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mariaevolov

Hello everyone i am Maria, currently i am living here in Finland. Until now im still amaze how beautiful is the nature here. Spring is very green and winter is very white and too cold. I came from a tropical Philippines and everything here is very exciting but like the weather here people are quiet cold :( . I dont mean anything bad about it in contrary to that even they are cold they are very real. Finns dont play with words, they mean what they say. Yes is yes, no is no which is very different from the place i grow up. Direct talking in Philippines sometimes will be consider as rudeness and openly offend us. In our language we have lots of sugar coating and you really have to read between the lines.. Its our way to maintain harmonious relationship, and we Filipino loves to have small talks even with the people we just meet, so dont be surprise if you are sitting next to Filipino and he/she starts to talk with you and tell his/her life story hahaha its just normal to average Filipino (guys im talking about the average Filipino attitude.. So those who are have violent reaction regarding this..Violent?! Hahaha Write your own story hihihi). So its one of my adjustments here but finns are the most funniest people, i love their humor! If i were to describe it, i would say.. Its sarcastically funny!
My second adjustment is weather.. I came for the country with an average of 28 celcius temperature and to be here during winter time is a shock to my system. The weather did not only affect me physically but also emotionally and mentally, dark autumn and cold winter is depressing. Long night and short day light. I would advise anyone who plans to come here during this time to bring a lot of vitamin D with you. It does a lot of magic!
I am here for 4 months so i cant say much yet. I am in crash course for basic finnish language lesson. My english is not even good (especially my grammar hahaha but i guess im understandable.. So its okay), so im wondering how long will it take me to learn their language... Or should i start to believe that FOREVER exist! But anyway im learning little by little as i am naturally talkative and it helps that im not too shy to talk :)
For now i dont have Filipino friends here, the population of Filipino in this place is still very small compared to mainland (Helsinki). But i love making friends with the other nationality, im learning from them.
I hope to read others story here and to find Filipino friends in this place thru this site. If not, im happy to have friends with anyone.
Have a great day everyone!
Smile!
Life is beautiful!

Fred

Hi, and welcome to the forum.
Weather issues are commonly a big thing for new expats in either direction.
The Northern dwellers get hit by the heat, and those from the tropics freeze their toes off, especially the first year.

Layers are the answer.
Don't wear a single layer of clothes, but build the layers up. That way you trap air in each layer, so remaining warmer.
On very cold days I go with, T shirt, shirt, jumper, coat.

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