Summer in Finland
(end)

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Russians in Finland

Russian speakers constitute 0.6 % of Finland's population. Thus they are the third largest language community after Finnish (92%) and Swedish (5.6%) speakers.

Besides, many people from the ex-USSR visit Finland for business or pleasure. Once in Metso I saw a delegation of librarians from St-Petersburg.

In Tampere one can often hear the Russian speech. At first I felt like coming up and making acquaintance with people who spoke Russian, but then I decided that in Finland it was common.

I think that Russians do not feel lonely in Finland, simply because they are so numerous. Moreover, Russian culture in Finland is accessible (Russian books in libraries, etc), and one can easily go to Russia for a weekend.

In this respect the situation in Québec City, where I live now, is different. Here there is practically no Russian community, and few immigrants for that matter; they prefer to settle down in Montreal where it is easier to find a job.

Aerial view of Tampere

Bird's view of Tampere

Meeting people

Anya acquainted me with some of her friends — Vasily and his family from Hervanta (Tampere's area) and Yulia from the city of Lahti. Meeting them left most pleasant impressions on me.

I also went to Hämeenlinna, a city at one hour's ride to the south from Tampere, to meet a woman with whom I became acquainted on the Internet during my stay in Finland.

She is a physician from Estonia and has been living in Finland for several years. We dined at an inexpensive restaurant, went to see an old castle and walked in a charming park near a lake. The woman was nice-looking but rather demanding, so there was no follow-up.

Hämeenlinna castle


Hämeenlinna's castle

Return

The month passed very quickly and, unfortunately, my holidays were over. I did not find a girlfriend in Finland, but had a pleasant time, saw the country, though not very much, and stocked up books and videos for learning Finnish.

I left Tampere in the morning of 7 July and returned by the same route to Québec. I came "home" on 8 July at 2 am.

*     *     *

This journey to Finland for me was a "reconnaissance" expedition. As a result, my desire to move from Canada to Europe has strengthened.

For me it is much more interesting to live in Europe, because of its culture, nature, a higher quality of life and geographical closeness to Russia. Furthermore, I think that in Europe I'll be able to better utilise my skills and in this way be more valuable to the society.

I decided to come to Finland again, if possible next year. I greatly respect the Finnish people, who, despite numerous attempts of conquest from the neighbouring countries (primarily Russia), did not yield, but defended their independence. I am also impressed by the care with which the Finns preserve the culture and nature of their country.

I hope to see more of Finland during my next visit. Now I am particularly eager to visit Helsinki, Turku and the Åland islands.

Links about Finland

To begining

Start > Finland 2005. Pages: 1, 2, 3.

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