I have been quite busy looking at apartments with Hanna getting a feel of what apartments go for here in the Helsinki area. Many of them are very old (built in the 1940’s, 50’s, & 70’s) and the going prices on avg. have been around 4500FIM to 6200FIM per month (or roughly $670 – $940 usd per month) for an apartment that ranges from 49.4 sqm to 79.9sqm (or 531.73 sq feet – 860 sq feet) 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom / washroom / sauna. (Newer apartments range from 5500FIM to 10,000FIM or $810 – $1500 USD(per month for the same size, built last year and this year) Not badly priced if you compare them to California cost of living, but newer ones are about the same.

Hanna and I have filled out paperwork to possibly purchase a new apartment / home, so hopefully we will find out soon if we qualify or not. At least then, we will know where we stand as far as getting a loan, and moving closer to Helsinki downtown area, verses having to commute everyday to Herrtoneimi. (it’s only 25 minutes to work in Lauttasaari and 45 mins to home, not bad, but could be better if we lived closer to downtown.)

The days are getting much longer now, the sun doesn’t set until around 9:55pm or 10:00pm. The sun comes up at 3:55am and it is very weird to the see the sun up so early. At 6am, it feels and looks like 8am. I have noticed that I do not go to bed until very late, around 11pm or even midnight at times, and get up at 4:30am at the latest. Though it does get dark very quickly when it is overcast, or raining. Maybe that is why so many Finn’s like the rain, maybe because it gets so dark at night? Questions I must pose to my fellow co-workers.

More to come soon. I hopefully will have some pictures to share as well. =)