Greetings!
I arrived in Helsinki in the middle of May, just a few days before the roadtrip. While it took some time to get adjusted to the change, I quickly fell in love with the short buildings, how easy it was to step into the forest and the vast selection of yogurt and ice cream!
Of course, my first line of business was getting not one but two library cards! The first one I got from Oodi, one of the biggest libraries in Helsinki that has video game consoles, sewing machines and 3D printers for public use. The card had a fun and colorful design and I took full advantage of their huge book and board game collection over the summer!
The other card was for the National Library which has the most beautiful old book collection in the city and I had the honor of hearing a choral music concert in the halls during the Night of the Arts festival in the city.
Going back to the roadtrip, the entire week felt like the most wonderful dream as I had so much fun getting to know the Finns and my fellow Canadians. The first stop on our trip was the historic city of Turku where I got to become a medieval princess at the castle before winding down at a lovely Alumni cottage in Kirjalansaari and starting the first ever tradition of an exchange dunk in the freezing cold waters of the Baltic Sea.
One of my favourite parts of the roadtrip was getting to travel by ferry with the cars as we navigated through the archipelagos to the buzzing city of Tampere. There aren’t many islands in Toronto, let alone ones you can reach by car. Our time in the city went by in a blur from testing out Finnish playgrounds, late night karaoke sessions at the bar and making our own custom Moomin Talos. Back home, karaoke is usually a private event with a reserved room for only you and your friends so it was quite surprising Finns enjoy the public version but luckily it was a slow night so no ears were harmed with our angelic singing.
Although we were greeted with rain during the final days, we made the most of the trip by having many cozy cottage days in Lemi and by embracing the showers during an impromptu trip to Lappeenranta.
However, the fun didn’t stop as my past self signed me up for a Half Marathon the weekend after the roadtrip. While it was daunting to navigate the terrain of a city I was seeing for the first time, it was an incredible way to explore Helsinki.
Moving on, during the week I worked at Valmet. When asked, I typically tell my friends I work at a paper company which invokes something akin to a picture of Jim from the Office sitting at his desk and selling actual paper. However, I quickly learned that the company was far more than that as they actually work to design, build and maintain the giant machines that create those paper textiles. Safe to say, as a mechanical engineering student, I had a lot of fun over the summer learning all about paper technologies.
The office was also exciting as there were a lot of other student interns who studied engineering. As we neared August, the time when orientation usually begins at Finnish Universities, it was cool to hear their school traditions and compare them against my own back at UofT. Not only do we both wear coveralls adorned with many painstakingly hand sewn patches but our school cheer also has an honorable mention in their hand books in the international section.
After work it was a different story as I picked up baking and got a museum pass! This summer I learned how to make pancakes, bread rolls, banana bread, cinnamon buns (American style), pulla (Finnish style with cardamom), baguette and pizza dough from scratch!
I have to say that my favourite recipe, curated by my roommate Anna, is the Poor Man’s Baguette™?, a baguette that can be made in less than 2 hours if you just really, really want some baguette for dinner.
On the adventurous end, I managed to visit over 30+ museums spanning Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Vantaa, Lahti & Rovenemi. My favourites in each city were, The Reitz Collections (it’s located in an apartment), the Moomin Museum, Turku Castle, Vantaa City Museum (you can get Vantaa socks!), Radio and TV Museum (aka the location of the Eiffel Tower of Finland) and the Rovaniemi Art Museum Korundi. Safe to say I got my money’s worth in the end and saw so many incredible Finnish art pieces.
While it’s calming to be back home, a place of so much familiarity – I still find myself daydreaming about the little things I miss from Finland. Getting to climb over a huge rock and navigate through the little forest to get to the train station, breathing in a deep breath of crisp fresh air on the ferry to Suomenlinna and spontaneously visiting the Moomin shop in Esplandi and Lasipalatsi for new goodies.
Although I had a blast this past summer in Finland, there are still so many more adventures I’d like to have so I know in my heart that a return trip is in sight. Till next time Suomi!
Kiitos,
Alicia