April Update

Hello again! I'm a bit late on my April update but April was such a fun, busy month! April began with a quick cruise to Stockholm with my student organization here. ESN (the exchange program for European students) arranged a three day cruise for international student from five different countries. We left the port in Helsinki on Sunday afternoon, spent a few hours in Stockholm on Monday, and then returned to Helsinki overnight and arrived back on Tuesday morning. It was a super quick trip but lots of fun. It was my first time on a ship like that so it was a really cool experience. We were only in Stockholm for a few hours but we got food and walked through Old Town which was really pretty.

My next trip was about a week after getting back from our cruise. I joined three other friends to visit Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is only about a three hour ferry ride from Helsinki, so it was a pretty easy trip. We spent four days there exploring the city and took a day trip to another city, Tartu. The city is really beautiful with a cool mix of history and modern developments. We also ventured to an upside down house which was a very unique experience. I also got to visit my friend, Marianne, who I met while I lived in Barcelona. It was really nice to see her again.

After getting back from Estonia, I only had a few days before my mom and grandma arrived. It was really great to have them both here and get to spend so much time with them. We started for a couple of days in Helsinki and then got on a boat to Stockholm. It was nice to actually have a couple days in Stockholm after my first trip earlier in the month. We explored the Royal Palace, walked under the cherry blossoms, and saw the only 17th-century ship to be fully salvaged. Our next stop was Copenhagen, which I absolutely fell in love with. I have never seen so many bikes in one place! We did lots of walking seeing different parts of the city and a canal tour which was a nice way to see a lot in a short amount of time. I had to fly back to give a final presentation for one of my classes and then met up again with them in Norway. We took the train from Oslo to Bergen (the train ride ended up being four hours longer than it was supposed to be but there are worse places to be stuck than the mountains of Norway). The next day we did a ferry ride through the Fjords and it was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced.

After flying back to Helsinki, we found out that all three of us got COVID during our trip. I am out of quarantine now, but since my mom and grandma need a negative test to fly home, they are waiting at the hotel in Helsinki. A bit of a crappy way to end the trip, but everyone is feeling better now. I am so grateful to my mom and grandma for that trip. It was really great to be able to have those experiences with both of them, it really meant a lot to me.

I have only about a month left in Finland! It is crazy how quickly this semester has gone by. I have to turn in one more essay and then I will be finished with my junior year!

I have been here almost four months now, which is the longest I have ever been outside of the United States. I have another trip planned to Germany in a couple of weeks to visit some friends who are also studying abroad this semester, so I'm really looking forward to that! Since my last post, I have also finalized my plans for June. I am going to be an au pair for a family in Croatia! I am really excited about that opportunity and really lucky I get to stay in Europe another month. I miss everyone at home, but I am really enjoying my time here.

Thanks as always for reading!

Much love,

Hannah