Love Brought Me to Oulu: A Per­son­al Tale of Life in Fin­land

Hel­lo. I am Man­isha, orig­i­nal­ly from Nepal. I got mar­ried in 2021 and moved to Fin­land with my hus­band, and it has now been three years since I’ve been liv­ing here. Oulu was an unex­pect­ed delight for me. Before arriv­ing, all I knew about Fin­land was that Helsin­ki is the cap­i­tal, but beyond that, I was unfa­mil­iar with what Fin­land had to offer.

First Impres­sions of Oulu

When I first arrived in Oulu, it instant­ly felt like home. It was July dur­ing a beau­ti­ful sum­mer, and I had just mar­ried the love of my life.

We moved into a cozy apart­ment near Nal­likari, with a stun­ning view. I love the tran­quil­i­ty and clean­li­ness of the city, and the way peo­ple respect each oth­er’s space, only engag­ing when nec­es­sary.

Before com­ing to Oulu, I had just com­plet­ed my med­ical degree and worked as a resort doc­tor in the Mal­dives for two years. Hav­ing lived on an island, I was crav­ing the vibran­cy of city life, and even though Oulu is con­sid­ered small by some, it gave me the atmos­phere I had been miss­ing.

The Calm and Unhur­ried Life

Oulu offers a remark­able sense of calm­ness. There’s no rush or chaos here, and it brings peace to my mind. One thing that sur­prised me, though, was the sauna cul­ture,

When I first arrived, my hus­band took me to the swim­ming pool, and after swim­ming, I was shocked to see all the women head­ing to the sauna com­plete­ly naked. My eyes were wide open at first, but now that I’ve got­ten used to it, I real­ly enjoy the sauna.

Every city has its own charm. I’ve lived in Kath­man­du, Nepal’s vibrant cap­i­tal, which is bustling and crowd­ed. In con­trast, Oulu’s serene and less crowd­ed atmos­phere is a pleas­ant change.

Dur­ing my med­ical stud­ies in the Philip­pines, I got used to large malls and impres­sive infra­struc­ture, which I occa­sion­al­ly miss here. After liv­ing on a qui­et island in the Mal­dives with lim­it­ed facil­i­ties, I came to appre­ci­ate the com­forts of Oulu even more.

A recent trip to Munich made me real­ize how much I val­ue the clean­li­ness of Oulu, and the fact that peo­ple don’t smoke or lit­ter as much in pub­lic spaces.

My Favorite Place in Oulu

Liv­ing in Oulu has changed me in many ways. I’ve come to appre­ci­ate and enjoy nature more. The four sea­sons – sum­mer, win­ter, spring, and autumn – have been a trans­for­ma­tive expe­ri­ence for me.

Becom­ing a moth­er to my baby girl here in Oulu has deep­ened my con­nec­tion to the city. I’ve dis­cov­ered new hob­bies like hik­ing, for­ag­ing for blue­ber­ries and mush­rooms, and ski­ing – both cross-coun­try and down­hill.

My favorite place in Oulu is Nal­likari. I love spend­ing sum­mer days swim­ming and enjoy­ing the beach. In win­ter, when the sea is frozen, I like walk­ing across the ice. The new­ly ren­o­vat­ed Nal­likari also has great play areas for chil­dren, where my daugh­ter enjoys play­ing.

“Becom­ing a moth­er here in Oulu has deep­ened my con­nec­tion to the city.”

Oulu is the per­fect size for me because I’m not a fan of large cities. I love cycling around, and with light traf­fic, it’s easy to get around by bike or car. As for the Finnish lan­guage, it’s def­i­nite­ly not easy to learn.

After arriv­ing in Fin­land, I joined an inte­gra­tion pro­gram that includ­ed Finnish lan­guage lessons. The more I use the lan­guage, the eas­i­er it becomes, and though I don’t expect to sound like a native, I’m get­ting bet­ter every day.

The biggest chal­lenge for for­eign­ers in Fin­land is often the lan­guage bar­ri­er when look­ing for a suit­able job. Every coun­try has its own lan­guage, so being able to com­mu­ni­cate is expect­ed, but lan­guage skills improve through reg­u­lar use. I believe more job oppor­tu­ni­ties for for­eign­ers could help them prac­tice the lan­guage through dai­ly con­ver­sa­tions and work expe­ri­ences.

The Friend­li­ness of Oulu Res­i­dents

The peo­ple in Oulu are friend­ly and wel­com­ing. There’s a stereo­type that Finns are shy and reserved, but I don’t entire­ly agree. I’ve met many Finns who are open and enjoy­able to be around.

Cur­rent­ly, I’m in the process of val­i­dat­ing my med­ical degree in Fin­land. I recent­ly com­plet­ed a six-month intern­ship at Oulu Uni­ver­si­ty Hos­pi­tal (OYS), and now I’m prepar­ing for the licen­sure exam­i­na­tion for for­eign doc­tors.

One of my best mem­o­ries in Oulu is watch­ing the auro­ra bore­alis from my apart­ment bal­cony. I’ve also made won­der­ful friends at lan­guage school, and our shared chal­lenges have helped us form a deep con­nec­tion. Oulu feels like home to me – a place where I feel com­fort­able, ful­filled, and hap­py.

If you’re think­ing of mov­ing to Oulu, my advice is to get a bicy­cle – and if you don’t know how to ride, learn! It’s the best way to get around the city. When I first moved here, every­thing was new to me. My husband’s friends became my friends, but always search­ing for friends with a fresh start like me.

The inte­gra­tion pro­gram helped me meet peo­ple who were start­ing fresh in Fin­land like I was, and we under­stood each other’s chal­lenges. My intern­ship at OYS also expand­ed my net­work.

Oulu has giv­en me a lot, and I believe it has even more to offer. Once I resume my med­ical career, I’m con­fi­dent I’ll dis­cov­er even more oppor­tu­ni­ties. Every­one should live where they feel free, com­fort­able, and ful­filled. For me, Oulu is that place.

Text: Jes­si­ca Segu­ra Polo