My plane at Frankfurt International Aiport in Germany to Helsinki/Vantaa left last Wednesday. What I had in my pocket was my best friend who travelled with me for the first five days, great expectations and a lot of curiosity, because it was the first time for me to leave my home country for longer than just a short vacation. Before I started my journey to Finland a lot of people asked me why I decided to go there and what I expect from this internship. When I thought of Finland before making the decision to move there, I thought of a country with a stunning and rich nature, friendly people, a very good educational system, difficult language and outdoor activities (just to name a few things). My impression of the nature so far is confirmed at its fullest: amazing woods, nice lakes and (I never thought of that) an amazing white, sandy beach at Yyteri!
Yyteri beach
The people here in Finland are very helpful and friendly, the cliché that Finnish people are rather reserved and a bit cautious has not been confirmed at all! There was e.g. this one day at my first week in Finland when my friend and I travelled to Yyteri, but in the evening we missed the bus (or better to say: there was just no bus coming as it was stated at the bus station) and so we stand in the middle of nowhere without any idea how to make it to Pori. Luckily we met a young finnish lady who was on her way for a little run and we asked her if she could help us. She walked approximately 25 minutes to another bus station with us and called at least 3 people to get the information when and where the next bus to Pori is leaving. That was very impressive to us and it was not the only situation that a local person took a lot of time to help us!
Another thing I recognized was that Finnish people are very active and sportive (from my point of view): all the time you see many people of all ages driving by bike, running, using those walking sticks or playing a ballgame on a sportsfield. It seems like they're enjoying the summer to the fullest (with regard to the long, cold winter which is surely going to come).
On the way from the university to the Kirjurinluoto Park
One thing which was and still is kind of confusing is the situation with the public tranportation: there are a lot of possibilties to go by bus and there are many bus stops (sometimes it is just a stone's throw from one to the next), BUT it is very difficult to get that system, if you can even call that a system. The bus stops (or most of them) don't have names and the bus timetables are only available in Finnish, which doesn't simplify the whole procedure. That is maybe one reason why locals use the bus not very often if they use it at all. A collegue told me that even she as an inhabitant of Pori doesn't understand or trust the bus service. But anyhow, my colleagues (and other people, like the nice lady in Yyteri) always try to help me as much as they can to get the right bus!
The first days of work at the International Office are pleasant and the collegues are really, really nice although I am still a bit nervous, because of the new workplace and the different environment. The people in the office speak all very good English and they always have a smile on their face. If I have a question or a problem I can ask them anytime and they try their best to support me! What is new in relation to my former internships in Germany is that there are intergrated (let's say) coffee breaks where most of the people of our corridor meet in a little kitchen to have a cup of coffee and a little snack - that's a good way to get to know new colleagues and (in my opinion) to improve the whole work atmosphere.
One of the main entrances of the university
When it comes to food there are some things to say as well: it seems that Finns like potatoes, fish and milk (no, I'd to say this is even understated, they LOVE it!). Potatoes and fish are common in canteens and refectories, you can see it almost every day. And in many cases you can see people who drink milk at their lunch, which I thought is rather a drink for breakfast, but not in combination with reindeer meat and potatoes. And if you believe it or not: iceream seems to be very popular in Finland - hard to believe, because of the climate here. First you would think of countries like Italy or Spain when it comes to icecream, however far wrong! You can see a lot of icecream booths all over the city and in many cases you can read the name "Ingman" on those booths, one of the largest food manufacturers in Finland (and I can tell you, the icecream is delicious!).
Market in Helsinki
Icecream-break at the beach in Yyteri
This was the first posting, the next one will come soon! If you have any feedback, I would be glad to get a comment from you. Kiitos! Hei hei!
Wow, that's a nice story! Sounds very interesting!
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