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| Helsinki Airport |
Greetings from Helsinki, Finland!!! It is currently 12:06 am and I am trying to stay awake to get my body adjusted to the new time zone. I was given instructions to stay up as long as I possibly could so that I would not wake up at awkward early times in the morning, however I think I have stayed up too long and now I cannot fall asleep. I have been traveling since 11:30 am yesterday, June 4th, and I finally arrived at the Finland Airport at 5:30 pm, 9:30 am EST, today which in the end adds up to be a whole day.
My travel journey consisted of Chattanooga, Nashville, Detroit, Amsterdam, and I finallllyyyy arrived in Finland. It was cloudy and dark upon landing at the airport. As soon as I stepped off of the plane, it felt like the wind snatched my soul -- I was freezing. I exited from the back of the plane and used steps to get to the airport, it felt like one of the longest walks ever. I knew that it was going to be chilly, however the temperature was way lower than I expected.
After claiming my checked bag and going through customs, my program group met our trip director and rode the train to Helsinki which took about thirty minutes. We walked about fifteen minutes from the train station to our hostel. After checking in, I had a thirty minute break before our first group meeting. At the meeting, I received my weekly lunch per diem and my breakfast pass.
My travel journey consisted of Chattanooga, Nashville, Detroit, Amsterdam, and I finallllyyyy arrived in Finland. It was cloudy and dark upon landing at the airport. As soon as I stepped off of the plane, it felt like the wind snatched my soul -- I was freezing. I exited from the back of the plane and used steps to get to the airport, it felt like one of the longest walks ever. I knew that it was going to be chilly, however the temperature was way lower than I expected.
After claiming my checked bag and going through customs, my program group met our trip director and rode the train to Helsinki which took about thirty minutes. We walked about fifteen minutes from the train station to our hostel. After checking in, I had a thirty minute break before our first group meeting. At the meeting, I received my weekly lunch per diem and my breakfast pass.
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| Hesburger |
Soon after, the group went to the center of the city and we were shown recommendations of where to shop for groceries and restaurants that were reasonably priced. We ended up going to the mall and I ate Hesburger, which was pretty good. It was a bit of a struggle trying to get cheese only on my burger (picky eater problems). I could not read the Finnish menu but there were a lot of condiments listed under the burger picture. After a couple of tries, I was able to get the worker to tell me what was on the burger and get only cheese as she did not understand some of my English words. I was super tired and didn’t want anything too fancy or filling. Another girl in my group and I walked around the mall searching for a thicker sweater or a jacket, but I got tired of looking for it. We plan to go back tomorrow.
Walking back to the hostel, I went into LDLI which is similar to the ALDI in the U.S. and I got water bottles, gummy bears, and Pringoooals chips. We came back to the hostel and took showers and now my roommate and I are just relaxing. I am looking forward to what the next week will bring. I can't wait to tour Helsinki and check out some of the attractions that it has to offer.
Walking back to the hostel, I went into LDLI which is similar to the ALDI in the U.S. and I got water bottles, gummy bears, and Pringoooals chips. We came back to the hostel and took showers and now my roommate and I are just relaxing. I am looking forward to what the next week will bring. I can't wait to tour Helsinki and check out some of the attractions that it has to offer.
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| Detroit to Amsterdam |
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| Chicken and Veggies at midnight on flight from DTW to AMS |
