Immigrating to Helsinki

Have you checked the Finnish immigration site at all? It's in English and looks quite thorough based on my quick glance.

http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/default.asp

Thanks, I have studied that page quite extensively   But I don't exactly fit in any category.  I'm meeting a Finnish consulate tomorrow to see about my options, but it would be nice to talk to others that maybe were in similar situations.

well, I'm an American living in another European country and from what I've explored of the rules here and in several other places, the visas are pretty much in 3 categories:

1) you're a student. This usually requires some kind of proof that you've got the funds to support living while studying.

2) you're working, either at a job that the locals don't want to do (like fish processing here in Iceland) or there aren't enough people to do (specialized things)

3) you're married to someone from the country or can prove long-term relationship with them (cohabitation, children together, etc)

Most places don't let you show up and say you'd like to live there without having one of these three reasons for doing so. Since you haven't mentioned a special skill and you don't want to get married, it sounds like the student route might be the best option for the time being. Would that be possible? I don't know what Finnish student life is like but in many European countries it's quite cheap to register as a student.

Keep in mind I haven't read Finland's rules specifically! There might be some loophole there that doesn't apply in other places.