4 ms·

Finland is the country I've targeted for if I eventually want to leave the UK.

by weego 3y ago

jampekka 3y ago
I'm from Finland, wellcome! People are perhaps a bit more withdrawn than in UK, but e.g. the sense of humor is very similar and I get along great with UK people. And about everybody speaks English. And of course it's really fucking cold and dark in the winter. But at least it's warm indoors, unlike in England.
- CommanderData 3y ago
  > at least it's warm indoors, unlike in England. Haha, that hit very hard after speaking to a home developer at how dire the building regulations are in the UK compared to the EU or even the US with the gov actively subverting better building efficiency regs. Cronyism is rife in the UK, it's so open it stinks.
moffkalast 3y ago
How come -40 degree weather, hardly any sunlight, introvert culture, mandatory conscription, and looming threat of Russia doing something funni aren't a dealbreakers? I'm not sure I'd ever consider moving there myself.
- Eisenstein 3y ago
  > -40 weather Once it gets below -20 it doesn't really matter. Also, saunas. > hardly any sunlight No need for blackout curtains. Don't see this as a minus. > introvert culture That has pluses and minuses. > mandatory conscription I think everyone should be forced to do some kind of service. Having a trained force is a good idea when faced with... > looming threat of Russia doing something funni I don't think they are going to invade Finland again anytime soon, and Russia can very easily be a threat to any country within ICBM distance.
  - moffkalast 3y ago
    Saunas imo don't outweigh your car freezing up so it can't even start anymore and you can't do anything in an emergency. > Don't see this as a minus. You should try it sometime, getting only one half assed hour of sunlight a day would probably drive me to suicide personally. > Russia can very easily be a threat to any country within ICBM distance Well once those start flying it's all over so that's not really a consideration. Small things that don't make a NATO intervention worth it are the real problem. Wasn't it just on the news today or yesterday that they've been jamming GPS in the area? Nobody goes to war over one "accidental" stray missile that just happened to go off course during an "exercise" and blew up a few houses a few km over the border, like that one time in Poland. That kind of thing.
    - jampekka 3y ago
      > Saunas imo don't outweigh your car freezing up so it can't even start anymore and you can't do anything in an emergency. Saunas don't really offset the cold at all, although they are nice anyway. Cars not starting up due to the cold is really rare nowadays AFAIU. I haven't owned or need a car in 20 years, so no personal experience, but I don't hear any complaints about it. And it's not something you need to really worry about e.g. in Helsinki. In UK for example a lot bigger problem is that the traffic goes into total halt when it snows. In general I agree that the climate kind of sucks (although the summers are nice). But this is an annoyance, not life-or-death stuff. > You should try it sometime, getting only one half assed hour of sunlight a day would probably drive me to suicide personally. The lack of sunlight does suck a bit. And if you're really suspectible to SAD, living up north is probably not a good idea for you. But most just get used to it and it's more like people complaining about the rain in the UK. And you definitely do need blackout curtains (or an eyemask) in the summer if your sleep is sensitive to light, so it's not really a pro. Most get used to it though. > Well once those start flying it's all over so that's not really a consideration. Small things that don't make a NATO intervention worth it are the real problem. Regarding the current situation, Finland is further from Ukraine than e.g. Turkey, so a stray missile from there is obviously just not gonna happen. And even if it did, a stray missile is almost certainly not gonna have much casualties in the bigger picture. Everyday risks are magnitudes larger than such. There's been all sorts of jammings and airspace violations for decades. They probably mean very little. Joining NATO did slightly increase the miniscule risk of war for Finland in my calculus, as Finland became a geopolitical buffer zone for NATO. Those tend to get the worst horrors in major wars (see e.g. WW2). But anyway you're a lot more more likely to get hit by a car or something than being a casualty in a war.
- Hamuko 3y ago
  Mandatory conscription only concerns male Finnish citizens under the age of 30. The more immediate concern is the Finnish or Swedish language requirement to getting your citizenship. You'll also have to have lived in Finland for 5-7 years before you're eligible for a citizenship, so if you're over 25 when you move to Finland, you can probably also forget about mandatory conscription.
- jampekka 3y ago
  -40 degree weather is very rare, especially in southern Finland (where the majority lives). Helsinki gets rarely to -20 (currently is though), but these few days you can stay indoors, or just put on enough clothes. Typically it hovers a bit under zero (which sucks a bit too due to slush). The lack of sunlight in the winter comes of course with lots of sunlight in the summer (although that may have its downsides too if you're not used to it). I don't find the climate ideal but it's not that big a deal. The conscription may suck a bit, but you can get out of it quite easily if you want, and it probably wont concern you as an immigrant anyway. And generally a conscription military is better for a country's stability than a professional one. The threat of Russia is not a huge concern. And the overall everyday safety compared to most other countries vastly outweigh this minor risk. I find the best part is that the wellfare state is still somewhat intact and things tend to just work. This really lowers the everyday stress compared to e.g. UK or USA. Of course it's not for everybody but for many aspects it's a good place to live (although getting worse due to neoliberalism, like most places). This is probably reflected in that Finland is the happiest country in the world for six years straight now.

Finland is the country I've targeted for if I eventually want to leave the UK.

by weego 3y ago

Finland is the country I've targeted for if I eventually want to leave the UK.

I'm from Finland, wellcome! People are perhaps a bit more withdrawn than in UK, but e.g. the sense of humor is very similar and I get along great with UK people. And about everybody speaks English. And of course it's really fucking cold and dark in the winter. But at least it's warm indoors, unlike in England.

CommanderData 3y ago
> at least it's warm indoors, unlike in England. Haha, that hit very hard after speaking to a home developer at how dire the building regulations are in the UK compared to the EU or even the US with the gov actively subverting better building efficiency regs. Cronyism is rife in the UK, it's so open it stinks.

moffkalast 3y ago

How come -40 degree weather, hardly any sunlight, introvert culture, mandatory conscription, and looming threat of Russia doing something funni aren't a dealbreakers? I'm not sure I'd ever consider moving there myself.

Eisenstein 3y ago
> -40 weather Once it gets below -20 it doesn't really matter. Also, saunas. > hardly any sunlight No need for blackout curtains. Don't see this as a minus. > introvert culture That has pluses and minuses. > mandatory conscription I think everyone should be forced to do some kind of service. Having a trained force is a good idea when faced with... > looming threat of Russia doing something funni I don't think they are going to invade Finland again anytime soon, and Russia can very easily be a threat to any country within ICBM distance.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Saunas imo don't outweigh your car freezing up so it can't even start anymore and you can't do anything in an emergency. > Don't see this as a minus. You should try it sometime, getting only one half assed hour of sunlight a day would probably drive me to suicide personally. > Russia can very easily be a threat to any country within ICBM distance Well once those start flying it's all over so that's not really a consideration. Small things that don't make a NATO intervention worth it are the real problem. Wasn't it just on the news today or yesterday that they've been jamming GPS in the area? Nobody goes to war over one "accidental" stray missile that just happened to go off course during an "exercise" and blew up a few houses a few km over the border, like that one time in Poland. That kind of thing.
  - jampekka 3y ago
    > Saunas imo don't outweigh your car freezing up so it can't even start anymore and you can't do anything in an emergency. Saunas don't really offset the cold at all, although they are nice anyway. Cars not starting up due to the cold is really rare nowadays AFAIU. I haven't owned or need a car in 20 years, so no personal experience, but I don't hear any complaints about it. And it's not something you need to really worry about e.g. in Helsinki. In UK for example a lot bigger problem is that the traffic goes into total halt when it snows. In general I agree that the climate kind of sucks (although the summers are nice). But this is an annoyance, not life-or-death stuff. > You should try it sometime, getting only one half assed hour of sunlight a day would probably drive me to suicide personally. The lack of sunlight does suck a bit. And if you're really suspectible to SAD, living up north is probably not a good idea for you. But most just get used to it and it's more like people complaining about the rain in the UK. And you definitely do need blackout curtains (or an eyemask) in the summer if your sleep is sensitive to light, so it's not really a pro. Most get used to it though. > Well once those start flying it's all over so that's not really a consideration. Small things that don't make a NATO intervention worth it are the real problem. Regarding the current situation, Finland is further from Ukraine than e.g. Turkey, so a stray missile from there is obviously just not gonna happen. And even if it did, a stray missile is almost certainly not gonna have much casualties in the bigger picture. Everyday risks are magnitudes larger than such. There's been all sorts of jammings and airspace violations for decades. They probably mean very little. Joining NATO did slightly increase the miniscule risk of war for Finland in my calculus, as Finland became a geopolitical buffer zone for NATO. Those tend to get the worst horrors in major wars (see e.g. WW2). But anyway you're a lot more more likely to get hit by a car or something than being a casualty in a war.
Hamuko 3y ago
Mandatory conscription only concerns male Finnish citizens under the age of 30. The more immediate concern is the Finnish or Swedish language requirement to getting your citizenship. You'll also have to have lived in Finland for 5-7 years before you're eligible for a citizenship, so if you're over 25 when you move to Finland, you can probably also forget about mandatory conscription.
jampekka 3y ago
-40 degree weather is very rare, especially in southern Finland (where the majority lives). Helsinki gets rarely to -20 (currently is though), but these few days you can stay indoors, or just put on enough clothes. Typically it hovers a bit under zero (which sucks a bit too due to slush). The lack of sunlight in the winter comes of course with lots of sunlight in the summer (although that may have its downsides too if you're not used to it). I don't find the climate ideal but it's not that big a deal. The conscription may suck a bit, but you can get out of it quite easily if you want, and it probably wont concern you as an immigrant anyway. And generally a conscription military is better for a country's stability than a professional one. The threat of Russia is not a huge concern. And the overall everyday safety compared to most other countries vastly outweigh this minor risk. I find the best part is that the wellfare state is still somewhat intact and things tend to just work. This really lowers the everyday stress compared to e.g. UK or USA. Of course it's not for everybody but for many aspects it's a good place to live (although getting worse due to neoliberalism, like most places). This is probably reflected in that Finland is the happiest country in the world for six years straight now.