From the Himalayas to the Heart of Oulu: Pooja’s Sto­ry of Belong­ing and Becom­ing

Poo­ja Dahal is a researcher and nature enthu­si­ast who moved from Nepal to Oulu, car­ry­ing with her resilience, curios­i­ty, and a belief in new begin­nings.

“Hel­lo, my name is Poo­ja Dahal, and today I call Oulu my home. I am a researcher with a back­ground in nat­ur­al resource man­age­ment, a lover of nature, lan­guages, and com­mu­ni­ty, and some­one who has trav­elled far, both in dis­tance and in per­son­al growth, to arrive where I am now.

My jour­ney to this place began long before Fin­land. In 2021, I left Nepal with a sin­gle suit­case and a heart full of courage, deter­mined to pur­sue my master’s degree in Nor­way. I com­plet­ed my stud­ies at the Nor­we­gian Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence and Tech­nol­o­gy, bal­anc­ing aca­d­e­m­ic research with work in a busy restau­rant kitchen.

Those years taught me resilience, inde­pen­dence, and the calm strength that comes from adapt­ing to new cul­tures and new ways of liv­ing.

In 2025, life car­ried me fur­ther north, to Oulu, Fin­land where I arrived with curios­i­ty, hope, and a qui­et belief that life could be dif­fer­ent here: calmer, safer, and full of pos­si­bil­i­ty.

From the moment I stepped into this city, Oulu wel­comed me with a warmth that felt both unex­pect­ed and deeply com­fort­ing.

Why Oulu Felt Like the Right Place

Oulu first appeared in my life as a qui­et pos­si­bil­i­ty, a north­ern city known for its calm rhythm, safe­ty, and wel­com­ing atmos­phere. I felt Oulu is a place where life slows down just enough for you to breathe, reflect, and grow. When I final­ly arrived, I under­stood why.

Oulu is gen­tle.

Oulu is safe.

Oulu gives you space to become who you are meant to be.

The forests, the cycling paths, the lakes, the silence, every­thing here invites you to recon­nect with your­self.

And the peo­ple, though qui­et at first, car­ry a warmth that stays with you long after the con­ver­sa­tion ends. In the cold­est months, their kind­ness feels like a small fire you can hold in your hands.

Why Learn­ing Finnish Became a Joy

When I began study­ing Finnish at OSAO (Oulu Voca­tion­al Col­lege), I expect­ed dif­fi­cul­ty, every­one warns you about the lan­guage. But instead, I found joy.

Each new word felt like a small door­way into the cul­ture, the humour, and the every­day life of the peo­ple around me.

Study­ing Finnish also brought me close to class­mates from many cul­tures and coun­tries; learn­ing togeth­er through group tasks, out­door activ­i­ties, dis­cus­sions, hikes, and small trips made the jour­ney engag­ing, inter­ac­tive, and filled with mem­o­rable moments.

Learn­ing Finnish wasn’t just about com­mu­ni­ca­tion. It was about belong­ing.

The more I learned, the more con­nect­ed I felt, to neigh­bours, col­leagues, and the com­mu­ni­ty. I dis­cov­ered that lan­guage is a bridge to feel­ing at home.

Find­ing Pur­pose in Oulu’s Forests

My work with the City of Oulu’s For­est and Water­shed Depart­ment has been one of the most mean­ing­ful chap­ters of my life.

With a back­ground in nat­ur­al resource man­age­ment, eco­log­i­cal mod­el­ling, and bio­di­ver­si­ty mon­i­tor­ing, step­ping into Oulu’s forests felt nat­ur­al, almost like return­ing to some­thing famil­iar.

I thrive out­doors. Nature is not just scenery to me; it is a space for learn­ing, explo­ration, and con­nec­tion.

I feel ener­gized by move­ment, fresh air, and mean­ing­ful work. Whether I’m updat­ing GIS data, assess­ing for­est stands, or cal­cu­lat­ing car­bon stocks, I feel aligned with my pur­pose.

Oulu’s land­scapes have a way of ground­ing you, remind­ing you of where you’ve been and where you’re going.

“Here in Oulu, I can be ful­ly myself.”

The Warmth of Oulu’s Peo­ple

The peo­ple here are warm, sin­cere, and qui­et­ly sup­port­ive. Their kind­ness is sub­tle but steady a gen­tle nod, a help­ful ges­ture, a moment of shared silence that says more than words.

I am a socia­ble, approach­able, and warm per­son by nature. I build rela­tion­ships eas­i­ly, stay con­nect­ed, and val­ue the peo­ple in my life deeply. In Oulu, these qual­i­ties helped me find com­mu­ni­ty quick­ly. I feel seen here.

I feel under­stood.

A Life Filled with Move­ment, and Joy

Singing, danc­ing, cycling, hik­ing, yoga, sports, vol­un­teer­ing, and cre­at­ing videos, are all expres­sions of who I am: adven­tur­ous, social­ly warm, and cre­ative­ly expres­sive.

I love doc­u­ment­ing experiences, cel­e­brat­ing small adven­tures, and invit­ing oth­ers into my jour­ney.
Oulu gives me the per­fect back­drop for all of this. The qui­et morn­ings. The long sum­mer evenings. The snowy paths.

The forests that feel end­less.

Here, I can be ful­ly myself.”

“Oulu gives you space to become who you are meant to be.”

We’re look­ing for inspir­ing sto­ries from Oulu

If you know a per­son, com­pa­ny or com­mu­ni­ty with a strong inter­na­tion­al mind­set, let us know. We’re always hap­py to high­light local voic­es with a glob­al touch.
Send us an email: annakaisa.vaaraniemi(a)businessoulu.com

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