Factfinding trip: booked

[lupine]

So I'll be staying in Helsinki from the 21st-31st May, with the objective of trying to get an initial feel for whether I'd want to live in Finland on a long-term basis. I'll probably be by myself, although a friend might tag along. i'm staying in an apartment I booked via airbnb.

Suggestions on how to acquire local flavour gratefully received . I'm likely to take day trips to Turku and perhaps Oulu - how far north at that time do you think I'd have to go to get a feel for a typical Southern syksyllä tai talvella, if that's even remotely possible?

Museums, zoo, galleries are all on the list for visiting, obviously - and even the beach. I'm really interested in activities that are going to show the place off in its unvarnished glory (or horror, as the case may be). Exciting!

[macora]

Just remember that museums, zoo, galeries will not be your daily life, when you stay longer. Well, I do not know your working hours Try to get a feel for everyday stuff, multiply by 365'000. Notice all the small, and big things you will need language for. You will be lost with those for many months, at least the bigger ones. In case you do have quirks, try to live them here. Try to make things work that are a challenge to the system here (making mobile internet work on my Macbook Air was an interesting experience, way back when i did my exploratory trip ). Notice what already does, or might easily get on your nerves. Consciously. And from another thread, if York was too big already, I doubt that Helsinki is the place to be. If I had to choose a cosmopolitan area to live in, it would be Helsinki, for sure. But I can totally relate, and York seemed rather perfect for my taste So I would rather check out other towns, not the galaries, to be honest. If it should be exploratory to where you want to live, rather than how to spend spare time in Helsinki, that is.

[Rip]

how far north at that time do you think I'd have to go to get a feel for a typical Southern syksyllä tai talvella, if that's even remotely possible?

No. You may find some ice and snow in Kilpisjärvi (and you may like the trip), but regarding cooler temperatures, there is this useful invention called "clothes", that helps quite a lot. For the most part the real, unpleasant, and unavoidable experience in the long term, is how dark the late autumn and early winter are here, and while the sun may not rise very high, the day light hours in the north during summer and ere even longer than in the south.

Adapting to long days of summer is usually no big problem, at least if you see you have thick enough curtains in your bedroom.

[Rosamunda]

Suggestions on how to acquire local flavour gratefully received

#1 Bring very little money.

...

[jahasjahas]

I'm likely to take day trips to Turku and perhaps Oulu - how far north at that time do you think I'd have to go to get a feel for a typical Southern syksyllä tai talvella, if that's even remotely possible?

Looking at the graphs on this page on typical spring weather, and specifically the top right graph that shows us the average starting date of summer (based on the average daily temperature), we'll see that visiting Oulu at the end of May is equivalent to visiting southern Finland... in the middle of May.

btw

"a typical Southern syksy tai talvi"

syksy = autumn
syksyllä = in the autumn

[lupine]

Sorry, I posted this then swanned off for a week! Points noting my daftness duly noted.

I'm planning on spending at least a day or two working-from-home-from-finland, to get a taste for that. I'm a software developer, and who knows, maybe the latency to the office will drive me crazy after an hour or two!

Points about latitude also noted, I'll definitely have to book a trip especially in winter, if this first one goes well, before committing even provisionally.

York itself is about as large as I like to cope with. I'm not very seriously considering living in Helsinki, but in the end it seemed like the right place to stay for a first trip.