Exploring the beauty of Scandinavia

the time has passed far too quickly and it is time to go home. Me and my friend left Finland with a laughing and crying eye. On the one hand I am happy to see my friends and family and on the other hand I am sad to leave Finland. I never thought before that I would settle down here so much. But it is definitely not the last time in Finland. Finland is a country that I could imagine myself living and working later on besides Germany. We took the train in Turku on 31.05 at noon and went to Helsinki for 14€ with a transfer in between. Everything worked out wonderfully. We had a few small complications at the airport but we landed safely in Germany after 2.5 hours. The weeks before the airport was not much visited but on 31.05 it was for the workers a huge rush why there were longer queues, but everything was well organized as always at the airport in Helsinki. We had mask duty in the airplane. In the airport it was recommended to us but was not a must. We flew back with the flightcom...

If your are in Turku after quarantine time and it is good weather I would suggest you going to Walo. It is a really fancy rooftop bar where you can look down onto Turkus city center while enjoying a cocktail or a wine. The design and furniture is cozy - modern and has a very comfortable atmosphere. The entrance its through coffee house with a lift. There are two levels one is the rooftop bar on top the other is inside with the bar and comfortable sofas. The drinks and snacks are a bit on the pricier side but it is a really fancy place. Other places I would suggest: sushi: Itsudemo (buffet is amazing); Luckyfun, sushi panda icecream: spice ice! (Skanssi shoppingcenter) Taco bell Hesburger el nam Crystal for big portion of kebab Indian food: Dehli Darbar burgers: Hook 

This was a challenge for me at first because how much can you possibly fit into a luggage for 9 months? What do you pack thick pullovers, t-shirts? pullovers  but not too thick - my problem was I could not wear my thick pullovers as it was too warm in the bus and in school especially if you have a good winter jacket  good shoes - me and my friend wore sneakers for the most part but shoes with a good profile and waterproof are important as the streets are not salted like in Germany (we slipt a lot) a good winter jacket - especially when you are planning to go to Lapland and one that is water-resistant  cozy socks  gloves and a beanie  umbrella  Thermounderwear T-Shirt (of course it depends on the time you are in Finland) but I would still recommend packing t-shirts as I wore them underneath my thin pullovers and if It gets too warm u can take it off  good camera - the nature is stunning out here and phone cameras have a hard time catching t...

Further activity that can be done at the moment is going Go-Kart driving. We were around 8 people and it was a lot of fun. We payed 20€ each. The place provides you overalls and helmets. There is a given route outside where we drove along. A lot of us spun in the track curve or crashed into each other. One of our friends got hit while spinning and ended up in the grass. The race was about 10-15 minutes in my opinion pretty short for the price but as the route is not too big it would have been boring otherwise. At the end they gave us our results as they tracked everyones time.

This place is the Disneyland of Finland created after a children cartoon show. Moomin is really big in Finland toys, t-shirts and bags with moomin is available everywhere. Unfortunately Moominworld is closed at the moment due to corona but we still went there to watch the sunrise as it is close to the ocean. Moominworld is located in Oldtown Naantali or close to it. Usually there are theater acts, snacks and the characters walking around. Eventhough the pictures of Moominworld underneath seem a bit sad I think it’s definitely worth coming back in the summer one day and experiencing it. But the sunrise was luckily very very beautiful.

The model created by Richard Lewis, divides human behavior patterns in three main groups: linear-active, multi-active and reactive. He visited 135 countries and worked in more than 20 of them, which helped im to come to the conclusion that humans can be divided in categories, based on behavior. Characteristics: Linear-Active: task-oriented  Polite but direct  highly organized  doing one thing at a time  rarely interrupts  sticking to facts  result oriented and like to move quickly forward Multi-Active: talkative, impulsive relationship and people oriented doing many things at the same time  interruptions uncomfortable with silence  Flexible truth impatient Reactive: listeners - reacts to partners action no interruptions  do not voice strong opinion easily  never confronts  very people oriented  patient conceals feelings  Finland is placed between linear-active and reacti...

stereotypes are basic processes for categorization. A stereotype simplifies the view and thus enables quick decisions. It is easier for us humans to assess the first contact with a foreign person if we can put them in a category. For example, southerners (Italians) are hearty, open-minded people and usually less punctual. But this is not always true because every person is different and especially nowadays many things are very international. I was allowed to test this experiment myself in the 2 semesters and I have to admit that some of the stereotypes are true and some are not. We had a course GetFinternational in which we had a lot of contact with exchange students from different cultures and talked about different customs and stereotypes and behaviors. It was very interesting to see the partly huge differences between the cultures. Nevertheless we are all international students and usually a little bit more open especially here in Turku the students were all open and helpful until n...

This post is about how we spent our days during "Quarantine". As we are still allowed to meet up with our friends up to 10 people we may have a few more options than other countries at the moment. This post could maybe inspire you and your friends with new ideas to utilize this time. The weather unfortunately has been fluctuating a lot the last few weeks. We have a few days really nice weather and then followed by rainy days. If the weather is good we spent the whole day outside. We go on to walks for e.g. in Ruissalo at the beach or do sports outside as we are a pretty big group of friends. Most of the time it is basketball in Varissou we do not have a hard time finding a court but we also have played tennis in Kaarina or Volleyball. Other activities we did were going outside and barbecuing at a lake and enjoying the weather. Also just grabbing a popsicle from a store or going to Hesburger, Burgerking getting food/ Ice cream and sitting in a park and talking. And most imp...

The corona pandemic was at the beginning just a big fun until it got serious. In the beginning many people made fun and the internet was booming about jokes and memes related to corona but meanwhile it is quite serious. Especially in countries like Italy, France, Sweden and Germany the whole thing has degenerated. Exit bans and mask duties were issued. The stand here in Finland/Turku it is luckily not so serious yet. Safety precautions have been taken like schools and universities have been closed and many are working from home. In supermarkets there are hand sanitizers at entrances and exits and a safe distance is maintained. Restaurants now only offer food for pick up or delivery. Bars, cinema and crowded places are closed, events are cancelled. Meetings with more than 10 people are prohibited. The boarders to Helsinki were closed for a while too. Many Exchange students have decided to fly home and even some have been obliged to leave. My roommate and I have decided to stay because t...

The teaching system was initially a big shock to me, as there is a big difference in the teaching approach between the German teaching system and the Turku university of applied sciences approach "Innopeda". In Germany at the university I study and most of the German Universities there is only the final exams at the end of the semester and during exam phase we do not have any lectures. Our attendance is not mandatory most of the professors do not really know their students as the classes are really big and the students are basically numbers we do not write our names anywhere e.g. even on exams we put our number. While at TUAS, participation in class, projects and group work (peer evaluation) make up a large part of the overall grade. The German approach is of course much more comfortable for the students as there is much less work to do, but the Innopeda approach wants to encourage students to show initiative and work independently, to develop critical thinking and innovative...

My roommate and me went together to Stockholm. The best way but not the fastest way to Sweden from Finland is by ferry. The fastest would be by plane, which is a bit more expensive. I would recommend everyone to go by ferry, the drive takes unfortunately about 10 hours but it is worth seeing it and especially with friends it can be an amazing time on board. There is a lot to do on the ferry there are bars, shops, gambling area and a club. We arrived pretty late to our hotel but still went our right away after our check-in to have a look at the city and eat something. We ate at Vapiano, which I can recommend to everyone because they have a lot of options and almost everything tastes good there in my opinion. And also, the waffles that are sold in every corner in centrum. There is even a Ben&Jerrys waffle store, which we tried out the wonder waffle I got costs 11€ but I am not sure if its worth it. I personally did not like the waffle it tasted kinda old to me but we went there pre...

Our last day we mostly spent in the car. But we stopped at a secret lagoon which is called Gamla Laugin. It is a hot spring in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately not as secret as we thought. A few people were already there but it was still worth it. There is a small cabin to change close to the water. Our last big Sight was the Gullfoss waterfall which was amazing. But the weather was extremely windy and cold. The coldest we have experienced in Iceland. We drove back to Reykjavik and walked around town one last time. We sat down in a pizzeria and ate a pizza. We still had plenty of time till we had to leave for our plane back home so we were hanging around in cafes and walking through the streets until we met two young locals. We spent a few hours together by playing dart and hanging around getting to know some local facts about Reykjavik. Local youngsters feel a bit bored in Reykjavik as there is not much to do. But still I could not imagine leaving in Iceland although I am in ...

This beach is probably one of the most beautiful beaches I ever have seen and everyone that is visiting Iceland needs to go there. It is located on the south coast directly next to the ring road. You do not need a four-wheel drive vehicle for this, even if the actual parking lot is not asphalted. The distance from Reykjavik is just over 370 km. History of formation The reason why ice is washed up here at all is a glacier tongue of Breiðamerkurjökull. It is only a tiny offshoot of the huge Vatnajökull, which covers a large part of southeast Iceland. The ice calves here in the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón, breaks away gradually and then drifts gently towards the sea. It can take several years from the breakup to the drifting away, that's how long it takes until the ice is drifted forward towards the river. The exact duration depends on the size of the iceberg and external influences such as temperature, wind etc. Logically, the density of the ice also plays a role. When the i...

Jökulsárlón is located in the south of Iceland about 372 km from the capital Reykjavík, roughly on the edge of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier in the district of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla. Jökulsárlón, close to Breiðamerkurjökull, is a spur or tongue of the magnificent Vatnajökull glacier. The Jökulsarlon lagoon began to form around 1935, as the Breiðamerkurjökull retreated from the Atlantic coast. Since then the lagoon has grown increasingly larger and has grown four times in the last 50 years. This makes it the deepest lake in Iceland. Icebergs constantly fall from the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier (known as the 'calving process') and swim majestically in the lagoon before making their way into the Atlantic Ocean. Snacks and drinks are sold at the car park. We got some famous fish and chips for about 14€.

On 25 February we stopped at one of the many glaciers in Iceland. It was a bumpy way to get there but it was definitely worth it. There are many tours for glaciers offered, where you can also go into the glacier. Mýrdalsjökull is a plateau glacier in southern Iceland. With an area of 596 km² it is the fourth largest glacier in Iceland.   It covers the caldera of the volcano Katla with a size of about 100 km². There we spent a while enjoying the view and talking to other tourists from France. The view is indescribably Nice and unfortunately I could not capture how nice it was. It is waaaay nicer in real life than on pictures.

unfortunately, the quality of the Videos are heavily compressed when uploading... hope you still enjoy them!

The Icelandic horse is as local to this volcanic land as its people.  Together with the natives they were the first to settle on the Iceland. Thats why they are loved and adorn by the locals and of course for their breeds unique traits. Icelandic horses are known for their short and sturdy stature and for the fluffy, thick winter coat which they then shed in springtime.The Icelandic horse comes in a rainbow variety of colours, with more than forty basic colourings officially listed, as well as over a hundred variations. You can see a lot of Icelandic horses around the ringroad but it is not recommended to stop at dangerous places or places where other people might not see the parked car. Also most of the horses are on private land. Icelandic horses have a very sweet personality but still they can bite and kick. For riding or getting any nearer to the horses owners permission is highly recommended. There are also quite a few tours that offer horse back riding, which wo...

This is the way to the plane wreck as you can see in the video it is in the middle of nowhere and you should plan your time and wear good shoes and wind/water resistant clothes.