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British guy recently moved to Finland!

mikey0

Hi all,

I'm Mike, I recently moved to Finland with my Finnish girlfriend who I met in the UK while she was studying at university in my hometown of Worcester. I only moved here around 3 weeks ago but have visited numerous times in the past. It's a great country, I'm currently looking for work and trying to learn the language, which I'm struggling with! Would be nice to meet some new people!

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Aurélie

Hello Mike.

Welcome to Expat.com!

I hope members will give you some tips on work. :)

I am sure you will make lots of contacts here.

Aurélie

citizen1

Mikey, you play football, don't you? Why don't you look up a suitable Finnish FC in your area and ask if you can join. That way, you will meet lots of jolly Finnish lads and get some exercise, too.

ducatis

Mikey
Sounds a bit like my story, but I'm a little ahead of you...
I have to return to UK next week, but on return from that I am here for good.... (I hope so anyway)
Finnish is a tough language and it will get you down at times and there is a cultural shock (which I could write a book about!) - DONT let that beat you, Perseverance is the key. I am certainly no natural to languages.  What I did was enrol in a University language course for foreign students in Jyväskylä, I did this for two terms - 11 years ago.  It is surprising what I can remember. I did not become fluent, but I could get by and still can. I have revisited annually since
My biggest problem is Finns speaking back to me in English! :-)
From all that I have seen and people met it does takes longer to learn than 6 months. I am very rusty and my ear sort of tunes in (and out) of the language. On my return in mid-late August my goal is to become proficient! I expect this to take at least another year.
If you find any good leads/courses in Helsinki - let me (and others) know.
Finland does sort of take a bit of a summer 'recess' so there will be more going on come Sept. Helsinki is a little less seasonal.
As for jobs, like anywhere persistence is all!

citizen1

Moderator, why does the website insist on showing "my spam website" where I have typed "jolly"? I tried to edit the passage, and it's perfectly right, yet comes out wrong...

citizen1

This is what I'm talking about. Why does j-o-l-l-y come out as my spam website?

Javier SR

Hey Mike, if want to have some beers some day, let me know bro!