What You Should Know Before Moving to Finland

[@GuinevereKnight]

Very wise words! I'ts the same way here. Finland I'm sure is happy and proud to have you! Greetings from your friendly neighbour 🇸🇪

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Thank you🙏

[@stuartclayton4257]

I think it really depends on your situation. For instance, if you come to Finland on your own, meeting new people might be a very different experience compared to coming here with a spouse. With a spouse, you're likely to meet people more naturally through them. If you're on your own, it might be easier to connect with others through shared interests, like hobbies. You mentioned meeting a friend through recipes, and I think that's a great example. Finns often connect with people who have similar interests, so finding common ground is usually the easiest way to build friendships.

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

I agree!

[@marjar.5978]

Great insights. You have learned the Finnish psyche very well 😁

[@Latvian07]

I lived in Finland for a year. Even though my nation, Latvians, are very reserved like Finns, it was hard for me to make friends with Finnish people. Maybe if I stayed longer and learnt their language, I would have made friends. Anyway I had great time in Finland, I made international friends there. Finnish people were still nice to me. They are really funny though, their sense of humour is excellent!😅

[@Latvian07]

What really surprised me , when I was walking with my Ukrainian friends down the street in Helsinki, sometimes we got free stuff from product advertisers (?) , for example, ice cream or yogurth. I thought we need that in Rīga too!😂😂

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

I need to know a bit more about what you mean by the excellent sense of humour😂

[@Latvian07]

@@DAIKIFinlandLifetheir jokes are just hilarious! 😂

[@turpasauna]

Kiitos, tärkeä aihe. 🙏 Hyvää joulunodotusta, Daiki. 😊❤

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Kiitos, samoin!

[@karitoivonen93]

I think all the points you raised are very true if you look at them in a general level. People don't like stereotypes, but they often have some truth in them. Still, people are different and it depends a lot on what kind of environment people from other countries end up, where they work etc. I think the best way to get friends in a foreign country is through hobbies. People share a common interest and want to share experience in order to learn more or become better in whatever they are doing. It is true also that Finnish people like quietness and punctuality, although not all of us are punctual. Still also those people expect others to be punctual. It may be hard to know when a Finnish person is dissatisfied or even mad as we usually avoid conflicts, reclamations and other uneasy situations. It is common in restaurants that people eat food that has something wrong in it without complaining and even say it is perfectly fine if asked by a waiter. They just don't come back to that restaurant.

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Thank you for your opinion :)

[@Aenea-de9vy]

Yes, you are spot on!

[@LukasKuneshenko]

Kiitos❤❤se on tärkeä elämälle Suomessa tulevaisuudessa Hyvää Joulua🎉🎉

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Kiitos katsomisesta!

[@kathrinkaefer]

My experience in Finland is that if you go to a hobby group or social activity, people might not acknowledge you at the beginning or talk to you unless you talk to them first. But if you keep showing up, then over time, they will start to include you. This is very different from my own culture, where there is an expectation that the existing people in a group make newcomers feel welcome. I have Finnish friends now who didn't talk to me for at least the first year after meeting them. But then one day, they started to talk to me as if we are friends for a long time 😂

[@tiinah-b2326]

I’m 59 now, but when I was 27 I moved to Japan with my husband for his work. I didn’t have any expectations so I found myself very comfortable being there in my own company to begin with. While my husband worked long days, I went out and about, but I made local friends through a gym I went to at least 4 times a week. It wasn’t an area with many expats and so I was a novelty to many there at that time.The women invited me to their homes or just to go out. I also made friends with the staff and over time invited them to my home, and one staff member (along with her family) became life long friends. So yes, finding a hobby is a great way to meet the locals. Next, we moved to Singapore and by then we had one child and another on the way. So living in a large condominium, it was so easy making friends with mostly other expats, but with also some locals. I think living in a house would have been isolating, if one didn’t join a club, etc. Initially I actually did find it quite isolating moving back into a house in my own country after years of being so surrounded by friends in Japan and Singapore. However, starting our children in school quickly changed that. But I had to be proactive in joining children’s groups and offering to help out young mums so they could become involved as well.

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Good point, living in a condominium helps you for sure to make friends also for your kids too!

[@Ougagagoubou]

My experience on punctuality is that Finns aren't specifically known for it. Some of us are good, some bad, most recognize it's rude to be late but it still happens occasionally. It's probably not so different from most other countries in Western/Northern Europe that we share the most culturally. Offering your social media upon contact in a store sounds very unusual for a Finn. Maybe they had seen your videos. Fans can be universally cringe! Making friends is probably harder than in other countries, that's easy to believe. I guess in that sense Japan isn't so different from Finland? I've heard it's hard to assimilate into Japanese society as a foreigner, where people are similarly respectful and nice to you, but becoming their friend is another story. It's not that people would be against becoming friend of a foreigner, but guess it just doesn't happen so naturally. Less chitchatting in casual places to make those odd acquittances just happen, something that sounds to be common in USA for example.

[@DAIKIFinlandLife]

Yeah, I've heard from international students in Japan that it's not easy to make local friends.

[@huanhuang4723]

初め。 役立つビデオ。❤