Any other Irish in Finland?

SuomiJohn

Hi all,
I was just wondering if there is anyone on here that moved to Finland?
I have been here on and off for about 3 years, between Ireland and here.
I work in Construction and there doesn´t seem to be any shortage of work, about 10 years worth of apartments to be build by the company i am with in the town that i moved to, Rovaniemi (the arctic circle).

The only irish I have seen here would be the tourists at christmas time. I reckon i must be the only Irishman living here!

Granted, it´s not the easiest place to adjust. Last monday going to work it was -21c. The lakes and rivers are pretty much all frozen solid now. The language barrier has not been as bad as i thought. I can just about hold a basic conversation in Suomi. I will start taking language classes in january.

It really is a cracking place to live though! The cost of everyday things is probably cheaper than Ireland, houses included. One thing that is stupidly expensive is the cost of cars, and any work that you need to get done on them.

The Finns tend to keep to themselves and wouldn´t be to keen to speak english, although nearly all can speak english.

Anyway, If anyone was thinking of moving up to this neck of the woods, i´d say go for it! Also, maybe think about taking your own car over. I could not bring myself to spend €9000 on a 10 year old honda civic:P.

TonskuDaigle

Okay, as someone who just moved from Rovaniemi 3 months ago to Ireland after living there for 5 years while finishing studies (am originally from Tornio), I think I can give my view on some of the things

I do think the everyday supplies like food and all are a bit cheaper in Finland than here, but then again it depends on what you're buying and where from. For example here (Leixlip) there are Lidl, Spar and SuperValu quite closeby and Tesco in Celbridge and Maynooth. So plenty of options. I myself use SV as it's just next to me and it's easy to visit. The prices are quite the same as to what I have been used to after going to Siwa and K-Market in Rovaniemi. The food I buy are really quite the same so I don't see a difference.

I moved away from Finland and especially Rovaniemi mostly because of the weather. I just couldn't stand the cold and as someone who likes sun and warm weather, moving even to Ireland was a better option. Sure it rains a lot more, but I consider it being less of an evil compared to snow and cold

But I do think you're pretty much the only Irishman living there as I've never met anyone in Rovaniemi that is from Ireland. I used to be an exchange student tutor in RAMK for 2 years and we had one Englishman there that time, but that's it. But Rovaniemi is really a student city with the University and RAMK so there are plenty of young people around and I think it's safe to say that if you went to talk to one random 20+ years old male or female, he/she would be very likely to be able to communicate in English.

As for the own car thing... I think it really depends on where you live and if you do need a car for work. The public transportation is decent so unless you life somewhere way off the radar, you should be able to benefit from it quite nicely.

deman

Yep! An Irishman living in the south of Finland. Been here 13 years. Winters are hard, summers are short, but I can't see me ever leaving.

Rredwell

Yep! Just moved here two days ago, and am looking for a flat (any tips or leads greatly appreciated). Originally from Galway, but have lived in Russia for the past two years.