australians in finland

[susanna_h]

I am a Finn currently living in Australia with my australian boyfriend (i´m here on a working holiday visa), and he is thinking about coming to Finland next year on a similar visa. We will probably live in Vaasa, is there any other australians living there? I think it would be good for him to meet other australians (or native english-speakers for that matter) while beeing in Finland so he doesn´t feel like a total outsider, haha. Im still trying to convince him to come over, but he is a bit scared of it beeing very cold... sigh...

[susanna_h]

Exactly. That´s what im trying to tell him as well. It´s not like we walk out in shorts and flipflops when it´s -10 outside.You get used to the cold, same as you get used to the heat over here. For some reason everyone i´ve met here seem to think it is ALWAYS cold in Finland, haha. When I tell people where im from, they go: "oh it must be so cold over there!". Sigh
Anyway, hopefully I can convince by BF to come over, I think i´m halfway there..

[Cloudberry]

I was scared of that too (I used to happily sit in 35 degrees in Australia and I was terrified of horrid horrid snow). Now I am fine with the cold. I NEVER wake up in a cold house, never come home to a cold house, never have to climb into a cold bed, never freeze if I kick off the blankets. It doesn't rain non stop here, and in the winter when I leave the house I'm wearing enough proper clothing to be warm and comfortable. I can go out almost all winter without needing an umbrella, because I've always got my beanie and hood anyway. My hands don't freeze because I actually wear gloves.

None of that is what Sydney is like. On my Facebook the Aussies are constantly moaning about the rain, the hail, the cold or how freezing their houses are. Well that's because they leave the house in a thin tracksuit when it's 5 degrees. Nobody wears long underwear, nobody wears a hat or gloves, because they aren't "cool".

Quite frankly it has been such a relief to live in a place where practical things matter a hellava lot more than whether your outfit is colour-coordinated and if anyone is staring at the fact you've got a scarf on.

So true! You really don't get that affected by the cold temperatures when you live in housing designed for a cold climate and dress appropriately for a cold climate. I remember so many times freezing inside various houses I lived in in Australia huddling over a tiny blow heater trying to get warm. Here, I have a lovely cozy warm home, snuggly clothes and coats. It's great!

I think so long as he's prepared to wear proper clothing and not expect to waltz around in his stubbies and thongs he'll survive just fine during the colder months

[Jennii]

Hi!

We are a Finnish, but Australian-minded couple from Tampere. We lived in Melbourne last/this year and now we´re back here in Tampere.
Send me a message if you want to have a beer of coffee, we would love to hear your beautiful accent

[AldenG]

I was chilly in Sydney in late July. The hotel had a heating system but used it so infrequently that it wasn't in good working order. I was told a lot of private houses didn't even have central heat.

[Flossy1978]

And? We don't.

It doesn't exactly get down to -25. And if it gets really cold, put some more blankets on your bed

People have heating. Heating costs a lot of money though. There are people living in the Snowing Mountains. I am sure THEY have central heating of some kind.

But no, not in Sydney did I ever meet a friend or family member who had central heating. And can happily say, yes it would sometimes get very cold, but we had other heaters, clothes and lots of bedding to wear

No big deal.

Right now, here in Klaukkala, I have just two heaters on and it's 21 degrees in my place. I think it's fine

[Tilhi]

I am an Australian living in Tampere (for the past 6 months) and I am happy to hear from other Australians in the Tampere area. So far I haven't come across any other Australians living here.

[Flossy1978]

I haven't met any in Klaukkala. But you might have more luck in Tampere. It's bigger Surely they can't all be living in Helsinki. I think there's something like 450 Australians registered with the Finnish system. Who knows if they are all here. Goodluck finding them I know one at work. A guy. But he lives in Helsinki.

[Upphew]

I haven't met any in Klaukkala. But you might have more luck in Tampere. It's bigger Surely they can't all be living in Helsinki. I think there's something like 450 Australians registered with the Finnish system. Who knows if they are all here. Goodluck finding them

Stat.fi gives 505 as the most recent number: http://pxweb2.stat.fi/database/StatFin/ ... rak_en.asp

[flyingyellowpig]

How about how many in Vaasa? Friends keep telling me I am the only Australian in Vaasa. I don't believe that as I saw a statistic from 2003 saying that there was 83 people with English as their mother tongue in Vaasa, so at least a few more should be Australian. Any ideas where I can get details?

... and I hope that you are a single aussie. I love aussie chicks , most the ones I have been within were totally different most women's I know.

[Suitsuke]

I hope I never see a jar of vegemite ever again.

[Cloudberry]

I hope I never see a jar of vegemite ever again.

[Linaeve]

If any in Helsinki, and want to get together with a finn who left her heart in Oz, then sent a message to [email protected]

[Jussi]

For all of you crazy Aussies who want VB (like me), you can actually buy the imported stuff (the real thing, not like fosters made over here) from any good city market. Oh, and Im an aussie living in Oulu.

[Rodwen]

I'd rather have Coopers, but the only place I've ever seen that is at the Aussie Bar in Helsinki.