Csabi in Finland

Last weekend I found a flat. It is in Kannelmäki, 10kms north from the city center and my workplace. The flat is not big, only 26 square meters plus balcony, but it has all naccessary furniture, and dishes, microwawe and even a washing machine. It sounds really cool, it is less than 5 minutes walk from the commuter train which runs every ten minutes during the week and 15 in the weekend, and takes only 13 mins to the center. Also, the flat looks modern and clean except for the bathroom which is a little bit retro :)

And the windows look at a forest, the flat is on the second floor (in Finland ground floor is the first), so it's quite ideal. Skiing (x-country) slope starts 1km from the flat, and Prisma (big hypermarket) about 1.3-1.5kms away.

So basically the long process of my (re)start in Finland is coming to an end, today I made library card and got out a book to read on the way home, tomorrow i depart home, by ship, bus and train(s).

So basically the most important things are all done: workplace, flat, identity number, tax number, social insurance (will get the card in January), bank account. Only skis are missing, but today I bought five euros skis at a kirpputori, just I will need to take it to Prisma to change the shoe rack on it, because it has the old style for what compatible shoes are not produced anymore (for long time already). That will probably cost much more than how much the skis were :) But still cheaper than new skis.

I also figured out that there are 2 very good kirpputori-s within 500 meters from my work, and 100 meters from each other. And with Zoli today we explored a new 1 euro shop also, so shopping possibilities are widening :)

The blog goes now for winter sleep till January, first post can be expected on the first weekend of January. But I feel like a chapter has closed in the blog's life, and in the next chapter there will probably be less adventure and more about Finland and Helsinki. And more picture, and no more pictureless posts, let this be the last one :)

My dear readers, I wish Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope you enjoyed this two months with me and will stay with me in 2013 as well, the blog will continue for sure, and my new year promise is that I will make more accurate next-post predictions and reduce delays :)

This Monday I started to work at Mapos Oy in Merimiehenkatu in Helsinki. On Monday when I arrived my work devices welcomed me unpacked in my place, I got a laptop and a screen, so I can work on two screens which is cool. It will take some time to get used to the two screens, I never worked with more than one. At the moment I am just in the process of finding out how to take advantage of this.

The three days what I worked were mostly spent by getting familiar with the software and the Coldfusion technology, I like both so far, and I made a simple app in coldfusion already. I think it's relatively easy to get used to it, just I didn't figure out so far two things: 1: how to write a "normal" while loop. 2: how to put <this/> <format/> <everywhere> so for <example><cfset x=6><cfif x gt 5><cfset y = 2><cfelse><cfset y=1></cfif></example>, if you know what is y and you write it in comment, you win a mentioning (only first), but if you write the same code much much faster in Java or C# or Pascal or anything, you don't win anything because I think there are many people with it.

On Tuesday I got my ID number, which is quite surprising given that they promised it for middle of next week. On Wednesday I did what I could with my brand new ID number (which was so new that they didn't see yet in the system ...), I made tax number surprisingly fast, and applied for social insurance card (not surprisingly fast, but ok) in the morning.

On Thursday and Friday I didn't work because other employees went on Christmas trip to Riga, and there is anyway renovation in the office. Btw, the office is cool, both the location of it and the inner look are quite ok, and it's spacious. I am looking forward to how it will look like (and how will my place be alterated) after the renovation, I will see it tomorrow morning.

The office is full of marketing materials made by the company, and there are some leftover product samples, for example a lot of Airwawes chewing gum. So in the near future I will not buy chewing gum :)

The collegues are really nice, although I am the only non-finnish speaking, I don't feel like an outsider more than how much outsider poeple usually feel after the third day :)

Regarding housing there are also some developments, but I will write about it in another post in 2-3 days.

After this administration rally on Thursday I stayed at home, on Friday I went to the city to eat with Zoli who now studies in Helsinki (MA) and stayes at a brand new modern student dormitory in Jätkäsaari (6-8 mins walk from where I work, so maybe we can meet more). He showed me a kirpputori, which is on the way between the railway station and my work, and is really cool, there are also useful furnitures in good condition, e.g. sofas for 30-60 euros and good chairs for 5-10. I think I will come here in January after having a rented flat.

But let's talk about this, to get a flat for January (and later). On Friday I left my application at Sato, I asked if it is possible with having my ID number only in the future, she said ok, and after I filled the (quite long, you can specify many filters what kind of flat you want, but the more filters you specify the slower you get anything) application form, she said that they will only offer me anything after I have my ID number and tell them. So I felt like I did it for nothing.

But the day after I again slept so long that an sms woke me up at around 10am, I was quite surprised who sends me sms (not so many people even know my number ...), it was Sato, that I should check my email, they sent me an offer. And really, it was there. There was also the number of the current tenant, that I should call her to arrange a viewing. I did, and today I already did the viewing. Well, the flat is small. It doesn't surprise me a lot, because the only filter I specified was that monthly rent should be under 850. But I expected that for this price there will be only small or far away (or both :) ) apartment. The flat is 23,5 square meters, it has a not so modern room, a very modern and cool bathroom, a very small (maybe 1.5 sq m) but modern kitchen and a storage room (maybe 1.5 sq m also). The neighborhood is very nice, forest is a few steps away (where skiing routes also go), a lot of families live there. And the bus station from where it is 25 mins to my work without change is 10-20 meters away. Also, there is commuter train five minutes walk away (through the forest). The flat is 9 kms on bikeroad (according to Google's bike route planner) from my work, and part of the way is by the sea in a park. So everything is cool, just it's very small. I don't know if I should hope to get a bigger one in similarly good area, or not.

Theoretically I have time to decide till 14th, but practically the current tenant said that there will also be an other person to see the apartment, which is very strange, on Sato's homepage it says that they only give chance to see and rent a flat to one applicant at the same time. Also, if they give to multiple, then why is the deadline? So I don't fully understand the system, and Sato's emails always imply the use of google translate (although I indicated on the application form that I want to communicate in English), this doesn't make me undertand things more easily either :)

So today I wrote an email to them that if they anyway give one flat to more applicants to see, then why not give me more at the same time also :) Sato works on 6 days a week, let's see what will happen tomorrow at 10am ...

You dear reader might ask yourself (if you are shy to ask me): why only Sato, are there no other companies? Good question, the reason is that other companies, just like private landlords as well, typically ask for 2 months rent as deposit, and signs the contract for a year. Both are problematic: I don't have 2200-2400 euros (deposit + first month rent approx.), and I don't want to sign for a year, what if I get a better flat, or a loud idiot moves to the neighboring flat, or if Julia finds a job in the opposite side of the Helsinki area... flexibility is good.

Sato writes the contract for 2 months (it's the minimum, of course it only ends if you indicate that you want to move out), and asks for 250 euros as deposit. Which means approx. 1000 euros payment in the beginning. Also, with Sato after renting a flat you can immediately apply with stronger filter (price, area, location, sauna, no of rooms, etc.) and wait, and if you get one, move at the end of the month. So it's simply good.

On the picture the flat I saw today.