How I became a Finn

After living here for over six years, I applied for Finnish citizenship in the spring and it was given to me on 21 August this year. In this blog post I am writing down a few personal thoughts about the process, how I feel about Finland, what this means to me now and to which extend it is related to my career.

EU-citizenship

Figure 1. The author as a newly naturalized EU-citizen visiting the European Parliament in
Brussels for the first time.

You have no idea how many people were wondering why I would apply for Finnish citizenship as a Swiss citizen. Well, it is true that Switzerland is in the Schengen area (even though it is not part of the EU) and that it was very easy to move to Helsinki in the first place. However, a few years back, before I was awarded my current fellowship, I considered alternative options to work outside of academia and as a chemist, I wondered if I could have worked for the European Chemical Agency (located in Helsinki). Except I couldn't as a Swiss citizen (funnily enough, citizens from Lichtenstein - and other EEA countries can) and I though I should look into getting the Finnish/EU citizenship. (And I continued to pursue this even after getting the fellowship.)

Also if you happen to follow Swiss politics, you would know that the bilateral relationship between Switzerland and the EU is not simple and, in the light of Brexit, maybe it is better to anticipate a deterioration of this relationship already now. Either if I happen to stay in Helsinki or if my career brings me to any European state in 5, 10, or 25 years, at least I would not suffer from the uncertainty that some British citizen (or EU citizens in the UK) have been facing for several years now in case Switzerland decides to follow a similar paths. (Populists there are constantly playing with fire for political gain. Read here about the latest attempt.)

The language

In contrast to what I have read about the naturalization process in Switzerland, Finland has a unified procedure which is based mostly (but not only) on how long you've been living in the country and your knowledge of the language.

Indeed, the language is one of the most challenging part (for many applicants). Finnish is indeed a tricky language. To apply for citizenship, you have to take a standardized language test ("YKI-testi") and demonstrated that you have the European level B1 in two of four areas (writing, listening, speaking, and reading), but only a subset of combinations is accepted (for instance only listening and reading is not an acceptable combination). It took some time for me to finally register for the test, but I finally went for it after taking some courses and hearing from my friends how it was for them and I got good enough results to apply for citizenship. I do not speak Finnish fluently though, also I do not master the spoken language nor dialects, so there's still something to improve in that area. Nevertheless I can use it in simple situations and for everyday discussions.

Helsinki

Helsinki more than Finland as a whole country has become my home. I have been to other places, but never lived elsewhere in Finland than in its capital. In the past few years, most things in my life revolved around this lovely city (work, hobbies, friends), which keeps getting international attention for various reasons. I do like showing the city to guests when they visit me. I believe that I am almost a local and can give great tips about what to do.

The happiest people in the world

Figure 2. The author celebrating his Finnish citizenship with
his colleagues at the coffee break with a home made blueberry pie.

According to the UN's World Happiness Report, Finns are the happiest people in the world, which makes many of them shrug. (Switzerland is fifth, and is the first country outside of the Nordics to top the list.) Happiness is difficult to define, but in Finland and in the Nordics it is definitely associated with a good work-life balance, a sense of safety, and maybe satisfaction with one's place in the world. It is not happiness in a more superficial sense of smiling all the time, being in a good mood, partying and laughing. Finns do enjoy life and for many of them it probably means enjoying quiet times at home or in the nature and spending meaningful moments with family or close friends.

Cultural proximity

Throughout this blog post, I have been generalizing a bit, and I hope that you will forgive me. Swiss people with their many languages are not homogeneous. They share some values, but have definitely different attitudes and views towards life and the world. This definitely apply to Finns as well. Finland also have two official languages (Finnish and Swedish) and one has probably a quite different outlook of the world if one lives in the capital area or in a small village North of the Arctic Circle.

Nevertheless, a study using data from the World Value Survey (2005-2014) about cultural distance between nations found that, from a Swiss perspective, Finns are the closest culturally speaking (see NZZ article, in German). The reasons might be complex and the NZZ mention a relatively high confidence in others in the Nordic countries and in Switzerland compared to the neighboring countries of Switzerland. Is this cultural proximity what attracted me to this country? Or is it the reason why I feel good in this place and made me apply for citizenship as I am contemplating staying here?