A Visit With The Police

Ah, it's December...and that means for my family, residence permit application time.
It just sucks the life out of the holiday spirit for me personally - but ah well - it has to be done, it's only once a year and it's worth the paperwork and costs because we really enjoy living in Finland.

Actually, I was quite optimistic this year because we were told LAST year that we could (my husband and I) apply for our PERMANENT residence permits this time!
Meaning, we've lived here for four years and a bit - and then we'd never have to do it again...or at least not every year - something like that.

I woke up bright and early (okay - I'm lying - it's still dark at 7am) - threw my kid in his taxi and raced downtown by bus to make it to the police station for 8am last Tuesday.
I got there at 8:03am and was excited to be one of the first foreigners there because the line ups after 10am are ridiculous.  Sure they have lots of chairs to sit in and a water cooler...and I packed my knitting AND a book with me just in case...
But the door wouldn't freaking open!
I tried - I yanked and pulled and looked up with groggy eyes to see "8.00" and only that part...and couldn't figure out what the heck was going on.
The lady behind me had an electronic key to get in and pointed out that it was Tuesday.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8.00 is the opening time.
Tuesday and Thursday they open at 9.00.
What a cruel joke...honestly.

I lounge about at the post office getting some empty packages so I can send stuff overseas later on and still had twenty-five minutes to kill.  After a cup of tea and a piece of cake, I rush back to the police station.
I punched a button for services for foreigners and grabbed a chair and waited.
I waited for less than 2 minutes before my number "F00" popped up.  Honestly, I've never had a "00" number before!!!  Normally it's something more depressing like "F182" or "F59" and either way there's at least 10 people ahead of me.
The day was looking good.

I had done some research beforehand and wasn't sure what fees we were supposed to pay.
According to their site with prices listed for 2013:

Residence permit
Residence permit	156 �
Students, minors	116 �
Renewal of the residence permit card	76 �

Right - so looking at this - I got excited!
"HONEY! We're going to save money this year for us! We already have the residence permit cards...so they probably just take them back and change the expiry dates on it then send it back - because there's a "Renewal" fee...surely that's what it means?"

Husband was skeptical and of course as it turns out, rightfully so.

All of my Finnish friends - even one who is half Finnish and works in the other department of the police licensing office thought we'd be paying the Renewal fees and not the Residence Permit fees.

Well, guess what?

That wording is freaking awful.  

I went in and provided my ID and residence permit card and told the lady (whom I have never dealt with before) that I needed an appointment made (the internet appointment system was saying it was full or not available) for my family as we needed to renew our residence permits.

2 adults and 2 kids - yep.

She kindly printed off all of the paperwork we needed (my forms and the kids are the same, since my husband is the one with the contract) and informed me that we needed to bring with us:

• Recent photos of all of us (passport style)
• The paperwork filled out
• Husband's work contract
• Husband's pay slips (the last 3...why I don't know because the salary has a change with the new contract - which was clearly listed - but anyways)
• My paper work confirming the various benefits we get for our son. (Even though she said she can see most of it on the computer via Kela's system.)
• Our passports
• The kids
• Current residence permit cards
• The fee - as you have to pay when you drop off the applications.
• Also, my husband and I have to get fingerprinted (it's digital) but the kids don't have to because they're under the age of 6.

So I asked her what fee are we paying because it says online "Renewal of the Residence Permit Card".  She referred to her chart and said, "Oh that!!! No - that's if you lose your card or it gets so badly damaged you need a new one."

WHY DOESN'T IT SAY "REPLACEMENT" instead?!  I may have to make a suggestion and drop it off in their suggestion box if they have one...because that's so misleading in the English language - really.

Fine - so we're stuck paying 544� and then I remembered the possibility of a permanent residence permit for my husband and I.

"Oh one more question - because we've lived here for four years now, are we able to qualify for the permanent residence permits? This way we don't have to do this every year for my husband and I?"

"Yes you have lived here for that time - right...let me look...no.  Because you have to have 'A-Status' residence permit for four years...so NEXT year you can definitely apply for that and then you won't have to do this again.  Because when you first got here - you were 'B-Status' only.  So you've been B for one year then A for three." 

That's not what the officer told us last year...oh well.

When I got home and updated my Facebook status to reflect this disappointment in non-consistent information, an American friend said that was even technically wrong - because there's some point system involved.

B-status = � a point

A-Status = 1 point

You need 4 points (minimum 1 year of A-status) to qualify for the permanent residence permit status apparently.

Well, first we've ever heard of this points system but yes, it still works out that we have 3.5 points and need to wait until next year (anytime after August) to apply.

Thankfully our police station accepts bank card/credit card payments now (they did last year too) - because carrying around over 500� in cash is NOT my cup of tea.  Not that I am worried in the slightest about robbery or pick-pocketing - also something that doesn't happen here (it's more of a bicycle-stealing city - and even then, it's usually drunks trying to get home) and I hate carrying cash of any amount.

And Finland doesn't use bank cheques at all and haven't in over twenty years.

Needless to say, it'll be a fairly quiet and simple Christmas for us!
Happy Holidays from our family to yours and thanks for checking out my blog!!!
Learning About Finland

MANTELE!

"Oooh a new post - and it's technically Christmas DAY in Finland...I wonder what is going on..."

Why thanks for your worries!  I assure you all is well - some gifts are wrapped, stockings are stuffed and hung on the book shelves with care, the dogs are sleeping and the kids are dreaming about sugar plum fairies (HIGHLY doubt it - but you know...).

I've mentioned before several times (it IS my 4th Christmas here now - WOW!) that Santa comes from Lapland, Finland (according to the Finns)...he sings and gives gifts to the kids when they're awake on Christmas Eve...the big dinner is usually on the 24th...and you relax and enjoy a bowl of hot rice porridge on Christmas Day morning.
What goes in the rice porridge?  Kaneli usually - ah ha!  I DO know some Finnish (if I could double/triple underline I would)!! Kaneli = cinnamon by the way.  Of course rice porridge smarty pants!
And a single mantele.

At first glance - it probably means nothing to you if you don't know Finnish.
At second glance - you might have thought I was swearing - given the capitalized title...
By third glance - you don't care and know I will tell you what it means in a moment....

Anyways a mantele - is an almond.  (Some Finns know it as manteli...but Google Translate say both spellings are acceptable...and the dictionary says it should be manteli...GOOGLE TRANSLATE - get your act together!)

As per Finnish tradition - a single almond is placed in a pot of rice porridge and whoever scoops that up and gets it in their bowl will be VERY lucky and have good fortune in the new year!
I only learned about this tidbit recently as I had my first bowl of Christmas rice porridge at a pikkujoulu ("[Little]Christmas Party") I attended.

I have never personally cooked it before as it can be quite time consuming and burns easily if not attended to - and with two mobile children and a husband that probably won't eat it either - it'd be a waste of time and ingredients.
Maybe next year...

Anyways, Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas/Hyv�� joulua to all!

All About YOU...and Finland!

Are you living in Finland and you're not originally from here?  Maybe you're a student or a worker here...
Or perhaps you are a Finn and want to give your opinion on things in Finland?  Maybe you've moved away from Finland or have moved around Finland...

I'd love to hear from you!

I want to put a fresh spin on this blog and interview all kinds of people.
I'll be writing up a list of questions to suit you - the foreigner or the Finn....and will post your answers and responses on this blog once a month (or more if there are enough responses!).

I've decided that since I've been here for over two years and my readers have read pretty much everything that's happened to me and my family -  it's time to see what other Foreigners and Finns have to say!!!
I get asked a lot of questions about Canada - so I thought, maybe I could use those same questions and ask them of you but about Finland!

Some topics that may be covered (but not necessarily have to be answered if you feel it's too personal):

• Education 
• Work life
• Family life
• Struggles and triumphs of all things Finnish (food, language barrier etc.)
• Comparison of Finland to your home country
• Comparison of Jyv�skyl� to your hometown
• Opinions: health care, Magistrate, Kela, Finnish culture and food, anything that's on your mind about Finland!
• Funny experiences (I know I've had a few...)

Please send an email to: learningaboutfinland       @       hotmail.com
(Removed spaces and that is the proper email address.  This is to help eliminate spam. :) )
Your personal information (true name, exact work location, address, email etc.) will be kept confidential.
If you wish to go by an alternative name that is perfectly fine!!  (Or I can use just your first name if it's common enough and if you give me permission).
I would be fine with using (for example): "George, 31, is a worker at the University" as a basic introduction and will note if an alternative name has been used to protect your true identity.

I look forward to hearing from you and seeing what you have to say!

Thanks so much! 

2nd Finniversary

Can you believe it?!

It's been 2 years that we've been living in Jyv�skyl�, Finland and I wouldn't change it for the world.
Well, I would change how we got here...

1.  We flew through the USA (before the full body scans took place) and got re-routed to Connecticut because JFK was shut down...(or maybe it was Newark - either way stop overs in the US seem to screw us over a lot)...
2.  We missed our flight to Helsinki and had to wait 45 minutes to get our dogs, take them out for a pee then re-check them in...and then wait a few more hours for our next flight...
3.  When we finally do get to Helsinki - we ended up getting on the wrong train (I was 26 weeks pregnant) and finally ditched our dogs' kennels, beds and water bottles at one of the stops...whoever has them - I hope you're using them well!
4.  We woke up at 4am the next morning because of the sunshine...which was so weird.  But this part I would not change - it's just a funny thing I remember.

Of course, I  miss family and friends back in Canada - but to be able to live a stay-at-home mother lifestyle and see my son grow (and get in so much trouble) and experience another world altogether - it's priceless really.

To celebrate (actual date was August 13, 2009 and we happened to have our Finniversary party that day as well - who knows what date stamp will post on this post...) we invited our friends over for a potluck and if the weather was alright - a bbq in the back.
Thankfully - the weather was awesome!  Not too hot and no complaints!

I of course, made way too much food....but I was always told it's better to have too much than to not have enough for a guest!
The spiral cake on the left and the pasta salad I did not make.  Both were delicious however!

I shockingly, didn't take as many photos as I thought I would...I think because we were running around a lot with moving things outside and then keeping up with our son once he woke up from his nap!

It was great being able to be with our Finnish friends, who we all think of as family now...especially with the school/work year starting fresh now - it'll be harder to meet with folks and some folks we rarely see as it is!  Plus several of our friends are having their first (or second) babies in the next few months...so as a fellow mom, I can remember appearing "anti-social" for the first couple of months - trying to get used to being on someone else's schedule, changing multiple diapers, attending appointments and so on!

Here's to many more in Finland!
Suomi - you guys rock.

**Disclaimer: "Finniversary" is not a real word.  I created it to combine our anniversaries of living in Finland.  But you have to admit - it's catchy!**

RALLY!

This weekend is the Rally in Jyv�skyl�, Finland.  It's quite famous (it involves race cars - not my thing - sorry) and brings a tonne of tourists into Finland during this event of a few days...(sorry there's not more information about this!)

OOOOH! Here ya go: http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/en/spectators/cityofjyvaskyla/
There's a tonne of information there about JKL and about the rally itself!

These photos were taken on July 31, 2011 in downtown JKL.

So perhaps you're a tourist here?  Well, maybe you should see some Basic (But Important) Things About Living in Finland...or perhaps some Random Stuff.

Oh and FYI: bus fare is 3,10� one way.  You get a transfer automatically (it's on your receipt you receive) and it's good for 1 hour of the time of purchase and with 1 use only.

Oh and Finns love to drink....I think it's a European thing in general...I mean, a Finn could easily out-drink a Newfie (from Newfoundland, Canada)...so don't try and show up a Finn!

Have fun and be safe at the Rally!