How difficult would it be to adjust?

[niceguy40]

Hello,

I'm seriously considering moving to Finland. I have all my paperwork. The only thing that concerns me though is how easy or hard it will be adjust and get use to everything? I have some relatives there, but I've never talked to them so I don't know if they'd be much help.

The other thing is I can't speak finnish. I know a few words and sentences. I'm just really wondering if I'd love it or hate it? But I think I"m gonna have to try and get use to things there either way.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for me? This is a big change especially at my age. If I was 20 it might be no big deal, but I'm in my 40's now. So everything seems more complicated I guess.

What do you think? I am Finnish, so I'd blend right in except for not speaking Finn. One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that? What about stuff like classified ads, buying and selling, or rentals, do you have some specific website or app that most people use for that stuff?

thanks for your feedback.

[Upphew]

Hello,

I'm seriously considering moving to Finland. I have all my paperwork. The only thing that concerns me though is how easy or hard it will be adjust and get use to everything? I have some relatives there, but I've never talked to them so I don't know if they'd be much help.

The other thing is I can't speak finnish. I know a few words and sentences. I'm just really wondering if I'd love it or hate it? But I think I"m gonna have to try and get use to things there either way.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for me? This is a big change especially at my age. If I was 20 it might be no big deal, but I'm in my 40's now. So everything seems more complicated I guess.

What do you think? I am Finnish, so I'd blend right in except for not speaking Finn. One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that? What about stuff like classified ads, buying and selling, or rentals, do you have some specific website or app that most people use for that stuff?

thanks for your feedback.

Not speaking Finnish will mean that you won't blend right in. For dating I would guess grindr app or qruiser.com. I'm not gay so I have no experience with those. Huuto.net and tori.fi for buying and selling.

[Flossy1978]

I remember you.

Weren't you the one who was going to turn up expecting to be given the dole, housing etc. And claimed you were Finnish because you got citizenship based on other relatives? That doesn't make you a Finnish person. You are just lucky because of relatives.

Finnish people will expect you to be able to speak Finnish if you are Finnish. They are often forgiving to non-Finnish who can't speak it. But they won't be to you.

Getting dates in the last thing you should be worried about when moving to a country you've never been to. Google is your friend.

You are a single male. You will be at the bottom of the list for any help. Including housing.

It will be near impossibe to find a job at your age and no Finnish. The dole isn't enough to pay your way through life in Finland.

It is very difficult for adults to make friends in Finnish people. You are an older person, so it will be even harder.

I believe you were told previously to go to Finland as a visitor. Only a fool would uproot themselves like you are with no job, no knowledge of the country you are going to, no place to live etc.

Good luck.

[AldenG]

I think that if you had what's needed to succeed in a move like this over 40 -- self-starting, skilled at ferreting out hidden opportunities, immune to obstacles, quick in language, mentally flexible -- there is no way you would now be stuck somewhere you're trying to escape from. You wouldn't have tolerated it and you would already have found something else closer to home, where it's easy for people with the traits I mentioned to change their lives. If I'm wrong about that, it doesn't matter what any of us write here. But if I were wrong about it, I don't think you would even be asking.

You started writing about this idea early in 2015. In time, then-to-now adds up to over 10% of your remaining work life in Finland. Have you now made real progress toward at least understanding spoken or written Finnish? Maybe making up real sentences to speak or write? At your current rate, how long will it be before you can converse unassisted with cashiers, tram/bus drivers, police, co-workers, etc? Will it be before you hit 65? It will be more work for you just to reach a more-or-less functional level in the language than to do everything else combined that it would take to turn your life around in Canada. That's just to be able to talk, before we even mention finding work, finding girlfriends, etc.

There has simply GOT to be more opportunity for you to improve your life in Canada than by moving to Finland. And much more help for you to do so. If you can't find help and opportunity at home, how will you ever find it in Finland? Moving would be a reset and a reboot, all right, but you're going to have no idea what to do once that cursor of life starts flashing at you on the command line of a new and unfamiliar operating system that has no user-friendlier interface. You get off the plane and then what -- specifically? The only way I could imagine this turning out other than badly for you would be if you had a job waiting in a family business where everyone would be bending over backwards to help you get up to speed.

So visit for a year if that will fulfill your dream and you can afford it. (If you can't afford that, don't even think about moving.) Just don't burn any bridges. You WILL be going back. Going back happier and (or) wiser, maybe, but you'll still be going back. That's the optimistic scenario. The pessimistic scenario is that after a year you're drunk on a park bench or riding a tram in clothes that reek because they can't even remember the last time they were washed, hassling passersby for spare coins in a foreign language. Or in jail. That's not really an improvement over today, I hope. And if by chance you already have a criminal record, that's going to be an even bigger problem for you in Finland than in Canada.

The most important message in all of this is that you DO have opportunities for change and improvement closer to home. The fact that you don't believe that is the core problem here. Focus on finding help to make changes in your life that you can realistically accomplish.

[wolf80]

Hello,

I'm seriously considering moving to Finland. I have all my paperwork. The only thing that concerns me though is how easy or hard it will be adjust and get use to everything? I have some relatives there, but I've never talked to them so I don't know if they'd be much help.

The other thing is I can't speak finnish. I know a few words and sentences. I'm just really wondering if I'd love it or hate it? But I think I"m gonna have to try and get use to things there either way.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for me? This is a big change especially at my age. If I was 20 it might be no big deal, but I'm in my 40's now. So everything seems more complicated I guess.

What do you think? I am Finnish, so I'd blend right in except for not speaking Finn. One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that? What about stuff like classified ads, buying and selling, or rentals, do you have some specific website or app that most people use for that stuff?

thanks for your feedback.

You been "seriously considering moving to Finland" for years now. Is it maybe just a dreamworld of yours to escape your current reality? Is that why you take up none of the information you are given here and just come back some time later with exactly the same questions? Is it not what you want to hear?

If you come to Finland to live on social benefits only, not speaking Finnish:
- you will live in the tiniest of apartments in the worst area of town, or you might even have to live in a tiny flatshare. (and no, as answered before, you cannot live in abandoned buildings!)
- you will have money only for basic food and no luxeries.
- you won't have money to afford a car, go on trips, go out, or go back to Britain. You'll be stuck in purgatory.
- you will most likely learn that your Finnish family is not interested much in you. Finns are core-family-people only! Uncles, aunts, cousins you see once a year at best, more probable every other year, and if you like them you send them a Christmas card. That's it.
- You are a guy in your 40s living on social benefits, without any chances of finding a job, not speaking the native language - tell me how dating would go for you in Britain? And in Finland it will be much worse for you. Maybe you hook yourself a woman also in her 40s, also living on social benefits. But as any Finnish man you will be expected to shut your mouth and do what she says!
- And no, as said countless times, you will not be able to find a job. In your situation you have higher chances of winning the lottery than finding a job. You are worse than a foreigner, you are a Finn who doesn't speak Finnish and doesn't know the culture. Nobody hiring will know what to make of you. If a foreigner speaks little Finnish at least it makes sense. You do not.
- And for the same reasons you will not find any friends, which at your age is extremely hard anyway in Finland. But again, you are not a Finn, so no chances there. And among foreigners you won't do much better either, living on social benefits you won't be able to participate much in going out to bars and concerts.
- Finns look down on you, especially if they learn who you are and what you did. Coming to Finland from a rich country to live on social benefits makes you the worst of the worse. The people from poor countries at least make sense to them, but you come from the damn United Kingdom (or was it Canada? doesn't matter here), which is richer than Finland! So you should be lucky not to find any friends and meet any people, cause if your True Finn neighbourhood finds out what you are they will make life for you even worse!

You will not get any help. You will not be able to adjust as you do not have the resources and the social support system to do so. It is simply impossible for you to adjust to a level on which you would fit into the country.

So, you really think that life is worth living??

[Oombongo]

One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that?

Seriously? Judging from your post history, your chances of be a useful member of society are a bit over 0, and yet you are asking for this question as well? Do you really think that if you got no cash, no career, living on dole for an indefinite period of time, any sane woman would be willing to go out with you?

[JuhlaMokka]

One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that?

Seriously? Judging from your post history, your chances of be a useful member of society are a bit over 0, and yet you are asking for this question as well?

It's also not a new question He just doesn't like the answers and keep asking hoping to get another ones.

[PJG]

[niceguy40]

I think most of you aren't from Finland. There's no way. Finnish people aren't this rude.

[rinso]

I think most of you aren't from Finland. There's no way. Finnish people aren't this rude.

Indeed, they will just ignore you. The result......as describe above.

[JuhlaMokka]

I think most of you aren't from Finland. There's no way. Finnish people aren't this rude.

I can only imagine how disappointed you will be..

[wolf80]

I think most of you aren't from Finland.

Most people in this forum are foreigners living in Finland. They (including myself) can give you much better information on adjusting to Finnish culture than any Finn could offer.

Finnish people aren't this rude.

Finnish people will, when asked for it, give you their honest opinion, to a point that would be considered very rude by outsiders.

People in this forum have not only been polite to you, but also very patient. You asked for our opinion, and many people here sacrificed their time and energy to help you. If you can't even deal with the answers given to you, you wouldn't be able to survive your first day in Finland!

[Chaapa]

Hello,

I'm seriously considering moving to Finland. I have all my paperwork. The only thing that concerns me though is how easy or hard it will be adjust and get use to everything? I have some relatives there, but I've never talked to them so I don't know if they'd be much help.

The other thing is I can't speak finnish. I know a few words and sentences. I'm just really wondering if I'd love it or hate it? But I think I"m gonna have to try and get use to things there either way.

Do you have any advice or suggestions for me? This is a big change especially at my age. If I was 20 it might be no big deal, but I'm in my 40's now. So everything seems more complicated I guess.

What do you think? I am Finnish, so I'd blend right in except for not speaking Finn. One other question though, how do men end up dating there? Is there any main service or app or site that's use for that? What about stuff like classified ads, buying and selling, or rentals, do you have some specific website or app that most people use for that stuff?

thanks for your feedback.

I also remember you from a couple of years ago. You were thinking about moving to Finland back then. You are to be congratulated for getting your documentation in order. I've known many people who have talked about it, but you actually did it!

Moving to Finland without language is not easy but not impossible. If you go to a large city you will find that many people speak English. You will have the opportunity to take courses in Finnish and improve your skills. Other posters are correct in that it is much easier to get by if you speak Finnish. But I find it rare to find someone who can't speak English. In fact, there are times I turn on the TV and have to search the channels for a program in FINNISH.

As for blending in, it is much more diverse than you seem to think. Here in Tampere it is much more multicultural than the community I left behind in the US. Foreigners are not a big deal here. Looking like a Finn may not be a huge advantage.

As for housing there are websites like vuokraovi.com and oikotie.fi for finding rentals; etuovi.com lists houses and apartments for sale. You will need a Finnish bank account in order to get housing in Finland.

I wish you well as you make your decisions about moving to Finland. No one can predict what your experience will be, as so much depends on you. If you are a self-starter and approach it with a spirit of adventure it can be wonderful. I am older than you and moved here in the spring. For me it has been a very positive experience.