Bora’s Jour­ney: Fin­ding a new dream in Fin­land as a social wor­ker

Life has a way of gui­ding us on unex­pec­ted paths, lea­ding to inc­re­dible trans­for­ma­tions. Meet Bora Kim, a kind indi­vi­dual who had a unique jour­ney from South Korea to Oulu, Fin­land.

Let’s explo­re Bora Kim’s ins­pi­ring sto­ry, from her background in tex­ti­le design to the field of social ser­vices in the city of Oulu.

Embracing a New Chap­ter in Fin­land

Bora’s jour­ney began in South Korea, whe­re she pur­sued her pro­fes­sion in tex­ti­le design. Howe­ver, her path took a turn when she disco­ve­red her deep empat­hy to care for others. Bora tran­si­tio­ned her skills into the realm of human resources, wor­king in an elder­ly hos­pi­tal for six years in South Korea.

Her expe­rience in this role allowed her to grow her inte­rest into the field of social ser­vices. Since it was dif­ficult to stu­dy in South Korea, she found an oppor­tu­ni­ty to stu­dy in Oulu, Fin­land and star­ted stu­dying social ser­vices at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sciences (OAMK). Bora also got mar­ried in Fin­land and hap­pi­ly lived in Oulu for seven years and coun­ting!

Main lan­gua­ge used in her stu­dies and wor­king life is Fin­nish, in which she most­ly lear­ned at home by lis­te­ning to the radio, watc­hing mor­ning news and tal­king in Fin­nish with her hus­band.

Thri­ving in Oulu’s Vibrant Com­mu­ni­ty

For the past seven years, Oulu has been Bora’s second home. The city’s welco­ming atmosp­he­re and strong com­mu­ni­ty spi­rit have pro­vi­ded her with a nur­tu­ring envi­ron­ment to grow both per­so­nal­ly and pro­fes­sio­nal­ly.

Accor­ding to Bora, her first impres­sions of Oulu is the calm­ness and peace­ful­ness in the streets. The buil­dings appea­red simpler than she ima­gi­ned as well as the Fin­nish peoples’ fas­hion sty­les are more towards neut­ral colors than she is used to back in South Korea.

Through her expe­riences, Bora gai­ned a dee­per unders­tan­ding of dif­fe­rent pers­pec­ti­ves towards the Fin­nish cul­tu­re.

“I found it surpri­sing Fin­nish people don’t wear shoes in the office and having breaks are flexible, for example, my col­lea­gue was knit­ting during her break. In South Korea it is stric­ter and more com­pe­ti­ti­ve.”

In addi­tion, she men­tio­ned trust is one of the key fac­tors for a success­ful and healt­hy wor­king envi­ron­ment.

“The­se days, the concept of remo­te work is inc­rea­sing in South Korea, but emplo­yers still want emplo­yees to work insi­de the com­pa­ny. Emplo­yers may not yet pre­fer wor­king remo­te­ly, whe­re they can­not check the sta­tus of their emplo­yees. Howe­ver, in Fin­land its more flexible and the­re is trust and the emplo­yee can sha­re ideas and depend on them­sel­ves.”

Do you have any tips for someo­ne who has been thin­king about moving and wor­king in Oulu?

Here are few tips Bora recom­mends for newco­mers:

• It can be chal­len­ging to find infor­ma­tion about Fin­land in other count­ries. Howe­ver, uti­lizing onli­ne resources and official govern­ment web­si­tes, can pro­vi­de valuable insights into life in Oulu, Fin­land.
• “Lear­ning the Fin­nish lan­gua­ge is high­ly recom­men­ded. Whi­le many Finns speak English, having a basic unders­tan­ding of Fin­nish will great­ly enhance your expe­rience and open more oppor­tu­ni­ties.”
• Con­nect with people in Fin­land befo­re making the move. Onli­ne com­mu­ni­ties, social media groups, and pro­fes­sio­nal networks can help you establish con­nec­tions, gat­her infor­ma­tion, and get a glimp­se of what life in Oulu is like.
• “I reac­hed out to the Korean Embas­sy for more infor­ma­tion about Fin­land” Bora sta­ted. By reac­hing out an embas­sy or con­su­la­te in Fin­land can pro­vi­de you with resources, infor­ma­tion, and gui­dance speci­fic to the needs and inte­rests of indi­vi­duals from that speci­fic count­ry moving to Fin­land.”
• “Remem­ber, tho­rough research and pre­pa­ra­tion will great­ly bene­fit your tran­si­tion to Oulu. Best of luck with your futu­re!” – Bora Kim

Text: Nada Abass