Ville, originally from Oulu, Finland, has lived in Shanghai for four years in total. He studied there for a year in 2012 and in 2018 he had a feeling he needed to see the world, so he decided to move back to Shanghai to learn the language and more about the culture. 

“Shanghai is different. Different in so many ways. I love the big city vibe, the culture, the people.” And the food culture, that is something that Ville enjoys also. “There is a good mix of Chinese and Western cuisine and so many places to choose from. We eat out quite often”.  Living in a city of close to 30 million people, the question of safety comes up at times, but Ville has a surprising answer. “Shanghai is a very safe city, one of the safest I’ve ever visited”. 

“My daily routines don’t differ so much from when I lived in Finland, I start my day here with a cup of coffee and then start working”. I enjoy working remotely because I can start my day early without having to commute to work first. I like the freedom and flexibility of not being tied down to a physical location. I feel more productive in this environment and since my free time starts when I close my laptop, there’s more of it. In my freetime I hang out with my friends and I also try to exercise 4-6 times a week to unwind and maintain a good physical and mental balance. A good work-life balance is important to me. I also like traveling outside of Shanghai, the nature is amazing here and it’s easily accessible due to the quality and reach of public transportation. 

Ville doesn’t plan on moving to Finland any time soon, but there are some things he misses – other than rye bread, which you can of course pick up from your nearest Ikea. “Although I really like living in Shanghai, I do miss Finland sometimes. Living in a big city, you sometimes miss the absolute silence and nature that only Lapland can offer. And being a true Finn, I of course miss the sauna. But I must admit, I really enjoy the “endless summers” of Shanghai, something that Finland unfortunately cannot offer”. 

Ville is currently working on an interesting mobile app project for a large well-known retail company in Japan. “I’ve worked in an international environment for years, I don’t even think about it that much anymore, it’s just how I’m used to working”. Current tools allow us to efficiently work with customers all over the world. 

Ville is an experienced web and mobile developer and architect. He has worked with such companies as Tiffany’s, Starbucks and Adidas and has knowledge especially in banking and B2C eCommerce sectors. Ville prides himself on writing quality code and always finding the best solution, not cutting corners. “I see myself as a good and transparent communicator. I’m pretty straight forward and I don’t like unnecessary bureaucracy. If I see something’s going in the wrong direction or could be done better, I’ll bring it forth. And I’m a team player, I always think about how we best work together and how we can improve collectively. I also try to look at the big picture, not just isolated tasks.”  

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