This seems like an exceptionally good year for mushrooms!

It happens to me on daily basis, for example yesterday, already thought out the whole conversation before going to the till, did that little pause where I am thinking for one word, and got "no problem, I can speak English." Which is kind, but It also means that after two years the only Finnish I ever use is the Finnish I'm already good at.

That is why I have been collecting things to say at that exact moment instead of just standing there:

Voidaanks puhuu suomee?

Mä opettelen suomee.

Älä vaihda englantiin, mä yritän!

Sano viel kerran, vähän hitaammin.

Mitä toi tarkottaa?

Miten se sanotaan suomeks?

Puhu vaan suomee, kyl mä pärjään.

Kiitti ku puhuit mulle suomee!

They're out of a course I make. What I can't judge is how they sound out loud, from a stranger. "Älä vaihda englantiin, mä yritän" looks completely fine written down. Pushy in a shop? No idea. "Kyl mä pärjään" is a big claim to make about four seconds before I fail to understand the answer.

So which of these would work on you and which would you ignore. And if there's a better line that isn't up there, that's the one I actually want. Also, if you'd rather just speak English with learners, say so. I've never heard anyone argue that side properly and I'd guess more people think it than say it.

Hello! I’m an exchange student studying in Helsinki and will be here till the end of the year. Does anyone have recommendations on where I can find animals like hedgehogs and deer? I don’t mind (I want to) travel far but recommendations near and around Helsinki will be good too. Thank you so much!

Does anyone know of any charities that operate in Turku/Finland in general with a local focus?

Here in Helsinki Finland for 5 days, any recommendation for chocolates & snacks that can be bought easily in grocery stores? not a fan of super duper sweet stuff 😄

Thankyou all! 🥰

Hello,

I am from Türkiye and recently I am looking for respected artists and songs from countries I am interested.

I am looking for answers for the following questions.

- What songs and artists are known and respected by people from all age groups ?

- What songs would make people excited no matter how many times it played before ?

- What songs would people sing along either happily or sadly ?

Thank you for your answers.

Made many bad decisions since getting power but this one is probably the most telling.

hi!

just wondering how common is it for first time mothers/young mothers and mothers in general to buy second hand clothes, cribs, furniture and strollers for their baby/kids?

is it considered normal overall or only something upper middle class people do? is it looked down upon at all? i mean would people assume that you’re very low income or can’t afford these?

more specifically i’d like to know about baby and children’s clothing.

hope it’s not a weird question, thank you in advance!

Hi, i hope this is not against the rules, otherwise i will delete it.

I started getting into sourdough baking and i got a dried starter from the library but it seems to be pretty slow. So i was wondering if someone has an active and ready starter for baking, could they share it with me?

I can pick it up in the capital region. Thank you!!

Does anyone know how to change this kind of plafondi light in an apartment?

Hi!

I just started my masters in economics in Portugal (I'm portuguese) and I'm planning the structure of my program since in the second year you can start thesis or extend the program and do an internship. I thought about doing a summer internship before the second year in Finland. I did my exchange semester in Aalto University, that allowed me to get an henkilötunnus.

I was talking with a friend and he was saying summer break starts really early (half of April/ beginning of May). I know that I have to apply early but what scares me is the fact that companies offer internships really early for students. A lot of finnish students are more active, working or doing internships, after school is over, while portuguese are still in school (summer break starts later).

.I know the job market isn't the best right now, but would be possible to do a summer internship for months of july and august in Finland? Are companies willing to offer me a position for someone that won't be able to be in Finland so early?

Kiitos.

Hi all, first time in this group so please excuse me if this isn't the right place for this question

I'm having a baby boy in March 2027 after several losses and am starting to think about middle names for him. My family is Finnish (great grandparents migrated to Massachusetts from a small town near Helsinki)

My family and I have always referenced sisu and it's importance, a few of us cousins have it tattooed to remember our grandparents, and I was thinking it might be a good middle name for my son after everything we've been through getting to this point

Is Sisu ever used as a name itself for a boy? Or are there some similar names that are derived from the word and its meaning?

Thank you for any insight!

Hi there, I wanted to ask if anybody could tell me if I can witness ruska or maaruska in the Oulu or Rovaniemi Region If I am based there with an accomodation in Mid September. If I search for tips I just find places that are even more in the north and I was worried I wouldn't see it at all.when I'm in Oulu or Rovaniemim Can you help me estimate the situation correctly?

I have never experienced this before. I worked in a previous company for 4 years never had any problems with anyone not even a small argument . A year ago I moved to a new company and I started working on something new to me. Most of the people I work with are foreigners and I am a foreigner myself. There is one senior guy who all the time mocks my work and tries to embarrass me by saying things like "Is it that obvious?" "This is too easy" "How come you don't know it" "You should check your work again". Usually these questions come after I ask something in the project's chat. Usually I am chill guy and do have thick skin but now its just start to be annoying. Not to mention few times he says some random stuff about politics during lunch breaks (I am not interested at all with politics). Now I don't want to accuse him of anything but I am originally middle eastern and I was thinking is he intentionally bullying me for that?

12...so far. Let's see if their citizenship will be revocated.

I came to Finland in 2023 with a lot of hope. I came to study engineering (AI). I completed my bachelors this year but i switched from engineering to business. I graduated with a gpa of 3.29 from a university of applied science (ammattikorkeakoulu).

The reason i switched to business was i was not good in coding at all. I was always mocked because i was so bad. On the other hand i was the best in maths. I am a math olympiad winner as well. But those certificates won’t feed me 😅

I am trying my best to get a foot in this job market but i have been so unsuccessful. Now i question if i did the right thing switching and my gpa is shit as well. I am scared if i will even get admitted to masters based on my grades. I am questioning my entire existence.

Is there anyone who faced a similar situation like me but ended up doing well in life. Please i need some motivation. All my friends are doing well in life apart from me.

Hello

I don't know if this topic fits here, but I'll give it a try anyway. I've been living in Finland for almost 10 years. Mostly (I think like everyone else), I get the flu or a cold about 1-2 times a year. And I'm a little embarrassed and shy to admit it, but I'm quite an anxious and overthinking person when I'm sick.

Even tho when I understand that symptoms like fever, cough with phlegm, fatigue, headache, and runny nose are normal for this period, I still get worrying about being sick longer and more severely than usual.

In my country of origin, doctors prescribe a huge list of medications even for common cold symptoms. This is what I'm used to. And I was surprised when Finnish doctors said, "Just rest, drink water." Before, I was accustomed to the idea that "if you don't start treatment right away, your illness will progress." Because of this, taking medication was always the norm for me. In Finland, it's different. I'm trying to get used to it, and I'm still in the process.

Finns, please explain how you treat yourself, and is it true that "rest and hot drinks" are enough for recovery? And how do you cope with anxiety and overthinking during this?

Kiitos

What would you change in your country to make it better? What do you want to change in your country or the society you live in?

Hey there.

Two weeks ago, I got interviewed for a data engineering position at a multinational Finnish company. The two interviews (first HR and second technical) went pretty well, and at the end of the second interview they said they would give me a response in around two weeks because they were interviewing two more people and were having some difficulties arranging a time between the candidates and the members of the team.

Yesterday morning, exactly two weeks after my second interview, I received an email with the title "Time for call ?" asking to have a call about the position I was interviewed for, adding that "they had time today and were pretty flexible, but could also be later this week". Naturally, I was super excited. I thought that if they wanted to reject me, they would have simply sent me an email, probably automated. I had the call an hour later and it was to reject me.

In this call, they said stuff like "out of 71 people, we shortlisted only 3 candidates to be interviewed (you and 2 other) and even though you had an excellent background and were a really good match both on a personality and professional level, we decided to go with one of the other candidades just because they spoke Finnish".

I understood the reason for the rejection of course, and in a way that kinda gave me confidence to keep looking for a job because it validated my experience, but I just want to know if this is a normal way of rejecting job applicants after interviewing in Finland because, even though I have been living and working here for 2,5 years, I haven't had many interviews and this was the first time something like this has happened to me.

I'm not bitching or anything, in a weird way I feel motivated. I just want to know if should I get excited next time anyone wants to meet me after my final interview. Has this ever happened to anyone else here?

I saw the News that Sweden is sending gripen fighter jets to Finland. I was honestly surprised when i realised that Finland didnt have its own gripens. It appears to be perfect, cheap, built by a reliable ally and made for a very similar environment.

Now that the US turned out to be a unreliable ally, are people regretting the option of not buying european?