Foreigners attempting to speak Finnish is adorable. You can't help but to be amused. People usually speak English in Finland, at least in the cities. It's actually quite rare to find a young person who doesn't know English in Helsinki, discounting those still in school learning the language.
Most people I ran into knew English, even a bit. I went to Hakaniemi Market near the end of my trip, as I wanted to get some authentic gifts for my folks. One of the ladies in there, who had a really nice stand, did her best to speak English. We laughed trying to figure out how to have a conversation as neither spoke the other language well. Worked out, though. That whole process of trying to figure out how to communicate was one of the more entertaining parts of the trip. I will say this, too - your police force was one of the nicest I've ever come across. I was in a grocery store elevator and ran into a couple of police officers as I was leaving. The one noticed my hat (Detroit Tigers) and asked where I was from. He spoke English very well and, when I told him I was there on vacation, he said "Welcome to Helsinki. Enjoy!" That's a rarity here.
I suppose you're talking about Senaatintori (Senate Square). They'll have some fireworks and bands and long-winded speeches and stuff there every year. It's been several years since I last attended (I don't live in Helsinki) but I'm fairly sure they translate just about everything to both Swedish and English. Well, the Swedish translation is for sure...
That's it! Thanks. I don't need the English translation, necessarily, as I'm more interested in the true Finnish experience.
From my experience the downtown clubs have the densest foreigner attendance in all of Helsinki. The Finnish people who go there are mostly those who have international interests as well. The staff should be well accustomed to tourists, I used to work at a shop right next to the Market Square and we had people coming from all over the world during the holiday season. Speaking English was basically a requirement to function. I wouldn't leave the clubs out because of a language barrier, however you might want to leave them be if consuming obnoxious amounts of alcoholic beverages, or at least seeing everyone else do so, makes you nauseous. Just check some basic survival details like that DTM is favored by the LGBT crowd and you'll be set.
I'm not worried about seeing everyone get drunk, as I work in the industry and it's normal for me, haha. I'm more thinking about the amount of people per bar and an inability to communicate properly. At some point, though, I'm going to try to check out Molly Malone's; wanted to last time, but didn't get the chance.
This brings up a question, though - how are the downtown core and the Ruoholahti neighbhourhoods at night? I can easily walk from a venue to my hotel, but only if it's safe.
Ha, glad to see I was not the only one experiencing website problems! I was awake at 2am Eastern Time here in the US to get tickets, and it took me a full 45 minutes to get through the transaction. Very frustrating process and I was shocked how many sections were fully reserved and not available.
Same here. The tickets took me longer than hotel/flight combined. The two biggest issues I found were a slow website, which was understandable, and the awkward way to get tickets to multiple games. I had to go to the main page after every game purchased, so a slow site meant it took a much longer time than I anticipated. Unless there was a quicker way I didn't see?
If you mean Jan 6th, then the stores must apply for special permission to be open, but last 3-4 years all the big stores and shopping centre's have been open. Something to do with Russian tourists doing their christmas shopping which is after our christmas etc.
Stockman and co will 95% probably be open then, but check from your hotel reception for the latest info when you arrive.
Perfect, thanks! I'm staying an extra day so was hoping some places would be open. Saves me from having to shop right before the Bronze/Gold games.
WJC have become rather huge over here but people still see them as kids and I have a hard time thinking people will actually dump christmas time to go and watch kids play hockey. But we'll have to wait and see, I sure hope I'm wrong though. These ferrys between Stockholm and Helsinki are well known for being probably the heaviest drinking places on earth.
I'd guess you'll see a couple of thousand Canadians make their way over, between groups and those going on their own. While there is a percentage of people here who say "they're just kids", most realize how important of a tournament this is for those trying to make the NHL. It'll be a great atmosphere.
