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 Photo By Isabela Ion
With all the wooden houses in and around Oulu, English expat Alex Doran may have hit upon something. Getting hold of the latest machinery, he is in the process of launching an innovative company in northern Finland. If you want old paint removed from a wall quickly and safely he’ll blast it off for you. And that’s just for starters . . . End-to-End Service
Alex shows me a bag of the tiny grains of plastic which, when fired under pressure, can strip paint from walls and furniture. Alex also intends to develop this business so that he can sandblast motor vehicles as well.
‘There aren’t many doing it,’ he says of the line of business in the area. ‘There are no leading companies. ‘I offer an end-to-end service. If someone brings me a motorbike I’ll blast it to remove the paint and the rust and then send it to sprayer and it’ll be done through Nordic Media Blasters Oy.’ ‘Media’ is apparently the technical term for the grains that are fired. The type that he shows me is known as ‘melemine.’ ‘It was originally developed for military use . . . for aircraft engines and frames.’ The grains are kept under pressure in a tank and fired from a kind of hose so any sandblaster needs eye goggles and breathing apparatus. The grains come out at ‘40 – 100 psi (pounds per square inch). According to Alex, sandblasting is still measured in Britain’s old ‘imperial’ units. ‘It’s quite physical work!’ he smiles. But he’s confident that it could be a very useful service, especially in northern Finland. A lot of Wooden Buildings
‘There are a lot of wooden buildings round here’ he comments. ‘Also, the service will be environmentally friendly. All of the stuff that I use can be recycled and it’s clean and efficient . . . there’s no risk to the environment through chemicals. But though Alex has been on many Finnish courses he still doesn’t feel too confident with the language and so he adds. ‘I’m looking to employ a Finnish speaking person to help me with sales and marketing.’ Originally from Hampshire in southern England, Alex has been in Oulu for ten years now. He was first brought here through work with a leading telecommunications company and is now certain that he’ll stay. ‘It’s a safe place . . . . with safe people. There’s a kind of honesty culture here. If Finns get an invoice then they pay it on time!’ Alex has also been very pleased with the help he’s received setting up a business in Oulu. ‘The service was free and the Oulu Business centre helped me with application forms, registration, banking etc.’ Overall, Alex emphasises that his experiences of conducting business on Oulu have been ‘pretty positive.’ Minus Forty
However, in his decade here the Oulu weather has been something that Alex has found difficult to adjust to. ‘When I first got here it was September. It’s summer in the UK but it was already rainy and cold here,’ he remembers. ‘Then all the snow came!’ During Alex’s first winter here it actually got down to minus 40. ‘The only way you could go out was covering everything up!’ he laughed. A friend of his left his nose exposed and almost got frost bite.’ Alex has also found that Finns seem to socialise differently from people in England. ‘It takes a long time to build up a personal relationship and then when they invite you round for coffee you know you’ve made a friend!’ he tells me. His first Finnish coffee experience was certainly an eye-opener. ‘It was a huge spread . . . cakes and biscuits and . . . I thought “I better drink my coffee quickly because she’s obviously got a party planned when I leave!” But it was all for me!’ And, like most expats, he’s had difficulty learning the Finnish language. ‘How do I say this without sounding like an idiot!’ he jokes. ‘Erm . . . I’ve had quite a few lessons and I haven’t managed to capture it!’ Culture Shock
Alex is sure that he’s been through ‘Culture Shock’ in Oulu which involves thinking the new culture is wonderful, hating it and romanticising your own and finally reaching a happy medium. But there are still little things about England that he misses. ‘I miss family and friends,’ he reminisces, ‘but there’s a whole new social life over here!’ ‘ Then thinking about it, Alex realises what he really misses. ‘I miss the opening hours of shops!’ he laughs. ‘In England all supermarkets are open on Sundays and there’s a much wider range of products. Here shops open on Sundays in summer – when you want to be outdoors – but close in the winter . . . when you might want to be indoors doing shopping!’ Motorbikes
But, after ten years, Alex is settled in and is looking to the future of Nordic Media Blasters Oy. In addition to employing a Finnish-speaker for sales and marketing, he intends to branch out from wood to motorbikes and, hopefully, cars. ‘That’ll be a big jump though’ he adds. He also hopes eventually to employ a full time sandblaster. This employee, ‘will have to be able to speak English because they’ll have to be able to communicate with me!’ There would also be proper training because sandblasting equipment is pretty powerful. However, at the moment Alex’s Finnish girlfriend is helping him with the language for his business. And he’s increasingly convinced that she may well know English even better than he does.
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