Last modified 15.3.2011 at 13:15

On the bright side of life in Finland

Text and photos: Annika Lamberg

Ana Aranda Gonzales has lived in Finland for three years now. She moved to Oulu from Spain with her finnish boyfriend, currently her husband.

Though it's dark in the winter time, the cafes are very atmospheric with candles bringing light in to the darkness.

- The decision of moving to Finland was confirmed when I got the studying place from Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Ana says.

Now Ana has graduated from the Degree Programme in International Business. In general Ana has liked very much to live in Finland and in Oulu.

- I have met good people in the school and elsewhere in Oulu, I like the city and I have got a good job.

Shockingly new

Starting a life in a new country is not the easiest things in life. When Ana arrived in Finland it was a quite a cultural shock for her. The first months were not that easy.

- It was strange. Everything was new and students in my school seemed so young. And the food was terrible, she laughs.

The darkness in the winter time has been the hardest thing for Ana to adapt to in Finland, but she says that coldness is easy to handle.

- You just have to put some more clothes on.

After few months when Ana had made friends and started going out with them, life in Oulu seemed to get off the ground. In school it was easy to make friends with other foreigners who were in a similar situation with her. Later on she has as easily made friends with the locals as well.

- Finnish people are really nice, especially in Oulu, Ana says.

Working in English

Ana had a working place already when she graduated. She is working as a sales and marketing coordinator in a company called Specim Ltd.

- We are like one big family at my working place. I can’t say about the work culture in Finland in general, but it is great to work in my company.

Ana doesn’t speak Finnish language very well, but she is starting a new Finnish course in a while. She says that Finnish people speak normally English and like to practice it, so it has been natural to communicate in English. Ana says that in the beginning it was great, but sometimes it would be nice to know some Finnish.

- At work I use English in business matters, but in coffee breaks Finnish people often talk in Finnish and I would like to be able to participate in that conversation.

Ana and her husband visit Spain about once a year. They are not planning on moving to Spain at least in the coming years. Ana says that she doesn’t really miss Spain.