First Footsteps in Finland

August 2010.

How time flies, its been exactly a year since I first flew into Europe. First to Frankfurt, then to Munich and on to Helsinki. It was late at night when I first arrived but the feeling was indescribable - those first footsteps on the ground gave me such joy, and never would I have imagined that the following 4-5 months would have been such a magical journey!

Staying overseas wasn't a new experience for me, and every stay was an experience that would not be forgotten. Still I wasn't expecting this Helsinki exchange to be the same; you guys changed it all.

Staying in Helsinki was all about making new friends, from the first people I met in Hanken to the neighbors at Kamppi Hoas. From going to the short orientation program, deciding what classes we would be taking, to getting to know more people at the welcome dinner, it was all a rather reserved beginning.

Classes were fun. Not as stressful as the education scene in Singapore, although we had heck a lot of reading and work to finish for Brand Management! We still had our fun in class and also away from the city when we went for a weekend at a countryside cottage. The partying & the games helped us to all open up and friendships started to blossom. Erasmus started getting along fine since then, we went for class, had lunch in the cafeteria together and sometimes even evening classes that ended late such at Intercultural Communications! 

Staying near school had its perks. It meant having the luxury of sleeping in, walking in the snow to school, and having a separate group of friends to rely on. It was great to have neighbors sharing meals and conversations, every once in awhile we would also book a larger room and have potluck international dinner! It was always a fun time sharing food and culture. Life was refreshing - traveling to Hakaniemi to go grocery shopping, visiting the Rock church with Singaporean friends from HSE, every week we had to hand in assignments, but every week we would have found time to do something interesting.

We went for our Stockholm trip together, treating ourselves to a welcome beer with the Norwegian guys, having a splendid buffet dinner before singing, drinking and partying all night! The partying resulted in really funny scenes, with some people lying around like dead corpses and some finding it hard to walk up the stairs, thankfully everyone was fresh and excited once we arrived there! Stockholm gave us time to shop around, explore and to have fun in a different country and boy it didn't disappoint us! At the end of our trip, we partied all the way back to Helsinki.

Time flies. All the memories are still so fresh in my mind, the feeling of being together in Lapland with a warm fire and wonderful snow outside. However the sadness also fills me as I know I will never be able to relive the whole experience and i'm so jealous of those who had stayed on for another semester.

One thing I do know, those 4 months of my life will forever be sketched into my memories because of the footprints that each and everyone of you have left in my life. Its not about the places you go or the sites you visit because without you all, this Finland exchange would have been very much different.

Its been a year but it still feels like yesterday! #travel #Finland #helsinki #1yearanniversary #missingyouall