Single, self-employed person wanting to move to Finland

[Tabbycat]

Thank you everyone for the info and insight.

@Maaria, I'm in the US right now.

[Maaria]

Thank you everyone for the info and insight.

@Maaria, I'm in the US right now.

May I ask do you have any other purpose of moving to Finland? I am asking coz it might be easier in other grounds such as family or partner.

[Tabbycat]

Unfortunately, I have no other purpose for moving, and no known Finnish relations. I was hoping to move because Finland is such a beautiful country, with a lovely language and culture. I thought it would be a great place to continue growing my freelance business and to live a better life. I appreciate your help and insight!

[FinlandGirl]

I'm a US citizen.

Unfortunately, I have no other purpose for moving, and no known Finnish relations. I was hoping to move because Finland is such a beautiful country, with a lovely language and culture.

How often and for how long have you been in Finland?

[Tabbycat]

@FinlandGirl,

I've never actually been. For the past couple of years, I've been working with a language-teaching company, and during this time I've been able to learn a lot about the country and have developed a serious interest in it. The more I learn, the more I want to move there.

[heretostay]

First step is an extended visit or coming as a student in the dark winter months and see how you get on. You can’t really know the culture here without experiencing it. Life here is not easy and it’s défini not for everyone.

[FinlandGirl]

I've never actually been. For the past couple of years, I've been working with a language-teaching company, and during this time I've been able to learn a lot about the country and have developed a serious interest in it. The more I learn, the more I want to move there.

I guessed so, someone from the US talking about the "lovely culture" in Finland was the weirdest thing I have read in a while.

The US "oh how lovely" culture is the exact opposite of Finnish culture, and people from that culture usually have problems adapting to the Finnish culture.

[deepsudeep]

I've never actually been. For the past couple of years, I've been working with a language-teaching company, and during this time I've been able to learn a lot about the country and have developed a serious interest in it. The more I learn, the more I want to move there.

I guessed so, someone from the US talking about the "lovely culture" in Finland was the weirdest thing I have read in a while.

The US "oh how lovely" culture is the exact opposite of Finnish culture, and people from that culture usually have problems adapting to the Finnish culture.

Thats not true! Me and someone else I know moved from the US. We both love the culture here and the differences are what we like the most!

[FinlandGirl]

I've never actually been. For the past couple of years, I've been working with a language-teaching company, and during this time I've been able to learn a lot about the country and have developed a serious interest in it. The more I learn, the more I want to move there.

I guessed so, someone from the US talking about the "lovely culture" in Finland was the weirdest thing I have read in a while.

The US "oh how lovely" culture is the exact opposite of Finnish culture, and people from that culture usually have problems adapting to the Finnish culture.

Thats not true! Me and someone else I know moved from the US. We both love the culture here and the differences are what we like the most!

This is called "survival bias", the people who ended up staying long-term in Finland tend to not be the ones who had most problems due to cultural differences.

Cultural differences can be in unexpected places, like most Finns getting annoyed by people who say "oh how lovely" all the time.
Why speak a word when you can silently nod instead?

Describing the Finnish culture as "lovely" sounds either belittling or uninformed to me, in this case the latter.

[Tabbycat]

Thank you all for the additional advice and insight on my query. I will plan for a winter stay in the near future, and see how that goes.

And I see your point on the cultural differences, and will take that into consideration. A lot of my desire to move stems from my dissatisfaction with US culture, though I understand there will be initial culture shock in leaving.