As far as the darkness goes,get a lightbox for s.a.d
Very many people do. But if you would stay here during this period you would know why this is not a general solution. And it was just one example of the things that you might not think about when planning to move here. The darkness is not impossible to deal with, but I have seen more than one person move here and be taking depression-medication in November after about two months of not realising why they are so unhappy. We who live here, and who are born/raised to this, we adapt to it or at least deal with it. The opposite is of course the summers, where everyone is a little bit hyperactive and loves life and their sauna.
The whole point of my post was not to be mean in any way, or tell you not to come here, etc., it was just to point out that Finland and California are very different. In many ways I'm sure you'll think that's good, but they are also different in ways you haven't discovered yet. That's why I'd urge you to be here for some time in person before you start burning bridges and actually moving here (aside from the fact that you may find being allowed to actually move here not so easy).
A 1-bedroom apt in the relatively central area is going to cost you up to 800 euros/months (take a look at the oikotie-website that is in a sticky thread in the housing section, there are instructions there on how to use it. Will give you a general picture of prices/availability/parts of town). Also, have a look in the housing section for the ads that people have put up there, may be easier to get an apt for short-term that way rather than going through oikotie (mainly "normal" longterm rentals).
About prices, there are some threads started by students in the forum, asking about prices. Have a look in the search. A beer costs about 6e at a bar, a liter of milk in the store about 1,10e, a coffee from McDonalds is 1,20e and from any other cafe it's just over 2e. I'm sure other people can help you with more examples of prices.
