We’re Moving!

If you had asked me this time last year when we’d be moving out of Finland, I likely would have said, “not soon enough!” In the midst of the “three year slump”, I was desperate to move, to get out of this seemingly unfriendly country, where everything was a challenge. Now, however, I can fully appreciate the experiences I’ve had here, and look back fondly at the many wonderful things Finland has to offer.

With our moving date set (and now only three weeks away!!), I’m thrilled to be stepping into our next big adventure: Life in the UK. While there are definitely things I’m going to miss about Finland, there are many, many things I’m looking forward to in the UK. Here, I’ll make a list.

• Less of a language barrier. (Yes, I know they speak English, but I’m not prepared to say that there will be zero language barrier. I know better.)
• A house with a yard. Our very own yard! Young Miss has taken quite a liking to being outdoors, so it will be incredibly nice to be able to open the conservatory door and let her run free.
• A conservatory! At the moment, we’re planning to use it as a dining room.
• A real bathtub. As nice as it’s been having a drain in the bathroom floor, a bathtub will be a luxury with two small children.
• More space. The house we’ve rented is a good deal larger than our current apartment, and, in true British style, the kitchen is separate from the other rooms, so I can reasonably hope to not have half the toys under foot while making dinner.
• Having a car. Public transit in and around Helsinki is fantastic (I haven’t found a city to beat it yet), but there were plenty of things we missed out on doing because we didn’t have a car. Hubster and I have agreed that we don’t want to miss out on those things anymore, so we’re planning to buy a car pretty quickly after we move.
• A well-established office. We were some of the first people to move to Helsinki for Hubster’s job, and the only ones with a child. This meant that no one really knew the ropes when they moved, and we all had to figure it out as we went along. In Bristol, the office has been operating for a few years now, and quite a few people have kids, so there are plenty of people to answer our very American questions and explain how all the little details work. (There are so many details.)
• And, of course, getting to explore a new city and country. There are so many amazing places near Bristol (Bath is only a 15 minute train ride away), and so much history, not to mention castles, that I can hardly wait to step into my Jane Austen-inspired dreams and have a good poke around.

After almost five years in Finland, I’m not deluding myself by thinking that everything will be easy peasy. Far from it. I know there will be challenges, frustrations, and hard days, but it’s difficult to know exactly what those challenges will be until we encounter them. I’ve already managed to sidestep a few by chatting with people in Bristol, and that is more helpful than most people know.

With such a short time left until the move, I feel like there is still a lot to get done. We’ve hired packers and movers (Young Miss is in the fun “unpack everything” stage, so packing would be impossible), but I’m still trying to go through clothing to get rid of what we no longer need/want. It’s not a fun chore, and I never want to do it, so it’s slow going. I should get back to that, but first, here are some fun life updates:

Young Miss turned one! And started walking soon after.

Little Man turned five! He’ll be starting school this fall.

That’s mostly it, but it feels like a lot with their birthdays only two months apart. With more travel, or at least new scenery, on the horizon, I’ll hopefully have a bit more to write about in the near future.