Free Time Activities

We started together with Bianka from Budapest, very excited and a bit anxious about what is waiting for us.

We arrived late at night and my host, Eva, was waiting for me at the airport. I talked about her and her house before, it was an amazing experience. I love the house and also I got very much involved in het family life, I met her kids and granddaughter, I fed their cats wihle they were on holiday in Croatia. 

She is Minna, our study councellor who helped us with time schedules and periods. She showed us all the building  where we will attend lessons. 

Suomenlinna is a historic sea fortress located in Finland. It was built on a group of islands just off the coast of Helsniki and it is known for it's significant military history. The fortress has served various porpuse over the years and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, attracting visitors with its well-preserved buildings, museums, parks and marvellous views of the Baltic Sea.

During my stay I visited the island several times with friend and family members coming to visit me. So, I had time to research a bit the stories of the island.

The Submarine Vesikko on the island is the only surviving Finnish submarine from World War II, which is turned to a museum.

The King's Gate is always the first to pass while walking to the seashore as it is one of the main entrances to Suomenlinna. It features a carving of the Finnish coat of arms with a crowned lion. Legend has it that if a virgin walks through the gate, the lion will roar.

It also has a lot of fortifications and tunnels that were used as bomb shelters during World War II.  It has a prison and an execution site as during the Finnish Civil War it housed political prisoners ( the execution site is called the "killing fields") .

There is also a brewery on the island that produces its own beer.

Visiting Suomenlinna is fun because you can travel by the ferry for 15 minutes and look at the beautiful small islands while crossing and it also offers a glimpse into Finland's past.  

I visited Tallin twice in these 3 months, both of my visits were memorable. It is very different from Helsinki, it has an Old Town part of Tallin, which made me feel a timetraveller. As this country is up in the North, like Finland they are famous for the lights which made the atmosphere more cozy.  Needless to say a lot of Finns visit Tallin for alchol as it is much cheaper.

We visited Lapland, the capital, Rovaniemi , at the end of November, so it was around -20 deegre, freezing cold. 

Lapland is not a budget friendly place, it was kind of a tourist trap, we tried not to spend a lot of money and enjoy the nature. All the activites were overpriced, expecially in the Santa Village. 

Lapland, I like to call it Sápmi because of the Saami history, is renowned for its natural beauty and unique experiences so we tried to explore this aspect.

Rovaniemi, as the official hometown of Santa Claus, is a holiday haven with a lot of tourist coming this part of the year.

The Santa Village, situated right on the Arctic Circle, is a major attraction. Here, we encountered the iconic Arctic Circle line, marking the spot in Santa’s village.

In the Santa Claus Office, we had the opportunity to meet the man in the red suit himself. Santa Claus welcomed visitors.

The village was decorated with  festive lights  having a lot of charming boutiques and gift shops that offered traditional Finnish handicrafts and, of course, Santa-themed merchandise.

While Lapland may be considered a tourist trap with its relatively high prices, the breathtaking scenery, the chance to meet Santa Claus, and the cultural experiences made it a trip well worth the freezing temperatures.

There are two famous saunas in Helsinki, Löyly and the Allas Sea Pool. I visited both of them a few times. Both of them have various kinds of saunas and while Allas has a freezing sea pool in Löyly you could jump straight in the sea. I set as a challenge that not only dip in the icy water but also swim a few metres.

Saunas are not only good for warming yourself but also for your skin and your health. There was a free and open-to-all sauna located in the industrial part of Helsinki by the sea. Sompasauna operates on a self-maintained basis, relying on the community to keep it clean and operational for everyone to enjoy. We went there at night, so there were a lot of people; some of them wore swimsuits, but most of them enjoyed the sauna naked, as it is the Finnish way. Additionally, there were huge rats running around to heat themselves up, but it was well maintained. It was a memorable experience for sure!

As for Finnish sauna culture, it's deeply ingrained in the lifestyle of the country. Saunas are considered a place for relaxation, socializing, and even having business meetings. Some people (quite often in small saunas not in public saunas) drink sauna beer in the sauna. The sauna experience involves cycles of warming up in the sauna ( usually for 2 hours), followed by a refreshing jump into cold water or a roll in the snow during winter. This tradition helps physical and mental well-being, and it's not uncommon for families and friends to gather for a sauna session ever month and having a party. Usually a common Finnish person has a weekly sauna especially winter times, but I know people who have a 5 minutes sauna every morning.

Needles to say that Finland is famous for it's fishing industry. My favourite meal is the salmon soup known as 'Lohikeitto". It is a creamy and hearty soup made with salmon, onion, potatoes, carrots and sometimes leek. There is a similiar Finnish food, Kaalikääryleet to the Hungarian stuffed cabbage. Both of them are made with cabbage leaves rolled around a filling usually consisiting of minced meet, onions, rice and various spices.  Reeinder meet is traditional and culturally significant food in Finland, it can be prepared in various ways for example: reeinder stew, sausage and smoked or dried reeiinder meat.

I lived with an elderly couple Eva and Simo Havo . They do not fit to the Finnish stereotype, as they are more talkative and extroverted than the usual Finnish people. This maybe because I am not the first exchange student who visited them and they learned to make strangers feel welcome. 

Eva is teaching Finnish to imigrants in the Helsinki refugee centre and Simo works as a carer in a nursing home. They are pensioners, they work only to be with a peoople. Eva taught creative writing in Kallio and is friend with Niina, this is why I got this magnificent opportunity to live with them. 

Simo was a nurse all his life and he is a vynil collector ( I had all his disks in my part of the house). They have a cute cat called Lempi, who gives you love bites because she is always hungry. In september they had chickens as well and somtimes they take care of a little dog as its god parents.  

Their garden is a hippie relaxing place with a lot of hiding places, a small pool and a lot of vegetables and fruit trees.

The house is like a museum, the even used to host filming crews and offer their house as a filming set. 

I had my breakfast and coffee usually alone as they went to bed quite late and got up late in the morning. But we had the dinner together and I tasted all kind of meals around the world from Marokko to Thailand.  We did sushi together to teach me how to do it when she realized that I like Japanese food, she made her onion sauce quite often as I love onions and I also tasted a lot of Finnish food and cakes. 

I tried to suprise her with Hungarian dishes as well so on Thursday when she was teaching I waited her with Hungarian specialties: gulyas, plum dumplings, beef stew, layered potato and cottage cheese dumpling. It was a challenge to buy all the ingredients as they have no proper cottage cheese and some of the spices I would have needed. Nevertheless, they liked it very much and were grateful for everthing. 

I had so many nice moments with them that I struggle with writing, probably if I get out of this grind ( writing non stop tests in Hungary now) I will sit down and write down all my nice memories.

I really loved spending time with them and it was really hard to say goodbye.