Hei,
My name’s Tom and I recently moved from Portland, Oregon to Helsinki, Finland. I’ve started this blog, my first public blog, with the goal of posting 3 pictures a day. In addition to the images I’ll include a brief paragraph or two on the subject matter. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment, I would love to hear from you.
Tom
Dear Tom,
I accidentally found your blog and I would like to congratulate. I am Hungarian, I am passionate about writing and reading blogs, I am a bloger too.
I have a Finnish boyfriend, that’s why I am interested in Finland and Helsinki. We’ll visit the country in August together, but till then your blog helped me to imagine how is life in Helsinki. Thank you for sharing and all the best for you! 
Francis
Hi Tom,
I just stumbled upon your blog. I love it! I’m (Finnish descent) from Michigan, living in San Francisco and have lived in Finland (Jyväskylä and, most recently, Kotka). Helsinki is one of my most favorite places and I love all of your pictures. Thanks for sharing your adventures!
Wendi
Thanks Wendi. I love San Francisco. You have great taste in cities.
Thanks for the funny text in Helsingin Sanomat. The most introvert Finns are capable of changing character completely – just add either booze or salsa. I definitely prefer the latter… Good luck with the classes and see you on the dance floor!
Thanks for dropping in Kati and glad you liked the article. I’m sticking with my Salsa classes and slooowly catching on. Be sure to say hello if you see me out dancing and I will do the same.
Hi Tom,
I was born just South of where you are now. Living in Oregon. Almost a reverse of your travels. Been to Helsinki, loved it.
Not sure what a ping back is, but I might figure out how to approve your comment over at my Oregon clouds…. Thanks for stopping in.
Hey Gus,
Are you from Estonia? It’s the furthest South I’ve gone so far and love the place. I hope you are enjoying Oregon. I lived in Portland and I miss it. Great place. Thanks for stopping in. Good luck with your blog.
Just a wee bit further South in Latvia. Last time I was there was 1989 (still Soviet back then.) These days I’m also way further south in Oregon. Coquille isn’t quite at the California border but pretty close to it. Been here nearly two decades and love being so close to the wild Pacific.
Hope you enjoy your new location. Good luck with the Finnish.
Funny coincidence… I was just converting film from the old camcorder to DVD. Just happened to be doing the section from my stay in Helsinki when I came across your blog. It’s sure a pretty city. I’ll check in to see how you like living there every now and again.
Hi Tom,
Found your bog and enjoying it! Great pictures!
My husband and I are both from Michigan…. but we also live in Helsinki!
Enjoyed your post on your Honda Element. I left my Element (kiwi green) behind and I really miss it!
Hei Tracie,
Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully we’ll meet up. My Element is still in the mechanics being Euro converted (well, that sounds odd!). Hope you are enjoying Finland and hopefully we’ll meet up soon.
Tom
Tom,
Great blog! Just wanted you to know I used your candy blog in one of my posts because I think I couldnt have described it better. I found your blog by searching for “Makuuni”… well done
Great to hear! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll do the same.
Hi Tom
Thanks for visiting and commenting on my site. Much appreciated! You have a great site here yourself with some really nice images.
John
Tom,
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment! It’s greatly appreciated and very encouraging. I wanted to let you know I read a # of your post and visited your patchwork and collages…they’re awesome. I’m not sure if you got your answer as to whether or not the photos were collages or not but in case you were still wondering, I just found out that the term is panography (or panographs), a subset of collages. There’s actually a flickr group. Just figured this out after visiting your blog (inquiring minds do want to know, right?). Anyway, thank you again for the comment and inspiring me to capture and create my own panograph! =)
Great information Angelica and same same to you. I’ll continue to follow your blog and look forward to seeing some of your panographs.
Thanks for stopping by my blog Tom. I am going to keep an eye on yours as well. You have some great photos here. Take care.
Same same James. You have a great blog, the pictures, the color and… snow in Texas!
People checkout Jame’s blog at http://surfaceintervalmusinds.wordpress.com Great stuff.
Hi Tom. I’m still getting used to wordpress (new to blogland) and only just noticed your visit to my site. I’m glad you liked it–thanks for visiting. It’s definitely a work in progress. There’s so much I want to put on there… just finding the time. And then I discover blogs like yours and I just want to blog all day!
As you may have read on my site, my sister is married to a Finnish guy and they just returned to Helsinki last week after 7 months in Australia. I’ll be a lot more connected to Finland with them living back over there, and I’ll pass your blog on to them too. I’m sure they’d love it, especially my sister who is, obviously, not Finnish!
By the way, what brings you to Finland?
Cheers, Erin
Erin,
Thanks for stopping by. Please do pass on the info to your family. It would be great to hear from them.
My kids brought me here mostly. Quality education as well as quality of life for them. I would much rather they be cold but safe if you know what I mean. Also I was burned out with America and all the economic turmoil. It was getting ugly and change sounded good.
I’ll keep an eye on your blog and I wish you luck. It’s not easy that’s for sure. I like to think it’s like exercise. Hard to start but always glad you did it ;$
Wow! I think it’s great that you made this leap from America to Finland! Looking forward to seeing more of your posts and photos!
Thanks for dropping by Jeannie. I’ll do the same with your blog
Hei Tom,
Thanks for checking out my blog! I’m enjoying yours as well, love the pics and your sense of humor. I’ve been taking Finnish for Foreigners since September, and I think you’ll find it really helpful. My sisters and daughter live in Portland, OR, which I find an interesting coincidence.
I’ll keep reading your blog,
Hyvaa paivaa!
Laura Brady
Same same Laura. I enjoy your blog especially when I saw your post about driving into Russia which I hope to do in the summer. I took Finnish for Foreigners through the University of Helsinki which was great but I’m looking for a conversational class now.
Portland! How funny. That is a coincidence. What a beautiful city! I miss it a bit now. I hope you get the chance to visit there. I saw on your gravatar thing you like cycling. Portland is a great biking city. Ooohh, now I’m really missing Forest Park!
Hi there
Just found your comment on Split Toning and wanting to learn more about it on Caroline Gorka’s wordpress blog. I too saw her entry on this and commented back last night.
I googled it last night and you will see my findings on my blog http://www.ginadoverjaques.wordpress.com – found a really intuitive site that covers this topic.
I am new to blogging, photography and only 1 day into Split Toning!
Keep blogging and I will be viewing your blog with more vigour tonight as it looks to be most interesting.
Gina
Thanks for the info Gina. I also found some info and I’ll share with you too. Can’t wait to see your post.
Hi Tom, I am Prima from Indonesia, thanks for visiting my blog! I love to make friends all around the world.
I like photography, and yeah, I am still learning…
whatever…
That such a dream for me to be in Europe, I had a plan to go to Denmark this year, but unfortunately, It was canceled
Nice find you here. oh yes, in the most of time I used “street” indonesian language, well, that makes a bit difficult to use google translate, but I’ve tried to use a proper indonesian. Since I realize that I start having some foreign friends.
Thanks!
Actually the translation came across pretty good. I live in Finland and I don’t speak the language… yet. I’ve gotten some funny results translating Finnish. I use google chrome as a browser with the google translate extension. Just click a button and it translates the page
Your pictures speak for themselves. I’m going to reblog on of your posts now!
Hi Tom, thanks for checking in on my blog! -Carmen
Likewise
Hi Tom, I’m Tarja from Metal Shock Finland and I just got a wordpress notification that you clicked “I like” on “Swedish Prog Metal Band Evergrey To Finland”
glad you liked it.
Well, I’m from Helsinki, but am living here in Italy since 2000. So I guess you feel the same for Finland as I feel for Italy lol.
Compliments for the pics!
Moi-moi,
tarja
Hei Tarja, Same same, thanks for stopping by. I’m always “trolling” through Helsinki info trying to find new ways to learn more about my new home. Hopefully I’ll make it to a metal concert soon because I know it’s one of Finland’s greatest exports. I’ll keep an eye on your site for schedules
Goooood! the best way to get in it is to go to a metal concert
so just keep your eyes open on Metal Shock Finland -news LOL
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the like and comment on my blog, much appreciated! You really take some stunning photographs! I’m looking forward to seeing how you find Finland!
All the best
Natalya
To you too Natalya!
Tom! wtf? what are you doing up in the frozen north? catch me up!
all my best this solstice-
John
Hi Tom.
So nice to read and to see Your photos. Three photos daily is much, hmm, or not, it depends.
Anyway I am interested to find out what and how You see in my country.
Happy blogging.
Thanks for dropping in
I’ll checkout your blog soon.
Finding things to photograph had been easy. It’s all so new and exciting
Tom of Finland – do you know the other Tom of Finland?
I look forward to seeing the bears when I come to Finland next week. I love Helsinki. I’m signing up for your blog right now.
Yep, I know (of) Tom of Finland. Great story about tolerance so the “bears” post is relevant. There’s a cool story about him that I’ll try and lookup and post about. You should have my email from the blog so don’t hesitate to contact me about travel ideas.
Tom,
Thanks for sending me the link for your blog again! This time I actually checked it out and it’s awesome!!! Really cool!!! I like both your photos and writing! I will definitely keep logging in and following your Finnish Adventure!
Jaana
The adventure tomorrow includes registering for Finnish for Foreigners with the University of Helsinki. Keep fingers crossed.
Tom… excellent! Nice blog. Cynthia and I will need to read through your Paris pages as we’ll be there in early November (get this… I’m meeting her there on her return from a month in Niger, Benin and Togo… she’s going with a small group of acquaintances in association with a humanitarian group “Nomad Foundation.”)
Wow, you should meet her in Africa! Africa would definitely be the polar opposite of Paris but it you ask me, way more interesting. Maybe I should go there and meet her
Paris was fun but we were there for a long weekend. I should put you in touch with my sister Kim. I’m not sure if you remember but you and Cynthia met her when she visited us in Santa Barbara. I know she remembers you. She was in Paris for two months so she would be your point person. I think the three of you share similar interests too. She also visited a friend of mine from Santa Barbara that now lives in Tuscany and has a bed and breakfast. If you have time and you would rather decompress, something not easily done in Paris if you ask me, you should go down and visit her at Poggio Etrusco. You would love it.
Great to hear from you!
Hei Tom,
Thanks for sharing your blog with me. I loved looking at your pictures on Facebook but with your words your Finnish experience is coming to life! I’m going to check out CameraBag for the iPhone but I’m not sure I’m technically advanced enough to post photos from there.
Your post about your dreams really hit home. I have the same experience when I come to Colombia. Everything is such a sensory overload that I have to keep processing when I’m asleep, too!
Hei Sara,
Thanks for the compliment. I think you should be doing the same thing. If you want me to help you before, or maybe you already left on your trip, get setup for something similar, let me know. I would love to see your photographs. The blog thing is pretty easy and it doesn’t cost a thing. WordPress.com allows you to setup blogs for free and it’s easy as long as you can connect to the internet. You can even set it up as a private blog if you don’t want to share with the world. There are other options too, I just like motivating myself on a daily basis to make an entry. It’s given me a bit of structure, which for me, is a good thing.
Say hi to Bob for me.
Yes, do! I’d love to talk more. Emma and Max look so grown up!
Hi Tom!
How exciting is life for you right now? Enjoying your pictures and learning about Helsinki. Anita
Anita!!!!, So good to hear from you. I’m glad you like the blog. It’s given me some much needed structure while I’m making this transition to a new… life. I’ll email you because there’s too much to add in a comment box.
Tom,
I love that you are doing this. It’s a great way to document your experience and I can’t wait to follow it with you.
I’m going to send the link to Courtney Johns. He can really relate to what you are going through acclimating to a new culture. You guys would have fun catching up.
xoxo Kim
Great idea. I’ll email him too.