Arriving in Finland: the cold that was new

I came to Finland in August 2022. The cold weather was something completely new to me — I am from Chennai, and before this I had lived in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and travelled through the US and Africa. Warm climates were all I knew.

One of our first outings was a simple one: the family and I decided to walk towards the city centre, just for the experience of it. We were dressed for what we thought Helsinki would be — jackets, caps, layers. Prepared.

Ruoholahti to Oodi

On the walk path between Ruoholahti and the Oodi library, we saw something that stopped us: people biking, playing table tennis, out doing all kinds of sports — in casual wear. No jackets, no caps. Just an ordinary summer day for them.

We were all amazed. For us the air was genuinely cold. For them it was clearly warm enough to treat it like a beach day.

The difference came down to the numbers: we were used to +32°C, and a Helsinki August day sits around +16°C. The same moment, two very different ideas of what cold means — it all depends on what your body has learned to call normal.