Tal­ent sto­ries

Meet Rana Toro and dis­cov­er how vol­un­teer­ing helped her find com­mu­ni­ty, belong­ing and a home in Oulu.

Meet Man­ju Krish­na, who moved from India to Oulu with her fam­i­ly. Oulu’s close­ness to nature and Finland’s edu­ca­tion sys­tem were among the rea­sons Man­ju and her hus­band chose to move to Oulu.

Visidon is a work­place where every­one can ask, learn, and col­lab­o­rate regard­less of back­ground or role. Finnish work–life bal­ance is also cen­tral to their cul­ture. “When­ev­er I fin­ish my work, I just close my email,  and focus on my per­son­al life,” says Moham­mad Tavako­lian.

Meet Kav­ish­wa, a PhD stu­dent from Sri Lan­ka who says the work cul­ture in Fin­land, espe­cial­ly at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, is calm and sup­port­ive. He says he’s made good friends and feels very hap­py to be work­ing in Oulu.

Meet Mako­to, a fam­i­ly man from Japan who now calls Oulu home. In this video, Mako­to shares his expe­ri­ence of relo­cat­ing to Oulu, talks about the sup­port avail­able, and how eas­i­ly his chil­dren were able to find school places in Oulu.

Meet Sophie Platt – a mas­ter’s stu­dent at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. Orig­i­nal­ly drawn to Fin­land by her love for Finnish music, espe­cial­ly after dis­cov­er­ing Euro­vi­sion artist Kääri­jä in 2023, Sophie fol­lowed her pas­sion all the way to his con­certs.

Meet Khadi­ja Akter. She moved from Bangladesh to Oulu when her hus­band received a schol­ar­ship at the Uni­ver­si­ty. Bring­ing her pas­sion for con­nect­ing with oth­ers, Khadi­ja quick­ly found ways to build com­mu­ni­ty and explore the nat­ur­al beau­ty of her new home.

Leon Bergs­ma is a foot­ball play­er from Ams­ter­dam who is cur­rent­ly play­ing for AC Oulu. Watch the full video to hear more about Leon’s expe­ri­ence and why play­ing in Oulu is some­thing spe­cial.

Zhang Le, a per­form­ing artist and musi­cian from Chi­na, moved to Oulu to pur­sue a mas­ter’s in Sus­tain­able Mar­ket­ing from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. In this sto­ry, she nar­rates her experiences and aspi­ra­tions with the pic­turesque city of Oulu.

Join Pavani from Sri Lan­ka as she explores her love for Oulu’s vibrant com­mu­ni­ty and abun­dant oppor­tu­ni­ties. Dis­cov­er her fas­ci­na­tion with Finnish nature, and her intro­duc­tion to the unique sauna cul­ture. Cur­rent­ly study­ing prac­ti­cal nurs­ing in Finnish,

Sepi­deh shares her admi­ra­tion for Fin­land’s sus­tain­able prac­tices, such as reusing items and min­i­miz­ing con­sumerism, which echoed deeply with her val­ues. Join Sepi­deh as she embraces Finnish life and cul­ture, eager to learn from their patient and thought­ful approach to life.

Chen­hao moved from Shanghai in pur­suit of work-life bal­ance, nature’s beau­ty, and qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion. Cur­rent­ly study­ing his sec­ond mas­ter’s degree at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu, Chen­hao keeps him­self busy with Finnish lan­guage stud­ies and oth­er activ­i­ties.

Takako shares her experiences of nav­i­gat­ing this cozy city known for its cut­ting-edge wire­less tech­nolo­gies and serene nat­ur­al sur­round­ings. As a Senior Advi­sor, she plays a vital role in fos­ter­ing busi­ness con­nec­tions between Oulu and Japan.

Meet Chris­t­ian, as he shares his expe­ri­ence of mov­ing to Oulu. From nav­i­gat­ing the city as a new­com­er to dis­cov­er­ing the local work cul­ture and mak­ing last­ing friend­ships, Chris­t­ian offers insights into the unique lifestyle.

Join Fah­mi­da as she shares her jour­ney from Bangladesh to Oulu, where she pur­sued her pas­sion for pub­lic health as a PhD stu­dent. Dis­cov­er how she nav­i­gates the con­trast­ing Finnish sea­sons, find­ing beau­ty in both harsh win­ters and stun­ning sum­mers.

Fangy­ing “Fan­ni” Li is orig­i­nal­ly from Chi­na. Cur­rent­ly, Fan­ni works at the IH Oulu. She admires Finnish work cul­ture. “Some­how here, this free­dom brings you more pos­si­bil­i­ties. You can do what­ev­er you want.”

Explore Oulu with Adri­an, a Tex­an who has made this Finnish city his home for over a decade. Adri­an shares his jour­ney of adapt­ing to a new lifestyle, enjoy­ing the nat­ur­al beau­ty, and rais­ing his son in Oulu.

Adero, an Afro mil­len­ni­al design­er from Nairo­bi, Kenya, moved to Oulu with her fam­i­ly. Now she shares her jour­ney of adapt­ing to Finnish cul­ture, pur­su­ing her pas­sion for soft­ware devel­op­ment, and enjoy­ing the city’s vibrant cul­ture.

Eduar­do Acos­ta is from Colom­bia. Over the past two years, he has been able to expe­ri­ence all that Oulu has to offer. “When I came here, I was sur­prised by how you can find many things here, how well con­nect­ed every­thing is.”

She­fat Islam came from Bahrain to Oulu and fell in love with the city’s nature. What was most impor­tant to her was that her daugh­ter adjust­ed well. She­fat thinks Oulu is a pic­turesque and calm place, a post­card city.

Jun Naka­mu­ra decid­ed to move from Japan to Oulu and study for his master’s degree at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. He is very impressed by Finnish sauna cul­ture. “In the sauna, Finns are more open com­pared to oth­er places.”