What the f*uck are you wearing

Without knowing yet what we would get to see, we were strolling around Turku the first days we arrived...

At a certain point we bumped into some students. And this was the first time we saw it... The overalls. These students were dressed in overalls. Not normal overalls, but colorful overalls, full with patches.

You might be thinking "What kind of overalls are you talking about?", well the kind that my dad wore during working in the garden, or the blue or red ones that you wore as a kid (I was so jealous of the kids that did have one...). These overalls are kind of similar, but they come in all different kinds of colors and are full with patches.

Fell in love with Helsinki

Set the alarm at 4:55, get in the bus at 5:30, get in the second bus at 6:30, survive a two-hour drive. All of this to get to the city that stole my heart: Helsinki.

Last weekend Emma and I visited Helsinki, the capital of Finland. From Turku it is a two-hour drive by bus. Not that bad, due to good company, music and some candies. 

When we were leaving Turku, it was raining like hell. The weather was just really shitty. But when we arrived in Helsinki, there was a blue sky and the sun was shining. We had the weather gods on our side for ones!

Breaking the fast

While  I am writing this, I just started my shift at my practical. You must be thinking right now "Then why aren't you doing something instead of writing a post?". Well my colleagues are having their second coffee break and are eating their breakfast.

Yeah, you've read that right. They are breaking the fast at work. And not with a small bite or eating a slice of bread real fast. No they are eating a full breakfast here at work to start the day. The yogurt, granola, oats and fruit will appear on the table. And what is all that thick fruit syrup about?! (It looks so freaking good, maybe I have to ask where they buy it). And is putting salt on your oats a normal thing or am I the only one that thinks that this is a little bit strange? And of course, how can I forget about that, also the coffee is present. Including lots of milk.

Having this kind of breakfast at work is something that I am not used to at all.

I am the kind of person that needs to eat before leaving the house, otherwise I just feel like I am gonna pass out.
*Side note: and I don't want to let that happen again at my practical....
Also at my practical back home this wasn't a thing.

So the first time I saw the breakfast thing here, I was kind of surprised. But on the other side, it has something cosy. All of the colleagues having their breakfast together, chatting and making jokes (that I can't understand for a bit...)

So, managing board of the hospitals in Holland, if you are reading this, let the nurses break their fast at work!

Now, lets go back to work!

Nähdään!

Aniek

Take some coffee

I can imagine that you must get a little tired of me talking about all the differences between the food back home and here in Finland. So I thought just switch to a thing everyone loves. And when I talk about everyone, I mean everyone except me. 

The thing I am talking about is the love of some peoples life (a lot of people), the one thing that they can't live without. Coffee. I am talking about the worst drink ever, coffee. 

What did you say? Part 2.

Hei! Mitä kuuluu? Minä olen Aniek, minä olen 20 vuotta, minä olen Hollanntia.

Well, I survived my first Finnish class! A lots of 'Minä olen' in one sentence, but hey; I can say something in Finnish now.

The Finnish language is such a strange language to me, but I liked the class so much. I am really looking forward to get a hang of it, and can have kind of a conversation with a Finnish speaking person.

We only have a course for Finnish for nine weeks, so that's a really short time to learn a language you are not familiar with. The pronouncing of the letters and words are really different from the Dutch language, so that's a bit challenging. But on the other hand, if it was that simple it would be quite boring right?

What did you say?

Write in your posts about cultural shocks and other culture-related matters, on language, sights, food etc.

Above is a part of the assignment for the course I am following, so also part of this blog in general.
And in the first few days of our staying here, I think we have seen a lot of differences between Finland and my home country. Maybe I haven't noticed them all, overwhelmed by all of the impressions. Maybe I haven't noticed them, because it kinda felt like we were on a holiday for a week or so. The idea that we are going to live here for the next couple of months, still needed to land. But for now the idea of a holiday, was fine by us. A holiday never hurts anyone, right?

Okay, I digress a little bit with my thoughts about white sand beaches, sea and palm trees. Back to Finland, with a completely different climate and culture. Back to the title of this post, which refers to the Finnish language.
'Cause man, what are they saying? The Finnish language, to me, sounds like no other language I have ever heard in my life. And the sound of the language may be 'weird', did you ever have a look at how the words are written?! It looks so difficult.. Will we ever understand some of it?

Counting down

Help! That was the only word that I was repeating to myself all day long, the week before leaving to Finland.

What do I need to pack? Will everything fit into my suitcase? Did I forget to buy anything? Can we find everything at the airport? What if we can't find the apartment? What if I don't like it there?

Lähdetään!

Or make it a little bit easier, let's go! 

My first blogpost... Writing this while sitting in my room in Turku, Finland - 1.667 km from my home. 

This blog will be kind of my braindump place, about everything I will do, see and notice. About the trips I will make and my life here. And finally, and perhaps not least importantly, I will write a little for the course I am following, so I can get my ECTS. 

I hope you will enjoy everything I will write about my time here in Finland, so all of you wished you were here ;)

Moi moi! 

Aniek