My Life in Oulu: Reflec­tions on a New Begin­ning

My name is Car­men Cor­valán, my sto­ry with Fin­land began in 2014 when I start­ed vis­it­ing with my hus­band. Since we met, we trav­eled every sum­mer for almost a month, and Oulu was always one of our stops. The city drew us in due to the friends we had there and the vibrant sum­mer fes­ti­vals. How­ev­er, it was only two and a half years ago that we took the big step and decid­ed to move to Oulu per­ma­nent­ly.

From San­ti­a­go to Oulu: A Rad­i­cal Change

Ini­tial­ly, when we moved to Fin­land, we set­tled in Raa­he. The change was dras­tic for us, com­ing from the bustling city of San­ti­a­go with mil­lions of peo­ple and con­stant activ­i­ty. Raa­he, on the oth­er hand, was qui­et — very qui­et. As we eval­u­at­ed our options, Oulu stood out as the per­fect alter­na­tive: the last large city in north­ern Fin­land, with good con­nec­tions, an active uni­ver­si­ty life, and the ide­al bal­ance between nature and urban liv­ing.

First Impres­sions: A City Per­fect for Fam­i­ly

Oulu impressed me from the very begin­ning. My son was just one year old when we arrived, and the city’s calm­ness and safe­ty gave me great peace of mind. The day­care sys­tem, the qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion, and the over­all focus on chil­dren’s well-being con­vinced me that this was an excel­lent place for our fam­i­ly. Here, city life and nature coex­ist in per­fect har­mo­ny, which is some­thing I tru­ly appre­ci­ate.

The Tran­quil­i­ty Oulu Has Offered Me

Oulu is, with­out a doubt, a very peace­ful place to live. As some­one who used to be very anx­ious, I’ve found a refuge here that has taught me to take things slow­ly. There’s no need to rush all the time, and this slow­er pace has great­ly helped me on a per­son­al lev­el. I’ve also been sur­prised by how the chang­ing sea­sons not only shape the land­scape but also influ­ence people’s moods. Each sea­son brings a les­son: the joy of sum­mer, the mag­ic of the first snow­fall, or the calm and reflec­tion that win­ter offers.

Nature and Urban Life: A Per­fect Blend

One of the things that sur­pris­es me most about Oulu is how seam­less­ly nature and the city blend togeth­er. The sea­son­al changes are vivid­ly clear, and they enrich the expe­ri­ence of liv­ing here. In sum­mer, the end­less day­light fills you with ener­gy, while win­ter, though cold, offers moments of intro­spec­tion and calm that I hadn’t expe­ri­enced in oth­er cities.

My Adven­tures in Ski­ing and Sports

The sports cul­ture in Oulu is impres­sive, and with such long win­ters, I set a goal to learn how to ski. So far, I’ve only prac­ticed the tra­di­tion­al cross-coun­try style, but I’m deter­mined to learn the skat­ing style. What’s won­der­ful is that you can grab your skis and find a track close to home, which is part of the charm of liv­ing in a city sur­round­ed by nature.

My Expe­ri­ence Study­ing in Oulu

Cur­rent­ly, I am study­ing Finnish at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. Although I haven’t yet decid­ed where I want to direct my stud­ies, I know this learn­ing process is giv­ing me the tools I need for the future. As a dance teacher and Pilates instruc­tor, I con­tin­ue work­ing in what I love, though adapt­ing to a new con­text. Back in Chile, I par­tic­i­pat­ed in var­i­ous projects focused on folk and oth­er dance styles, and here in Oulu, I’ve been for­tu­nate to con­tin­ue teach­ing dance, which brings me great joy.

My Best Mem­o­ry in Oulu

One of my best mem­o­ries in Oulu is the day I vis­it­ed Vuolle Opis­to to do my work place­ment as part of my inte­gra­tion pro­gram. I met won­der­ful peo­ple, and although I was ini­tial­ly scared because of the lan­guage bar­ri­er, I kept in touch and even­tu­al­ly got a job oppor­tu­ni­ty. I still work at Vuolle Opis­to, and I am very grate­ful for that. This expe­ri­ence taught me that, with per­se­ver­ance and a bit of hope, things can work out.

Advice for Those Con­sid­er­ing Mov­ing to Oulu

To any­one con­sid­er­ing mov­ing to Oulu, or any new city for that mat­ter, I would advise being patient and flex­i­ble. Start­ing a new life in a dif­fer­ent place has its chal­lenges, but with a pos­i­tive atti­tude, dif­fi­cult moments don’t last for­ev­er. Being open to meet­ing new peo­ple and learn­ing from them is key. Per­son­al­ly, even though lan­guage has been a chal­lenge, I’ve always found some­one will­ing to help me.

Build­ing Con­nec­tions and Over­com­ing Chal­lenges

As a spouse and an immi­grant, one of the most impor­tant lessons I’ve learned is that every per­son you meet has some­thing to teach you. Build­ing a sup­port net­work has been cru­cial for me. Despite the lan­guage bar­ri­ers, I have always encoun­tered peo­ple who have the patience to help me, and that has made me feel more con­nect­ed to my sur­round­ings. For me, meet­ing new peo­ple isn’t just a neces­si­ty as an immi­grant, but a way of life.

Liv­ing in Oulu has been a trans­for­ma­tive expe­ri­ence, and while there is still much to dis­cov­er, I know that each day here offers some­thing new.

Text edit­ed by: Jes­si­ca Segu­ra Polo.