No i haven't yet. But i heard a lot of good thing about the Jokerit's fans lol. The war between HIFK and Jokerit looks huge actually! I've been super busy with custom papers, ID, driving licence and my job is taking me a lot. Plus me and my wife try to be as much as we can with the kids, it's been a big change for em. But they quickly understand that Big Mac was Big Mac in finland and how to pronounce
Juustohampurilainen
I hope you enjoy your life in Finland. I can easily agree with your thoughts on Finns being more relaxed and patient than North Americans. I moved to Canada about 6 years ago, before that I lived about 8 years in the Helsinki/Espoo area. People on forums like these often seem to misrepresent the place and people, of course Finns are less outgoing than North Americans in general but like someone already mentioned, if YOU take the initiative, Finns are very curious and eager to talk.
It's the taking the initiative part that Finnish people struggle with, there is no "small talk" in Finnish. Here in Canada most people will greet you with the "how are you doing" which does not happen in Finland unless you really know the person, but it's not a sign of hostility, just a cultural and language difference. Like there were no "icebreakers" invented when they came up with the Finnish language.
Weather wise, the differences are not big, length of day might be. I live in Atlantic Canada (Saint John, NB) and it gets almost as cold here especially with wind chill, but there are more hours of sunlight during winter months and less sunlight during summer months.
Food wise, I think Finland wins that hands down. You can get basically anything in Finland that you can in Canada (except Kraft Dinner and Timmies) but who wants mac and cheese anyway! Just make it yourself. What you can't really get in Canada, without importing, is rye bread and the variety of dairy products. Finland easily has better cheeses, you can get decent cheddar there too but you just don't find the kind of cheeses in Canada that you would in Finland. Finnish brand of potato chips beat Lays or Ruffles any day, and last but not least....there is no SALMIAKKI in Canada. Boo!
It's a great place to live. People here in Canada often ask me if it's a lot different and I tell them not much. Then they ask me which one do I prefer, and I try to say I like both so I don't break their illusion, but all in all I've always preferred Finland in a lot of ways. Nothing wrong with Canada either, but there's something that the quality of basic education in Finland generally brings that I have not found here in Canada.
Few suggestions: If you like actually hot food, try the "New bamboo center" in Kamppi. There's also two amazing buffet style kebab places (well there are more but these are my preferences), Ravintola Ani in Lauttasaari and Kilim in Tapiola, Espoo. Bring the fam if they like to try "exotic" food and fill up on it. Something I have yet to find here....they have their "beef gyro's" here etc but it's just not the same.
Good luck, have fun and enjoy the beautiful summer.