#1 2008-11-20 09:08:06
- expat blog
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- From: small earth
- Registered: 2008-06-01
- Posts: 5411
How to make friends in Finland
We have been talking about loneliness when you are abroad, let's now talk about how to make friends (locals and other expats) when you're living in Finland 
Which are your best tips to meet people and to make friends in Finland??
Thanks in advance for your participation
The expat blog team
Share your expat experience!
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#2 2009-03-13 21:34:19
- orpoporo
- Active member
- From: Stockholm
- Registered: 2009-03-13
- Posts: 25
Re: How to make friends in Finland
[moderated: no ads for external groups please]
Your nationality,skin colour, accent and age are of no importance. The only important thing is that you treat all other members with respect.
Helsinki Expat meetups are open events. Anyone can join and invite others to join.
Comments, suggestions and questions are welcome !
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#3 2009-11-21 18:42:03
- melissa_chen
- New member
- From: beijing
- Registered: 2009-11-21
- Posts: 3
Re: How to make friends in Finland
does anyone know that kind of expat meetup in Oulu? especially like a Chinese expat group? thanks
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#4 2010-02-04 13:28:06
- HeleneIndia
- New member
- From: Pori, Finland
- Registered: 2010-01-14
- Posts: 2
Re: How to make friends in Finland
I think the best way would be to leave with student in a shared appartment. Then there are also many leisure activities where you could go to which are a good way to meet people who has similar activities as you like.
Finnish people can be very friendly when you know them well...so don't hesitate to make the first step...
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#5 2010-02-14 17:10:29
- hallavaharja
- New member
- Registered: 2009-10-16
- Posts: 6
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Meet at a cafe or in the bar. Talk, introduce you, tell about you why you are in Finland and what kind of things bother you.
Finns are very informal and easy. Finns are little shy at first.
You can contact me, if you are in Tampere area.
I´m a bit over 40.
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#6 2010-02-21 02:45:24
- hini
- New member
- From: Dublin
- Registered: 2010-02-21
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
there are plenty of groups where you can meet new people e.g.:
finlandlive.info
iesaf.fi
also Caisa organizes quite a lot for international people
caisa.fi
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#7 2010-02-22 14:25:03
- orpoporo
- Active member
- From: Stockholm
- Registered: 2009-03-13
- Posts: 25
Re: How to make friends in Finland
I would like to invite you all to Helsinki Expat Meetup at Villi Wäinö on Saturday February the 27th ( starting at 7pm ).
Villi Waino home page ( only in Finnish ) :
http://www.villiwaino.fi
Some reviews ( in English ) on Villi Wäinö :
http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/empty/hel … /11352.htm
picture gallery :
http://www.villiwaino.fi/ravintolatilat
Address : Kalevankatu 4
map here :
http://oijohph.notlong.com
There is no cloak-room charge before 10 pm.
The best way to find the group is to come early and meet others outside Villi Wäinö at 6.50pm.
Villi Waino is on three levels : basement, street level, 1st floor
Helsinki Expat Meetup has a table reservation ( starting at 7pm ) for 15 people in the pub on street level. A band will start palying in the basement at 8pm . Normal conversation in the street level pub should be possible after 8pm also.
Helsinki Expat Meetup is on Facebook here :
http://sv-se.facebook.com/group.php?gid … amp;ref=mf
Do not forget to RSVP if you are coming !
If you are interested in making some new friends in Helsinki you should definitely try Helsinki Expat Meetup !
I wish you all a great week ahead !
Last edited by orpoporo (2010-02-22 14:31:29)
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#8 2010-04-08 17:45:27
- Bfaze
- New member

- From: Lagos
- Registered: 2010-04-08
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Any Nigerian in Finland? Would love to hook up with some one. I'm currently in Lagos, Nigeria in West Africa and planning to relocate to Finland. Any good info/suggestion wil be welcomed from any Forumites. How can i've a link up?
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#9 2010-04-12 04:21:59
- Alexis210
- Active member
- From: Hamburg
- Registered: 2010-02-26
- Posts: 35
Re: How to make friends in Finland
any germans in finland? please tell me..
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#10 2010-04-27 19:17:08
- griffin63
- New member

- From: Helsinki
- Registered: 2009-04-29
- Posts: 8
Re: How to make friends in Finland
I beleive a good way to meet Finnish People will be this week eng at VAPPU.THERE ARE MANY CELEBRATIONS IN ALL THE NAJOR CITIES
There are two posts to follow here Helsinki Vappu and Turku Vappu http://www.nectareal.com/vappu-celebrations-turku-2010/
Either of theswe celebrations will put you in front of thousands of people,celebrating the evening and night through.I have met many freinds at Vappu time
Good Luch
Regards
Griffin
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#11 2010-04-27 23:28:32
- Scribe
- Member
- From: Espoo, Finlande
- Registered: 2007-09-08
- Posts: 22
Re: How to make friends in Finland
On SalutFinlande we organise regular activities for French speaking people.
salutfinlande.net
It's a good way to make new acquaintances and friends.
Alexis, maybe you have found by now the site saksalaiset.fi for German people in Finland.
Last edited by Scribe (2010-04-27 23:29:00)
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#12 2010-05-18 08:32:20
- mcmeg12
- Member

- From: Helsinki
- Registered: 2010-02-03
- Posts: 16
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Finnish people are a bit shy, but they are worth getting to know! I still have mostly expat friends of all nationalities. As some asked, Nigerians, yes, Germans, yes, Chinese, of course!
I agree that living with roomates might be a good idea, but it depends on your situation in life, if you're young, studying, or just starting out on your career path, it's not a bad idea, if you're a bit older, or have pets or kids, naturally you might want to live alone. So, you could also start a hobby here. There are a lot of sports groups and so on. First you meet one person and then you meet all their friends.
And Finns are really interested in foreigners, so be confident and tell them why you're here (though try to refrain from complaints- you'll win them over if you can highlight all the good things you've noticed about Finland and why you came here in the first place!)
Good luck.
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#13 2010-05-25 15:24:16
- heljä
- New member
- From: Järvenpää
- Registered: 2010-05-25
- Posts: 3
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hi!
I would love to find a french female friend, who lives in Finland, near Järvenpää. I'm christian, so if you are a french christian girl living near Järvenpää, I would love to get to know you! 
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#14 2010-05-25 15:56:30
- Scribe
- Member
- From: Espoo, Finlande
- Registered: 2007-09-08
- Posts: 22
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hei,
You can try your luck on our French speaking forum :
[moderated: plse don't lure members to your forum, we do not come to yours to do the same!]
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#15 2010-06-01 10:23:16
- annalou
- New member
- From: Oulu
- Registered: 2010-05-31
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
have just recently moved to oulu, any ideas on groups or expat meets etc for this area? would be nice to meet some other people here
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#16 2010-06-16 22:30:44
- griffin63
- New member

- From: Helsinki
- Registered: 2009-04-29
- Posts: 8
Re: How to make friends in Finland
heljä wrote:
Hi!
I would love to find a french female friend, who lives in Finland, near Järvenpää. I'm christian, so if you are a french christian girl living near Järvenpää, I would love to get to know you!
You dont ask to much,I like that!
The best way to meet a girl is to visit a late bar,dont drink alcohol and ask questions about the life and area of the people around you.The power of word of mouth will do the rest for you. are very independant and are truely not shy when it comes to chastting and getting to know strangers.Trust me!
Greg
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#17 2010-06-21 19:46:02
- heljä
- New member
- From: Järvenpää
- Registered: 2010-05-25
- Posts: 3
Re: How to make friends in Finland
You dont ask to much,I like that!
The best way to meet a girl is to visit a late bar,dont drink alcohol and ask questions about the life and area of the people around you.The power of word of mouth will do the rest for you.Finnish Women are very independant and are truely not shy when it comes to chastting and getting to know strangers.Trust me!
Greg
Thanks for the answer but as you can see, I'm a woman, and I am not interested in girls that way, if you meant so. I'm married, and I would just like to find a french speaking girl that I could get friends with. So that I could practice my french. I'm finnish my self.
:)
Last edited by heljä (2010-06-21 19:47:52)
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#18 2010-06-22 09:19:17
- Scribe
- Member
- From: Espoo, Finlande
- Registered: 2007-09-08
- Posts: 22
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Scribe wrote:
[moderated: plse don't lure members to your forum, we do not come to yours to do the same!]
Well, I thought a forum in Finland dedicated to French-speaking people would be very much relevant for a Finn wanting to find a person to practice French with in Finland... or did I miss something ?
I would be very interested to hear the views of the moderators or admin on how this would not be relevant. I'm not trying to "lure" anybody, just to inform. There are other communities than yours, ours is much more specialised and this is a fact. Besides, there is a link to expat-blog in our collection of useful links, so please don't treat my message like it's a one-way ad from a frenzy spammer. Best regards.
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#19 2010-06-22 20:15:09
- FeeAcer
- ViP

- From: Ras al Khaimah
- Registered: 2009-08-06
- Posts: 5809
Re: How to make friends in Finland
heljä wrote:
Hi!
I would love to find a french female friend, who lives in Finland, near Järvenpää. I'm christian, so if you are a french christian girl living near Järvenpää, I would love to get to know you!
Hi Heljä,
Did you know we have a French speaking forum here? You could post a message there (in French, of course!
)
Scribe wrote:
Hei,
You can try your luck on our French speaking forum :
[moderated: plse don't lure members to your forum, we do not come to yours to do the same!]
Scribe,
As you may see from above, the answer is just here on the website 
Cheers
Arlette
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#20 2013-01-13 09:50:59
- deroses
- New member
- From: delhi
- Registered: 2013-01-13
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
planning to relocate to Finland, any advice? i need friends also
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#21 2013-01-13 10:34:21
- hprasadh
- New member
- Registered: 2012-11-26
- Posts: 6
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Any forums or Indian communities in Espoo ?
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#22 2013-03-08 01:08:55
- Padiposh
- New member
- From: montego bay
- Registered: 2013-03-08
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
hi..i would enjoy meeting english speaking people 
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#24 2013-03-21 20:10:36
- oday
- New member
- From: Tampere
- Registered: 2013-03-21
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hi
I would love to find a friend who lives in Finland
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#26 2013-03-28 08:20:15
- etel28
- New member

- From: Lagos
- Registered: 2013-03-28
- Posts: 4
Re: How to make friends in Finland
l want to visit Finland with my family but l have never been there can someone be kind enough to assist me from Finland in facilitating the process, that person will have to become a friend to my family.
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#27 2013-03-31 08:22:49
- Chanka
- New member

- From: Lagos
- Registered: 2013-03-31
- Posts: 2
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hello over there,i am a guy who is very interested in making friends with anybody from Finland.Please contact me if you are interested.
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#28 2013-03-31 08:29:55
- Chanka
- New member

- From: Lagos
- Registered: 2013-03-31
- Posts: 2
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hello, if you are from Finland and like making friends with anybody from Nigeria please contact me on this cell number +2348032812731.
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#29 2013-03-31 10:51:53
- sopna69
- New member
- From: Rajshahi
- Registered: 2013-03-31
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
By Facebook, Twitter, Google etc
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#30 2013-04-03 19:20:43
- alice demecillo
- New member

- From: ozamis city
- Registered: 2013-04-03
- Posts: 1
Re: How to make friends in Finland
its my pleasure to hopefully meet people who hails from this country,,i know they are are so kind and having pleasing personality and characters,,im looking forward meeting a good friend from this wonderful cold place
Last edited by alice demecillo (2013-04-03 19:23:58)
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#31 2013-04-04 19:05:43
- leosuage
- New member

- From: tema
- Registered: 2013-04-04
- Posts: 2
Re: How to make friends in Finland
Hi out there in the cold,
am alex and i love the most quiet place in the world, FINLAND.
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#32 2013-04-12 21:49:55
- rana2444
- New member

- From: hafizabad
- Registered: 2013-04-05
- Posts: 3
Re: How to make friends in Finland
(Moderated: off topic)
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