I am amazed by Nigel Watson’s article on why he left Oulu – ‘Good Bye Finland.’ My own experience, being a fellow Englishman and having been here for a similar amount of time as him, has been unrecognisably different from the collection of unfriendly racists that was Mr. Watson’s Oulu.

Mr. Watson’s main reason for leaving Oulu is that he felt ‘not accepted, let alone welcome’ and that there is a general Finnish attitude that you should adopt a Finnish way of life or leave. In my experience, the people of Oulu bend over backwards to accommodate me as an Englishman. Oululaiset are more than happy to speak in English, which is hardly a sign of not welcoming foreigners. In fact, younger Oululaiset tend to be so enthusiastic about speaking in English that I’ve basically stopped trying to practice my Finnish in restaurants and supermarkets. When I have had to use it, with elderly Finns, they have been perfectly amiable, fascinated by ‘England’ and have slowed right down. I have never felt shunned by Oululaiset because of the language issue or any other. My elderly Finnish neighbour always chats to me. I’ve no idea what he’s saying half the time but if he is saying, ‘Go back to your own country! You people make me sick!’ he’s saying it in an extraordinarily friendly way, frequently with offers of coffee.

I’ve made plenty of Finnish friends who are all happy to speak in English to each other or speak in Finnish and provide me with intermittent English summaries. Even when I interviewed members of Oulu ‘True Finns’ for this newspaper – supposedly Finland’s ‘far right’ and ‘anti-foreigner’ party - I found all of them to be enthusiastic about meeting me. I guess they thought having an Englishman at their Finnish nationalist meeting was something of a novelty. I was once told (in English by a young man) to ‘Go home! This is not your country!’ This was in a branch of Alko in Kokkola (a tiny country town) while me and a friend were speaking in English. Every Oululaiset to whom I have relayed this incident has been  amazed and slightly angered that a fellow Finn would behave in such a way. Oulu drunks seem far friendlier, such as the one that thrust a mobile into my hand and demanded I speak to his brother-in-law because ‘he likes to practice his English.’
   
Of course, like Mr Watson, I am white. I do not stand out as a foreigner and perhaps my experience of Oulu would be less pleasant if I did. But even so, I think the city has to be given a chance. Until about fifteen years ago, almost everyone that lived in Oulu was Finnish. Oululaiset may well have a feeling of sitting helplessly as their city, or parts of it like Tuira, is transformed beyond recognition. This, together with unemployment amongst working-class Oululaiset, is bound to lead to resentment towards those who are conspicuously foreign. But to be fair to Oululaiset, they are not rioting or electing large numbers of openly anti-immigrant politicians onto Oulu City Council or marching down Rotuaari shouting, ‘Immigration! No! Repatriation! Yes!’ This is exactly what was happening in cities like Smethwick (in the UK) or Marseilles (in France) a decade or so after immigrants started coming there. Racism is not unique to Oulu. It will be found in all cities in the same situation, and usually to a far greater extent. I am, it must be said, frequently aware of being stared at and whispered about when I speak in English but that is probably because the people understand it and it’s a bit interesting. A couple of months back, I found myself staring at a group of Finns (whom I could understand) on the London Underground.
   
The real intolerance in this city, and in this country, is not racism. There are certainly areas that are far more racist in Finland and beyond. The real intolerance is found amongst those who hold a particular ideology – that a multicultural society with lots of people from all around the world is a wonderful thing – but who think that anyone who does not agree with them is evil . . . or, in their language, a ‘Nazi’ a ‘Fascist,’ or a ‘Racist.’ These terms relate to such strong taboos that they basically mean ‘evil’ or ‘heretic.’ Mr Watson heavily implies that the idea that foreigners should integrate into Finnish society is racist. Oulu City Council should hire people not on merit but because they are foreign and if they do not then I guess that they are probably racist as well. The only intolerance I have ever experienced in Oulu is when I wrote an objective article about what random Oululaiset thought of the Prophet Mohammed cartoon furore. I was accused, by one Oululainen reader, of being ‘racist’ and ‘Nazi’ . . .  just for pointing out that some people – not even necessarily myself! – disagree with his or her views. That is intolerance, fanatical intolerance . . . far more worrying than some tipsy twit telling me to ‘Go home!’
   
I agree with Mr Watson that Oulu does raise foreigners’ expectations with regard to education. Finns are not necessarily as educated as they like to think. Their standard of English is nowhere near as high as in other Scandinavian countries and we are not told about Oulu’s underclass of drunks.

However, Oulu, in my experience, is basically a welcoming and friendly city. There is probably some racism, but far less than in comparable cities. The creeping intolerance in Finland is not racism but the view that if you don’t rigorously promote a certain ideology then you need to be publicly attacked and ostracised. I think it’s a shame that Mr Watson doesn’t feel able to give Oulu a chance. And I think it’s very interesting that despite his apparent love of multiculturalism and his desire for Oulu to be more multicultural, he has chosen to go and live Guildford – possibly the wealthiest and whitest city in the whole of England.