Cecilia Björklund went back to square one

Studies or work normally bring Swedes to Finland

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By Tomi Tyysteri
     
      "I definitely did not plan things this way. But I took the offer when it came along", Cecilia Björklund chuckles. Björklund moved to Sweden permanently in 1980 with her Swedish-speaking parents, and would never have imagined returning to the land of her birth. However, she has now lived in Helsinki for the past eight years.
      The offer Björklund mentions came from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for which she worked as a diplomat. Björklund, 40, had already become a Swedish citizen.
      "I had settled in Sweden, so it felt like a completely natural decision to change nationality. I still feel more Swedish than Finnish."
     
Before moving to Finland, the careers of Cecilia and her husband Christer Björklund, who works in the banking industry, took the family to Tunisia and the United States for longer periods of time.
      Cecilia moved to Finland in 1997 with the family’s boys Andreas, now 14, and Jacob, now 11. Swedish-born Christer, 41, continued to work in Sweden for one and a half years before rejoining his family permanently in Finland.
      The Björklunds represent typical Swedish immigrants in the sense that they came to the country primarily because of a work-related transfer.
      According to press and cultural counsellor Anders Eriksson from the Swedish Embassy, in addition to those who work for Nordic corporations, Swedes move to Finland mainly to study at Swedish-language universities. Eriksson defines a third group as those Swedes who have lived in Finland for a long time but have retained their original citizenship.
     
Cecilia Björklund abandoned her career as a diplomat in 2001 and began to study physical therapy. Now she is employed in her new field and is extremely pleased.
      "What has been surprising in my job is that Swedish skills have turned out to be a clear advantage. Some of my colleagues feel insecure with Swedish-speaking clients, and therefore I am asked to help out quite often", Cecilia reports. She also observes that Finns speak Swedish much better than they often claim.
     
Cecilia is the only one in the family who speaks Finnish. Andreas and Jacob, who go to an international school, have picked up some Finnish, but Christer admits to having practically no knowledge of the language.
      "You can always manage somehow in everyday life. However, on a deeper level I sometimes feel a bit ashamed that I cannot express myself properly. If I had known I would be here for so long, I would definitely have taken Finnish lessons", Christer maintains, with Cecilia grinning by his side.
      Christer immediately adds that he recently filled out the match report for his younger son’s football team.
      "I tried to tell them that I did not speak a word of Finnish, but they wanted me to help out anyway. It made me feel very important."
     
According to Cecilia Björklund, life for a family with children is easier in Helsinki than in Stockholm, for example.
      "Stockholm is not really dangerous in any way, but after Helsinki it feels a bit restless. Here it is easier to let teenagers move about on their own."
      The family assures me that they are satisfied with other matters here as well.
      "We are here completely voluntarily, we would have packed up and left ages ago if we did not enjoy ourselves", Christer Björklund says emphatically.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 8.4.2005
     
Citizens of a total of 158 countries live in Helsinki. This article is one of a series entitled The World in Helsinki, in which the larger groups are presented.

More on this subject:
 BACKGROUND: Fourth largest group of immigrants

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Estonians in Helsinki: "Our aim is bilingualism" (5.4.2005)
  Radio Sputnik unites Russian-speakers in Helsinki (22.3.2005)

TOMI TYYSTERI / Helsingin Sanomat
tomi.tyysteri@hs.fi