s-1
| I initially came to Finland to experience something new during a gap year after finishing my upper secondary school. |
s-2
| I have worked and studied here ever since. |
s-3
| Its been six years now. |
s-4
| I would say that perhaps it is the innovative opportunities for studying and education in general that brought me here. |
s-5
| Coming from Estonia I found the social structure and system here to be quite supportive of my growth. |
s-6
| There were many opportunities. |
s-7
| Yet, I experienced some difficulty in settling in – particularly to find a place to stay. |
s-8
| When I got married to my sweetheart from Estonia, it suddenly became a whole lot easier to find a place, because now we were a family. |
s-9
| Experiencing change can have a positive or a negative impact. |
s-10
| When life doesnt go as I expect it to, I can either become bitter or embrace the change. |
s-11
| As a result of living abroad I think I have grown as a person – expanded my horizons, learnt new languages, acquired new experiences and become more mature socially. |
s-12
| In my experience learning the local language and facts about the culture is needed for a good integration. |
s-13
| In the case of Estonians in Finland, compared to other immigrants, our language skills are considered too high for basic Finnish language courses. |
s-14
| Estonian and Finnish are similar languages, but still quite different. |
s-15
| I had to learn Finnish by myself, I managed but it took me quite some time. |
s-16
| Also, I find that when people are accepted as they are it encourages them to embrace the culture of the host country. |
s-17
| Maybe some dont want to integrate, because they dont feel respected as human beings in the first place? |
s-18
| I hope that every person realises that preconceived ideas about another nation have to be personally conquered. |
s-19
| We may have them, but it is altogether different when those ideas are actively lived out or people are mistreated because of it. |
s-20
| Nobody wants to be mistreated abroad, so it is a wise idea to be friendly to those newcomers instead, in every sense of the word. |
s-21
| Perhaps people should ponder for themselves, if he or she wishes to contribute to the betterment of the integration in their society, or spread hostility instead. |
s-22
| I personally find that I can only be one or the other. |