13. Dezember 2019
As the semester abroad approached and it was time to pack my suitcase, I was completely lost in the beginning. I didn't know what to pack and what was totally unnecessary, was I underestimating the weather and should pack warmer clothes or is what I already packed warm enough, what if I want to go out, how many jackets will I need. Questions over question. But I think in the end I packed the necessities and I was not missing too much. I could have used the space for some T-shirts for another...
11. Dezember 2019
One of the most beautiful wonders of natures is happening in Finland, mostly the north but on some rare occasions they find their way to the south of Finland. I have already seen them in the north of Norway, when I was working there and I can tell you, they are amazing. Here in Finland I had the pleasure to see them once very faded in the night sky but the were to fair to take a picture. When you have never seen them, you should consider going to Lapland, because up north it is more likely to...
10. Dezember 2019
As my last trip, before leaving Finland, Steffi and I decided to go to Åland. It is a autonomous state of Finland on an island between Turku and Stockholm. There is a ferry going from Turku over Mariehamn, which is the capital of Åland, to Stockholm. Form Turku to Mariehamn we payed about 24 € for both tickets, which is totally fine in my opinion. We stayed for one night in close to the city center and we had a plan what we wanted to see, but honestly we totally threw out the plan and just...
10. Dezember 2019
In front of the shoreline of Turku lays the amazing Archipelago Sea. An archipelago is an island group or island chain in the sea. The ones in front of Turku are said to be the largest archipelago in the world, but not everyone accepts that because they exist out of many smaller island. There are around 20.000 different Islands in the Turku archipelago. When we went to Åland, the ship went trough the little islands and we had a good look at some of them. It is really nice and there are many...
08. Dezember 2019
When we visited Tampere, Steffi and I also decided to have a look at the Christmas market there. It is very nice there, in front of the theater with all the lights and booths. They offer many handmade crafts. Nearly every stand has something else to offer from necklaces over woolen socks up to all kinds of food and Glögi is everything there. Something which was very weird for us was how similar it was to the German or Austrian Christmas markets. They even offered all sorts of German Christmas...
08. Dezember 2019
Tampere was on Steffis and my list from the beginning of the exchange semester. Now we finally made it to the 3rd largest city in Finland. Tampere was founded in 1779 by Gustav III of Sweden and is has now about 240.000 inhabitants and according to the Fins it is the most loved residential and tourism city in Finland. Around 1 million travelers visit the city each year and it is known as a city of technology. It is surrounded by lakes and they through the city goes the Tammerkoski rapids...
07. Dezember 2019
When I arrived in Turku in August, the weather was warm and there was a lot of sunshine. Coming closer to the end of my winter semester here, the weather has changed quite a bit. After the sunny days were over the wind started to become stronger and with the wind came the cold. In the end of September I already started wearing my warmer jackets, not the winter jacket yet, but a warm one. With the beginning of October came the cold air. Between 1° and -3° C were quite normal during that time...
07. Dezember 2019
Some of the things we learned about here in Finland, where the Moomins. They are comic characters created by Tove Jansson and are a combination of hippo and troll. They life somewhere in Finland in the Moominvalley in a lighthouse or a theater. There are comics, books and movies about them and when you walk the streets in Turku you see some sort of Moomin merchandise on every corner. The were first published in Swedish, because Tove Jansson is a Swedish speaking Fin. The original comic and...
07. Dezember 2019
Every weekend beginning from the weekend of the 1st December is Christmas market in Turku, Many people gather around and even when it is bad weather they go to there. I know about two, one is across the street of the Cathedral, where by the way also one of the oldest electricity lit Christmas trees is and one is at the market square in the center of the city. I don't know what I am doing wrong but for some reason the Christmas market at market square is always closed or closing when I arrive...