“Embracing Finnishness: An Immigrant’s Perspective on Life in Finland”
I have been living in Finland and still finding out new things about this country which never fails to amaze me. Since I am from a warm country, the weather was the first new thing to accept when I landed in Finland. It was December, so of course, snow covered everything around. This was my first time looking at the snow. Little did I know that, I would get bored of it so soon because I started to miss the sun. Another thing that caught my attention was the decoration of Christmas. The different colors of lights, reindeer-shaped lights, and Christmas trees made the city look alive and more fun. So this was the first impression to me for Finland: Snow and Christmas.
If someone asks me, how I will describe Finland, I will talk about a few things which include mostly about the weather, then a little about the people and the lifestyles which are very different from where I grew up.
It was not easy for me to cope with this country, weather, people, and culture however I enjoyed most of it. I will break it down into points and explain from my point of view. Since this is a view from an immigrant, it can help you to see Finland from a very different angle.
The weather is mostly cold, especially in northern Finland. Which might bore you after some time, but what is not boring is seeing the northern light. This is a very heavenly experience, and the different shades of the light seem so unreal and magical in the middle of the night, with around minus 28 degrees temperatures and snow all around you.
After the long winter, summer arrives for a very short time. But people enjoy it fully, and at least for us students, the schools are fully closed. Some students do summer schools, courses, jobs or mostly travel during this time. The roads seem different when the snow that covered the streets starts to melt and we can see the grass, flowers, and pebbles. The lakes that are frozen half the year filled with blue water and the fountains are open which makes it looks so beautiful. For me, summer means blue sky, fresh air, and sunny day, green grass and trees, and some beautiful colorful flowers. I will never stop romanticizing Finnish summer, because summer is my favorite season in Finland.
The similarity between spring and autumn is both are very short. During spring, there are heavy snowfalls, sometimes you see the sun, the snow melts and you feel like thankfully the winter is gone and the snow is cleared fully and then the next day you see heavy snowfall covering the roads fully. The day starts to get bigger and the sun starts shining a little more day by day. Autumn is the time when you see the beautiful trees with colorful leaves. Autumn is the time when you say goodbye to the summer. The daytime starts to get shorter, the temperature gets colder day by day and you pack all your summer clothes and start unpacking the winter jacket, hand gloves, and beanie.
The Finnish food habits were also very different for me in the beginning. For example, morning coffee. According to the International Coffee Organization, people in Finland consume 12 kilograms of coffee each year. It sounded unbelievable until I witnessed it. Their morning starts with coffee and bun (AKA Pulla). Finnish people eat salad and fruit too. Different types of berries are used to make jelly, cakes, and juices. It tastes fresh and is also healthy.
The punctuality of Finnish people deserves appreciation. Whether it’s a meeting, class time, teamwork, or sports, they usually show up on time. Finnish people are also famous for being introverted but I have the experience of meeting both introverted and extroverted people. since there are not many outdoor activities, people enjoy staying home, cooking, baking, playing board games, going gym and a very famous activity is Sauna. Sauna was a new concept to me before I came here. This is a very refreshing experience and Finnish people enjoy it very much.
I would like to appreciate the traffic system of Finland. Bus, trains, metro, and trams are mostly available on time and the roads are very clean and systematic. It is a very fun experience to ride city bikes or by cycles during the summer.
The blog will be incomplete if I don’t talk about Wappu, the biggest festival in Finland especially for the students. Wappu is celebrated on 1st May, every year. As per my experience, wappu is mostly about drinking and lots of student activities. All the student clubs and associations work hard to arrange the activities. Students’ celebrations start almost in April. On the day before Wappu, people mostly come out and enjoy the sun, do some picnic, drink sima, and eat snacks like pulla. The color is in the air, the joy is in everyone’s faces. People celebrate the day with their family, friends, and loved ones.
So after living in Finland for one and half years, I will probably not agree that Finland is the happiest country, but I will say I feel safe here, I like to hang out with Finnish people and enjoy the mixed culture Finland has. The language is very hard to learn, essential things are expensive, and job struggles cannot be denied. But overall, my experience in Finland is good and bad both. I would highlight the good sides more because I like taking this challenge to cope with a new culture.
All the pictures are taken by me. Looking forward to making more memories in this country.
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