I love, love living in Finland. It has brought me much joy. In a way, when I go back to the US to visit, I have a weird feeling that I'm leaving a more civilized place to a one that is still quite civilized, just, a little less civilized.

Finnish is not impossible. It is difficult in some respects, but really a good half of the difficulty stems from the fact that nearly everyone speaks English and experiences myötähäpeä (vicarious embarrassment on your behalf) when you struggle with it, so they will step in immediately with English rather than watch you dangle on the hook. It's a rare treat when someone refuses to, or cannot, speak English and we're forced to speak only Finnish.