Finland: Best Country in the World

So I guess its official. Finland was ranked the #1 country in the world to live in:

Despite the long winter, Finland is a pretty great place to be—the best, actually. It ranked the highest overall and also comes in as the best small country, the best high-income country, and the best country for education. Its students scored first in science and second in both reading and math in the 2006 (the most recent one for which data are available) Program for International Student Assessment, a test of 15-year-olds' education skills by the OECD. Finland's schoolkids enjoy a laid-back and inclusive learning environment where shoes are optional, all teachers have master's degrees, and extra help is the norm: every year about one in three students gets individual time with a tutor.

http://www.newsweek.com/photo/2010/08/15/best-countries-in-the-world.html


Cool! :o)

Something in the mail today

So today I get a note from the Post Office that I have something that needs to be picked up... Hmmmm... I wonder what it could be? Maybe something from the Immigration office? I sent my passport to Helsinki last week and I'm guessing its it....

Well.. yes of course that was it... so I brought it home.. opened it up... and bang.... nice residence permit sticker in my passport :o) Looks just like the page in the US passport with your picture but in stead of american things it had my picture and a bunch of Finnish stuff.. So its official... I have my residence permit... so this means I can now start working.. hmm.. is this good or bad? I mean the last 2.3 months off have been SO nice... wake up.. go the beach... go to the gym.. walk around.. shop.. read.... play video games..... and now I have to work?

bleh... well .. actually its good because its getting old and kind of boring and will be nice to contribute somehow again... well.. and the money will be nice too :o) That, and I'm excited to start working for the new company.. should be a lot of fun :O)

New Flat

So the 12th Jano and I went shopping for flats in Helsinki. We were not too optimistic as this time of year (but really when isnt?) is a bad time to look for flats... students coming back and so forth the flats go pretty quick. We found out the relocation agency uses the same websites that are available to the general public and of the flats listed, there was not much that was nice... and.. having to deal with a pet... most places don't allow pets. (speaking of which, mine just pooped, and it stinks...)

So anyway we sent the list of places we'd like to see the night before and just hoped for the best. We arrived in Helinki and found out she had 8 flats to show us. We were really suprised because that was more than she said she would show. The flats ranged in price from €950 to €1250. Our original budget was €700-900 but we later raised it to €1000 to increase the number of places to choose from.

We saw quite a lot of flats... some were smaller and in the center.. some were large beautiful flats with "American" style kitchens, nice bathrooms but further from the center. I was leaning towards living in the center as I think it would be fun to live amongst all the action and - I had hoped for a short commute to work or to be able to even walk to work. Jano was leaning more towards something further away and a bit bigger. I figured we'd butt heads quite a bit in the decision.. but in the end, we both agreed on the same flat.

We choose the one in the center. It is in Punavuori which is a very nice area. Its about as center as you can get. Very close to the train station, work (walking distance!), shops, the sea.. etc... etc. The building itself I think isnt that pretty (compared to the other buildings) but the view is wonderful

This is the view outside the living room.. really cool.. to the left (out of view) you can see mechanical cranes at the sea ..










This is the living room window... What is neat is that there is no fourth "wall" in this flat.. the back wall is almost entire window which is quite cool. I did not take many pix as the online ad for the flat had many pictures but they took it down before I could grab them. Once we are moved will put more pix up.

So now I just need to get the 2x month rent for the deposit, 1.2 months rent (for the first month and 1 week since we move early)... and the nice thing is that the renter owns the flat and did not use a Realtor to help rent it. If he had, then we'd have to add another months rent + 22% VAT for that fee... yuck.

Soon we will have to decorate it... we shall see how that goes as Jano and I have different taste.. but I'm sure it will work out fine :O)

Shopping For Flats

So tomorrow we go to Helsinki to look for flats. Am really quite nervous as the relocation company has not been as great as I had expected. We sent them five flats that we like and they replied back that they are going to show us some, but did not mention if the ones they reserved are the ones we are actually interested in.

Hopefully things will work out, but am quite concerned we are going to have a crappy flat....

and.. trying to get money here is crazy.. i have money in my US bank account but the transfer fees and paperwork (one of my bank will only do the wire transaction if I am physically present at their bank).. and exchange rates and time frames is just too crazy...

So but anyway hopefully will find something nice tomorrow......

Good News?

Well I applied for my residence permit July 23rd. The normal time frame for permits to be processed is about 62 days. Today, I received an email from immigration services asking for my passport to be sent to their offices in Helsinki.

From what I am told, this is good news. It should indicate that my permit has been processed and approved.. and.. wow.. in two and a half weeks?

So.. I am nervous about mailing it there, so I have two friends who are going to Helsinki today and they are going to drop my passport off at immigration. Once immigration has it they will mail it back within a few days.. hopefully with some nice stickers saying i'm legally able to live in Finland :O)

Now.. this poses a problem as we did not think it would happen this quickly... We are stuck in Tampere until Sept 1st as thats when Jano's lease on his flat expires. The meeting with the relocation agency to look for flats in Helsinki isnt until August 12th... with the expectation that we will move at the end of the month.

My company would like me to start ASAP once my permit is approved so it looks like I may commute four hours a day from Tampere to Helsinki until we get a flat. But hopefully the relocation agency will be able to find something nice for us and maybe we can move in sooner than expected... but for now happy about the news and just waiting to find out if what I have been told is really happening.........

Submitting the Residence Permit

So today I had my appointment with the Foreign Police.

In order to stay in Finland you have a residence permit. There is quite a lot of paperwork that needs to be completed.

First, you have your employer fill out these papers. Then you fill out your own papers. Since I am applying for residency from within Finland (they recommend you do it from your home country) I have to fill out this form called "Response to possible refusal of entry and prohibition of entry."

There are 2 questions on there that are interesting. Essentially they ask:

1. If your application is rejected, do you object to being deported and prohibited from re-entering the country?
2. If your application is rejected, do you object to your visa being canceled

Its rather fully b/c I don't know how you would answer it. Will someone really say "Oh.. yeah that is fine. Please, kick me out, bar me from coming back. I didn't want to be here anyway"

So anyway yes you have that form, then copy of work contract... 2 photos that must meet 2 pages of criteria... €250. I also took bank statements, insurance statements, education documents etc just in case.

So anyway I turned in the paperwork and now I just have to wait a few months to find out what will happen. The lady I talked to said I can stay in the country while the application is being processed. This is good news b/c I was under the impression I would have to leave if my 90 day tourist visa expires.. and then come back depending on the decision. I asked her if she can give me some kind of "documentation" showing this, but she could not and referred my to the Aliens Act paperwork. I think I found the proof but I am not sure. I'll contact the relocation agency to have them verify.

So anyways for now I'm on my way to being legal. Monday I'll go to another office to get my Finnish ID number.. yay!

--- update --

So it does look like I can stay until the decision is finished.. that is really good.. will save flying back to the USA :O)

Helsinki Pride

Well after I got the official job offer, its also time to celebrate being a homo. Helsinki Pride is this weekend and it will be my first pride event in a big city.

This year there was over 10,000 homo's in attendance, which is quite a lot. I think in Cedar Rapids there were maybe 4 gays total for pride. The strange thing is the woman to man ratio was about 7/1.












It was a good time. We marched in the parade. It was quite nice as I have never marched before and there were tons of people watching and smiling and cheering.











and unfortunatly we were "hate crimed"... ok it was not that bad.. at least not to us.. but some guys threw smoke grenades and sprayed people (and childern) with mace... the smoke grenade went off right behind us during the parade. But yes it was interesting b/c I've never experienced any negativity about being gay..






It was nice to have the city support the event. They had special gay trams that only gay people could ride. If you were strait, we would let you ride, but you had to go to the back of the tram.









All in all it was a nice time. Spent the rest of the day in the park listning to music and drinking and eating and drinking and drinking..and.. eating.




Looking forward to next years pride and hopefully will be living in Helsinki so won't have to worry about the travel :o)