Helsinki is a really sweet place. I am really loving the architecture! I will try to post pictures soon, but here is an update of all the activities that I have been doing in Helsinki.
***I will try to add my own photos to this post as soon as I have time! But for now, enjoy the haphazard internet photos!***
Day 1: Arrival - "Welcome to Helsinki"
I took a bus to the Central Metro Station. The architecture is just so cool and it reminds me of my days in Grand Central in New York City as a kid. According to the directions, I had to find a place called Stockman's, a department store that is kind of like the Finnish Macy's.
The tram ride to my hostel wasn't so bad. I never rode a tram before and it reminded me of Los Angeles in the 1940's and their cool trams things. Okay, I am not sure of the name, but they looked similiar. If you played L.A. Noire, you would know what I am talking about. (Do it.)
I found the main campus building. Woah, it is situated in such a beautiful, rich, historic part of Helsinki. 
We have to grab our Helsinki Summer School materials in this building and the cool thing is, my classroom is also in this building. I found out later that many students in the summer school have to take the bus to their classrooms. It is about a fifteen minute walk from my hostel, but I have it good.
After registering and all that fun jazz, I walked back to the hostel. I met my roommate, Hilal. She is from Turkey. She travels a lot like me so we have fun stories to share. And, we are both really funny! We get along pretty great! Afterwards, we took a nap. I woke up around 10pm, took a shower, went back to bed. Jet lagged, as usual.
Day 2: August 7, 2012. Opening Ceremony and Party. Gosh I am pretty awkward.
I am rather proud of myself for waking up wickedly early. As members of the Summer School staying in Eurohostel, we have free breakfast vouchers. Me and free food = love. I sat near the TV so I can see what was going on with the Olympics. A student from Asia was also watching the Olympic coverage and I nearly squealed with I saw Michael Phelps. I told her that I've been a fan of him since I was 12. I kind of grew up with him. She told me, "He's hot."
More people came to the table. A man from Japan, I believe and lady from Poland. The Polish lady told me I had a charming accent. Who knew I had an accent!
After breakfast, I decided to go find the computer labs and update my loved ones (AKA Brian) about what was going on. We had a nice talk. Talking to him makes me miss him, but the program is going by so fast I will see him in no time.
The opening ceremony went by quickly. We had to stand up by countries. Turns out, there are only about five-ish Americans in the whole program of about 400. It was cool seeing the many countries being represented too! A notable Finnish beatboxer came to entertain us. I recorded the whole thing on my phone. He beatboxed tunes from Mario!
There was a reception afterwords and my Hilal and I enjoyed the free food. There was free wine and I think red wine is the wine that is good for me, so I took some of that. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the world, but if it was good for me, I didn't see any harm. I chatted with TONS of people from the program. Two guys from England, two German fellows, one dude from Spain (who looked a lot like a guy from my college), Bart, from Belguim (his name was easy to remember...common...Bart), and a fellow American who is half Finnish.
The two guys from England actually had different accents. One studies at Cambridge (so jealous) and the other actually is studying in Helsinki. Gareth, the student from the University of Cambridge had a similar story to mines. He applied to different internships but did not get into any of them. Applied here and now, he's here! Bart from Belguim studies in Boston College and is studying Pre-Med. He can speak English, Dutch, and Spanish. The guy from Spain (I am bad with names) asked me about different bars in New York and I gave him the worst answer ever since I did not know any bars, I only pass by them while I walk. I do remember a gay bar that was near my grandma's house, but I don't think that helped him... The one German fellow looked a lot like Comic book guy from the Simpsons. And the other German guy and I were talking about music. He was planning to go to the Flow Festival and is excited to see Lykke Li. I wanted to go, but for 70 euros for one day, I can just stick to my iPod for now. The fellow American who is half Finnish is half way done with L.A. Noire. He has a really cool story. He was born in London, raised in Ohio and his mom is from Finland. Yet, his parents met in Moscow! He was really outgoing and he told me a lot of cheap places to eat.
The Summer School organized a get-to-get-her at a local bar near the Central Station at 9pm. We decided to meet at the third floor at the Eurohostel and walk together as a group. We left the hostel at 10pm because we were just talking about our schooling and stuff. The one English guy who is studying in Finland told me that life is good as a Finnish student. Schooling here is inexpensive and you get massive discounts too. He told me that people prefer to be a student than just a working class hero in Finland.
We arrived at the bar and already I was a little shocked. Granted, I am not much of a club person so I felt very out of place. I didn't bring any money with me either so I didn't drink, which I was okay with. Looking at the drunk people was my form of entertainment. I also saw a ten cent euro on the floor. You guessed it. I picked it up!
Random drunk people kept on coming up to me. I am pretty awkward. Here is two conversations.
Guy 1: So how are you liking Helsinki?
Me: It's great!
Guy 1: What are you planning on doing?
Me: Exploring, you know, typical stuff.
Guy 1: You should go to the tourtament. I'll be there.
Me: Yeah, I plan on going since I have nothing else to do.
Guy 1: Yeah.
I don't forget the rest of the conversation considering it was loud and it was just freakish in how close he was whispering.
Guy 2: So what's your name?
Me: Emmy
Guy 2: Where are you from?
Me: America
Guy 2: Oh...the best country in the world.
Me: Um... where are you from?
Guy 2: Ethiopia
Me: Oh cool. I've always wanted to go to Africa
Guy 2 stumbles away and near stumbles on me when he passes by me again.
I couldn't handle the party and the funny dancing so I decided to leave. Bart and I were talking about random languages and school life.
I went to bed easily considering I was away from all that noise...and body odor.
Day 3: August 8, 2012. Start of Class and Another Panic Attack
My class is about 9 people. It went by quickly because we basically had questions across the room and had to write about our views on participation and active listening and all that jazz about the world. Chile, Finland/Australia, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Ukraine, and the Netherlands are the countries that are represented in my class. I could tell it is already going to be a good class because we get along. Our teacher loves participation and I love it too.
Eating lunch with my classmates was fun. Saana, the student from both Australia and Finland goes to the University of Helsinki so she was telling me about how to get food from the cafeteria. We ate outside and just talked about our lives as students.
Our teacher assigned us into groups so we were in the computer lab working on our country's presentation. We had to choose a news story in where there was a majority and a minority. I finished my slideshow because I wanted to get it over and done with.
Went back to the hostel and took a nap before the Design City Tour.
I met another student, Gelly from Greece. We walked together and she told me that she is studying in Helsinki, getting her masters. I told her this was my first time in Europe and she told me about where I should travel next. She told me she visited her parents in Washington D.C. and she was like, "It was an alright place. Don't get me wrong, it was nice." I told her I got engaged at the Lincoln Memorial. DC has a great place in my heart and gosh thinking about it makes me miss Georgetown Cupcake...
The tour was mostly on bus. We traveled to a lot of cool design places, saw some pretty upscale aparments in the suburb of Helsinki. Kind of wished it was a walking tour considering that would force me to wake up. I ended up falling asleep during some parts of the tour since I was hella tired.
There were a few cases where we went outside and took photos. I lost my group because I got confused and saw another group, thinking it was my group. Whoops. I had a mini panic attack because I saw the bus leave and I could make out that there was no one in the bus, except the driver. I ran after the bus and I found it parked near a store. I went inside and whew - found my group.
After the tour, I ate my ramen, spoke to Gelly and Athanasios and went to bed.
Day 4: August 9, 2012. My bad sense of direction brought me to the Mölkky Tourtament
Class went quick. The presentations were all pretty long and mine was such a hot topic - Gun Control in the US, I think I was up there for about half an hour answering questions and listening to what others had to say on the topic.
I went to the computer lab after class and did my other paper that is due next week. Afterwards, I tried finding the cafe where summer school students get a discount. I seriously could not find it! I found Gareth walking towards the station and told me that the tourtmanent was today. I thought it was on Sunday. He told me everyone was taking the tram to the tourtament and decided, "Eh" and told him I'll think about it. Then I proceeded to try to find the freaking cafe. I failed. I saw Helai and decided, "What the hell?" and went to the tourtment.
My team consisted of this a guy from Austria and a man from China. Our team name was "Orange Peel" because I was eating an orange.
We ended up winning our second game with me scoring! So much fun! I will explain more about this game later!
Day 5: August 10, 2012. All I practically did was take pictures
After class, I went around Helsinki. Explored some shops. Way too expensive. And finally found the cafe that I spent more than an hour the other day looking. It was a nice shop. A tiny cup of coffee is at a discounted price of 2 euros and I ended up treating myself to some blueberry cake. So so delicious! I ended up taking more photos of Helsinki, which I will try to post soon!
Day 6: Today. Sauna. Sleep.
I tried the sauna in the morning. The morning sauna is included with the price of the room. It was really hot, obviously, but an interesting experience. I will try to experience it tomorrow as well.
I also found out about Marty. If you know what this means, great. If not, don't worry about it. I ended up taking a nap because of it.
Woke up. Walked to the computer lab. Now I am here.
All this writing makes me hungry for more ramen.
Until next time,
Orange Peel. Winning Team.
***I will try to add my own photos to this post as soon as I have time! But for now, enjoy the haphazard internet photos!***
Day 1: Arrival - "Welcome to Helsinki"
The first thing I did when I arrived in Helsinki was change my poor dollars to euros. Goodbye Andrew Jackson - you weren't that cool anyways.
I took a bus to the Central Metro Station. The architecture is just so cool and it reminds me of my days in Grand Central in New York City as a kid. According to the directions, I had to find a place called Stockman's, a department store that is kind of like the Finnish Macy's.The tram ride to my hostel wasn't so bad. I never rode a tram before and it reminded me of Los Angeles in the 1940's and their cool trams things. Okay, I am not sure of the name, but they looked similiar. If you played L.A. Noire, you would know what I am talking about. (Do it.)
I arrived in EuroHostel in record time. My room, on the second floor, again, reminded me of my dorm at college. Second floor. The third number was a 3, oh the memories. Anywho, my room was actually being cleaned up and the windows were being fixed, thus, unlivable at the time. Therefore, I walked to the University of Helsinki's campus to obtain all the fun Helsinki Summer School information. I got lost on my walk - you can't blame me, I'm a newb here.
I found a nice Finnish lady and asked her where the college was. She noticed my "accent" and gave me directions. Look for the black church, she told me. Once she was done giving me directions, she patted my shoulder and said, "Welcome to Helsinki."
I continued my journey. Turns out, the black church is actually brown because another man told me to look for the black church as well. Heck, the brick is gorgeous and I plan on visiting that church while I am here.
 |
| Isn't it gorgeous? |
We have to grab our Helsinki Summer School materials in this building and the cool thing is, my classroom is also in this building. I found out later that many students in the summer school have to take the bus to their classrooms. It is about a fifteen minute walk from my hostel, but I have it good.After registering and all that fun jazz, I walked back to the hostel. I met my roommate, Hilal. She is from Turkey. She travels a lot like me so we have fun stories to share. And, we are both really funny! We get along pretty great! Afterwards, we took a nap. I woke up around 10pm, took a shower, went back to bed. Jet lagged, as usual.
Day 2: August 7, 2012. Opening Ceremony and Party. Gosh I am pretty awkward.
I am rather proud of myself for waking up wickedly early. As members of the Summer School staying in Eurohostel, we have free breakfast vouchers. Me and free food = love. I sat near the TV so I can see what was going on with the Olympics. A student from Asia was also watching the Olympic coverage and I nearly squealed with I saw Michael Phelps. I told her that I've been a fan of him since I was 12. I kind of grew up with him. She told me, "He's hot."
More people came to the table. A man from Japan, I believe and lady from Poland. The Polish lady told me I had a charming accent. Who knew I had an accent!
After breakfast, I decided to go find the computer labs and update my loved ones (AKA Brian) about what was going on. We had a nice talk. Talking to him makes me miss him, but the program is going by so fast I will see him in no time.
The opening ceremony went by quickly. We had to stand up by countries. Turns out, there are only about five-ish Americans in the whole program of about 400. It was cool seeing the many countries being represented too! A notable Finnish beatboxer came to entertain us. I recorded the whole thing on my phone. He beatboxed tunes from Mario!
There was a reception afterwords and my Hilal and I enjoyed the free food. There was free wine and I think red wine is the wine that is good for me, so I took some of that. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the world, but if it was good for me, I didn't see any harm. I chatted with TONS of people from the program. Two guys from England, two German fellows, one dude from Spain (who looked a lot like a guy from my college), Bart, from Belguim (his name was easy to remember...common...Bart), and a fellow American who is half Finnish.
The two guys from England actually had different accents. One studies at Cambridge (so jealous) and the other actually is studying in Helsinki. Gareth, the student from the University of Cambridge had a similar story to mines. He applied to different internships but did not get into any of them. Applied here and now, he's here! Bart from Belguim studies in Boston College and is studying Pre-Med. He can speak English, Dutch, and Spanish. The guy from Spain (I am bad with names) asked me about different bars in New York and I gave him the worst answer ever since I did not know any bars, I only pass by them while I walk. I do remember a gay bar that was near my grandma's house, but I don't think that helped him... The one German fellow looked a lot like Comic book guy from the Simpsons. And the other German guy and I were talking about music. He was planning to go to the Flow Festival and is excited to see Lykke Li. I wanted to go, but for 70 euros for one day, I can just stick to my iPod for now. The fellow American who is half Finnish is half way done with L.A. Noire. He has a really cool story. He was born in London, raised in Ohio and his mom is from Finland. Yet, his parents met in Moscow! He was really outgoing and he told me a lot of cheap places to eat.
The Summer School organized a get-to-get-her at a local bar near the Central Station at 9pm. We decided to meet at the third floor at the Eurohostel and walk together as a group. We left the hostel at 10pm because we were just talking about our schooling and stuff. The one English guy who is studying in Finland told me that life is good as a Finnish student. Schooling here is inexpensive and you get massive discounts too. He told me that people prefer to be a student than just a working class hero in Finland.
We arrived at the bar and already I was a little shocked. Granted, I am not much of a club person so I felt very out of place. I didn't bring any money with me either so I didn't drink, which I was okay with. Looking at the drunk people was my form of entertainment. I also saw a ten cent euro on the floor. You guessed it. I picked it up!
Random drunk people kept on coming up to me. I am pretty awkward. Here is two conversations.
Guy 1: So how are you liking Helsinki?
Me: It's great!
Guy 1: What are you planning on doing?
Me: Exploring, you know, typical stuff.
Guy 1: You should go to the tourtament. I'll be there.
Me: Yeah, I plan on going since I have nothing else to do.
Guy 1: Yeah.
I don't forget the rest of the conversation considering it was loud and it was just freakish in how close he was whispering.
Guy 2: So what's your name?
Me: Emmy
Guy 2: Where are you from?
Me: America
Guy 2: Oh...the best country in the world.
Me: Um... where are you from?
Guy 2: Ethiopia
Me: Oh cool. I've always wanted to go to Africa
Guy 2 stumbles away and near stumbles on me when he passes by me again.
I couldn't handle the party and the funny dancing so I decided to leave. Bart and I were talking about random languages and school life.
I went to bed easily considering I was away from all that noise...and body odor.
Day 3: August 8, 2012. Start of Class and Another Panic Attack
My class is about 9 people. It went by quickly because we basically had questions across the room and had to write about our views on participation and active listening and all that jazz about the world. Chile, Finland/Australia, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Ukraine, and the Netherlands are the countries that are represented in my class. I could tell it is already going to be a good class because we get along. Our teacher loves participation and I love it too.
Eating lunch with my classmates was fun. Saana, the student from both Australia and Finland goes to the University of Helsinki so she was telling me about how to get food from the cafeteria. We ate outside and just talked about our lives as students.
Our teacher assigned us into groups so we were in the computer lab working on our country's presentation. We had to choose a news story in where there was a majority and a minority. I finished my slideshow because I wanted to get it over and done with.
Went back to the hostel and took a nap before the Design City Tour.
I met another student, Gelly from Greece. We walked together and she told me that she is studying in Helsinki, getting her masters. I told her this was my first time in Europe and she told me about where I should travel next. She told me she visited her parents in Washington D.C. and she was like, "It was an alright place. Don't get me wrong, it was nice." I told her I got engaged at the Lincoln Memorial. DC has a great place in my heart and gosh thinking about it makes me miss Georgetown Cupcake...
The tour was mostly on bus. We traveled to a lot of cool design places, saw some pretty upscale aparments in the suburb of Helsinki. Kind of wished it was a walking tour considering that would force me to wake up. I ended up falling asleep during some parts of the tour since I was hella tired.
There were a few cases where we went outside and took photos. I lost my group because I got confused and saw another group, thinking it was my group. Whoops. I had a mini panic attack because I saw the bus leave and I could make out that there was no one in the bus, except the driver. I ran after the bus and I found it parked near a store. I went inside and whew - found my group.
After the tour, I ate my ramen, spoke to Gelly and Athanasios and went to bed.
Day 4: August 9, 2012. My bad sense of direction brought me to the Mölkky Tourtament
Class went quick. The presentations were all pretty long and mine was such a hot topic - Gun Control in the US, I think I was up there for about half an hour answering questions and listening to what others had to say on the topic.
I went to the computer lab after class and did my other paper that is due next week. Afterwards, I tried finding the cafe where summer school students get a discount. I seriously could not find it! I found Gareth walking towards the station and told me that the tourtmanent was today. I thought it was on Sunday. He told me everyone was taking the tram to the tourtament and decided, "Eh" and told him I'll think about it. Then I proceeded to try to find the freaking cafe. I failed. I saw Helai and decided, "What the hell?" and went to the tourtment.
My team consisted of this a guy from Austria and a man from China. Our team name was "Orange Peel" because I was eating an orange.
We ended up winning our second game with me scoring! So much fun! I will explain more about this game later!
Day 5: August 10, 2012. All I practically did was take pictures
After class, I went around Helsinki. Explored some shops. Way too expensive. And finally found the cafe that I spent more than an hour the other day looking. It was a nice shop. A tiny cup of coffee is at a discounted price of 2 euros and I ended up treating myself to some blueberry cake. So so delicious! I ended up taking more photos of Helsinki, which I will try to post soon!
Day 6: Today. Sauna. Sleep.
I tried the sauna in the morning. The morning sauna is included with the price of the room. It was really hot, obviously, but an interesting experience. I will try to experience it tomorrow as well.
I also found out about Marty. If you know what this means, great. If not, don't worry about it. I ended up taking a nap because of it.
Woke up. Walked to the computer lab. Now I am here.
All this writing makes me hungry for more ramen.
Until next time,
Orange Peel. Winning Team.
