Laskiainen

There is something like a “Pancake Day” in the Catholic Church in spring, before the beginning of the lent. In Finland this day has nowadays also the significance of Shrove Tuesday. On the 8th of March people had been sledging down hills and eating those famous Laskiaspulla.

“Laskiaissunnuntai” which means Carneval Sunday and “ruusumaanantai” which means Mardi Gras or in our country more known as Rose Monday are the most important days of Carnival after the period of lent and Easter.

In Turku there was also an event called “Laskiainen” where everyone could participate and go sledging down a hill. Sadly I could not take part because I was travelling this day. But the week before the Pikkulaskiainen took place which was organised by students from the Turku University. Different groups of students from all over Finland and from different subjects and universities built their own sledge and went down the hill with this sledge. It was extremely funny watching them sledging down the hill. Sometimes the sledges did not work properly and the students fell off their sledges.

Pikkulaskiainen

As I already mentioned above, during this period of time, people would bake this traditional food called “Laskiaspulla” which looks like a cruller and has whipped cream and jam in it. The dough is the same as used for the Finnish cinnamon rolls. We also enjoyed this kind of pastry at Milja’s place as she is a very good baker and made them for us. I could even helped her filling the rolls with jam and cream. Mmmh...They were really delicious.

Laskiaspulla

The rolls in the oven - getting ready to be filled afterwards!

Strawberry jam and cream



Finnish baking - Cinnamon rolls

We once stayed at one of Sarah’s and Aimée’s tutors’ apartment and tried to do some traditional finnish backing.

They told us that one of the most traditional finnish pastries are the cinnamon rolls, called "Korvapuusti" in finnish.

Cinnamon rolls

Milja gave some instructions how to do them and I was given the task to cut the big roll into small pieces. During this baking afternoon I had a lot of fun and it was also very interesting to get to know some finnish food. Moreover, I am now able to do them on my own as they are very easy to make.

 

 

Some background about the cinnamon rolls:

The cinnamon rolls name "korvapuusti" can be translated as "slapped ears" but I did not find any reason why they are called like this. In the Sweden they have those rolls too. The main difference between the rolls in Sweden and the ones in Finland is the difference in the shape. In Finland you would dip in your finger in the middle of the roll when it is on the griddle. The cinnamon rolls are flavoured with cardamom spice, the same spice as used in the pulla dough which is another typical finnish pastry. Cinnamon rolls are a baked good that I have seen in nearly every café and bakery around Turku. That is why it seems obvious that you have to enjoy them with a cup of coffee or tea or you can also go for a glas of milk instead. Those traditional finnish cinnamon rolls tasted extremely delicious. If you will once come to Finland you should definitely try them. 

 

The weather in Finland

When coming to Finland I expected it to be very cold and snowy but I was quite surprised that the weather is nothing like I thought it to be. The coldest day I experienced was on Monday the 5^th of January with a temperature of about -16°C. I really like it if it is snowing in Turku because the city looks so much brighter then. There is always some snow here but it also melts away very quickly and after that gets very slippery and icy.

Moreover, I found out that Finland is so much different if the sun is shining. In January the sky was extremely cloudy and dark but in February the weather got nicer and the sun came out again. I could clearly feel the difference in the temperature due to the fact that even though it is quite warm (for example +1°C) there is always a wind rushing through the city and giving you a cold feeling.

It is unbelievable how quick the hours of lightness change during this time of period. When I arrived in Finland there was daylight from around 10am to 3.30pm. In February the amount of daylight during the day increased extremely which means the sun is out from approximately 8am to 5pm. I was told that the daylight stays 5 more minutes every day and also those minutes are increasing and it is slightly getting lighter and brighter every day.

One of the most impressing things about that is that you can even feel this change in the mood of the finnish people. They seem to be so much happier and are no more staying in their houses the whole day but rather going out and enjoying the sun.

Helsinki

On the 9^th of January we started off for our first trip to the capital city of Finland, Helsinki. Sadly the sky was cloudy and it was quite cold. That’s why we decided to stay more inside the buildings and visit some museums and churches. We explored the city which was slightly bigger than Turku seeing sights like the National History Museum of Finland, the Senate Square with the monument to Alexander II who was the czar of Russia and Finland for some time and the huge steps that led up to the Lutheran Cathedral. I was impressed that there is a market hall and market place in every city because at home there would just be a market place. The market halls in Finland look very nice and also the food seems to be in high quality. 

Uspenski-Cathedral

market hall - sweets and pralinés

Lutheran Cathedral

market hall - snow men

The next day the five of us decided to take the ferry to Suomenlinna Island. The six little Islands are connected by a great sea fortress that is now a world heritage site. I really enjoyed travelling together and talking to each other during a short break in a nice café shown on the picture below. There I could limber myself up again. Those two days had been a wonderful time together with my Swiss and new Northern Irish friends. I am sure I will visit Helsinki again as it is such a short journey from Turku and a perfect city to do shopping as well.

Ferry to Suomenlinna

Exploring group - the five of us :)

Little islands on the way to Suomenlinna

Café on the Island

The orientation day and cooking evening

On the orientation day on Monday 5^th of January I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people from different countries, for example Russian, French, Northern Irish, British, German, Swiss, Canadian, Austrian and of course Finnish students.  Never before I had experienced so many different cultures and experiences and I was highly interested in the talks I had with those people. I would really like to learn a bit more about the culture of Finland and countries of other exchange students. That is why I really appreciated the possibility to get a Finnish tutor and also to take part in the friendship programme where you meet someone from Finland.

Having met three Northern Irish girls at the orientation who are also studying Social Services, we decided to gather for a cooking evening at our place and organise some trips while being in Finland. It was very interesting to chat and learn more about the Irish culture. 

dinner with Emma, Aimée, Sarah, Marion and me

Moreover we had some Pasta and the famous Glögg which I have been told to be a traditional winter drink in Finland. The Glögg is a non-alcoholic fruit drink which you heat up to drink. It tastes similar to the "Glühwein" but is a little bit more sweet and contains no alcohol. This evening we also managed to book our first trip to Helsinki with the Onnibus.

Glögg

Travelling around the area - long distance trains and buses

As I told in one of the posts below I am planning to do some travelling in Finland with the Student Card Certificate but when I planned my arrival at Turku I was also told about the Onnibus where you can get tickets for 1 to 15 Euros to get from Helsinki to Turku when booking in advance.

This offer is very cheap and it will only take you 2 hours to travel to one of those places. Moreover, the Onnibus has free wifi connection and the buses run approximately every 1-2 hours from the Hotel Caribia near the Student Village. That is why I already decided to go to Helsinki with some friends at the second weekend we were staying in Finland. But more about the travel destination “Helsinki” in one of the following blogs. There is more to come.

When I travelled to Stockholm in Sweden I took the ferry from Helsinki. The price for this trip was 34 euros (from Helsinki to Stockholm and back). My friends and I stayed there in a cabin for those two nights we have been travelling. The ferry we took was called viking line. We have already planned another trip to Tallinn by ferry during the winter break which I am really looking forward to.

Travelling around the area - bus cards and prices

The monthly bus card is 36 Euros and with this card you can travel all around Turku and even take the night buses during the weekend. 

By waving to the bus driver when standing at a bus stop you show him/her that you want to get on the bus. If you don't do so the bus just passes and you are wondering why the bus hasn't stopped. I am glad, I had been informed about this tradition before and so always got onto the bus.

I even found out that the card cover is reflective to make you be seen by the bus driver in the evening as well. Evertime you get on the bus you have to show your bus card.

monthly bus card

back side - card cover

I think I will take the opportunity to get to other cities as well and travel to Tampere, Rauma and other cities in Finland by bus. At the orientation we were informed that with the Student Card Certificate which is about 8€ we get up to 50% reduction on long-distance trains and busses.

Travelling around the area - local buses

To get to IKEA the next days I tried to take the local busses for the first time which turned out to be not that easy as I thought it to be. I luckily soon found out that there is an online trip planner called “Brahe” (http://reittiopas.turku.fi/en/) on the internet where I could look up the different busses and connections.

But although I knew where to go to I didn’t know at which bus stop to get out. In the beginning I counted the bus stops shown on the map of the online trip planner and knew then whether to get out or not. I could never be completely sure if I got the right one because I did not know what the stop was called. The following days I assumed that the names of the bus stops are written on the yellow signs at the bus stop and even figured out that each bus stop has a different number. This made it a lot easier to travel around and I started to get to know the finnish way of taking a bus. All my doubts disappeared when having taken the bus for several times and I even started to appreciate the bus connections here in Turku.

Unlike at home the buses from Varissuo to the city centre leave every 5 minutes during the week and at weekends the buses run every 10 minutes. This turned out to be something completely different for me as the buses at home only leave every half an hour.

My apartment

For my stay in Finland I decided to rent a room in a 3 room shared apartment through TYS. TYS (Turun Ylioppilaskyläsäätiö) is an organisation which offers different apartments all over Turku. Another possibility to live in Turku would be the Retrodorm which is a student house, and as well the Student Village apartments where you have your own room (bathroom included) and share the kitchen with other people living at the same floor.

To get an apartment I already had to apply in November even though the TYS has to reserve some apartments for exchange students. On December I got an answer that I can move into a 2 room shared apartment at Aamurusko.

I was really excited about my stay at the apartment because this is the first time I am living in a proper apartment on my own, actually together with a friend.

My apartment has 3 different rooms: my room, my flatmates room, the kitchen and a small hallway. The monthly rent for this apartment is 305 Euros and there is furniture equipment already included in the price. I really appreciated the offer of getting an apartment offered by TYS even though it was quite far away from the city centre.

The Finnish language and shopping

The next day I decided to explore the surroundings of Varissuo and tried to get some food in the shop. While being here I recognized that there are 3 big grocery shops in Turku, the K-market and the S-Market which are about 3-5 minutes away from our apartment and the Lidl in or on the way to the city centre. Although I have heard that groceries are pretty much expensive I found out that some of them are even the same price as they are at home and most of them are just a tiny bit more expensive and like the same compaired to Switzerland where I am studying. The ones I found out to be much more expensive were fruits, vegetables and alcohol.

Varissuo, Turku

I faced the next challenge when searching for some washing powder in the shop because everything used to be written in Finnish and normally also in Swedish. For me it was extremely difficult to know what any of these Finnish words could mean because the Finnish language has no similarity with any of the languages I have known (German, English, Italian, French). While reading the Swedish description of the food I recognized that some of those words are easier to understand than in Finnish. Reading the description in Swedish is how I managed to buy food in the shop.

Some useful finish words are:

Kiitos               =    thank you

Hei or Moi        =    Hello

Kyllä                =    Yes

Ei                    =    No

En ymmärrä     =    I don't understand.

When I still hadn't understood anything I tried to speak in English. Most of the Finnish and especially the Young are able to communicate in English.

I experienced this when I needed to know the right direction to the bus office. I therefore asked an elderly woman who tried to explain it to me in English. She was giving her best searching for the right English words and in the end indeed said she will walk there with me and show me the place even though she was heading to a completely different direction. 

I really appreciated this willingness to help and thought of my grandmother in Austria who wouldn't be able to explain any directions in English as well. It was so kind of here to help me.

Arrival in Finland and finding my way in Turku

It was the 2^nd of January when I left home to start my adventures in Finland and take my flight to Helsinki. On the one hand, I knew this was certainly going to be a great time I will never forget, but on the other hand, I was also nervous as I had to say goodbye to family and friends and start finding my feet in Turku. I was now going to stay in Finland for 5 months and studying at the Turku University of Applied Sciences for one semester.

plane from Berlin to Helsinki (first finnish feeling - drawings on the plane)

Following a whole day of travelling together with a friend who was coming with me to study at the Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), we finally arrived in Helsinki.

Our flight was followed by two delays due to bad weather and a damage at the plane. But anyway we luckily managed to get to Helsinki and took the Onnibus to Turku.

From the Caribia Hotel in Turku my tutor’s boyfriend drove us to our apartment in Varissuo which is about 20 minutes from the city centre of Turku. It was the first time we had met our tutor students who had been very helpful organizing our trip to Finland. 

My first impressions of the Finnish people and the experiences I have had so far, did not match with what I was told before. The Finnish were meant to be quite reserved and shy but I noticed them being extremely friendly and helpful.

After this completely exhausting day of travelling and my first meeting with Finnish people and culture I was really tired but looking forward to my next experiences in Finland.