I travelled this week and experienced more of the Finnish and other cultures. Firstly, my sister and her boyfriend arrived in Helsinki at the weekend where I met them to explore the city. They had flown to Tallinn and ferried it over to Helsinki, informing me that the Baltic Sea was frozen with ice during the entire journey. I was not overly surprised by this as I have adapted to this as a normal sight because I live in Finland, therefore it was not as exciting for me!
We visited the Suomenlinna Island (a fifteen minute ferry journey from Helsinki). Again, the sea was covered in ice and the boat was breaking through it with ease. The Suomenlinna Island appeared to be a quaint village with 850 residents on the Island. As we walked around the Fortress I saw that it was a beautiful place, however could not believe that people lived there as it seems a remote environment.
In addition to this I attended an organised event through University to cook and eat some traditional Finnish food. Although I have tasted some Finnish food in my placement, this was a good opportunity to experience and learn new recipes. Finnish trainee chef students demonstrated the recipes and I made Pulla – a Finnish Sweet Bun, Blueberry Pie, Karelian Pastry and Cinnamon Cookies; the food was delicious. The majority of the Finnish students were fluent in English; however some were not so good and tended to shy away from talking. This is different to back in Northern Ireland as people tend to be more outgoing and enjoy talking, although I can understand that it may be difficult to have the confidence to speak a second language without fluency.
I also attended an event organised by exchange students in my housing complex – an International Dinner. Everyone brought some home-made food of their home country for others to try and there was a nice atmosphere to enjoy discussions about the foods on offer. I tried German and Spanish food and both were very nice.
Finally – the weather in Finland is gradually changing, and for me it is a slow yet welcoming transition to the spring season. Finn’s have informed me that spring usually arrives earlier than April, however due to an extremely cold winter it has taken longer to change. I am looking forward to the change in weather as I would like to pack away my winter clothes and enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather!
No comments:
Post a Comment