heavily highlighted in B2C as in B2B. Just my opinion.
Super interesting question!
@@RoadtoFinnish I’m planning to move to Finland to work (as self employed). Probably blogging as I already do this, but I have other possibilities. Although it’s not your focus, your content is very useful for me. Thanks.
Thanks so much, i do appreciate this. If you are interested in working in Finland as an entrepreneur, please note that you need to have apply for a specific residence permit meant for entrepreneurs. Im not 100% certain of the differences between this and a "normal" work visa but you can find more information on the website for the Finnish immigration service right here: migri.fi/en/working-in-finland
With Barry John and Hugo Porta he was one of the best amateur fly halves EVER
What do they wear in Finland during summer?
Oh thats a fun question 😀. I guess this depends on the weather and your personal style but during the summer we can have anything between 10-30 degrees celsius and from rain to clear skies and sun. So pick your wardrobe based on the weather. The cool thing is that we have people from all walks of life so you can see a beautiful variety of styles especially during the summer months. For some reason though, Finns like to all dress in black or otherwise dark colours during the winter 🤦♂️. I guess we all go super emo during the dark winter months.
I would love to move to Soumi, I'm from Ukraine and Ihave friends in Finland and Sweden.
Thats cool! Have you been thinking about studying in Finland or would you come to work?
@@RoadtoFinnish soon I'm going to study here because I want to became a lawyer (hopefully a judge) and then when I will have enough money I will surely start to learn Finnish ( I already speak English, Italian, Russian, Polish and Ukrainian) and learn the Finnish laws and constitution end somehow move there.
If the situation was following your thoughts, the Finns would be migrating to where you are. Follow their rules, they didn't send for you nor win you in a drawing, you chose them. Learn from them and be welcomed to their country.
We don't wear shoes indoors either.
Just as a perspective, its cheaper to live in Finland than in LA.
Well Finland is a large country with a range of different cities and cost levels so this is a pretty impossible question to answer :D. However, based on what ive heard of the housing situation in LA, id guess that Finland is going to feel super affordable after that.
@@RoadtoFinnish youre right hahaha
@@tae912
I wouldn't say it's more expensive in LA, the prices here are terrible!
What about business startup rules and formality, especially cafe :) could you guide me !
Done watching, interested so wanna visit 😭😭😭
Very cool to hear!
i have recently applied for phd program in economics in finland. i have lived in usa for 3 decades and making a transition. my main worry is looking for a apartment. any advice ?
Hi oliver! I am sorry if I offended you in anyway, I really didn't mean to. I just uploaded your video with spanish subtitles because I made them as a part of a subtitling course practice and decided it would be nice to share it with the Spanish speaking world. Here in South America, those things do not work the same way as in your country and are not seeing the same way. Anyway, I'm sorry again and if you want I can email you the video or something, so you can share it with the world. I would mind!
Hey Indira. Im sorry but i cant let people upload direct copies of my videos on other channels. Three reasons:
1. Its agains t TH-cam's terms of service
2. Uploading a plain copy is not in accordance of fair use th-cam.com/users/howyoutubeworkspolicies/copyright/
2. My videos include licensed music and other media that i pay for monthly. By uploading a copy of my video, you are infringing the copyright of those 3rd party licenses meaning that if i dont pull your video down, they will.
If you want to get subtitles to the video, i would love to add them to the original version on my channel. TH-cam actually used to have a feature that allowed channel subscribers to write subtitles to videos that they like. However, TH-cam removed this feature just a few weeks ago. Again, id love to get help with the subtitles, but i would need them in a .srt file format. This is the most common subtitle format that TH-cam uses 👍
@@RoadtoFinnish Thank you for your answer! I didn't know anything of that, but now I know. That's OK with me. I can a work with you and do you those subtitles. I'm a Bachelor in Modern Languages (English and French), a translator and now I studied subtitling and already know how to do it. I let you my email address here, so we can get in touch soon... salima.gauna1@gmail.com.
Write me!
@@IndiraOramaica Would You be interested in FINNISH BASEBALL ? Watch some Videos on TH-cam ! Dont hesitate to Ask !
So good so true
I will be working as a nurse in Finland later...can you give me some tips for healthcare professionals 😊
Thanks
By the way, how much money would you recommend to have by the moment of moving to Finland?
Hey Andrey and thanks again for a great question! So the official requirement from the immigration service is 560€ per month for the entirety of your residence permit. This is a minimum for you to get a residence permit to study in Finland. However, my experience is that while you can survive with 560€ per month in most of the cities, this is not that much in the capital region. Surely you can survive but you wont have much money left each month and this means that you will not be able to partake in a lot of fun activities or e.g. travel.
I actually have an older video where i show the math of how much it costs to live in Finland as a student. While this is not exact math, i think it will give you a good benchmark: th-cam.com/video/5MejDbyRbDc/w-d-xo.html
If I wanted to move out of country for a college education, would Finland be good for me? Also if I went to a university there would they teach in english or should I pick up the Finnish language before heading there?
As a Finnish person, I feel I can answer your questions.
In regards to if you should come to Finland for education, I think it would depend on what you want to study and where you wish to work after. The Finnish education system is concidered very high class, but it depends on the major you choose. There are also "better" universities out there in the world if you are concerned about your CV.
But your other question is easier to answer, most universities offer english studies especially in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. I would recommend to take on a beginner course on Finnish language before arriving though, just to survive in life, but I wouldn't count on your skill with the language to be enough for actual Finnish studies with just one course. It is a rather difficult language after all :)
@@hilppap2825 Thank you!! I am still not dead set on a certain route yet but if I were to study there I would definitely make sure to learn some Finnish before the move. It really seems like a wonderful place, and I would much enjoy spending my life there.
I live in texas, so seasons are very crazy, so i'm used to bipolar seasons
I always wanted to move to Finland. Where is it?
who would like to move to finland?
I'd love to move to Finland
This is wrong. Im really late to the party, but this dude is only talking about Helsinki. Other towns and cityes are MUCH more affortable. You can get 3-4 rooms anywhere else than Helsinki with the same price. In helsinki you pay ~1000€ for one or two rooms. In Turku, its about 500-800€. In my city, 4 rooms costs aprox 800€ in the middle of the city. 5Km from the centrum, the price is 400€.
Hey and thanks for participating in the discussion! You do have a point here, and the information given in this video does generalise heavily AND i do use prices in Helsinki as a benchmark. The reason for this is not to understate the cost of living in Finland especially since most international students coming to Finland do consider the capital region at some point.
I do appreciate the feedback 👍
Great Video am a Ghanaian mixed with Ugandan , Lesotho , Senegalese and Belizean Ancestry but i was born in America i want to relocate or move to Finland in the nearest future i want to migrate there and become a Permanent resident what is the process for American Citizens ??
Yes, Finns are somewhat standoff-ish. Good video, Kiitos
I wish to relocate to finland
My dads side is from finland i want to move there so badly
Thats really cool! Do you happen to have a double citizenship cause that would be really awesome.
Come before Military Service ! Free Military - is Great OUTDOORS !
can you mention in which months theres hot weather or summer ?
Thanks for the interesting question! This will naturally depend on your definition of hot, but summer in Finland is generally defined as the period between June and August. July is usually the hottest month in Finland and its also when most people have their summer holidays.
@@RoadtoFinnish thanks alot.:D
Sure thing. I hope you dont mind me asking from which part of the world you're from?
@@RoadtoFinnish no i don't mind. I am from Israel and i find the finnish culture and people are very interesting for me and the language too.
Oh thats really cool. Have you been considering doing a degree in Finland or perhaps moving here at some point?
If it's so safe, why was your recycling room even locked?
IM MOVING TO FINLAND YALL
Like, it's cold ?
As a software developer student, would my BS in computer science work well with a finnish software development job here? Bc i am READY to toss my USA citizenship?
Also, are they friendly towards black/latin individuals…?
The good news is almost the only jobs you can get in Finland that are in English are software/computing jobs. Sucks for me cause I don't know any of those skills.
This question is out of topic but I really need help please, about sponsor ship in the migri application, can your aunt's husband be your sponsor?
Yes he can
@@kofiaduagyekum I agree. Should not be a problem, but do remember that having a sponsor in itself is not enough. Do keep in mind what I mentioned in the comments of the previous video - you need to have the funds on an account that only you have access to and you need to attach specific documents proving the origin of the funds to the permit application.
@@RoadtoFinnish exactly.. €6720 if you are applying as a student. I already went through the whole process and got a positive decision.
@@RoadtoFinnish yes I understand. Thank you kofi and oliverr. I am being careful and precise.
@@kofiaduagyekum If you could share with me any of your social media accounts if you feel okay with it I would love to benefit from your experience please!
There is a specific milk for making e.g. rice porridge.
Very good, because it does not burn into the bottom of your kettle.
But, alas, I think 99% of foreigners are not interested in this dairy finesse, because kaamos makes them too depressed.
Weeell that might not hold true as much as you believe. I hear way too many stories about internationals who get super confused about these kind of details when they first move here. Things that seem obvious to us might feel a bit odd to people immigrating to Finland.
@@RoadtoFinnish Yes, I believe you are right, all things considered. I like your style of clear and structured video.
Thanks! I do appreciate the feedback (both the positive and the constructive). Getting feedback is the best way for me to develop myself so im open for all ideas on how to make these videos better in the future 👍
So it's like I will do a favor for you if I feel that when I need something I can count on you
Expensive 🤔🤔🤔 i want to visit
Finland is a lovely place to visit e.g. during July or in the middle of the winter. Two totally different experiences but both equally lovely!
Im coming finland
Excellent! Are you coming in this fall or later?
@@RoadtoFinnish In my dreams 😭
@@kuebrastic1219 oh damn, got it 😄. Any reason why this would not be possible?
@@RoadtoFinnishmy parents want me to live in their home country, they are from Turkey and i was born and live in germany
Well darn.. I a way I do understand this but it is a shame. Is it for certain that you would not be able to move to finland at some point?
I wish I could live in Finland. I'm 58%.
I have a question but I do worry to ask you in public .
Does Finland have Astrophysics jobs?
Yes we do although i have no idea from where you can find these jobs. Im not an expert in astrophysics.