Joonas Pesonen

Joonas Pesonen
English

The diversity of districts is what makes Helsinki strong.

Joonas Pesonen, a social media influencer from Korpilahti, Central Finland. The man who lived for a full year in the high-rise hotel at Jätkäsaari, observed Helsinki from a bird's eye view and reported on his life. What does he have to say about his life now? 

"I would say that I am a Helsinki native from Korpilahti. I feel I have assimilated into the city extremely well and found a neighbourhood that suits me. The diversity of districts is what makes Helsinki strong. I used to live in Meilahti and then moved to Vallila. They are like two different cities. I also spent a year in Jätkäsaari, but the sea is a foreign element for me. I noticed I started to navigate towards familiarity. Vallila felt like a place I can call home. There is even a street called Päijänteentie as in Päijänne, the lake I grew up beside." 

Vallila feels like such a homey district for Pesonen that he has been able to liberate himself to dress and act as he wishes. "I tried to hide my countryside identity earlier and wanted to come across as a Helsinkian. I’ve flipped this around over the years. Now I am a proud countryside person, a railway transplant. We represent 60 percent of the population, so it's actually a strength! Nowadays I sometimes step into my corner shop for breakfast supplies wearing Crocs." 

Pesonen never planned to move to Helsinki. It just happened. "I feel like the city has given me more than I expected. My prejudices and the division I felt earlier between countryside and city folks proved meaningless. People are people just the same." 

He feels that the best feature in Helsinki is the tolerance towards difference. "There is so much diversity in Helsinki that it is not even diversity anymore. Flow Festival is a good example of this. It's an event where many individuals meet one another, and differences turn into norms. There is also plenty of diversity all around the country, but not in such a density so the experience is different. That is why I don't see a confrontation between Helsinki and the rest of Finland." 

Your local guides