Mastering Finland

Please join us in welcoming Matt, our new co-host at Mastering Finland! Matt moved to Finland for love in 2016. He packed up his life in Maryland, and married his penpal of 10 years! Today, Matt lives happily in Pori with his wife, Sanni, and their son, Edvin. Tune into episode 48 to hear Matt’s story, and to get a sneak peak at what to expect from his upcoming episodes. Be sure to check out our l...

Tune into a chat with Roham, originally from Iran, about his experience moving with his wife and daughter to Finland four months ago, in late 2020. To make better personal and professional connections, Roham plans to learn Finnish. Although he is passionate and dedicated about learning the language, his ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) challenges his ability to focus. ADHD can make...

This is the first episode of the "International Authors in Finland" series, and in this episode, we welcome mother and daughter Pamela and Eloisa Spokes. They co-wrote a book together during the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic when Eloisa experienced distance learning and spent lots of time at home with her mum. That's when the idea to create an engaging book for families sparked thei...

This week, Jean sat down to chat with Karina, a PhD student of Applied Linguistics at the University of Jyväskylä. Originally from Japan, Karina began her upper secondary education in Australia. There, she experienced quite a bit of culture shock as a result of the louder, more direct Australian culture. In Finland, Karina once again feels at home. Read on, or listen to episode 45, to learn more a...

In this episode we combined two interviews together to provide you an overall picture of recruitment in FInland enriched by many tips and suggestions on how to improve your job-searching in Finland. In the first part of the interview (0:00-24:25), we talked to Hannah Gay that started her Finnish journey as an intern at The Shortcut, a company you may remember from our previous episode. She current...

Continuing our series on job-seeking in Finland, Petra chats with Stefan Cave. Originally from the UK, Stefan moved to Finland with his partner in 2019 seeking a better work-life balance. Upon arriving in Finland, he applied his background in HR and operations management to his role as COO at talent accelerator The Shortcut. Tune in to this episode for Stefan’s advice for international job seekers...

Iiris Ranta, who recently graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a master’s degree in intercultural management. While completing her thesis on international talent recruitment and retention in the city of Jyväskylä, Iiris focused on the topics of labour migration and the internationalization of higher education. The results of her thesis support the idea that in order to create successful...

This week, we had Doula Danielle on to talk about her experience working as a post-partum doula in Helsinki. Through her personal practice, Mothers Transition, and as a member of The Nest Helsinki International Doulas+, Danielle offers needed support for new mothers and their families. Growing up, Danielle moved around quite a bit. Born in Israel, Danielle also lived in Copenhagen, Finland, and Am...

Meet Varpu, your “Finnish fairy godmother.” On her online platform Her Finland, you can find culture-based language courses that will help you master Finnish (or, at least learn enough to get by), as well as tips and tricks for thriving in Finland -  from the perspective of a native Finn! We sat down to chat about Varpu’s motivations for building Her Finland, the challenges of building a digital b...

Join us for a chat about Esther's inspiring experience related to learning the Finnish language, working and raising children in Finland, and overcoming the language barrier to gain meaningful employment as a foreigner. She also talks about the loneliness and depression she experienced after giving birth to her children. Finally, Esther shed some light on the unpleasant situations she faced during...

Valentine’s Day is happening soon and we thought we might share a bit about how do people usually celebrate such a day in Finland. In this episode, we talk about the history of Valentine’s Day in Finland, its focus on friendship, how do Finns celebrate this day, and how does a university approach this special day. We also collected a few voice recordings from our dear listeners about how they see...

You may remember Matti, a Finnish-American from last week’s episode, and his tales of service in the Finnish Defense Forces. This week, we continue our conversation with a preview of Matti’s forthcoming book, 347 Mornings. At Mastering Finland, we are big believers in the power of stories to help people overcome difficulties and face tough challenges - we are often inspired by our guests’ stories...

Joining Petra in this episode is a Finnish-American named Matthew (or in Finnish Matti) who moved from New Jersey to Finland in 2019. Matti received Finnish citizenship through his grandmother’s descent when he was a child, and moved to Finland in 2019 to complete a year of military service. During this time, Matti learned more about his own leadership abilities and his family’s culture. His uncon...

In this week’s short and sweet episode, Petra has a chat with Mehri, who is a contributing writer at Foreigners in Finland magazine. Founded by Mae Lehto, Foreigners in Finland is a local online magazine aimed at foreigners living in Finland. The magazine caters to an international audience and covers topics like lifestyle, food and drink, business, work, study, and traveling. Mehri’s areas of exp...

Welcome to our first episode of the New Year 2021! 2020 brought many challenges and we are looking forward to a chance to turn things around in 2021. However, with the Brexit transition period expiring at the end of the year, UK citizens may have a tough time doing just that. To offer some guidance on navigating the transition, we sat down for a chat with Mark, a UK citizen living in Finland. A de...

Petra talks to Dani, who had been struggling with her mental health during a process of job-seeking in Finland. In Dani’s words: ’I am a recently graduated expat who's looking for a job and living in Finland on borrowed time. The pressure and countless rejections resulted in a loss of motivation, imposter syndrome, and even depression. Come to think of it, I literally went through all 5 stages of...

In this episode, we look through scientific lens on the impact of migration, and discrimination on mental health, and the representation of these topics in media. To learn more about these issues we spoke with Shadia Rask, research manager at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). During more than a decade of work in the field, Shadia has contributed to important research impacting th...

In this episode, we continue our mental health series with a foreigner’s perspective on mental health care in Finland. We reconnected with Davide from Episode 13 to hear about his experience overcoming anxiety and isolation through professional mental health support. Leaving behind the comfort of university life to start a career is challenging enough; for Davide, this transition was made more dif...

During these unusually stressful times, we could all use a little help improving our mental well-being. Whether you’re suffering from workplace overload or r elationship woes , Mervi Lamminen’s easy access to mental well-being service is here to help! Auntie Solutions offers one-on-one video meetings with mental health professionals to help you keep your mental health in tip-top shape. To learn mo...

Petra talks to an occupational health psychologist , Sinnu about mental health and the services available in Finland. Sinnu sheds light on the specific types of help one can receive, through what channel and the general costs. She also gives practical advice for mental health prevention and care, addressing issues that may arise specifically in the time of Covid and heightened social media usage.&...

Katerina talks about her wedding woes in Finland and the last minute obstacle which unfortunately forced her to cancel her wedding! Find out what document she was required to present from her home country in order to marry her Finnish-Greek husband and how they were surprised to experience a not-so-smooth side of Finnish bureaucracy as foreigners.

Petra & Jean finally spill the beans on their dating experiences in Finland and using Tinder, as well as share anecdotes of their most memorable dates. Additionally, Raul opens up about dating in Finland as a member of the LGBTQ community. What is the Finnish dating culture like, you ask? Tune in to find out!

Dallin relocated to Finland specifically to serve in the Finnish military and afterwards stayed to study. He gives us an inside look at the Finnish military culture and life and shares some of his unforgettable experiences from that time. He also talks about how Canadians and Finns are similar and different and gives valuable insight into understanding the value of friendship in Finland. USEFUL LI...

Petra and Jean react to Facebook posts of foreigners living in Finland, which leads to a discussion of the Finnish social culture and mentality and some of the common struggles foreigners face in this area.

Eline is a Dutch-Finn who grew up in Papua New Guinea for the majority of her childhood. She talks about growing up as a *"Third Culture Kid" and how that had shaped her worldview and identity and affected her life when she moved back to the Netherlands and Finland as an adult. She also shares how she manages to juggle student and single mom life and gives tips to foreigners for living in Finland....