After a year pause of not writing anything on my blog, these days, I found the courage again (there is no clear explanation for me why it took this long).
Last 4 years in Helsinki, Finland were amazing.
Of course, there were times that I struggled, questioning myself: what am I doing here? Why in Finland? What can I do on my professional path, will I ever learn this difficult language? And many other questions are normal for a big change like this: moving from my home country to another one completely different in many aspects.
Somehow I did it. I trusted the process, I had taken small steps and I considered that I need to adapt to the culture, and not the culture to me or people to be like me.
Find below some spontaneous takeaways and challenges of living in Finland.
💚 Takeaways from Finland
-Nature can teach you many things, so beautiful, so different, so alive.
-People are so polite and I didn’t feel that I am judged for any reason while staying in Finland.
-People don’t rush in Finland. They have time for everything and at some point it felt that they like to stay in a line at the coffee shop :))
-They are having outside activities no matter how the weather is. Especially kids at school playing out in the rain, snow, nature is their friend.
-I felt that women are so powerful and independent.
-Networking is super important. I suggest to you to be open minded and see the importance of networking.
-Everything is digitalized and people are so polite in the public services a big +++
-There is a continuous feedback about services and how to improve them.
-Finland has an awesome prime minister.
-The country is pet friendly: many dog parks, even beaches for dogs on some islands.
-Sauna and summer cottages are a “must to do” in Finland
Challenges for foreigners
-The Finnish language
-Finding fast a job in your field.
-Weather, sometimes might effect you especially in the winter time: this is the reason why vitamin D is super important all over the year and recommended by doctors.
-Making very fast Finnish friends, you need to be patient.
For me, I felt home, Helsinki will always have a place in my 💜 heart, same as most of my friends living there.
One dear friend of mine told me that “it is ok to have many homes, the home is where the heart is“: these sentence relieved me and I feel that I’m not betraying Helsinki for being in Annecy, and not betraying Ploiesti, Sibiu, for being in Helsinki. Thank you, my dear friend, I think you know who you are. Super grateful to have you.
The amazing capital city, Helsinki with the Baltic sea view, knows how grateful I am for being able to live there and I will return with pleasure every time it’s possible 🙂.
Thank you Finland for being so kind to me. Thank you, my dear friends and people that I met there.
Here is my IG page for more photos: https://www.instagram.com/createyourownsunshine.anca/
Inspire and Create 