Destination Finland...

[Nicely]

After various setbacks delaying my original plan, the ferry is now booked and the road trip organised. I'll be leaving the UK for good on the 30th September and starting my new life with my Finnish GF in Helsinki!

I'm taking the Surf packed full of the most important stuff and will take the ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg. The GF will be flying into Billund in Denmark and I'm meeting her there, then we drive across Denmark, over the Great Belt Fixed Link (7km bridge) to Copenhagen, where we'll meet up with one of her friends. The next day we take the Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo (Sweden). I've wanted to cross this bridge for about seven years, ever since I saw a photo of it. Then it's the long drive up to Stockholm. After a day in Stockholm, another ferry overnight across to Turku in Finland, then the final 1.5 hour drive to Helsinki. Woo!

Hopefully by that time our new apartment will be sorted, along with my registration to live in Finland. Getting this is a bit like pulling teeth, even though it should be simple for EU citizens! Without it, I can't get an ID number, and without that you can do fcuk all in Finland. Can't open a bank account, get a mobile phone, rent properties, get travel cards, etc, etc.... The main criteria is to have a job. But to effectively look for work, you need to be in the country, and to effectively live in the country you need a job... Open fcuking borders my arse. No other EU country is this difficult. It's made worse by the fact that the regulations are interpreted differently depending on who deals with you and what direction the wind is blowing... :annoyed:

 

[mint]

wow.. how come your moving there dude? Very random! i thought twas oz you were moving too. Best of luck with the travels though!

Who's going to be the UK based s15oc man in charge now?

 

[Nicely]

A woman Its been on the cards since the beginning of this year. Yes, the plan was originally Oz. Well... the MAIN plan was to get the fcuk out of this country, and Oz was the logical choice for me. Until the woman entered the picture

I have visited every couple of months for the past year and love the place, the people, the customs and very strange quirks

Learning the language is a big hurdle, but I don't believe it's as big as many people make out. The problem is the way they teach it (sit at screens with headphones. BIG fail). Then there is the secondary problem that all Finns learn English at school and when you try to speak Finnish to them they - without fail - reply in English! Not conducive to learning. Interactive learning is the most effective means of learning languages, closely followed by being forced to use it everyday if you want to eat!

Oz isn't entirely out of the picture. We are both going over for Christmas and NY and I have a suspicion that the GF will love Sydney. She loves being near water (Helsinki is built over a series of islands), so Sydney should be a winner

This is a web-based club. It doesn't matter if I'm in Wiltshire or Finland. It's just that they have much better broadband and telecoms

 

[meddler]

Good to hear. Also look forward to catching up when you are here next. Sounds like a fun trip. Enjoy.

P.S. make sure you posts some pics along the way.

 

[mint]

ah hahah Nicely, good lad She must be noice.. now, get some pics up ! hehe. Only jesting.

Thats real cool though, Im glad to hear Oz came into the picture somewhere.. as I though id gone slightly crazy for a moment oh and im only just pulling your chain to gain some form of status on s15oc hehe.

Hope you have fun - Safe trip!

 

[Trial_S15]

Congratulations Christian :thumbs: Very different choice of place to move to but Scandinavia is meant to be fantastic :nod: My cousins moved to Stokholm about 5 years back & absolutely love it, the people the customs and the sports / activities are meant to be incredible!

Sounds like some road trip too :thumbs: is a photographic diary of the roadtrip out of the question :wack:

 

[Topper]

Have a good trip mate, i think another road trip to yours may be on the cards :thumbs:

 

[Nicely]

You are very welcome. It's a long drive though. 11 hours of driving from Esbjerg, plus a 10 hour ferry from Stockholm to Turku. The ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg takes 19 hours...

It's only 3 hours by plane, though not as interesting. But you can escape from all the out of control kids who were on my last flight...

 

[meddler]

lol. there are always out of control kids. Doesn't matter if they are 2 or 22.

 

[Nicely]

Yeah, I know, but there was about 10-15 under 8s all within a few rows. All but about 4 weren't being properly controlled or entertained by their parents. On a six wide 757 for 3 hours, it was hell. They didn't shut up the entire flight. And to make it worse, it was BA.

 

[Darren_S15]

Thats going to be quite some change for you.

Dont blame you for leaving this country one bit to be honest.

Imagine doing that drive in the Silvia

Best of luck though.

Any plans to get an S15 over there?

Darren

 

[JEZ 8553]

Good luck on your new adventure, hope it all works out well

Stuff having an S15, you need an offroader or AWD. Maybe take up rallying ?!

 

[Nicely]

Absolutely no plans for an S15. I'm already crapping myself at the thought of driving the Surf in the winter!

 

[mint]

lol c'mon dude the Surf beg's for winter's as bad as it'll be over there It'll lap up every minute of it .. also, Who do i speak to about asking for a new image to be added to the rotating image header?

 

[als_jordan]

Good Luck matey, hope all goes well for you.. I agree photo diary of the trip sounds like the order of the day..

 

[mint]

What will you do for a job?

 

[Nicely]

Ask me in a few months...

 

[mint]

lol oh i thought you had one in mind Best of luck mate!

 

[Nicely]

Small update. We now have our apartment sorted in the area I liked as soon as I saw it several months ago. We have a balcony view of the Ruoholahti canal

Hotel now booked in Stockholm, as is our spot in the Ice Bar

 

[Topper]

Getting a boat instead of a fancy car?