00:00Hi, my name is Cody Walcik. I'm from Salisbury, Massachusetts, and I've been living in Helsinki now for over a year.
00:05Cody is in Finland working as a golf course manager, a job he landed by reaching out to the boss after finding it online.
00:12He knew he wanted to move to Europe long term after spending time in Berlin and Prague. But why Finland?
00:19I had a little checklist of things that I wanted. I wanted to move somewhere in Europe, more northern.
00:25I wanted to learn a new language, somewhere that likes hockey. And then lastly, it was somewhere where the weather was decent.
00:33Now working in Finland, he's noticed differences in working culture and paid time off.
00:39Like every Finn, I have five weeks holiday. That's normal. So I take one in the summer and then four in winter.
00:48Here it's big work-life balance. It's really important here.
00:52Cody's apartment is located in the center of Helsinki.
00:55He pays 1,350 euros a month for 47 square meters, slightly above average, but normal for a place near the city center.
01:05He lives with his dog, Kayla.
01:09The kitchen here, it's kind of all open. So kitchen, dining room, slash living room.
01:16Here is Kayla's space.
01:19Kind of unique thing, especially here in Finland, is it gets really cold in winter.
01:24Everything's double window, double pane, to keep cold out and noise.
01:31The reason why Finns are so happy is because everyone uses the bidet, so maybe there's something to that.
01:36I don't know, but we have not yet embraced that part of the Finnish culture yet, I guess.
01:42The most Finnish thing about this flat building and most flat buildings is the sauna that's in the basement.
01:50So now we'll check the sauna out.
01:53Cody booked a private time slot online.
01:56You're supposed to take a shower and you normally go naked, but we're not going to do that.
01:59And then, come in.
02:11It's about 80 Celsius in here.
02:15For the Americans, I couldn't tell you what that is, but it's just really hot.
02:20Pouring water over the stones makes it even hotter.
02:23Few things are more Finnish than the sauna.
02:25Almost every household has one.
02:27But what does Cody think?
02:29It's kind of boring.
02:31Not quite my cup of tea.
02:35And that's it.
02:39Maybe a couple more years.
02:42Then we'll get there.
02:45While Cody's still getting used to the sauna routine,
02:48Finnish cuisine hasn't fully won him over yet either.
02:51Restaurants in Finland are known to be expensive.
02:55His favourite is a Latin American spot where he meets his friends.
03:00Sometimes I find Finnish food to be a bit bland.
03:03And maybe that's very biased because in the U.S.
03:06everything's like on steroids.
03:09The food, the flavours, the size of the food, the portions.
03:13Nice.
03:17Nice show.
03:19You have to watch it there.
03:20Nice.
03:20Nice.
03:22Cody found his community through work and playing ice hockey.
03:26But adjusting to the more introverted Finns took some time.
03:29Finns are a bit more, I don't want to say, they're not cold by any means.
03:34They're just a little shy and outer shell.
03:37But once you're in, you're in.
03:38And has Cody been able to get by just speaking English?
03:42Yeah, if you just live in the city, Helsinki or Tampara or Turku,
03:46yeah, you can get around with just English, but I also think it's not rude, but kind of disingenuous to living in a new country, new culture, because as much as we can laugh and have fun at work in English, it's just different.
04:04Like, these guys have a different personality in their native language.
04:08Kaiki kauponki ulus keakonme on Lallapi.
04:12Yeah, or countryside.
04:15Yeah, yeah, we'll try.
04:17So, what else has Cody learned from the Finns after living here for just over a year?
04:27Slow down.
04:29Enjoy things.
04:30Enjoy the little things.
04:31Enjoy the quiet.
04:31Just, yeah, I think that's the biggest thing they've unknowingly taught me.
04:36But, yeah, I'm really happy to be here.
04:38And I hope, as long as everything works out, I hope Finland's home for a long time.
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