Ok so here' s the scoop - this is going to be my first real post that was not copied from my notes from Facebook!
My husband and I were often asked "Why Finland?" Two Canadians and two medium-large dogs and no furniture or relatives. My husband is doing his phD in Arabic Philosophy here and applied to be part of a particular program (Classics is not really my thing to be honest - so please excuse me for my lack of details) and was approved and accepted.
We are from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada - where presently the humidity index has been atleast 60% - the temperature hovering around 35 degrees Celsius. And I just read about a Hurricane of sorts coming to NS quite soon. (Hopefully it's just rain and no severe damage).
It's absolutely amazing here and I strongly recommend anybody to come here. If it had not been for my husband getting into this program - I'm sure neither of us would've been able to have the opportunity to travel Europe.
Finland is quite safe in terms of violence, drugs etc. If a child goes missing - apparently it would make headlines in Helsinki (the capital).
We are presently living in a University-town called Jyv�skyl�. The population is approximately 100,000 with majority being students. It reminds me a lot of Halifax in the sense that there are buses and everything is within walking distance. However there are more lakes and rivers, plenty of outdoor activity (more people bike or walk/run here than drive to be honest) and barely any panhandlers.
I'm learning so much everyday - such as: (sorry if it's repeated in previous posts)
-Bike helmets are mandatory but not enforced. So if you are biking in Jyv�skyl� and do not wear a helmet - the police would not give you a ticket. A fine in NS is $25.00 (corrected from previously being labeled as $250!)
-Children typically do not start school until the year they turn 7 years of age. They still have the 12 Grades system and the child graduates at the age of 19 - which could be another year of maturity. I imagine if this was to happen in Halifax - there would be more drop outs or a higher level of absence as 19 is the age of majority in most of Canada for consumption of alcohol and purchasing of cigarettes as well.
-Pre-school would then be for children of 6 years of age unlike the age of 4 in NS.
-Anybody who has residence permits (or citizens of Finland) is covered for day care and pre-school.
-They do not have actual recycle depots here - instead you bring your recycables to the Supermarkets and put your bottles/cans into a machine and it calculates how much you get (each bottle or can is labeled with how many Euros you would get in return). We have yet to do it (we're big on drinking tea and water) - but I believe the machine either gives you your change or prints you a receipt and you would then bring that to the cashier to get your cash. I find this interesting as Quebec has always had this system in place from what I remember as a child visiting.
-At "Hesburger" - the local burger chain - they do not salt their fries and they do not contain as much grease. Maybe it was luck of the draw - who knows. They sell burgers similar to a Big Mac and there are so many condiments on the burger they come wrapped in wax paper as per normal and the burger is held together with a circular piece of cardboard.
-Whether property is private or public - you are allowed (with all due respect and common courtesy/common sense) to cross that property in Finland. If there was a blueberry bush in your neighbour's yard - you are allowed to pick them. The same to say if you wanted to go and put up a tent in a school field or in the woods - you could do so. I say common sense in the way that one shouldn't pick from a person's personal garden patch.
-In some older villages and towns the family has a name "Smith" for example and so does the house. That way they can distinguish exactly which family lives where. So the house could be called "Rose" and still to this day, you could label an envelope with the name of the house, the town and the postal code. The postal code system here is different than Canada greatly - as in they cover more kilometers. As opposed to each street having an individual code - one postal code in Jyv�skyl� could cover up to 100km! Especially in the smaller areas of Finland.
-Majority of homes have hardwood floors or tiles to help with the reduction of humidity.
-There is rarely any humidity here whatsoever!
-They do not have "snow storms" but it just snows plainly.
-There are brushes on the outside of most buildings for people to scrape their shoes off before entering a building - quite handy once the snow does fall!!
-There is a period of cold winter weather but no snow for about two months (up until November but not entirely sure).
Terms we're learning (excuse the spelling - I'm going based on phonetics):
*Hissi - Elevator
*Mooka - come with
*Kiitos - thank you
*hai - hello
*hai hai - Good-bye
*khana - chicken
*riisi - rice
*Jyv�skyl� - you-vask-yu-la (the town we're in)
My husband and I were often asked "Why Finland?" Two Canadians and two medium-large dogs and no furniture or relatives. My husband is doing his phD in Arabic Philosophy here and applied to be part of a particular program (Classics is not really my thing to be honest - so please excuse me for my lack of details) and was approved and accepted.
We are from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada - where presently the humidity index has been atleast 60% - the temperature hovering around 35 degrees Celsius. And I just read about a Hurricane of sorts coming to NS quite soon. (Hopefully it's just rain and no severe damage).
It's absolutely amazing here and I strongly recommend anybody to come here. If it had not been for my husband getting into this program - I'm sure neither of us would've been able to have the opportunity to travel Europe.
Finland is quite safe in terms of violence, drugs etc. If a child goes missing - apparently it would make headlines in Helsinki (the capital).
We are presently living in a University-town called Jyv�skyl�. The population is approximately 100,000 with majority being students. It reminds me a lot of Halifax in the sense that there are buses and everything is within walking distance. However there are more lakes and rivers, plenty of outdoor activity (more people bike or walk/run here than drive to be honest) and barely any panhandlers.
I'm learning so much everyday - such as: (sorry if it's repeated in previous posts)
-Bike helmets are mandatory but not enforced. So if you are biking in Jyv�skyl� and do not wear a helmet - the police would not give you a ticket. A fine in NS is $25.00 (corrected from previously being labeled as $250!)
-Children typically do not start school until the year they turn 7 years of age. They still have the 12 Grades system and the child graduates at the age of 19 - which could be another year of maturity. I imagine if this was to happen in Halifax - there would be more drop outs or a higher level of absence as 19 is the age of majority in most of Canada for consumption of alcohol and purchasing of cigarettes as well.
-Pre-school would then be for children of 6 years of age unlike the age of 4 in NS.
-Anybody who has residence permits (or citizens of Finland) is covered for day care and pre-school.
-They do not have actual recycle depots here - instead you bring your recycables to the Supermarkets and put your bottles/cans into a machine and it calculates how much you get (each bottle or can is labeled with how many Euros you would get in return). We have yet to do it (we're big on drinking tea and water) - but I believe the machine either gives you your change or prints you a receipt and you would then bring that to the cashier to get your cash. I find this interesting as Quebec has always had this system in place from what I remember as a child visiting.
-At "Hesburger" - the local burger chain - they do not salt their fries and they do not contain as much grease. Maybe it was luck of the draw - who knows. They sell burgers similar to a Big Mac and there are so many condiments on the burger they come wrapped in wax paper as per normal and the burger is held together with a circular piece of cardboard.
-Whether property is private or public - you are allowed (with all due respect and common courtesy/common sense) to cross that property in Finland. If there was a blueberry bush in your neighbour's yard - you are allowed to pick them. The same to say if you wanted to go and put up a tent in a school field or in the woods - you could do so. I say common sense in the way that one shouldn't pick from a person's personal garden patch.
-In some older villages and towns the family has a name "Smith" for example and so does the house. That way they can distinguish exactly which family lives where. So the house could be called "Rose" and still to this day, you could label an envelope with the name of the house, the town and the postal code. The postal code system here is different than Canada greatly - as in they cover more kilometers. As opposed to each street having an individual code - one postal code in Jyv�skyl� could cover up to 100km! Especially in the smaller areas of Finland.
-Majority of homes have hardwood floors or tiles to help with the reduction of humidity.
-There is rarely any humidity here whatsoever!
-They do not have "snow storms" but it just snows plainly.
-There are brushes on the outside of most buildings for people to scrape their shoes off before entering a building - quite handy once the snow does fall!!
-There is a period of cold winter weather but no snow for about two months (up until November but not entirely sure).
Terms we're learning (excuse the spelling - I'm going based on phonetics):
*Hissi - Elevator
*Mooka - come with
*Kiitos - thank you
*hai - hello
*hai hai - Good-bye
*khana - chicken
*riisi - rice
*Jyv�skyl� - you-vask-yu-la (the town we're in)
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