Helsinki: Small town girl in a big city

I’ve been here over two weeks and I still feel like I´m in some kind of dream that sooner or later I will wake up from. Finland is beautiful and such a peaceful, quiet place even though it’s a capitol city. There is such a great focus on recycling and the environment and it has done wonders on keeping the country so clean. It feels like I am on a vacation but now that I have had a week of classes I am reorienting my focus back to school and classes. 

Upon arriving, like I had predicted I spent a lot of time with my third cousin? Tarja and her husband Antti. Her grandma and mine were cousins so that is my best guess, but family is family. They have been extremely nice and welcoming. She tried to show me how to navigate around the city but as it may have sounded cliché I was still in shock at the size of the city that I was supposed to know my way around (most people say this isn’t big compared to some places though). And jet lag is a real thing; but I stayed up as late as I could and then slept for 14 hours, crazy. The next day Tarja and her husband took me to a café which they do every Sunday from 9 to 12 and I plan on making it a habit to join them. They have let me borrow so many things and I am so grateful because it is cold! I mean really cold. Cold enough that when I walked to class one day my snot froze in my nose! They have let me borrow a down-feather jacket though and some nice gloves until I get my care package from home.  

I also spent the Finnish holiday on January 6^th at my cousin Ulla´s house. She is my mother’s age and lives in Espoo, which is a region of Helsinki. Her son picked me up because I am still new to public transportation and cannot read anything in Finnish so it can be difficult. The public transportation here is excellent though. Many people do not have cars because there are buses, metros, subways and trains. I currently walk to class and it takes me 20 to 30 minutes but I don’t mind and have found routes that keep me inside through the underground malls for a good bit of the walk.  

Another thing I should note about Helsinki, and Finland in general, is that it is expensive. Everything from food, clothes, home things and alcohol is more expensive. It is especially expensive for those of us outside the EU because 1 euro is about $1.40 America dollars. Luckily I had great orientation tutors who made it a point to show us where we could get what we needed cheaper. This also inspired a group of us who live in the exchange student housing of Domus Academica (which I found out is the best place to live and a major party spot) to go to Tallinn, Estonia this past weekend. 24 of us took a cruise ship two hours across the Baltic Sea to see the old historic town, which is their capitol, and stock up on cheaper goods. It seems to be a right of passage as an exchange student to take a boat to Tallinn and stock up on as much alcohol as you can carry. It was quite a sight to see so many people, mostly native Finns, with tote bags and pull-alongs to carry it back. This brings up this issue of Finland as a state controlling the price of alcohol, as well as many other things which is different from the American economy being controlled by the market. Just to give you an idea a beer here is normally 5 euros at a bar and 2.5 euros in a grocery store. That’s $7 and $3.5 for one drink! Now you can see why everyone goes to Estonia to stock up.

Before the trip to Estonia, and during it, I have been able to meet some amazing people from all over the world. I have met one other American but I don’t really see her. I spend a lot of time with a girl Maria, who like me is Finnish but doesn’t speak it. She speaks Swedish because she lives on the Island of Åland, which is owned by Finland but because of the historical Swedish ownership many places in Finland almost homogenically speak Swedish. It is the second national language. I also have had great conversations with a Political Science major from the Netherlands and have hung out a lot with a group of girls from Canada, a girl and guy from two different areas in the UK and eat lunch many times with a guy from Turkmenistan.

I am trying not to spend all of my time with exchange students but we have become a little family that looks after each other when we go out or need help daily. We have a common room called Ahalla in our building and it has become a gathering place that lets you meet all different people and cultures. To meet more Finnish natives I am enrolling as a language center assistant now in which I will tutor Finnish students trying to learn English for credit. I am hoping this improves my Finnish in return. I have also spent time with a Finn who invited me to get involved with their LGBQ organization. And today I applied for an internship with Finland Future Research Center so I’m praying something works out. I want to learn as much Finnish culture as I can.

I am off to meet more family this weekend. I will go to another part of Espoo to spend time with family on my grandpa’s side. I meet them at the airport when I arrived but we have still been using google translate to communicate so it will be a great day! 

Love from Helsinki <3

Here are some pictures, you can find me on facebook for more.

Helsinki Catherdral

Kappeli Resturant where Tarja took me, A beautiful glass design

Finland's first president, major historical figure

University library

Estonia

Leaving for Finland!

Tomorrow is the big day! I leave from Cleveland to Washington DC, make a stop in Copenhagen, Denmark, and then on to Helsinki, Finland, where some of my family will pick me up from the airport (most don’t speak English though). My second cousin Tarja (Tha-di-a) will then meet me at my apartment where she has brought a few things like sheets, cooking things, a hair dryer and wants to help me with anything she has extra that I can borrow. She has my keys and speaks fluent English. I think I will be spending a lot of time with her. I am very excited but also nervous. I have never lived in a big city or spent more than one day in one. I suspect that finding my way to classes will be my first major struggle. I will basically be starting over as a freshman! I think this will help me grow as a person though.

Some people may be wondering why I picked Finland in the first place. Many of you may have to look at a map to even know where it is. When I decided I wanted to study abroad (freshman year) I was set on going to Italy. I had a very romantic view of the country, and thought it would be a great place to spend some time. When having a conversation with someone who had already studied abroad, I was asked why I picked Italy. I stated my few reasons, but he did not seem convinced that this was the place for me. I was then asked why not Finland? After all I am 50% Finnish and have never been there. After a few days of reflecting I realized that studying abroad was not only a chance for me to see a new culture, but a chance for me to see a country that means so much to my family.

 In my house Finnish is spoken everyday by my mom and grandparents, but I cannot speak more than a few sentences. I spoke it when I was younger but after going to kindergarten, did not use it anymore. I have always wanted to speak it but have never put in the effort needed.  It has taken my grandmother (who is going to be 85) getting sick for me to truly realize how important it is for me to go. As resilient as my grandparents are to keep living and working, they are not going to be here forever and I only have so much time to learn their story and history. My grandma, Mumma as we call her which means grandma in Finnish, has a blood disease that has caused her body to quit producing blood. She is now going through chemo to trick her body into thinking it has cancer so that it starts producing again. She told me right before I left that only 40% of people live, I was again reminded of the limited time I had to get to Finland and get home. One specific goal I have is to find out if her farm is still standing and visit it. I want to learn the language and culture and continue that when I get home. My goal is to only speak Finnish to my grandparents and mom once I return.

Besides family reasons, I want to go to Finland because it has one of the best school systems in the world! Higher education is normally free, but since I am in an exchange program I had to pay. Finland is also one of the countries that during the economic crisis in 2008 stayed stable and was a lender to other EU countries. I am very interested in learning more about Finnish economics since I already know taxes are very high. I have researched some on current events but will continue this once I get there. I want to learn everything I can about Finland and its role in the world.

This is a brief introduction to my trip. It has been a very difficult road so far but I know it will be worth it. I hope you will continue reading. I feel I will have a lot to talk about as I experience a new chapter in my life. I don’t think I can go without briefly mentioning Catlin Yager. I was very sorry to hear about this tragedy. I did not know her very well but she was supposed to study in Russia and spend a weekend or so with me in Finland. My condolences to her family and everyone who knew her. 

I am happy to answer any questions about my experience and studying abroad in general.

Danie Chirdon