I Would Like To Move To Finland...Any Designers Out There?

[honey and the moon]

Hi guys / Moi.

I'm a 22 year old graphic designer from the UK. I currently study at Doncaster College over here, but would love to move to Finland when me and my girlfriend finish our studies. My girlfriend is Finnish and is from Helsinki and she introduced me to this wonderful country nearly 5 years ago now. Sorry if this sounds sort of sad but whenever I'm there I feel kind of contented. Plus my girlfriend doesn't really like it over here (who could blame her really?), and she'd maybe like to move back home.

Firstly I was wondering if my qualifications are basically acceptable for jobs over there? I have a BTEC National Diploma and I'm about to obtain my BTEC Higher National Diploma and then the year after this I hope to be getting my BA. Would these be acceptable?

I would ask my girlfriend this stuff but she doesn't really know herself.

Also I was wondering if there were any graphic designers out there who had relocated to Finland, how they were doing and if they are enjoying life out there.

Oh and I don't speak any Finnish and I'm finding it quite difficult. I'm going to continue to try to learn it, but if I still struggle (finding a decent teaching tape / CD is awful...), would this matter too much in my field?

Also check out my page for the sort of thing I design...I've been told I could be quite popular over there. The pictures are in my user-pics / blog.

http://www.myspace.com/lookyourlastuponthesun

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.
Steve.

[zoltar]

Being a designer in Finland is all the rage so, yeah, there is one on every corner practically.

And, since a lot of us get sucked into coming to Finland by the sparkle of a few tourist trips and spouses/BF/GF/SO who by and large have no idea what it takes to be a foreigner in this country....you may want to consider your options carefully. Not that anything anyone says will discourage or otherwise impart our collective experience upon you, but being fresh out of school without any Finnish skills is going to make your opportunities for jobs fairly slim, though the design industry might be more willing to accept english speakers the industry as a whole is much more insular.

The mantra of low low pay, high taxation and high consumer prices is not an exaggerated joke, either.

If all of that sounds like paradise and you enjoy spending 5 weeks next to a lake in july with everyone else in Finland and all the insects, you might find it worth the move.

[maggilogi]

A lot of positive thinking and thinks are going to be fine

[honey and the moon]

Thank you Zoltar. I had thought about a lot of the things you mentioned, but not really in depth.

The way it's going right now is I have mmy BA year next year at college and then, as my girlfriend will still be studying, I get a job for a couple of years, therefore gaining a little experience.

I had also thought about how different it is living there in comparison with spending two weeks there. I mean...like I say this might make some people roll their eyes...but when I've been it's felt more like a holiday. Not meaning to sound like one of those pretentious tossers, but I've never felt at home anywhere before, but I felt so natural there. And I kind of expected to be seen warily by the people, but they didn't mind me at all really. I was surprised by that.

And maggilogi, thank you, I always try to remain positive

[EP]

h and I don't speak any Finnish and I'm finding it quite difficult. I'm going to continue to try to learn it, but if I still struggle (finding a decent teaching tape / CD is awful...),

Well, you have a girlfriend who obviously speaks Finnish. Why don´t you take advantage of that? For example little refugee children usually learn Finnish in just three months just by aping their Finnish playmates. Of course children learn a lot faster than adults, but still. Start having Finnish only evenings, and accept that for a while you don´t understand anything. Make her speak slowly and with clear gaps between words. I learned French like that. I know nothing of grammar rules but I can speak, read and understand.

My Russian friend learned Finnish like that. She also had yellow stickers all over her place. On the owen stood "uuni", on doors "ovi", she had clothes hanging all over her bedroom with papers pinned on them "hame", "pusero", "villatakki", etc.

[honey and the moon]

Well, you have a girlfriend who obviously speaks Finnish. Why don´t you take advantage of that? For example little refugee children usually learn Finnish in just three months just by aping their Finnish playmates. Of course children learn a lot faster than adults, but still. Start having Finnish only evenings, and accept that for a while you don´t understand anything. Make her speak slowly and with clear gaps between words. I learned French like that. I know nothing of grammar rules but I can speak, read and understand.

My Russian friend learned Finnish like that. She also had yellow stickers all over her place. On the owen stood "uuni", on doors "ovi", she had clothes hanging all over her bedroom with papers pinned on them "hame", "pusero", "villatakki", etc.

Yeah, that iis a good idea. But for some reason she has a problem with that. I've asked her before and she won't.

She even doesn't like me being in the same room as her when she's on the phone with her parents back home.

[Richard]

Well, you have a girlfriend who obviously speaks Finnish. Why don´t you take advantage of that? For example little refugee children usually learn Finnish in just three months just by aping their Finnish playmates. Of course children learn a lot faster than adults, but still. Start having Finnish only evenings, and accept that for a while you don´t understand anything. Make her speak slowly and with clear gaps between words. I learned French like that. I know nothing of grammar rules but I can speak, read and understand.

My Russian friend learned Finnish like that. She also had yellow stickers all over her place. On the owen stood "uuni", on doors "ovi", she had clothes hanging all over her bedroom with papers pinned on them "hame", "pusero", "villatakki", etc.

Yeah, that iis a good idea. But for some reason she has a problem with that. I've asked her before and she won't.

She even doesn't like me being in the same room as her when she's on the phone with her parents back home.

Is She comfortable talking to friends and family in Finnish with you around, when you have visited Finland with her?

You say she doesn't really like it in the UK, and she'd maybe like to move back home. When you say maybe, do you mean she is unsure, or you haven't actually discussed it?

[sinikala]

General observations on what has been said.

Your BA is vital, HNC, HND etc. are not worth the paper they are written on over here as everyone & his wife (and quite probably his wife's dog) has a Masters (the basic university degree here).

I'd never heard of Donacster college, is it an Art college, will your BA be validated? OK just had a look and at least one of the courses is validated by Hull.

http://www.don.ac.uk/default.aspx?page=1082

Could be better, but it's not beyond all hope. Your BA may get you onto an MA equivalent course in Finland... see for example http://www.uiah.fi/ they have an English page which talks about their Masters programme.

http://www.uiah.fi/subfrontpage.asp?path=1866,1918,4550

I'd find out ASAP if they will recognize your UK qualifications. Advantage of getting a Masters in Finland will be it would get you here, you could start taking language classes, and it would give you a better chance of getting a job, it's no guarantee, obviously.

In general terms about learning the Finnish language, sticking post it notes on objects will work for teaching you simple (yksinkertainen) nouns, but to be honest if someone has to stick something on the door saying "ovi", then God help them later on when things get a bit more complicated (monimutkainen )

Don't be surprised if your other half doesn't want to help out, my wife can cope with about 30 minutes before she gets pissed off with me asking questions, she's not a language teacher .

As you say your girlfriend doesn't like it there, not surprising Doncaster is hardly the centre of the known universe. Overall, I'd suggest you move somewhere better in the UK before heading here, unless you can secure a job offer first.

[Richard]

As you say your girlfriend doesn't like it there, not surprising Doncaster is hardly the centre of the known universe. Overall, I'd suggest you move somewhere better in the UK before heading here, unless you can secure a job offer first.

Good advice IMO.

[Hank W.]

OK, so
a) you don't have any "real profession" before you can find yourself a niche in the inbred artsy-fartsy crowd?
b) even if you do you don't speak the language to be hired to any "real profession" meantime

So your prospects as a penniless starving artist in Helsinki look quite good.

The "real profession" here meaning stuff like what all those bar staff do in Los Angeles before they hit big in movies and turn into talented Hollywood actors. And "real profession" work in Helsinki... feh. So you'll have time for your art for sure...

Not that there wouldn't be people that have made it, I personally know two graphic artists, from the UK, working here. But I'm trying to wonder if this Icelandic guys forefathers had survived without also the attitude of "think realistic"

So I'll tell you what my dad told me: get yourself three professions; one that you can do with your education; one that you can do with your hands and talent; and one you can do anywhere in the world. Oh, and even he taught tempera technique and was into icon painting, he never said the thing with hands should be taken for granted.

BTW I liked the 'angel' stuff.

[EP]

but to be honest if someone has to stick something on the door saying "ovi", then God help them later on when things get a bit more complicated

Well, she had to start from somewhere since the only common language she and her newly-wed husband had was the Language of Love. That was in the Soviet times, so Love with capital L was not her main reason to marry (she also admits it). But her case shows that one can succeed even if it originally looks highly unlikely. She never got an engineering job in Finland although she had a degree. She ended up studying foreigner level Finnish at Helsinki university, and is now teaching Finnish to Russian immigrants. And surprisingly: Still married to the same man, and has two nearly adult kids.