So it’s already a week. Although we are still getting used to the life here in Espoo, I think we always learn the most in the first week.
Espoo, with no more than 300,000 population, is the second largest city in Finland. It is only 10 km away from Helsinki, the capital and the largest city. Our apartment is in west Espoo. It is furnished, which helps a lot in terms of settling down. We are also glad that the markets are just 5 min walk. Two markets: Alepa and K market. They are not that big, a little smaller than Carrefour City and Simply in Grenoble, France. However, we can get pretty much everything we expect: food and home essentials. To get asian food and more home supplies, we will have to go to asian markets and large supermarkets. There are two supermarkets in the shopping mall that is 1 km away. Yes there are shopping malls here in Finland, similar to US. The two supermarkets are K supermarket and Lidl. Lidl is cheaper, same as in France. We have not yet tried it – we will. The living cost in Finland seems high. The rent is high; food is expensive.
The bus is costly as well – 2.9 euro for a single trip! Luckily one can purchase a long term pass, i.e. ~55 euro for 30 days. D just went to make a such bus card yesterday, and was told to wait for a week to receive the card. I have not yet tried the public transportation here. But I heard that the buses are quite on time, and can get you almost everywhere you want. One of the bus stops that are close to our apartment has several bus lines. In addition, with a baby in a pram, one can travel in public transportation for free! We really need to get a pram then!
It is early morning now! 4 AM to be accurate. The sky is pink ~ almost sunrise time. Since we are getting closer to summer solstice, the day is longer and longer. It will be like 19 hours the longest. Have you ever seen a 11 PM sunset? People here seem to enjoy the long daylight very much. After all, it’s much better than the long darkness, isn’t it? 🙂 Although the sun is up for long time, it’s definitely not hot here. In fact, it’s still cool – even a bit cold. Let’s see how hot it can be in July and August.
As you know, Finland (and other Nordic countries) is known for design. Design is truly everywhere in life. Even the apartment buildings are like art. I always like Chicago for the architectures, so I was immediately attracted by Finland. Once I get a pram, I want to take our baby to get around the town. The sky is so blue here; the air is fresh; plus we are so close to the ocean! We should enjoy the daylight before it’s gone.
