Helsinki or Turku?

Hi Vicki

I am Finnish citizen and have lived around Turku most of my life. Turku definitely is much smaller city than Helsinki. Much less things to do or see. We say that compared to other countries there really is only one city in Finland and that  is Helsinki.

Here is maybe 1 or 2 English language kindergarten/preschool in Turku. Here you can't really find clubs or meetings for English speakers. I can only think of University organizing some activities for their international students. However there are some foreigners living in Turku too. Though most of the foreigners here are refugees or students.

There are some activities and clubs for foreigners and probably stay at home mums too but they are all held in Finnish. And most of the attendants are not from western countries. But you will be welcomed to them regardless of your Finnish skills. I believe you will be offered free Finnish language courses too. But I know the language is really difficult. (I used to teach Finnish for foreigners before) It is not related to English or any other major language. Completely it's own.

There are other meetups for stay at home mums that are open for anyone. You could maybe enjoy them. They are held in Finnish but it would be opportunity to meet other mums. In Finland most of the people speak English and quite fluently too. We have high quality English teaching at schools and it's compulsory to everyone. Just some older generations don't maybe speak English.  But I must admit Finns are not very open and making friends with them is not easy. Not even for themselves.

I understand you would like to contact with other expats. It is very important to share thoughts with someone who is in the same situation.  I was myself an expat in Iran and came back just few months ago. I can relate to you. I still don't know am I gonna stay here or not. Life as an expat has its ups and downs.

For you it would be better to live in Helsinki area. Definitely more English speaking expats to hang out with and more things to do. But it is really far from Turku. It will be really hard for your partner. And in winter it gets dark early and I feel when its dark you get more tired. How long he will be on the way depends on  his means on transportation. Public transportation is rather good here but some areas are operated less frequently. But either way I believe it will take longer than 1,5 hours one way. It will be really hard to make that trip twice a day.

With 2 small children you are maybe going to feel yourself too lonely if you are so far from your partner's workplace. He won't have much time to spend with you and he will be just tired when home.

Hope this gives you some answers. If I can be assistance in any way feel free to contact me.

Heli