Tampere

During my stay in Finland, I also went to visit my host families and friends in Tampere. Emilia, my host sister, and I took the bus together from Helsinki. Our (host) dad came to pick us up at the bus station. We went straight to the school in Ylöjärvi where our little sister Milla's wanhat/prom was going to take place.

Emilia and I had our wanhat (read more about it here) together two years ago, so we had lots of flashbacks and fangirling moments. It was nice to notice that I actually remembered most of the steps, the wiener waltz is forever engraved in my memory, and this year's 'oma tanssi' (the students' own choreography) is too. Everyone, especially Milla of course, looked so elegant and fancy! I loved being able to experience the wanhat again, but from a different point of view and without my feet hating me. I also took the opportunity to catch up with some of my former teachers and friends.

On Friday and Saturday, I took some time to walk around in Tampere, take pictures, do some shopping - I finally bought a Muumin book! - and feel nostalgic. I also visited an exhibition with my friend Samuli, you can read all about it here. And of course, I took time to catch up with all the lovely animals, and (crazy) host siblings. 

Helsinki

Hello everyone!

As most of you know, I went back to Finland recently. This time, I took the plane to Helsinki instead of Tampere which gave me the opportunity to visit Finland's capital for a bit.

I arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, Emilia, my host sister, was so sweet to pick me up from the airport. We then went to the city where I met my friend Sofia, who was my AFS councillor while I was on exchange. Sofia and I walked around in the city as the sun was setting. The city and the sky were beautiful, it was a very good day to take pictures!

In the evening, Emilia, my host sister, and I went out to meet some friends. We went to the Kaisla Beer Room where I saw a great opportunity to promote the Belgian culture. It's always fun to share something from your home country while you're visiting your host country! 

The next morning, I went to university with Emilia! She had a Finnish-German translation class and I thought I'd see how it all works there. I noticed the atmosphere is much more relaxed, and the groups are smaller, which, according to the teacher, gives more opportunity to make interesting exercises and not only focus on the theory. 

Emilia and I then took the bus to Tampere after class. On Sunday afternoon I was back in Helsinki though, and I took some time before my flight to walk around the city again, in daylight this time, and to have a coffee with my host brother, Juhani.