Why it is so damn easy to live in Finland

It’s been almost six years now that I moved from my home country Germany to Finland. Not a big change in life and culture, you’d think. Well, probably not in comparison to coming here from India or Tanzania. But still, it always amazes me, how much better the quality of life is around here. Let me give you a few examples:

Everything is digital

 

After having to be in touch with German authorities again recently simply to be able to vote in the upcoming election, I realized again how painful bureaucracy is in many other countries – even those that are considered as highly developed. After just getting off the phone with another completely lost German civil servant, I walked through town and came across a booth promoting Finland’s new suomi.fi service. It is a web platform that allows you to use all public administration services you’d need as a Finnish resident like changing your home address, doing your taxes, opening a new company, getting in touch with all Finnish authorities and much more. What other countries still talk about as a vision for the future, is already a reality in Finland. No need to spend half your day queueing in some city office. You just do it online in a couple of minutes. I can tell you, it’s awesome!

Internet is everywhere – unlimited

 

Another one of those things that still amaze me is the access to the world wide web. While in other countries you can be happy to find a free wifi hotspot in your hotel, the internet is literally everywhere in Finland. If you come here as a tourist and are looking for free wifi, the only problem you will be facing is which free network to choose. And if you live here, you will actually never even get into the situation of ever logging into one. And that is because mobile internet here is everywhere, superfast and UNLIMITED. Yes, you heard me right. No annoying data limits of a couple of hundred megabytes per month. And since the Finnish government made the availability of fast internet throughout the whole country a priority, the coverage of providers ranges at close to 100%. Wanna watch a 4K video somewhere in the woods of Lapland? Be my guest.

Respect for one another

 

As a German, I was used to strict hierarchies before I came here. Even asking the head of your department to have lunch with you, that was a straight-out crazy idea. Ideas were only good or even looked at if they came from someone that had climbed the career ladder for quite a while. Not so in Finland. Hierarchies here are flat. Sure, there is someone that will make the final decision, but before that everyone’s voice and opinion is heard and taken into consideration. Also in daily life, you can see that Finns are just not the cocky type of people. In Helsinki, e.g. chances are the friendly dude in t-shirt and jeans sitting next to you in a café turns out to be the co-founder of a billion Euro gaming company.

Nature is all around

 

No matter where you are in Finland, after a 5-minute walk into pretty much any direction, you will most likely find yourself at the seashore, a beautiful lake or in the middle of the forest. Nature is literally all around you. And that is a great thing. Escaping the daily hustle and bustle of the city and work life is just so easy. And nature here is clean. Finns feel closely connected to nature and have big respect for it. Hence, littering is almost unheard of here.

These are just some of the highlights and there are still at least 100 other reasons why I myself love to live in Finland. Do you live, have visited or plan to move here as well? What are your reasons? I’m curious to hear! Let me know in the comments below!

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This post has been supported by a cooperating with the Labour Mobility in Europe ESF-project. More info here. Thank you!

Seurasaari Christmas Path

You and our family had so much to do during the last days and weeks that you didn't really have time to get into the Christmas mood? Then you should keep Sunday free for a trip to Seurasaari.

Picture: Kimmo Brandt

Starting from 12:00 Seurasaari opens its Christmas Path for children and families for the 20th time. The path includes play and sing-song, a Christmas play, face painting, horse cart driving, a whipsled and a straw labyrinth, a candle path, a fire exhibition, a slow-burning log fire and bun roasting over a campfire as well as Christmas porridge for the children. Animals of the forest walk around the Christmas Path handing out gingerbread and cinnamon buns to the children while Father Christmas and Old Lady Christmas listen to the children’s gift wishes.

And the entrance is free. Make sure not to miss this and have a wonderful weekend!

Sibelius' trees

Helsinki celebrates the 150th birthday of Jean Sibelius this year. Among many other events and happening throughout the whole year the city of Helsinki introduced the Sibelius tree walk.

All around town small signs were attached to selected trees. After scanning the QR code with their smartphone visitors can hear music Sibelius dedicated to the specific type of tree.

So keep your eyes open for those signs and let Sibelius share his feelings about the Finnish nature with you.

Colored leaves

The leaves have changed their color. Now brown, yellow and red dominates the Finnish nature. But the fall beauty won't stay for long. The first leaves already start falling.

So if you want to enjoy the beautiful fall scenery, head out into the woods for a nice Sunday walk today.

Have a great and relaxed Sunday!

Off into the woods for mushrooms

The summer is coming to and end. The middle of August has been extremely rainy and wet. This might be annoying but it has its upside as well. The mushrooms are growing.

The woods around Helsinki, especially the big forests as well as the national park Nuuksio in Espoo are the perfect area to pick some mushrooms. And don't worry, much like berry picking mushroom picking is allowed everywhere. Even on private property and in national parks.

But be sure to pick the right once. Always be onehundred percent sure to know the once you are about to pick. And use a knife rather than just ripping them out by the root to protect the plant and give it a chance to regenerate.

Happy picking!

Berry picking the easy way

This year the berries don't grow as much as normally due to bad weather conditions. Picking berries by hand might take quite a bit of time. But luckily their is a simple device that makes the berry picking much easier and faster.

With those so called Marjanpoimuri you can basically comb through the shrubbery and it collects all the berries. The Marjanpoimuri are tradtitionaly made from wood and metal. Nowadays you can also find plastic versions. They can be bought for a few euros at almost any supermarket. Try them out.

Good luck picking!

The water is never far

One the great things about the Baltic Sea is that due to its relatively small size compared to other seas its tidal range is quite small. That means that the water is always there and doesn't vanish for hours like elsewhere.

Still there is a small tidal range also here which is just about 20 - 40 cm. At beaches with very shallow water you can still see the effect pretty well though. But don't worry, you will never have to walk more than few meters more to reach the refreshing water.

Enjoy your Sunday at the beach or whereever you might be today!

The blueberries are here

You can buy blueberries the whole year through in every supermarket. But now is the season when they grow in Finland. So keep your eyes open when you walk through the nature. You can find the plants pretty much everywhere. But to spot the first berries you have to train your eye a bit.

Finnish blueberries are much smaller than the huge ones you will get in the supermarket. But they are delicious and worth the effort. Give it a try and start picking! Good luck and enjoy!

Birdwatching with the Finnstick

The birds are coming back to Finland. That's the time that all birdwatchers have been waiting for for months. Now they go out into the nature whenever they find time to watch the homecomers.

But holding up your binoculars for several hours can be quite tiring for the arms. That's why Finns invented a simple device that is now famous among birdwatchers all over the world: the Finnstick.

It is basically just a wooden stick with a small cylindric nose on top that can hold the binoculars. That way you just have to hold the end of the stick. The idea is simple and at the same time genius. You can buy one or also very easily build one yourself.

Enjoy the birdwatching!

Signs of spring

Take a close look and you can already see the first flower buds in the parks and forests. Just a few more days and the first blossoms are here.

Enjoy the sunny spring day!

Time for a walk

The next days should stay nice and sunny. Enjoy the weather with a walk through the beautiful Finnish nature.

Like here at Nuuksio National Park.

Hyvää isänpäivää!

Happy Father's Day! From time to time the sun should show itself today. Why not have a nice walk through the nature with the whole family?

Have a nice Sunday!

Another foggy day

It's another foggy day in Helsinki. But that's of course no reason not to go for a walk through the nature.

Have a nice Sunday!

The Rhododendron Park

The blooming time of the rhododendron is long over. Their beautiful red flowers are at their best in June. But even during this time of the year the Rhododendron Park (Alppiruusupuisto) in Haaga is a perfect destination for a nice Sunday walk.

The park was founded and still functions as a plant breeding experimental site of the University of Helsinki. Simultaneously the eight-hectare area is a park open to the public. The first rhododendrons have been planted here in 1975. Meanwhile several different species grow some of which were created on this site and are internationally well known to handle temperatures of up to -40 degrees.

Many paths and duckboards as well as some look-outs make it possible to explore most parts of the park in a comfortable way and are also accessible for wheelchair-users without problems.

Have a wonderful walk and a nice Sunday!

A perfect day for mushroom picking

The weather is beautiful today and since we had quite a bit of rain during the last days this Sunday should be perfect for mushroom picking.

And that can be done anywhere in the woods around Helsinki. Just bring a knife and a basket and start your search. Once you spot the first ones it gets easier to find more. But be sure of what you pick and if you have some doubts rather leave them.

Have a great Sunday!

Everyman's berries

The berry season continues still for another few weeks. Sure you can just buy them in the nearby supermarket or from the next berry stand. But you can also just pick them yourself in the woods.

The wonderful thing about Finland is that in its nature the so called Everyman’s Right applies. Meaning that everyone can walk, pick berries and mushrooms and even camp wherever they want and even on private land as long as they are far enough from the next house and of course take care to not harm the environment. Even in national parks like Nuuksio berry and mushroom picking is allowed.

At the moment you can still find lots of lingonberries as well as the last blueberries. All you need is a small bucket or basket.

Have fun! 

Along the shore of Munkkiniemi

The sunny weather is supposed to stay for the upcoming days. And luckily now the days are long enough to still have time for a walk after work.

The great thing about Helsinki is that you don’t even have to leave the city if you want to go for a walk. Take for example the tram to Munkkiniemi and head to Munkkiniemenranta. At the moment the ice is still thick enough that you can walk around the whole bay.

And don’t miss out on Café Torpanranta afterwards. Here you can enjoy a beautiful view while sitting in the sun having a cup of hot coffee.

24 hours of darkness

This is the darkest time of the year. The days are short and the snow hasn’t arrived yet. And the darkest day of the year is still almost a month ahead. But count yourself lucky if you live in the capital region in the Southern part of Finland.

In Lapland the polar night – or kaamos, how it’s called in Finnish – started yesterday. That means that the night last longer than 24 hours. If you live up there you don’t see the sun for around two months. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no daylight at all. Around midday the so called astronomical twilight occurs. That means the sun won’t rise above the horizon but still will lighten up the sky a bit.

Sunrise over Lauttasaari

The amazing colors of a sunrise in fall. This picture was taken last Thursday morning.

Wilderness at the gates of Helsinki

From time to time Finns love to be in the middle of the woods far away from all other living souls. Then they leave the city and go for long walks somewhere through the wilderness. 

This sounds tempting for you as well? Well, it’s again a beautiful sunny fall day. Why don’t you visit Nuuksio National Park today? It is located in Espoo and just a few kilometers away from the city center of Helsinki. You can easily get there by car or bus.

Nuuksio National Park covers an area of 45 sq.km. You can hike here for hours or even days. They have several marked routes that vary between 2 and 8 kilometers and are perfect for a weekend walk. If you are searching for something more exciting you can also get a map or ask the guides at the information point at the beginning of the park to help you make your own route.

Enjoy the nature!