Finnish, living in Spain since 2012

A Finnin Spain

I was born in the north, but fourteen years ago I found my home in the south. And living in Spain with Finnish eyes has given me a lot to talk about.

What I make Watch the streams

Sini looking at the camera in a white t-shirt that reads «no me jodas»

My story

I arrived without knowing how to say hello

My name is Sini and I'm from Oulu, in northern Finland. In 2012 I moved to Barcelona without a word of Spanish, without knowing a single person, and without much of a plan.

Fourteen years later I'm still here. Along the way I learned the language, walked face-first into every possible culture clash, and worked out that the things I found insane here are completely normal to everyone else — and the other way round.

That's exactly what I make videos about: the things Spaniards don't notice because they were born inside them, and the things that back in Finland would get someone arrested.

«I didn't speak the language either. And here we are, fourteen years later.»

Sini kneeling in front of a colourful mural in Barcelona

What I make

Four things I keep going on about

It all circles the same idea, but every week I find a new way to surprise you with it.

Finland vs. Spain

Team sauna or team terrace. Team thirty-minutes-early or team «I'm leaving now, I promise». Head to head, settled in thirty seconds.

Finnish, the rude way

I teach you real Finnish: the one people actually speak, not the textbook one. Swearing included, because that's half the language.

Words you really shouldn't say

Perfectly ordinary Spanish names that mean something horrifying in Finnish. This series has landed me in the news more than once.

And now and then, the honest stuff

Emigrating alone, starting from zero, and the fact that some days it's hard. There's room for that too.

Where to find me

I'm everywhere

Each place has its own thing. Short videos live on Instagram and TikTok, longer ones on YouTube, and I'm live on Twitch most nights.

Instagram @sinimakeup The main one. Short videos almost daily. TikTok @sinimakeup Same thing, but messier. YouTube @sinimakeup Longer videos, taken slowly. Twitch sinimakeup Live every night at 20:30 CET. YouTube @sinidirectos Full streams, in case you missed one. Kanava suomeksi @sinimaalimalla My channel in Finnish.

Streams

Every night at 20:30

On Twitch I play games I'm bad at and talk to whoever turns up. I don't know much about gaming, but I do know about having a good time.

That's also home to Dr. Sini's Clinic, where I solve your relationship problems with absolutely no qualifications to do so, and entire playthroughs of games everyone else finished ten years ago.

We play fair here: treat people the way you want to be treated. Disrespect gets you removed.

Watch on Twitch Clipped something from the stream? Post it on r/sinimakeup

Sini in a black t-shirt reading «perkele»

The book

Finés a lo loco

My handbook of badly behaved wisdom

Double meanings, unfiltered swearing and phrases you won't find anywhere else. Everything I've been saying in videos for years, on paper, with nobody cutting me off.

If you've ever wanted to insult someone in Finnish without them noticing, this is your book.

Get it on Amazon