Moving to Helsinki.

[Nordiques1979]

Hello people, i will move to Helsinki next winter, i will work on Vuosaari Harbour as a docker, from what i heard moving in winter is the worst thing to do, but unfortunately i can't move to Helisinki before october. I am learning finnish right now (which is a pain in the ass ) but i've been pleasently surprised to see that A LOT of finnish people speak english, it helps a lot for all the custom papers.... Anyway if you guys have any advice for me, i thank you alot ! Can't wait to see your beautiful country.

Click to read more...

 

[Muuri]

Pretty much everyone in Finland speaks english, so language shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Pretty much everyone in Finland speaks english, so language shouldn't be a problem.

Yeah but i though it would be a better sign of integration to speak finnish, at least understand it and know the basics, it's just a matter of respect for the country welcoming me.

 

[thomast]

Hello people, i will move to Helsinki next winter, i will work on Vuosaari Harbour as a docker, from what i heard moving in winter is the worst thing to do, but unfortunately i can't move to Helisinki before october. I am learning finnish right now (which is a pain in the ass ) but i've been pleasently surprised to see that A LOT of finnish people speak english, it helps a lot for all the custom papers.... Anyway if you guys have any advice for me, i thank you alot ! Can't wait to see your beautiful country.

Alone? thats kinda scary. Finnish people are known to be nonsocial except when we are drunk. But yeah everyone at capital region should speak english except for very old people.

 

[FiLe]

Yeah but i though it would be a better sign of integration to speak finnish, at least understand it and know the basics, it's just a matter of respect for the country welcoming me.

Get the reading and understanding parts nailed down first is my advice. From there you can work to actually speaking the language and in the meantime just scrape by with English.

And I don't really get how moving in at winter is a bad thing. This is not Great Britain, we build our houses to bear all seasons. Dress properly while going outside and in the odd case you're actually freezing inside take it up with the landlord, because you really shouldn't. A little snow doesn't mess up the traffic either, at least much. Honestly, Finland at winter is pretty much like Finland at summer, sans some eye candy.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Alone? thats kinda scary. Finnish people are known to be nonsocial except when we are drunk. But yeah everyone at capital region should speak english except for very old people.

No no i'm moving with the wife and kids ! A big change for my family, but we can't wait, the opportunity was there so i took it. I wasn't aware of the "nonsocial" thing, but i'm a very social man, and dockers are a big worldwide family lol

 

[Barkkonen]

Get the reading and understanding parts nailed down first is my advice. From there you can work to actually speaking the language and in the meantime just scrape by with English.

And I don't really get how moving in at winter is a bad thing. This is not Great Britain, we build our houses to bear all seasons. Dress properly while going outside and in the odd case you're actually freezing inside take it up with the landlord, because you really shouldn't. A little snow doesn't mess up the traffic either, at least much. Honestly, Finland at winter is pretty much like Finland at summer, sans some eye candy.

VR says hi! (****ing italian trains)

 

[Nordiques1979]

Get the reading and understanding parts nailed down first is my advice. From there you can work to actually speaking the language and in the meantime just scrape by with English.

And I don't really get how moving in at winter is a bad thing. This is not Great Britain, we build our houses to bear all seasons. Dress properly while going outside and in the odd case you're actually freezing inside take it up with the landlord, because you really shouldn't. A little snow doesn't mess up the traffic either, at least much. Honestly, Finland at winter is pretty much like Finland at summer, sans some eye candy.

Well i chatted with several guys from my job who left for Helsinki last year and they all told me to move by summer. I don't know i'm used to snow and cold, i'm canadian But anyway, one thing who was a pleasant surprise was the real estate price in Helsinki and it's cities near.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Welcome to Finland then! Can I ask why you move here? It's not like you couldn't be a docker in some place else, just wondering...

I have to agree with people who say that Finns aren't know for they social skills. Don't worry, you will find friends but don't feel bad if it takes some time and few failed attempts to do so.

Do you have place to stay yet?

 

[FiLe]

Finnish people are known to be nonsocial except when we are drunk.

If you're in Finland and someone approaches you and strikes up a conversation, they're either...

-drunk
-high
-mentally unstable
-foreigner
-all of the above

Also, if another Finn wants to hug us, it's instinctive for us to check whether they're holding a knife.


Okay, seriously. The non-social behavior of Finns is pretty much a myth. There are two things that is not part of our culture, small-talk and being the one who starts a conversation. If we're however approached and spoken to you can expect a Finn to respond in kind instead of giving you a glare and hoofing it. However, if you decide to pick up any subject related to Finland or Finnish culture (including Finnish hockey), expect them to downplay it, hard.

 

[FiLe]

VR says hi! (****ing italian trains)

Exactly why I added the "at least much" part.

 

[Nordiques1979]

Welcome to Finland then! Can I ask why you move here? It's not like you couldn't be a docker in some place else, just wondering...

I have to agree with people who say that Finns aren't know for they social skills. Don't worry, you will find friends but don't feel bad if it takes some time and few failed attempts to do so.

Do you have place to stay yet?

Thanks mate ! Well the dockers situation in Canada isn't the best right now, the company i work for has several links in several scandinavian ports so they offered jobs in Finland and Norway to the youngest and early recruited guys. As for the place to stay, we are searching right now, hopping to find a place as soon as possible, even if we are moving in october 2012. My wife just discovered the Itäkeskus shopping centre.... women...

 

[Nordiques1979]

If you're in Finland and someone approaches you and strikes up a conversation, they're either...

-drunk
-high
-mentally unstable
-foreigner
-all of the above

Also, if another Finn wants to hug us, it's instinctive for us to check whether they're holding a knife.


Okay, seriously. The non-social behavior of Finns is pretty much a myth. There are two things that is not part of our culture, small-talk and being the one who starts a conversation. If we're however approached and spoken to you can expect a Finn to respond in kind instead of giving you a glare and hoofing it.

In fact i'm more comfortable with people less talkative than people who will hug you at the first meeting !

 

[Jokerit Wasp]

Lucky you! Helsinki is a great city, and Finland a fantastic country! Make sure you see it all

 

[ChadS]

I have the impression that there are quite a few young guys working at the Vuosaari harbour, at least I know a couple who have been or are there right now. So they should know how to speak English quite well. Where in Helsinki are you going to live?

I wouldn't be too worried about the language, my father (who is Irish and first lived in the States for about 20 years before moving to Finland 25 years ago) has been here for quite a while and still does not speak even close to fluent Finnish but he's been fine with English. Being social should help a lot.

Good luck and hope you don't get too depressed with the darkness of the Finnish winter

 

[Nordiques1979]

I have the impression that there are quite a few young guys working at the Vuosaari harbour, at least I know a couple who have been or are there right now. So they should know how to speak English quite well. Where in Helsinki are you going to live?

I wouldn't be too worried about the language, my father (who is Irish and first lived in the States for about 20 years before moving to Finland 25 years ago) has been here for quite a while and still does not speak even close to fluent Finnish but he's been fine with English. Being social should help a lot.

Good luck and hope you don't get too depressed with the darkness of the Finnish winter

Well apparently a lot of foreigners are working right now at Vuosaari harbour, as for the place to stay i'm looking right now downtown Helsinki as well as Espoo and Vantaa (even if i'm a bit concerned about the distance between Bboth cities and Vuosaari)

 

[thomast]

Well apparently a lot of foreigners are working right now at Vuosaari harbour, as for the place to stay i'm looking right now downtown Helsinki as well as Espoo and Vantaa (even if i'm a bit concerned about the distance between Bboth cities and Vuosaari)

They are building subway to southern-espoo which helps alot in travelling to helsinki from espoo.

 

[Nordiques1979]

They are building subway to southern-espoo which helps alot in travelling to helsinki from espoo.

I need to be autonomous and have my own car (which is also a main concern for as i won't be able to bring my pick up with me lol too much papers ) to move inside the harbor.

 

[FiLe]

My wife just discovered the Itäkeskus shopping centre.... women...

There's also the Kamppi Centre a stone's throw from Helsinki Railway station and Jumbo near the Airport in Vantaa, plus a bunch of smaller ones. If those are her thing, she should have a riot out here also.

I need to be autonomous and have my own car (which is also a main concern for as i won't be able to bring my pick up with me lol too much papers ) to move inside the harbor.

Then this doesn't make getting a place from those surrounding towns, Vantaa or Espoo a big issue either. With your own wheels it's probably ten extra minutes' worth of commuting.

 

[Barkkonen]

Vantaa's centre Tikkurila is probably best place to live outside of Helsinki, if considering public transportation connections.

 

[Nordiques1979]

There's also the Kamppi Centre a stone's throw from Helsinki Railway station and Jumbo near the Airport in Vantaa, plus a bunch of smaller ones. If those are her thing, she should have a riot out here also.

Then this doesn't make getting a place from those surrounding towns, Vantaa or Espoo a big issue either. With your own wheels it's probably ten extra minutes' worth of commuting.

Well finding a good location is our big issue right now, we are planning several trips in january/april/June so we can visit some and make our own idea about the way of life, trafic, distance between my new job and the house, the currency (hopefully euro isn't too high from can dollar).. A lot of thing to take care of.

 

[ChadS]

If you have a car it might make sense not to get a place downtown Helsinki. It's not much of an advantage and finding parking can be a real pain in the ass in certain places.

There are highways going around Helsinki called Kehä(="ring") 1 and Kehä 3. The latter one goes basically straight into Vuosaari harbour. There are some nice areas along it and if you don't want to be right in the center of Helsinki, that could make more sense. As FiLe mentioned, there are quite a few large shopping centers all around the Helsinki/Espoo/Vantaa area.

EkiE mentioned Tikkurila which is along Kehä 3. Distance by car to Vuosaari harbour is about 8-9 miles.

 

[Nordiques1979]

If you have a car it might make sense not to get a place downtown Helsinki. It's not much of an advantage and finding parking can be a real pain in the ass in certain places.

There are highways going around Helsinki called Kehä(="ring") 1 and Kehä 3. The latter one goes basically straight into Vuosaari harbour. There are some nice areas along it and if you don't want to be right in the center of Helsinki, that could make more sense. As FiLe mentioned, there are quite a few large shopping centers all around the Helsinki/Espoo/Vantaa area.

Well i have the chance to have a better pay than right now, which was one of my asking, knowing that my wife had to quit her job, for the several houses i saw on internet, the price wasn't too expensive (in Helsinki downtown and Espoo mostly), but as you mentionned guys, i will look into some other area (thanks for Tikkurila).

 

[Jolli]

So..... Now you gotta choose between HIFK and Jokerit.

 

[FiLe]

Well finding a good location is our big issue right now, we are planning several trips in january/april/June so we can visit some and make our own idea about the way of life, trafic, distance between my new job and the house, the currency (hopefully euro isn't too high from can dollar).. A lot of thing to take care of.

All I'm saying is that traveling distances shouldn't be much of a concern, but yeah, there are some suburbs and neighborhood units I wouldn't be taking kids in so it defintely is smart to take a look beforehand.

It's a good thing we have plenty of people here who obviously live in Helsinki or in the vicinity or have lived around there at some point - so don't hesitate to ask us if you find a 'hood that kinda looks good but wish to get a brutally honest insider opinion about it.