I need a solution to a complicated problem.

[Hank W.]

Are you all seriously saying, that you don't enjoy living in Finland?

Life in Finland?

It is life, Jim, but not as we know it. According to Finnish logic...

Now that I have returned from my missionary work to bring light to those who dwell in darkness in the HOAS flats, so I'll let my louisville slugger comfort you:

MAN, that has HBS of a woman, hath but a short time to live in Finland, before he packeth his bags and buggereth off to the green pastures of home, and is full of misery, and annoyeth the heck out of everyone and whineth, bitcheth and moaneth like there was no to-morrow. He cometh up on Ryanair flight, and is cut down by taxes, like the git he is; he findeth not work, as it were a shadow, and never continueth his stay.
In the midst of life in Finland we are in morbid sarcasm: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, who for our stupidity art justly displeased?

[Rosamunda]

Don't expect an easy-ride. And be ready to hear a 100,000 people say "told you so" when you have to accept defeat.

What the heck.. it must be Fall and SAD has settled in. Are you all seriously saying, that you don't enjoy living in Finland?

.... no, just been here for a while and seen lots of people come and go. I love it here but when we moved to Finland my husband had a decent job waiting for him. He has his family here and we both have friends living close by. We were able to sell our house in France and buy a nice house here and a mökki with some land. I found a teaching job (I had qualified before I came here). The kids have settled into school and made friends. We were already in our 40s when we moved here; I had over 20 years fulltime employment behind me, hubby about the same. So we had savings, good CVs.... easy. For the first year or two I didn't even look for work, just took some Finnish courses and kept myself busy gardening and drinking coffee with other ex-pats, strolling around Helsinki.... cinemas, museums, galleries...

I just can't imagine coming here without speaking the language, no money, no job, no flat, miserable prospects. But.... nothing ventured, nothing gained. If jen is up to the challenge then she should go for it. I've been an ex-pat for 25 years and have no regrets.

[jen]

When I moved to Denmark I had no money, no security, I didnt know anyone, I didnt even where I was going, nor did I speak the language. It was thrilling, when I left I still had no money, but I had made the best friends of my life, I learned to speak Danish in a year (before anyone comments, I do not expect learning Finnish to be so easy), I had traveled the world and learned a lot. We moved to Scotland when I was pregnant, we had no money, no security, Gábor wasnt even allowed to work here then, his teaching degree was ot recognised here, so neither of us had any recogisable training. We have all worked hard and we now all doing well. We know that there will be a stuggle whe we move to Finland but that is the lifestyle we have chosen, it the lifestyle we are used to. We are very different people for me to have so much security would take the excitement and adventure out of life.

[Rosamunda]

one of the main reasons we plan to make this move is because we feel that finland would provide a much better environment and education for her

Interesting comment. I had absolutely ZERO knowledge of the Finnish education system when we moved here: we've just muddled through. But I would love to know where you got your knowledge about "environment and education" from and what exactly you think will be better here than in the UK (in terms of your child's education and development). Most foreigners who move here are absolutely gob-smacked at the "arms length" attitude most parents have to their children's school education and the way kids are given so much independence and autonomy at such a young age. If you feel that 5 years old is too young to start school then I wonder how will you feel when you see 7 year olds queueing for the bus in the dark, with their housekey round their neck, bus pass in pocket and mobile phone in school bag. It is quite usual for 7 year old kids to finish school at 2pm and make their own way home, probably to an empty house, on a daily basis. But there have been lots of threads on those issues on this forum.

Maybe Finland got "douze points" in the PISA study, but it also has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe, high unemployment amongst young people, alcoholism is rife (and underage drinking particularly disturbing) and top marks in the divorce and domestic violence stakes. Yes, I agree, it's great that kids can play outdoors, safely. It's great they get free school meals and free healthcare. But I worry, a lot, about what the future holds for mine in Finland and I am definitely keeping all their options open with regards to moving out of Finland to study/work abroad when they turn 16.

So, frankly, what do you believe is BETTER here?

[sinikala]

I speak from my own experience. I would not put any child of mine through what I went through, we moved due to my father's job, (which gave our family a very good lifestyle). By the time I was 12 I had lived in 8 towns/cities in 3 countries and attended 5 schools. My folks decided not to put my younger brothers through the same and settled down when I was 12.

I started school at 6.5 (IMHO far, far too old to be starting school) but it was the age for that country. By age 8 (so in the space of 1.5 years) I'd covered Primary 1-4 of a UK education. In contrast, my UK educated brothers both started at 4. By age 5 they were at the same level as I was at 7. I'd say I wasn't on a level playing field with my classmates until I was about 10.

About learning languages, I don't remember any Afrikaans and only one or two words of Zulu. Later I spoke and understood quite a bit of Norwegian. but my parents aren't Norwegian; after we left I never used that language again. If you don't use it you lose it, so those benefits were soon gone.

Then there is the issue of roots... my wife is still friends with people she knew when she was 4, she has roots and a sense of belonging to a place. I lack those. Dragging young children around the globe is something I would strongly advise against. Travelling or adventuring, (unless you have cash behind you) is best done before you have kids or when the kids are old enough to understand what will happen to them and participate in the decision making.

[jen]

Peace and Love, thankyou all, goodnight.

[sudentassu]

Call me insensitive, blunt or both but I struggle with the words "pregnancy", "no income" and "no security" when combined in the same sentence

[zam]

I did not really get a proper idea what you qualifications as a primary/kindergarten teacher are if they were not recognised in another member state?

If you are planning to move to Oulu, there's only one English speaking school, the Oulu International School having classes 1 - 9 and the upper secondary school is the IB Programme in Oulun Lyseo.

There are also a couple of English speaking kindergartens around.

These places would most likely also be the places where you would end up working should you wish to work within the field of primary/kindergarten teaching.

If you plan to move to Oulu, have also a look at
http://www.65degreesnorth.com/
You can also find posts/articles/comments from expats living in Oulu there. E.g. watsonwatson's, but also a reply to his post.