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LAxHEL

From Los Angeles to Helsinki and everything in between.

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The Corona Bubble in Finland and Dealing with Being Homesick

September 2, 2020 8 comments

My Favorite Restaurants in Helsinki

March 22, 2020 6 comments

What I Miss about Los Angeles

January 13, 2020 11 comments

Is Santa from Finland?

November 29, 2019 0 comment

Cost of Living in Helsinki vs Los Angeles

November 23, 2019 4 comments

My First Six Months Living in Helsinki

October 29, 2019 21 comments
Helsinki

The Corona Bubble in Finland and Dealing with Being Homesick

by Audrey September 2, 2020
written by Audrey

If you’re like me, you probably have reader’s fatigue when it comes to articles and blog posts about COVID-19. I also write marketing content for a living, and every one of my clients has requested me to write about the topic for them as well. But, no matter how many articles I read (or write), I can only truly know what it’s like in my own city. Since Finland is a pretty small and obscure country in comparison to the rest of the world, I wanted to share what corona in Finland has been like. I’ve had a lot of friends and family comment on how “lucky I am to be in Finland.” And they’re absolutely right. While I’m super grateful to be here, it has also been difficult watching the situation back home in LA from afar. It has stirred up all kinds of emotions on top of being homesick.

Coronavirus in Finland vs California

First, let’s get the factual stuff out of the way. Here’s a comparison of the cases in Finland vs. California. Just keep in mind that the population of California (41 million) is much larger than Finland (5.5 million).

Source: Google

As you can see, there are much fewer cases here, even relative to the population size. The cases have been steadily declining and when the government granted the re-opening of restaurants and businesses back in June, there weren’t any major surges. In fact, there was a day in July when there were 0 new cases reported.

In comparison to the rest of the world, Finland is considered one of the few “safe” countries to travel to. Here’s a map from the Finnish Department of Health and Welfare which depicts a traffic light model that helps to assess the risk of corona infection associated with traveling abroad. Apologies it’s only available in Finnish, but here’s what the colors mean:

  • Green: The incidence of COVID-19 is below the government-set threshold, less than 8-10 cases per 100,000 people per 14 days. Finland falls into this category.
  • Orange: The incidence of COVID-19 exceeds the limit set by the government. The incidence is 10-25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per 14 days.
  • Red: The incidence of COVID-19 is very high, with more than 25 cases per 100,000 population per 14 days.
Source: Finland Department of Health and Welfare

COVID-19 government actions in Finland

Quarantining in Helsinki started in March. The government made an official announcement on TV recommending that everyone stay home and only leave when necessary. I can’t say for sure, but whenever there was a televised government announcement, it seemed like most people tune in and listen to any instructions. I really get the sense that the citizens here trust in their government and follow the rules. It’s also pretty rad that our Prime Minister is a 34-year-old woman, the youngest PM in the world. Not to mention her coalition government was formed with all five party leaders being women – the majority being under 40-years of age.

Luckily at my job, most people were already working remotely a few days a week, so we had the resources and infrastructure to start working fully remotely. I think the difficulties of working remotely transcends across the globe, so I won’t go into that. But let’s just say working on a laptop from a kitchen table caused a lot of stiff necks and unnecessary trips to the fridge. 🍩

Fun fact: Finland has had the biggest shift to telecommuting of any European Union country during the coronavirus pandemic with over 75% of the population working remotely.

The strict quarantining ended around May, but restaurants and bars didn’t really open back up until June. For the most part, people stayed at home, and there weren’t any protests about it. If you talk to people living here, I think we can all agree that the government has done a great job reacting quickly and Finns in turn have done their part to follow their recommendations. It seems as if we were able to suffocate the disease and contain it for now.

If you look back at the Google image of the cases in Finland, you can see that there was a slight increase in cases in August, but again the government reacted quickly and made a recommendation for people to start wearing masks on public transportation and in any crowded indoor places. While it’s not required, I noticed the day after this announcement, many people were wearing masks throughout the city. By the way, if you’re in Helsinki and need one, I got mine at 1981 Helsinki. They make custom ones that fit really well!

Just yesterday, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) released a contact tracing app called Koronavilkku. The app utilizes Bluetooth in peoples’ cell phones to help you find out whether you may have been exposed to coronavirus. If you have a coronavirus test and are diagnosed as infected, you can use the app to share this anonymously with those you have been in close contact with. In just one day, the app was already downloaded 1.4 million times. That’s like 25% of Finland’s population! 😲

I’m continually impressed with the way things are handled here and for the most part, I feel safe.

Quarantining in Helsinki

Starting in March, I stayed home for about 2 months straight without really seeing anyone. I know this was tough for everyone around the world, but it did make for a lot of quality time with my 11 year old Frenchie and tons of interesting activities at home like:

  • airbnb online experiences ✨
  • indoor picnics + lots of wine 🥂
  • zoom dance parties, game nights, and drinks with friends 💃🏽
  • virtual live yoga 🧘🏽‍♀️
  • building indoor forts ⛺️
  • streaming operas and broadway shows 🎶
  • houseparty games with friends 🎮
  • more wine 🍷
  • online courses: my faves were the Yale Science of Wellbeing and Ahref’s Blogging for Business 👩🏽‍🏫
  • plus much more that I can’t remember

Oh, and how can I forget all the socially-distanced outdoor activities like daily walks, hikes, and summer cottage trips. I also decided to pick up rollerblading again, which I haven’t done since I was a teenager!

Quarantining also helped me to connect more with my family and friends back home. Going through the same thing across the globe is such a unique experience that really connected us and made us closer. And for that, I’m grateful because timezones and busy lives can really get in the way when you’re living abroad.

By about May, people were allowed to gather in groups of 10 or less, so I started to have some socially distanced outdoor picnics with a few friends here and there. It’s just a bit tough to have outdoor picnics in Finland during this time of year because it’s still pretty damn cold, like I’m talking below-freezing cold. I think the jackets say it all here…

The summer bubble in Helsinki

As I mentioned earlier, once the government felt like we had the situation in control, businesses started opening back up in early June. At first, restaurants were allowed (not bars) to be open until 10 pm. After a couple of weeks of observation, and no surges in cases, bars were then allowed to be open until midnight. After a couple of weeks of that, the opening hours limitations were lifted, but there were still restrictions on building capacities and keeping tables two meters apart.

Slowly but surely, it started to feel “normal” in Helsinki. For a while, it almost felt like the disease didn’t exist here. Open-air parties started to become rampant along with restaurant and bar terraces popping up everywhere. The only issue is, summer is just about over here, and terrace season is only possible for a couple of months in Helsinki.

But I’m definitely not complaining, and can honestly say we had a beautiful summer here with a good amount of sunny, warm days. That’s a big deal around here because I’ve heard of frigid and rainy summers. It’s like the city becomes alive when it’s a sunny day, and everyone feels the need to be outside to savor any signs of warmth. Unlike in LA where you typically only see people tanning at beaches and pools, you can find Finns sunbathing in bikinis on a random patch of grass, as long as the sun is shining there. 👙

Since we couldn’t travel to other countries at the beginning of summer, many people took the opportunity to explore beyond Helsinki. My insta stories were filled with people camping and hiking all throughout Finland. It seemed as if people were falling in love with their own country. I felt like we were living in a bubble, able to see friends and go out to restaurants, bars, art museums, beer floats, and half-filled movie theaters.

There is speculation about a second wave hitting Finland, but now that the summer is over, and the hygge season is fast approaching, I think Finns will be naturally hibernating anyway 🥶. At least I spent a lot of time in my apartment last year during the cold and dark months, which means from about October through March!

Homesick

When I would share photos or stories of my summer whereabouts, I often got comments from friends and family in the U.S. about how lucky I am, and how horrid the situation is there. Sometimes it made me feel guilty about how good we have it in Finland. I think that from an outside perspective, it may look like I’m being irresponsible or perhaps throwing our situation in peoples’ faces but, I always followed the rules. For me, social media has become a way for me to keep up with the people I care about back home and stay in the know of what’s going on in LA. It’s also a way for me to share my life and provide a window into Helsinki.

When the world was quarantining and there were so many stories about people not being able to be with their loved ones during their last hours, it broke my heart. It also terrified me knowing that at any minute, it could be one of my loved ones, or even myself, and I wouldn’t be able to just rush back home. My youngest brother is a nurse, who lives with our parents, so you can imagine how frightening that is. It was and is still really tough, knowing I can’t easily be there.

I was supposed to go back home in May for my other brother’s wedding, but it got postponed because of corona. He has since rescheduled it to November, but it’s looking like that might not happen either. That means that I might not be able to go back home at all this year. Some of my best friends had also planned a big trip here in August to come to visit me, but that obviously needed to be canceled with the U.S. international travel restrictions. While I’m super grateful to be in Finland, I’m also really homesick. There’s nothing I’d like more than to be with my friends and family, especially when the holidays roll around.

The Black Lives Matter movement

On top of the pandemic and being homesick, everything going on with the BLM movement in the U.S. has been devastating to watch from afar. I’ve tried to get involved in ways that I can from Finland, but not being in the trenches and living in LA has made me feel detached. I can’t fully explain it, but I guess that’s why I’ve described it as living in a bubble. At first, I felt helpless, and that there wasn’t much I can do from here, but slowly I found ways to contribute.

The first thing was to get more educated about the movement in the U.S. and also learn about racism in Finland. On the surface level, Finland seems (and probably is) one of the most egalitarian countries, especially when you see a government filled with young, badass women. But, when you dig deeper and talk to black people in Finland, many can attest to the racism they’ve experienced here. One of my closest friends here is African-American and she has shared many stories of racism that she’s encountered.

According to the Being Black in the EU report, Finland is actually considered one of the most racist European countries. One thing to note though is that when it comes to trusting the police, Finland came on top. On a scale of 0 to 10, Finland trusted the police the most, rating their trust at 8.2 on the scale. The trust of law enforcement authorities was lowest in Austria, at 3.6 on the scale.

I’ve also had a couple of racist encounters. Both times it was older men assuming I was from Thailand. One man even tried talking to me in Thai. It’s always the same type of experience though whether I’m in Finland or any other country. I say I’m American, then get the question, “yeah but where are you from?” My response: I’m from the United States. 🙃

Another way I was able to get involved from Finland, was by joining the BLM protest and march here in Helsinki. It was pretty moving to see how many people showed up. Peaceful protestors of all ages and backgrounds were present at the event, which included speakers from local activist groups, academics, entrepreneurs, and artists. I had heard there was a BLM protest a couple of years back that had less than a 100 people, but this protest gathered thousands of people at Senate square.

Another important way to get involved was to make sure I vote for the U.S. presidential election. Luckily I’m able to submit an absentee ballot online from abroad. If you’re trying to vote from abroad, make sure you know the absentee voting process. In order to get your absentee ballot online, you need to first send in a Federal Post Card Application, every year you’re voting, well in advance.

A quick funny story about that… the application itself was easy, but boy did I go through some hoops. I was able to print the application, but there were specific instructions to print the mailing details directly on an envelope. You aren’t allowed to have any stickers or tape on the envelope, which means you can’t use labels. No big deal right? Wrong! FedEx and Kinkos do not exist here. I couldn’t find any similar print shops, so I went to the post office. The post office didn’t do printing, and when I asked where I could do such a thing they recommended a photo printing shop or the library. Well I went to both of those places, and neither of them could print directly on envelopes. I spent an entire day running around trying to figure out how to print on an envelope, which by the way I could only buy in packs of five. Eventually, I found someone with a home printer, which I was able to print the damn thing from.

While I continue to try and educate myself, it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with the flood of news and social media posts. I want to stay connected with what’s happening back home and share that with people living in Finland. And vice versa, share my experiences in Finland with Americans and other outsiders. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like living in LA during these times. And with all the fake or unverified news circulating around, I sometimes find it hard to use my voice because then I feel the imposter syndrome coming on. But I guess for now my strategy is to practice gratitude, be open to continually learn, and hold the people I love close. If you’re an American living abroad, I’d love to hear about your experiences too. 💖

September 2, 2020 8 comments
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Helsinki

My Favorite Restaurants in Helsinki

by Audrey March 22, 2020
written by Audrey

This quarantine life has hit so many businesses in what seems like a blink of the eye. Restaurants have been hit especially hard, which is why I’m doing what I can to support local restaurants and businesses. It has actually been beautiful to see communities come together and support each other. No matter how small you think your part is, every little act of kindness make a difference. I’m truly hopeful that the entire world will come out of this as more social and compassionate human beings. 💖

For now, I thought I’d reminisce about my favorite food spots in Helsinki until we can meet again.

Lunch Culture 🍽

Before I dive into my favorite lunch spots in Helsinki, I thought I’d share a bit about the differences in lunch culture between here and LA.

  • People actually go to lunch – The lunch culture in Helsinki is big. I never see people skip lunch and in fact, most people take their full lunch break, even if they decide to bring their own lunch to work. Back in LA, I would often skip lunch, or eat my lunch at my desk while I was working.
  • Meet up friends for lunch – Since Helsinki is pretty small, if you work anywhere near the city center, then it’s doesn’t take long to meet up people for lunch. This makes it really easy to stay connected with friends or have business/networking lunch meetings. There have been weeks where I had lunch with a different person each day.
  • Lunch card – Many businesses offer a lunch card benefit, which further encourages people to go out for lunch, especially with other colleagues. Your company basically pays 25% of your lunch up to €10.70. So basically free moneyyyy, why wouldn’t I take advantage?
  • Buffets galore – Buffets and salad bars are really common during lunch. Tons of restaurants either have a limited lunch menu with an accompanying salad bar or a full on buffet. They’re usually around that €10.70 lunch card price point. This has been a tough thing for me to get used to, because I have such a hard time with portion control. 🤦🏽‍♀️I often joke that I’m a 300 lbs (90 kg) man living in a 115lbs (52 kg) woman.
  • People don’t share food – When I started going to lunch with colleagues, I would ask if anyone wanted to share or split different dishes, and I got some weird looks. It’s not common for people to share food here. In Asian cuisine, we often eat family style, where we order several dishes and everyone shares. That’s how I grew up eating. Even in LA with my non-asian colleagues or friends, we often ordered different things and shared so that we could try several dishes. I’m just a lover of food, and I enjoy being able to try different things. Why order two of the same dish, when you can order two different ones?

Best Lunch Restaurants in Helsinki 🌮

Ok now that you how we do lunch in Helsinki, here’s where to go…

  • Vibami – Favorite Vietnamese spot. My go to dish is the Bun Thit Nuong.
  • Lie Mie – Vietnamese & Korean fusion. Shanghai Tacos are bomb diggity. Also, their lunch salad bar is 🔥.
  • Taqueria Lopez y Lopez – Favorite Mexican spot. Al pastor tacos. Enough said.
  • Xiao Mei Lin – Juicy soup dumplings and pan fried dumplings.
  • Red Koi Thai – Where I get my Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and Panang Curry on.
  • Fat Ramen – Best ramen in Helsinki. This is in the Hietalahti Market Hall, which by the way you can’t go wrong at any of the restaurants in here. I’ve tried them all, and they all get my stamp of approval.
  • Bali Brunch – Hip and delicious Indonesian spot. Rendang plate is my jam.
  • Hoku – Hawaiian Japanese fusion restaurant. Everything is delicious, especially the chicken katsu and salmon teriyaki.
  • Social Burger – My favorite burger joint in Helsinki.
  • Kabuki – The closest I can get to good sushi and Japanese food.
  • Sandro – Middle Eastern & African cuisine. This is one of the lunch buffet spots, but I’m into it. There’s always such a colorful spread with lots of great healthy options.
  • Cargo – Really good vegetarian option. Their menu changes daily. I don’t know what they put in this yellow spread they have for their bread, but I just want to drink it.
  • Sandro
  • Lie Mie
  • Vibami
  • Bali Brunch
  • Taqueria Lopez y Lopez
  • Fat Ramen

Best Dinner Restaurants in Helsinki 🍝

  • Farang – Asian fusion restaurant. A dinner spot to splurge and do the wine pairings. Everything was fantastic.
  • The Bull & The Firm – Tapas style dishes that change seasonally and according to local ingredients available. They also have really good cocktails and natural wines.
  • Pur Pur – My first time trying Georgian food, and it didn’t disappoint. Khachapuri, Pelmeni, beef shashlik, and some Georgian red wine, yes please!
  • Shelter – I’ve been here twice now, and their food is quality, but really I’d just go there for their Finnish malt bread. Seriously, the best bread I’ve ever had, hands down! 🤩
  • Juuri – So far my favorite Finnish restaurant.
  • Via Tribunali – THE spot for Neapolitan pizza.
  • Korea House – The closest I can get to some Korean BBQ.
  • The Bull & The Firm
  • That malt bread at Shelter
  • Korea House
  • Pur Pur
  • Farang

Filipino Restaurants in Helsinki 🇵🇭

I never would have guessed that Helsinki would have a Filipino food scene, let alone five Filipino restaurants! I’ve tried almost all of them now, and even though most of them are more fusion or inspired, they’re all actually masarap (delicious)!

  • Platito – This is a Spanish Filipino tapas restaurant. I recommend getting the Filipinas and España platters so you can try the best of both cuisines.
  • Sentro – I was finally able to find my favorite Filipino dish here, sisig! Ugh, so good.
  • Kamalig – The most authentic of all the Filipino restaurants I’ve tried. They’ve got the most traditional dishes like adobo and sinigang. Just like home.
  • Pobre – If you’ve never tried Filipino food, this is the perfect place to try it out. Filipino inspired dishes that are approachable, and more importantly delicious!
  • Paisano – From the same people who started Pobre. It’s Filipino food with a twist and tapas style so you can try a variety. I also have to mention that the cocktails are superb!
  • Kainan – Ok so this is the one I haven’t tried yet. Also, it’s in Espoo not Helsinki. When I’ve asked other Filipinos here what they’re favorite Filipino restaurant is, I’ve been told Kainan is the place to go. I definitely need to make my way out here.
  • Platito
  • Sentro

Best Desserts in Helsinki 🍦

To be honest I haven’t explored the dessert scene in Helsinki that much yet, but here are a few must try places that I have ran across. I do have to mention that my favorite dessert is ice cream, and for some reason the artisan ice cream scene hasn’t landed here yet. That’s surprising because Finland is 4th in the world for countries that eat the most ice cream per capita. I haven’t ran into any good ice cream shops, just ice cream stands with basic ice cream flavors. There are a few specialty brands that you can find at the grocery stores, but no freshly made ice cream with intricate flavors like Salt & Straw and Ginger’s Ice Cream in LA.

  • Suklaakeisari – The best raw chocolate in all of Finland! Guilt-free and freaking delicious chocolate. They’re sold in several cafes around town, but you can order them directly online.
  • Kanniston Leipomo – Great coffee, and even better pastries! They also bake their own bread. You’ve got to try some traditional Finnish pulla.
  • Petiscaria – This is a Portuguese restaurant in the Hietalahti Market Hall, but I go there for their Pastel de Nata. My favorite pastry from Lisbon.
  • Brooklyn Cafe & Bakery – Best cupcakes in town from two sisters from Brooklyn. Red Velvet and Carrot Cake, need I say more?
  • Jätskiauto (Ice Cream Truck) – Yes, you’re reading that right. We have an ice cream truck that comes a couple times a month around our neighborhood, and they have these Toffeevene bars which are toffee flavored ice cream with a toffee sauce in a waffle boat. Bomb dot com.

Favorite Local Restaurants in Jätkäsaari 🏡

I live in the Jätkäsaari area of Helsinki, which is a pretty new area. There’s tons of construction going on, as it’s still being built out. Restaurants only started popping up in the last year or so. Since we’re in quarantine, and a lot of the restaurants in this area are quite new, I really want to do my part to help support the local restaurants and businesses. Since being in quarantine, I’ve been cooking dinners, but grabbing takeout or delivery lunches from the nearby restaurants. I’ve been trying a different one every day and so far these are my favorites.

  • Urbine – I really dig the living room vibe of this restaurant. Really cool decor and cafe-style food is good too. The menu changes daily, and right now they’re doing free deliveries when you order 2 or more items.
  • Malaga Bar – This was a great local bar that sometimes had live music. It’s also dog friendly, which is always a plus. Their pizettas are yummy!
  • Vacco – The Diavolo and Vacco pizzas were 👍🏽
  • Faro – I love going to this place during the summer because it’s along the canal and has a beautiful patio and view. Their portions are huge and the food is fresh. But, the real reason I go here is for Finnish pancakes on Thursdays. There’s a tradition in Finland that every Thursday, you have pea soup and pancakes. I’m not really a fan of the pea soup, but I can eat Finnish style pancakes all day. They’re much denser and sweeter than American pancakes, yum!
  • Vessel Burger – My local burger joint. My favorite is the Gorgeous Goat. They also have a Bistro restaurant next door, but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet.
  • Be My Guest – Cute little Vietnamese restaurant. The bread on their Banh Mi is legit.
  • Ismet – Kebab spot, which is my go-to for hangover or cheat days.

So those are my favorite restaurants in Helsinki that I’ve been able to try so far. There are so many more on my list to try, so look out for an updated list in the future. Until we can get back into the restaurants, let’s all try to support them however we can. Thanks for reading!

March 22, 2020 6 comments
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Los Angeles

What I Miss about Los Angeles

by Audrey January 13, 2020
written by Audrey

I recently went back home for a couple of weeks during the holidays. I haven’t been home since I moved to Helsinki in April, so I was eager to get back to LA, especially during the darkest part of the year in Finland. Now that I’ve been living in Helsinki for over half a year, I can tell you a few things I miss (and some I don’t) about LA.

The thing I miss the most are my friends and family. Starting about seven years ago, I started an annual girls Christmas party that we call “Holla Bae Soirée”. It started with five of my besties and each year grew to include more of our girl squad. I thought that this would be the first year I wouldn’t be able to organize it or join, but luckily I was able to continue the tradition.

Food

After my family and friends, it’s the food!! In my opinion, the best thing about Los Angeles is the diversity. The melting pot of people can definitely be seen in the food scene. We even have pockets of LA designated for certain cultures like Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, Filipinotown etc. Don’t get me wrong, Helsinki has tons of amazing food, but there’s a few cuisines that I can’t get or the quality just doesn’t come close. Let me break it down for you:

Japanese Food:

Sushi – Yes there are tons of sushi restaurants in Helsinki, but the problem is the lack of variety. The options are usually salmon, some sort of white fish, and tuna if you’re lucky. I haven’t been able to find toro, albacore, yellowtail, sea bream, uni, blue crab, or spicy scallop sushi. So, one of my first stops in my LA food tour was my regular hand roll joint, Kazu Nori.

Other Japanese cuisine – I sometimes find elements of other Japanese cuisines at places like Kabuki in Helsinki, but I still haven’t found any dedicated Shabu Shabu, Japanese BBQ, Japanese curry, or Izakaya spots.

Boba: What coffee is to Finns, Boba is to Asians

Mexican food: $1 Taco Tuesdays, need I say more? Mexican food is pretty expensive in Helsinki, and I can’t seem to find some of my favorite traditional dishes like carne asada/al pastor/carnitas tacos and machaca/chorizo breakfast burritos.

Korean BBQ: So there are Korean restaurants in Helsinki, but no AYCE (All You Can Eat) for $25, where you can choose from a variety of cuts of meats and grill yourself at your own table.

Brunch: Brunch in Helsinki usually means a pricey buffet type spread. The spread usually involves salads, sandwich cold cuts, cheese, porridge, and fruits. Brunch in LA means you have the option to choose breakfast or lunch type foods, which usually involves eggs, waffles, or pancakes.

Weather

Obviously I miss the weather, especially the presence of the sun during winter, but one thing that surprised me is that on some days, Helsinki wasn’t that much colder than LA. The big difference is the drop in temperature between day and night in LA. On some days it reached all the way up to 75°F (23°C) but then at night dropped down to 44°F (7°C). Helsinki reached 44°F (7°C) on some days in December, but the temperature drop between day and night is usually only 3-6°F, compared to the 15-30°F drop in LA.

So while I was in LA I tried to soak up as much sun as possible. I realized what I miss the most about the weather is being able to hang out at the beach and rooftop bars to watch the sunset even in winter. I must have gone to at least four different rooftops around Downtown LA and Venice Beach and even took a boat out with some friends in Newport Beach.

Music

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch some big concerts in Helsinki like Lenny Kravitz and Ariana Grande, along with attending Flow Festival twice, but it’s not very often I get to see artists I’m familiar with. Helsinki isn’t a popular stop on big music tours unfortunately, but hopefully that will change in the future. I’m sure there’s a lot of great Finnish bands out there, but it’s tough when I can’t understand the language (yet).

That brings me to the LA music scene. On any given day, there’s usually a concert or broadway musical in town. There are also several music venues that have nightly performances by up and coming artists waiting to be discovered. On a brighter note, one of my favorite events for discovering new artists is Sofar Sounds, which has recently made its way to Helsinki. The only problem is that they rarely have shows, whereas in LA, there’s a Sofar Sounds show almost every day.

On New Year’s Eve, my friends and I went to Minimal Effort at the old Los Angeles Theater and saw several DJs perform, so I was happy to get my music and dancing fix. How gorgeous is this venue by the way? I can’t believe in my entire life living in LA, I had never been inside until recently!

Random Things

I couldn’t figure out a category for these next bits of LA that I miss, so I’m going to go with random things I miss.

  • Hulu (streaming service) – Some of my favorite shows like This Is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, and Broad City are on Hulu, and can’t be accessed in Finland. Disney Plus also just came out, which we can’t get in Finland. I checked it out though, and Baby Yoda is just as cute as all the hype!
  • Amazon Prime – 2 day delivery right to your doorstep. I did so much of my shopping on Amazon because of this. Out of batteries or moisturizer? Why go to the store, when it’s cheaper on Amazon, and gets delivered straight to you in 2 days. In Helsinki, we have to order through Amazon UK or Germany, and it takes longer than 2 days, and gets delivered to a kiosk that you’ll need to pick up from.
  • Trader Joe’s – My favorite grocery store that has their own line of everything and tons of delicious ready made meals. Speaking of everything, they invented the everything bagel seasoning, which I stocked up on when I came back to Helsinki, along with my favorite Mexican hot sauces (Cholula and Valentina).
  • Visual Voicemail – People don’t seem to really use voicemail in Finland. In fact, you need to pay extra for the service. But I always loved getting funny voicemails from my family and friends, and I lost all the ones I saved on my iPhone because they don’t have the visual voicemail service that we have in the US. You have to call a number to get your voicemail, so that voicemail feature on the iPhone doesn’t exist here.
  • Being able to read all the signs – I’m such a rule follower, but that makes it difficult in Finland when I can’t read any of the signs haha.
  • White Claw – Ok this is a new thing I just discovered when I went back home. It’s basically alcoholic seltzer water in a can. And it’s only 100 calories. So instead of beer or wine, people are drinking these and new brands have even started popping up. We need this in Finland stat!

What I Don’t Miss about LA

  • Driving & traffic – I thought I would miss my car and driving, but nope, I don’t at all. The public transportation system in Helsinki rocks.
  • Sheer massiveness – The vastness of LA makes it such a diverse city, but also impossible to meet people up if they’re on the other side of town.
  • LAX airport – It sucks. That’s it. Ok fine, a little more context. From the entrance of the airport, it took my parents over 30 minutes just to drive to my terminal because of the crazy traffic within the airport, and the terrible logistical design.
  • Homelessness – It only seems to be an increasing issue, especially in Downtown.
  • Tax not automatically added – When you see a price in Finland, it already includes tax, so there’s no guessing.
  • Tipping – Now that I live in a country where you don’t tip, it was hard going back to calculating that after every meal in LA.

So that’s what I miss about LA so far, I’ll be back again in May for my brother’s wedding and at that point it’ll be a year living in Helsinki. Let’s see how what other things I miss by that point…

January 13, 2020 11 comments
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About Me

About Me

Meet Audrey

Hi there! I'm a native Angeleno and moved to Helsinki in April 2019. LAxHEL is a blog about my journey moving to Finland, the fascinating differences between living in LA and Helsinki, and life living abroad... featuring my French bulldog, Rambo.

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