Moving to a new country can be difficult. Here in Finland we are insanely lucky to have a tight-knit Fulbright alumni community of both Americans and Finns who organize events, give lots of helpful tips, and are generally awesome. Here is a list of Finland life hacks that I think will be useful during my time in Helsinki:

• Catch flash sales on the VR train (with routes running throughout Finland) by signing up with Veturi
• Get cheap tickets for excursions within Finland on the Onni Bus or OnniExpress
• Find awesome summer cottage rentals around Turku through Archipelago booking
• Plan trips in the Helsinki and Tampere regions with the Reitti GPS app
• Check out a weekend trip to Nuksio for a Finnish countryside experience close to Helsinki
• Beat the expensive Finnish prices and find great secondhand finds on Huuto.net or Tori.fi (this is where I plan on finding a used bike!)
• Get the best weather forecast (essential here!!) from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI)
• Catch great concerts at Musikkitalo
• Find convenient co-working spaces in Helsinki at the Helsinki Think Company

I’m sure there are way more — please leave suggestions in the comments! I also met a Finnish alumnus who claims he can give me a tour of the speakeasy scene, but that is not something I will be making publicly available… 🙂