The main purpose of this project is to give a voice to foreigners in Finland. By writing, we can raise awareness about topics important to us. By sharing our stories we might help others to see who we are, what we are passionate about, what are our strengths and talents. We can also point to obstacles and difficulties in our integration process or discuss the experience with life in Finnish society.
My Salmiakki Life would like to give foreigners in Finland the opportunity to share their unique experience and knowledge.
Immigrants in Finland are not one homogeneous group. It would be great if this blog is as diverse as possible. But I understand, that writing is not for everybody and that English is not the language every person can use. Still, if you want to be part of My Salmiakki Life we can try to find a way.
I believe we can help in the co-creation of a more culturally sensitive, diverse, inclusive and tolerant society in Finland.
Want to be a part of it? Read more blogging opportunities or let be interviewed 🙂 You can also contact me at info@mysalmiakkilife.fi
And why salmiakki life?
Salmiakki or salty liquorice is the very Finnish confectionery and the explosion of tastes, especially for foreigners 🙂 Although it might taste strange at the beginning, there are ways how to get used to it or how to even love it.
And this is exactly how life in Finland is (at least for me). Some things might feel strange and some others will become immediately your obsessions, like little pieces of salmiakki in the milk chocolate 🙂
Welcome!
Latest on My Salmiakki Life
Few thoughts on sport…
I have started doing physical exercises on a regular basis again. I didn’t really do much since the first Covid wave. Only walks in the forest and in winter occasionally ice-skating or cross-country skiing. You can imagine how destroyed I am after each training and how painful my muscles and basically all body are. But…
Be ruthless with the system, be kind to people…
When you are a foreigner in the country, it seems like you have to be always grateful and happy. Do we have a right to be critical? Can we nag about things that do not work? I received a few comments after my quite narrow criticism about the health care system in our municipality. Some…
I want to be a voice of “the other” people in Turkey and also the voice of the other refugees
Do you know this type of person, that everyone likes? Emine Turkoglu is one of these. When I visited her in her home, not only she had prepared lovely refreshments, but she packed a few boxes for my family 🙂 We were drinking Turkish tea and talking about anything. What is to be a Muslim…
Health care in Finland: better be healthy or wealthy
I am angry today. I have just realised how huge a soap bubble the welfare state is. I have realised that without money from gambling being pumped into social services and the pressure to buy private health care, this system would fall like a house of cards. We have old hospitals in Slovakia. You need…
2021 was a hell of the year…
When I turn back and reflect on my life for a while, I must admit I have never had such a difficult year as 2021. I had to make heavy decisions before, my heart was also broken a few times, I felt truly traumatized when we started our life in a new country. But still,…
When you forget how happy you actually are…
Appreciation is often forgotten. To focus on good things, we should be thankful for and remember them more often. Keeping in mind that what we have at the moment, is missing by many. Good things go often unrecognised and are taken for granted. It is vital to think about them occasionally. So, what do I…
Dear neighbours, where is the closest nuclear bunker?
I have never imagined myself asking this question during our lifetime. But I did it. A few hours ago. A few hours ago, when I found out, Putin commanded to have all the nuclear weapons prepared. The insane person with the hand on the button. With the power to destroy the world as we know…
When I moved to Finland, it felt like there was a match
I met Gulja in person exactly once. During a hot summer day in June 2021, when we agreed to meet to record the interview for this article. Before that, we had met only online. Despite meeting just once, I have this pleasant feeling, that I have known her for a much longer time than we…
How I suddenly started to play for the team Finland…
NGO that I currently work for has many projects run in international cooperation. And I have been participating in a few of them. The project’s workload and responsibilities are usually divided between the project’s partners, there are plenty of emails’ exchanges, often meetings at the place, but mostly online. Last week we had meetings with…
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