Grazyna Cirmirakis moved from Warsaw, Poland to Finland in 1991 with her two children. Her husband had started working in Finland a year earlier, and Kotka became the family’s new hometown. They have lived there ever since, on Kotkansaari, in the same apartment, for more than three decades.

– Kotka has been a good place for us, especially as a family with children. Life here is not as busy as in big cities, and I felt safer when my children were young,” says Cirmirakis.

Nature has always been a central part of everyday life and well-being for the Cirmirakis family.

– Kotka is a lovely city because nature is so close. All you have to do is cross the road and you’re faced with a park, woodland or the sea. Nature feeds the mind, in summer and winter. That is Kotka’s biggest plus.

When Grazyna moved to Finland in the early 1990s, there were hardly any services to support integration.

– We did not receive any support to help us adapt. There was no Integration Act and no one told us how Finnish society works. If you didn’t know how to ask, nobody came to tell you,” she recalls.

The first Finnish language course took three years to start, and courses were held only infrequently at that time.

– We mistakenly thought that the system worked in the same way as in our country. Later, I realised how important it is to be proactive and to ask questions boldly.

Proximity to services makes everyday life easier

Living on Kotkansaari makes everyday life smooth: offices, healthcare and shops are all close by.

– The services are good for a city the size of Kotka,” says Cirmirakis.

However, she would like to see more diversity in the centre.

– In the past, there were more different kinds of shops. Now the choice has shrunk, and I wish there were more options. Not everything should be the same.

He sees both good and room for improvement in health services.

– The on-call service works well and gives clear instructions. Overall, the system works, although it sometimes takes perseverance.

Getting around is easy, even on foot

In Finnish culture, Grazyna values many things.

– I like sauna, outdoor activities, winter sports and Christmas time. The Maritime Festivals and Midsummer are nice. And I’m surprised how full the concert hall always is. There is clearly an interest in music.

During her long period of living in the country, she has also noticed cultural differences in the way people interact with each other.

– Sometimes it seems that familiarity is not a given. It can take years to see neighbours before a greeting is returned. But even this varies, there are also a lot of very nice people. There are different personalities everywhere.

Learn Finnish with perseverance

Learning Finnish was challenging, but perseverance helped.

– Finnish is a difficult language, but you learn to get by. For a long time I always had a dictionary with me. If I didn’t understand, I asked them to say it differently.

In working life, she has seen room for improvement, especially from the point of view of immigrants.

– There could be more courses to reinforce professional qualifications. Legislation and practices are different and should be supported.

For new immigrants, Cirmirakis’ message is encouraging and warm.

– Don’t be shy. We are equally valuable, even if we speak less Finnish. There is no need to be afraid of making mistakes. Feel free to ask questions about things you don’t know – and remember that spoken and written language are different.

Despite the long journey and many changes, Kotka is home for Cirmirakis: close to nature, peaceful and a place where life has been allowed to build at its own pace.

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