Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service • Hacker News Board

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#321

Post by raunakdag » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:35 AM UTC

ghufran_syed wrote: post #295

ponker wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are not ethnically Chinese you are an underclass in Singapore. If you are not black you are not an underclass in the United States. I have no idea what it is like to be black in Singapore but for anyone else, I would think "not being an underclass" is high on anyone's list.

Doesn't having a popular black president in the US from 2008-2016 rather undermine the idea that black people are an underclass in the US? As opposed to being a group that on average have lower income than other groups in society? Couldn't assuming that any individual black person has low income or is part of an "underclass" be considered racist, in the sense of making judgements about individuals based on their skin…

You’re reaching to find racism in a place where it doesn’t exist. Pretty bad faith attempt at understanding the point he was making.

Pointing to a country’s president as example of how black people are no longer underclass is akin to saying “he did it, why can’t you?”.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#322

Post by Maxion » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:36 AM UTC

csomar wrote: post #315

deanc wrote: post #190

Overall my experience in Helsinki has been hugely positive. I’ve been here now over a decade and have settled with work and family life. Work life balance is great, there’s a beautiful outdoors to enjoy all year, and the people are warm and kind, if not difficult to start with. All that said, there’s a lot of bullshit and hot air here in this thread: - public healthcare is great until you have something difficult to…

> public healthcare is great until you have something difficult to work with or non acute. Enjoy the months longs waiting times to see a dentist. Months long waiting times for a dentist? I'm not sure if that qualify their public healthcare as great . In a months time your dental issue might actually become acute.

If you have acute dental issues then you'll get a time virtually instantly.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#323

Post by fogihujy » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:36 AM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #246

deanc wrote: post #190

Overall my experience in Helsinki has been hugely positive. I’ve been here now over a decade and have settled with work and family life. Work life balance is great, there’s a beautiful outdoors to enjoy all year, and the people are warm and kind, if not difficult to start with. All that said, there’s a lot of bullshit and hot air here in this thread: - public healthcare is great until you have something difficult to…

As far as language goes, my advice for learning a new one would be the exact opposite of what you say. Force yourself to use the language all the time, everywhere. Otherwise people will just default to English with you, and you'll have a hard time learning the local language. It'll be very stressful for a few months, but, in my experience, will get you conversing in about half a year.

Learning Finnish takes time, dedication, and willingness to do it on one's own f you want to master it. I belong to the Swedish-speaking minority here, and there's plenty of people in the Swedish-speaking areas that know little to no Finnish, despite learning it in school and living in Finland.

If you want to learn Finnish, go for it. Just don't expect it to be easy. :)

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#324

Post by zkid18 » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:37 AM UTC

deanc wrote: post #190

Overall my experience in Helsinki has been hugely positive. I’ve been here now over a decade and have settled with work and family life. Work life balance is great, there’s a beautiful outdoors to enjoy all year, and the people are warm and kind, if not difficult to start with. All that said, there’s a lot of bullshit and hot air here in this thread: - public healthcare is great until you have something difficult to…

That reflects my experience of Finland as well. Although, in my 20th I found Helsinki a bit boring, but I'm sure it will attract lots of people. Agree with you on language, indeed I can't get the logic of ppl, complaining about the necessity of learning the language of the country you're moved to.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#325

Post by fogihujy » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:39 AM UTC

deanclatworthy wrote: post #292

bedobi wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense but OP is right and you are wrong. Health care in Scandinavia is great in many ways and not so great in others. People do suffer, even die, waiting in line for public treatment, and health care lawsuits aren't really a thing.

Finland is not Scandinavia and its systems are not necessarily comparable. You have shortcomings in any healthcare system, but I'd take this and all its flaws in a heartbeat over the absolute shitshow that is the US healthcare system.

While not a part of the geographic area called Scandinavia, Finland is very much a Nordic country.

The healthcare system here is pretty comparable to the other Nordic countries, although there are some differences. The quality of care depends a lot on your particular health issues and the place you live, though.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#326

Post by titanomachy » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:39 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #296

deanclatworthy wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding dentisty: Yes, but they can be pricy. I think I had some minor filling work done once and it ended up being around 200-300e. There is absolutely no issue if your issue is acute or serious with the public healthcare. But as mentioned, if your issue is complicated (e.g. i have an undiagnosed hip issue for a year) it takes ages to get scans and such.

In Canada our wait times aren't so bad but the quality of service is much to be desired. A lot of the most talented move to the US for higher pay, which most 'average' people probably dont notice but as someone who takes pathology courses for fun online I've noticed we don't get the 'best'. The major thing beyond that perception though is you get a ton of doctors offices who work like mills, they try to get as many p…

> A lot of the most talented move to the US for higher pay ... I've noticed we don't get the 'best'

That doesn't match my experience. Several of my classmates who went to major Canadian medical schools also had offers from "top" US schools but stayed in Canada because the quality of education is good and they didn't want to pay $300k+ for their degree. Maybe there's certain top specialists that can only be found at Hopkins or Mayo in the US, but that's not where most Americans are going (even within the 1%).

The doctors I've seen in Canada are equally competent to the American ones in my experience (at "good" but not "world-class" clinics), but I will concede that the American ones take more time with their patients and seem more aggressive with testing and treatment.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#327

Post by whitexn--g28h » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:39 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #159

emteycz wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have ambulances in the US too. Also, isn't Finland a country where you pay health insurance? If that is free, a lot of things in the US suddenly are free as well.

You don’t have to pay to use most roads in the USA, on a usage basis at least. The use of the word free but not really isn’t foreign to Americans.

You absolutely pay for roads on a usage basis [1] unless you drive an electric car.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_State...

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#328

Post by theshrike79 » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:40 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #301

deanclatworthy wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really a quality of life thing? Are you going to make your decisions about where your live because you have to run your errands before a certain time? That said, there's no issue in Helsinki. Big shops and malls are open until 8-10, some smaller shops might close around 18 but they have to go home to feed their families. The 24/7 lifestyle might be convenient, but I've never thought I might need it.

As I mentioned I've been a night hawk for life and tried many times to switch to waking up early and failed. So yes it would be infinitely boring for someone like me to live in a city like that, it's a deal-breaker.

Well it's night half the year so you'll enjoy it :D

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#329

Post by csomar » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:40 AM UTC

Maxion wrote: post #322

csomar wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> public healthcare is great until you have something difficult to work with or non acute. Enjoy the months longs waiting times to see a dentist. Months long waiting times for a dentist? I'm not sure if that qualify their public healthcare as great . In a months time your dental issue might actually become acute.

If you have acute dental issues then you'll get a time virtually instantly.

There is no such thing as a non-acute dental issue. A filling can wait for a couple weeks max before possibly becoming a real acute issue. You are only aware of the cavity until it starts to hurt, which means already late.

A good rule of thumb is to have a CT scan every year for early detection. I have been doing it for the last 5 years and boy it did save me from lots of pain. Lots of cavities are hiding unseen and with no pain.

Re: Helsinki Relocation Package: City as a Service

#330

Post by tdeck » Fri, Nov 06, 2020, 6:42 AM UTC

crehn wrote: post #258

tdeck wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not completely arbitrary, it matches the way we write out full dates or speak then aloud. January 2nd, 1900 becomes 1/2/1900.

Totally arbitrary. In French 2ème Janvier 1900 would be the most common.

I mean, it's no more arbitrary than any other order. In the context of "why does American English use this ordering", it has the desirable characteristic that it matches how we express dates in our everyday language. A trade-off exists between that characteristic and the desire to have the date go from smallest to largest or vice versa, but both approaches have practical benefits.