Suomenlinna

Suomenlinna, the historic island fortress is one of the big Helsinki attractions. It was originally built by the Swedish king in the eighteenth century. It has a history of involvement in navel warfare. The Russians successfully chased the Swedes out, but then were turned out themselves after the Russian revolution. Military operations ceased in the 1970's and it has now become a large recreation park and site of many small museums. It reminds me a bit of the Presidio in San Francisco, but it's older. A fifteen-minute ferry ride from Helsinki's main harbor brings you out here, and it's a great spot to see Finns picnicking and sunbathing on warm days.

Kristen is here now (yeah!) and we recently ventured out to take a look around the island. Kristen enjoyed keeping me from stepping on all the tiny new born frogs that scattered as we hiked along the trail. We enjoyed a pizza, at the outdoor pizzeria one of several restaurants on the island. Mostly, though we enjoyed see all the Finns relaxing.

Washington Post

For another take on life in Finland, check out the great series of diaries written by two Washinton Post journalists who recently spent 3 weeks here. They are very interesting.

Old Wooden Town of Porvoo

To see photos of me day trip to the town of Porvoo, click here.

Alcohol in Finland

The other day I stumbled onto one of this country's funny alcohol rules. I went downstairs to Pikkolo to pick up a few groceries and got a surprise when came to the cash register. The clerk was shaking his head and speaking some Finnish to me. Of course I don't understand him, so he repeats in English that I can't buy beer after 9 pm. I check my watch, indeed it's 9:15, and say something like, "grhhwhatt?" I suppose I could have crossed the street and gone to the pub which is open until 2 am, but I went home to sulk.

If you think the 9 pm rule is funny, there are more. First, alcohol is fairly expensive. You are likely to pay 5 euro for less than a pint in the pub. In the store it's a little less, but you can only buy beer and cider in regular grocery stores. If you want wine or any other spirits you have to find an Alko store. These stores are owned by the government and sell all variety of alcohol. Starting to think that enjoying a drink in Finland could be a bit of pain? Perhaps, but there are tons of great terrace bar/cafes in the parks and squares, or overlooking the harbors and the sea. Because of the long daylight in the summers, Finns take full advantage of the outside seating. Also, consider this: you can be a professional drunk here. If you don’t have a job, the government pays you a salary and pays for your medical care. Furthermore, they will give you an apartment. There are basically no homeless here and no panhandling, but you will find drunks passed out on the street.

GE Consumer Finance/GE Money

My journey to work at GE every morning begins at the bus stop across the street from my flat and takes me from one side of Helsinki to the other. I can choose to take any of a variety of buses, street trains, or the metro, but it always seems to take about 30 minutes. The GE building in Finland houses about a half dozen GE business, and GE Consumer Finance occupies the fourth floor. My electronic badge gets me access here and to the cafeteria in the basement. The division is growing quickly and already the office space seems crowded with about 130 employees. It’s no cube-ville here. The space is open with workgroups arranged in pods and sitting in Nordic-minimalist designed desks. To move across the office you have to dodge and weave around desks and file cabinets.

In Finland the company is primarily offering auto loans and leasing, although several new products including credit cards are in the works. Finns are apparently very conservative when it comes to debt. Loans are paid off quickly and credit cards are rare. They tend to use debit cards for purchases. So many of the loan products we US consumers are quite used to are new to folks here.

GE launched a new global brand, “GE Money” a little over a year ago to better promote their financial products. I believe their strategy is focused on taking advantage of growth opportunities in Central Europe and Asia, but they are also operating in established European markets. If you follow this link, they have a nice explanation about what they are up to: GE Money.

The new brand just came out in March for Finland, so much of what is going on here is new. So far, my actual work has been pretty casual – slow at times. I have been asked to design some new reports to examine how the various departments handle phone calls, and to investigate why many borrowers overpay their last loan payment. I’m slowly getting connected with people around the office. A few other ex-pats work here, none from the US, but a couple of Swedes, and some from the UK and India.

Photos

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My Home on Lauttasaari

I live on an island in the Baltic sea. Lauttasaari means “ferry island”. Instead of the ferry, though, it now has a bridge connecting it to the center of Helsinki. Lauttasaari has about 20,000 other residents besides me, so I’m not alone. I have a 1-bedroom apartment overlooking one of the main routes through the island. I’m above a branch of the convenience grocery chain Pikkolo. The apartment is small, but clean and modern. I even have a tiny little washing machine that cleans about 5 pieces of clothing at time.

A short walk brings me to a harbor where locals have their sailboats and other small craft docked. A little bit further and I come to a nice little beach. All around the beach is a green park with tall grasses and trees coming up to the shoreline. All over the island are parks with walkways, trails, benches, and various sporting fields. Finns love to be out doors in the summer. And the preferred mode of transportation here seems to be by bicycle, which has me scheming about how to get a hold of one for my stay here. Along many of the sidewalks, they’ve painted or bricked in a line to separate bike lanes from the walker lane. People are always jogging or biking by, either on their way to errands or relaxation.

View from my balcony