For someone from outside Finland who is seriously contemplating taking up studies at one of Finland's universities or applied sciences facilities, the impression is often that major cities such as Helsinki, Tampere and Turku are "the bomb" – which, of course is a natural notion considering the numerous options that a large city has on offer in just about everything. This may as well be compared to an old saying about some newly arrived immigrants who hoped that the skyscrapers of the big city represented their soon-to-come riches.

I heard a lot of cliched talk about Finland before I moved here. Back in England I was subjected to various lectures from friends and colleagues, covering such topics as, “It’s really cold and dark there”, “Finns are really quiet” or the especially irritating, “I hope you like pickled herring!”

Well, I’ve lived in Finland a few months now, so do those old cliches match the reality of Finnish life?

It seems that my old pals in England had a point about the cold and darkness. When we moved here, we came by ship, arriving in Helsinki harbour in the early hours of a crispy-cold winter morning.

Last year Finland celebrated The Kalevala’s 160th anniversary with an extensive exhibition at the Ateneum Art Museum. On display are more than 200 visual artworks from artists inspired by the Finnish epic. The exhibition praised the great mythological heroes by gathering paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs from the 1850’s to the late 20th century. Among the authors on display are Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) and Robert Wilhem Ekman (1808-1873), two well-known romantic painters of the 19th century.

A couple of metres in front of Ateneum’s main entrance, the thoughtful statue of Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) reminded all of those art enthusiasts that the much needed 19th century “Finnishness” was also constructed through the eyes of common men.

A lone hunter is wandering in the dark trying to find home. He knows he is going in the right general direction. In the dim moonlight a flash of white suddenly appears in the corner of his eye. He approaches. The white flashes become the familiar window frames of his house. He walks round, finds the door frame and enters. This is how a hunter, farmer or traveller would find home or a farm to lodge for the night. Anyone who has driven through the Finnish countryside will have noticed that most houses have black roofs, red ochre walls and white window and door frames. Red ochre clay was easy to source and makes a non-toxic oil paint that dries quickly; therefore, it was the most common paint available, and is still in use today.

These days I have a Joni Mitchell song running through my mind. You know, the one advising that, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone.” This is how I feel about Finland, the country I never thought to visit, let alone try to live in for an extended amount of time. I’m one of those love immigrants who moved to Helsinki to be with my Finnish boyfriend. Things were going quite smoothly until my residence/work permit was delayed. Without going into the details, I find myself at the end of my 90-day tourist permit, with a flight booked to America, return date uncertain and my future status in Finland in the hands of Finnish immigration bureaucracy.

During my time here in Finland I have often noticed (amongst many other things about the Finns of course) that the ‘alternative’ lifestyle really is booming. Wherever you look there are tattoos, piercings, beards, and men with longer hair than the women and I think it’s great! Personally I am quite a fan of people dressing or acting a little different to the mainstream, but here it practically is the mainstream! Even though Finland is already well known for its great love of metal and the gothic movement being pretty big here, I was still taken aback by the extent they go to show it.

Finland. What a peaceful country to live in. In my opinion, Finns seem to have somehow lost an appreciation of their peace in their daily lives. Well, maybe part of that is true. One of the things that I have come to realise in this country is that there is such tremendous peace wherever you go. I think Finns have somehow forgotten this glorious aspect of their country. We know the story of the Winter War and how the Finns bravely defended their country – this we know only too well. For me, as a Lebanese native, it can be wrapped up in two words: shout for freedom.

I MOVED to Finland two years ago from Switzerland, starting off as an Erasmus student like many others. But contrary to most, Finland had been part of my life since birth, a destination of many family summer holidays and now the place I plan to live for many years to come. I distinctly remember one occasion in Helsinki when I was 13 years old: everywhere I saw people dressed in black and with long hair. What I did not know then was that on this particular weekend the Tuska festival took place.

BEING half-Finnish and having lived in Finland for 12 years, I like to think of myself as cognisant of both the good and bad things in Finnish culture and, dare I say it, psyche. Certain aspects of Finnish society have been commented on so often they are hardly worth repeating: Finns are taciturn but great friends when you get know them; people drink a lot here; the naked sauna is weird if you’re not used to it; idle chit-chat annoys the natives. All of these things, like stereotypes in general, are sometimes true, and often not.

For me, there is no country on Earth, I think, I would rather live in. The people are a mixture of the pleasant and the idiotic, although in general there are more of the former. Taxes might be relatively high but the social security and education systems are amongst the best in the world. And I still get goose bumps standing on a pier in the archipelago watching the sun set over the placid Baltic Sea and peaceful beatific islands dotted over the seascape. At such times one could not feel much luckier in life.

AFTER living for many years in several countries, I came to Finland on vacation as I had been told wonderful stories about the land of wondrous nature and four beautiful seasons. It was September 2005 and I was living in Prague.

It was at this point that I had the feeling I had been yearning so long for, a warm, tingly feeling difficult to describe. After ten days, with that growing feeling I returned to Prague and made arrangements to move to Finland. A dream come true and a year later I moved.

The three main reasons for foreigners to move to Finland are: a Finnish girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse, Nokia or the University of Helsinki.