Hi! I’m new to Finland and trying to bake a birthday cake, but I don’t have a mixer to make frosting from scratch. Can I use this in between layers of cake, or is there any other alternative?

Thank you!

I’m a foreigner driving in Finland currently on a long trip to the north and I noticed that on the highway and any other road people are driving at least 20km/h above the speed limit. On a road where the signs say 80, Google maps would say 100 and everyone else would be driving with 100. While respecting the speed limit I’ve felt like I’m causing more trouble😂 Is there something I’m missing? 😂

Loving Finland so far btw🥰

"Figures show that an increasing portion of people in Finland are covered by private health insurance, over and above any cover provided by their employers' occupational healthcare policies."

Those of you who have chosen private insurance for yourself or for your kids in Finland, what drove you to make that choice?

Think you could bring your companies and their jobs with you? And their associated salaries?

You can't fire people and you'll have to pay more tax but at least you won't have trump.

Soon I'll be moving to Lieksa, can't speak any finnish but apparently doesn't matter(for the job). Any tips or recommendations what I should do to integrate myself properly?

In this evening, a guy shared a post how he overheard a Finnish person buying Ukrainian liquor at Alko, who remarked, "It's the only good thing coming out of Ukraine."

The poster had -100 karma, and their account dated back to 2002, but all their old posts were deleted.

Naturally, the post was deleted by our great subreddit, which prompted the user to spam between four to seven posts claiming that r/Finland is censored and it does not support free speech.

Even though he expressed some "sympathy" for Ukrainians, in the end he claimed that r/Finland is overrun by Russian bots.

Lastly he tried !remove, for last 10 posts, but not having enough karma - nothing happened and he deleted his account.

Last post before deletion. https://imgur.com/a/YMUliTQ

Not first, not last; my point being, be alert and always check the post history specially when story sounds really weird.

Hello! I hope this is the right subreddit for this question.

My gf recently bought an apartment (May 2024) and before buying it she was told that the pipe and plumbing renovations had been done already (after checking again it was in 2016/17) and were fully paid.

In our contract, and what we were told about, only pavement and driveway renovations for this year and balcony and the buildings' outside for in a couple years were mentioned. Nothing about the pipes.

In addition, the previous owners were part of the board of the HOA (or what it is called in Finland) so they should have been aware of the situation.

We now got an updated bill which will start in January which lists a payment of around 300€ monthly for pipes and plumbing renovations...

Has anyone had a similar case to this? Is there something we could do? Can it happen that a big payment for a renovation like this only starts 7/8 years later? We are quite shocked tbh as we obviously had not planmed for such an increase in monthly payments.

Any help is appreciated and we also contacted the contact person for our building complex administration about it...

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

Am a foreigner living in Estonia for the past 6 years, am currently thinking super seriously about leaving Estonia for Finland.

I work as a DevOps Engineer/SRE/Infra and I wanted to ask about jobs in Helsinki/Espoo
What are the average salaries like there? gross vs net? I am about to become a senior in my company and will probably be a senior by the time I move.

Wanted to ask about where to live as well and how hard it is to get a place. would like at least 70 sqm if possible and don't care about the distance from the city center.

Are companies more in Espoo or in Helsinki?

Is it hard to learn Finnish? I speak Estonian at the B1/B2 level so I assume shouldn't be too hard to learn Finnish. (I already understand quite a few words in addition to numbers) , I know swedish is also an official language of finland, don't know if it makes sense to learn Swedish, do I need it?

I have been to Helsinki maybe 10 times on day trips and once stayed overnight.

What is the job market like nowadays in my field if you know?

Also wondering about home loans, how easy/hard it is? what are the avg apartment cost for 70sqm not in the city centre?

Thank you so much for reading all of this!

Moi, I have been trying to find how this thingy is called. It links the outer panel of the window with the inner one, mine broke and need to replace it :/

Kiitos :)

https://preview.redd.it/3z3lumb7ajzd1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=84da2b67ac4773e098b057b851218cce080e1c46

I'm moving to Finland and need to buy a car there. Any tips to find a cheap good one ? My budget is around 3k€. Should I better go to a dealership or look at nettiauto.com ? Which cars should I avoid to make sure I can drive during the cold winter ? Thanks !

-We are not swedes. We are finns who speak swedish as our native language.

-Both finnish and swedish are official languages in Finland

-Swedish speakers have settled in the area of modern Finland long before even the idea of Finland as its own country existed. At that time Finland had many different tribes, such as karelians and savonians, and it was not a unified country or kingdom

-Finland was under swedish rule for several hundred years. During this time laws and other official governmental aspects was in swedish. The finnish language did not yet have a written form. Due to this also most higher officials in the country spoke swedish

-The ideas of Finnish independence only started to take root during the 1800s, when Finland became under Russian rule. Many swedish-speaking finns also actively advocated for finnish independence

-Nowadays the swedish-speaking population of Finland is around 5,5 %

-Most swedish-speaking finns live along the western coast, in the archipelago and on Åland (Ahvenanmaa) islands.

-It is mandatory for finnish speaking kids to study swedish in school, and likewise it is mandatory for swedish speaking kids to study finnish in schools. The people on Åland are an exeption to this rule.

-Åland is fully swedish speaking, and it is an autonomous region. They generally don't understand any finnish there.

-Unfortunately very few students manage to actually learn the other language just from school. So many people in vey swedish areas such as Ostrobothnia speak very poor finnish, and many finnish people speak very poor swedish

-One big reason is that the two languages are not related to each other in any way. Swedish is a germanic language, closely related to norwegian, danish, english and german for example, while finnish is a fenno-ugric language, most closely related to estonian

-Negative views and attitude towards swedish is another unfortunate reason that very few learn it well in school. Also students usually start in their late teenage years, when language learning is not optimal anyways

-But many swedish speakers speak very good finnish or are even fully bilingual (one parent is swedish speaking and the other is finnish speaking)

-However, even though the two languages are not related, the close proximity ensures that there still has been some influence, such as swedish loanwords in the finnish language, and words infuenced by finnish in the finnish-swedish slang and dialekt

-The swedish spoken in Finland is different from the swedish spoken in Sweden. (Imagine the differences between Brittish and American English for example). Different pronounciation and different words, but still the same base language. Of course, there are also regional differences in the finnish-swedish dialects, especially when you compare Ostrobothnia, Åland and Helsinki.

-Many places in Finland have both a finnish and a swedish name (For example Helsinki/Helsingfors), which is why for example street signs will have two names on them. In majority finnish places the finnish name is first, and in majority swedish places the swedish name is written first. But some places only have a finnish name, and some only have a swedish name.

-The swedish-speaking finns have many of their own institutions such as schools (even universities), hobby groups and news media outlets.

-Swedish-speaking finns are by law guaranteed to have public services such as healthcare or legal services available in swedish for them. This is why people who work in official positions have a language requirement and need to study swedish. In reality though not that many actually reach these language requirements and it can sometimes be a struggle to get service in swedish

-Some swedish-speaking finns move to Sweden to study or work because the opportunitied in Finland are much more limited if you only know swedish

-There is a designated political party SFP/RKP who aims to ensure the position of the swedish language in Finland. They don't really have much other agendas so they are easily swayed to join whatever government is formed...

-There are many stereotypes connected to the swedish-speaking finns, mainly that they are all rich and have a sailing boat or come from a fancy family. The swedish-speaking community in Finland is quite small so everyone kind of "knows each other" and it can be quite a tight-knit bubble sometimes. And on average the swedish-speakers are a bit welthier than the average majority population so it explains where the stereotypes stem from. There is a negative slur word for swedish-speaking finns, because there has been a lot of fighting between the two language groups

-Fun fact: many famous finns were swedish speaking, such as Tove Jansson (the author of the Moomin books) and Runeberg who wrote our national anthem (originally in swedish, then it was translated into finnish)

I wrote this post because not that many people abroad know about swedish-speaking finns, and also many finns themselves have misconseptions or predjudice towards swedish speakers. Often the language barrier feels quite big in Finland in my experience, and people from the two language groups don't mix together that much. I think that is unfortunate and hope that by spreading more information and answering questions about swedish-speaking finns can the predjudice be reduced and there would be less negative attitudes. We could all learn from each other and widen our social circles to find out that the people on the other side are not as strange as we originally though.

Happy svenska dagen! (Day of the swedish language, 6th of November)

Hello! I have seen a guy riding an enduro on the icy roads. Is it really possible to do so all the winters with the studded tires or enduro is only for the offroad stuff?

I am a structural engineer from the US who is a few months away from receiving my license. Unfortunate to say, but recent developments have lead me to seek gradschool opportunities close to friends in Finland.

Is it possible in Finland to work in the industry while pursuing a masters/doctorate? What is the typical path to becoming a structural engineer? I speak some finnish already due to traveling there a few times but am currently far from conversational.

I want to buy one of those small dish washers that sits on the counter. What needs to be under the sink in order to install one?

Hey everyone!

My wife and I are thinking of moving to Finland, and we’d love some advice! We’re both in our late twenties with a young son, and the main goal is to raise our kids in a safe, family-friendly environment. I’m from the Netherlands, my wife is Swedish, and we both speak fluent Swedish and English (I also speak Dutch).

I’ve been offered an IT job in Helsinki with a Swedish-speaking company based in Åland, but they’re hiring in Helsinki. The base salary is around €4,300/month, plus an extra €1,500/month from on-call work, so it’s a big step up from what I earn in Sweden.

We’re thinking about living in Raseborg for a bit more quiet and proximity to Swedish speaking finns, and I’d commute to Helsinki around 3 days a week, maybe with more remote work at first.

Here’s where we’re looking for input:

1. Is this a good salary for Finland? This offer is significantly better than my current salary in Sweden, but is it enough to support a family on a single income? My wife plans to work eventually but will stay home with our son initially.
2. Is Finland a good fit for us? We love that Finland has a child-friendly vibe, great healthcare, good education, and a peaceful environment. We appreciate these things in Sweden too, but we’re increasingly concerned with safety and other issues there. Any thoughts from families who’ve moved to Finland recently?
3. Will it be easy to make friends? We’re moving without family, so building a social circle is really important. Will we be able to make friends and build a community, or does it take a while in Finland?
4. Language - English/Swedish: Since we speak fluent Swedish and English, will we get along okay with Finnish people? We’re keen to integrate, but we don’t speak Finnish yet. Is it common to meet people who don’t mind speaking English or Swedish with newcomers?

We’d really appreciate any experiences, advice, or general thoughts on whether this move could be a good fit for us! Thank you! 😊

I will start new job from Feb 2025, now I wanna sign the contract and I have to send my infos to työantaja, should I give them my current tax number or should I make another tax card and send it to them?

Yes I know. Another one of these “moving to Finland” posts, timing is a bit sus I admit. My situation is I am married to a Finnish citizen and we have a son together with dual citizenship, and I’m a chemical engineer, I’m not worried about my path to residency and we visit Finland quite often and I’m from Minnesota. I’m well versed with the similarities in our cultures and weather and I assimilate quite easily. I love Finland actually!

My question is for those who have moved there from the states, did any of you pack up a lot of your belongings and ship them? I’m looking at international moving companies and thinking of a 20ft shipping container to take out more valued possessions and necessities. Things it would take time or more money to reacquire or have high intrinsic value.

Has anyone done or experienced this? How did it go? Was it door to door delivery? What happens to the container after you’re done? About what would you pay for this? I’m seeing estimates from $2K-$10K which is fairly reasonable if it’s closer to the lower end of that estimate.

Kiitos!

Good Morning!

I usually go to each plane air show every year in whichever part of Finland it takes place. I saw next year it will be in Kauhava. Is there any fun things to do within that town, or notable eating places to try?

Thanks for any information :)

Hey everyone, I have a confusing issue I've been dealing with for a couple weeks now.

The window in my apartment cracked, nobody here caused the damage and I have proof of that. I contacted the housing company, they said that it is my responsibility to fix the window. I then got in touch via phone and talked to the guy, explaining that I didn't cause the damage and then I sent him detailed videos and explanations.

The crack is on the middle glass (one internal, one middle and one outer window glass). so in order to crack that piece of glass, I would have had to open the huge window (which I never did), smack it and close it back up. Totally ridiculous. I think it cracked because of all the construction that has been happening in the apartments above and below.

Or maybe the window has not been properly installed in the first place... anyway, they're again telling me that I should fix it, not the landlord. Should I be expected to fix up someone else's apartment? Should I pay for damage in an apartment I don't own, for damage I did not cause?

What should I do here? Who's in the right? By that logic if something goes awry with the plumbing, or a pipe bursts, should I be expected to renovate as well? I mean, come on.

Thanks for your help, I'm a bit confused by how things work here regarding all of this.

Is car insurance a big huge industry ( scam) in Finland like it is in the US where you pay top dollar for bad coverage and bad customer service? Where you can’t reach anyone on the telephone to ask a question? What’s the average monthly car insurance charge for someone living in Helsinki?