Day 3 - Traveling through Helsinki (JR)

Since today is my long and eventful day in Helsinki, I am choosing a different blogging approach. I am going to write my experiences as I encounter them and include timestamps instead of trying to recall all of them later on tonight because I am forgetful and my sleep pattern is all over the place. Also, I am doing a research project on European non-profit organizations and will be interviewing several employees at different organizations over the next three weeks.

Public Service Announcement: This will be a pretty long blog.

7:45 a.m. Good Morning, I am about to head to breakfast in five minutes. Last night, well this morning, my roommate and I did not go to bed until 3:45 am. I know, I know. * inserts facepalming emoji*  Both of us took a nap during the day, and I am banning naps for the rest of this experience if I can help it because waking up was not a fun time this morning. Apparently, at my hostel they mop or vacuum the halls at 7:00 am on Thursday mornings, and my alarm was set for 7:05 am. The picture below describes my whole mood.

Quick story time: Yesterday as I was getting items out of my luggage, which was on the floor, I hit my head on one of the wooden chairs in the room. Well, this morning as I was putting my mask on, I was thinking about what souvenir I am getting from Helsinki, and I touched the sore knot on my forehead. Needless to say, I already have a souvenir from Finland. If you are wondering, there are many differences between Finland and the United States; however wood is wood -- and it is hard.

8:20 a.m. OMG! My teacher just dropped me off at the metro station and I am headed to my first organization in Espoo at Aalto University, a city in Finland about thirty minutes from Helsinki by metro. I feel like the new kid on their first day of school as I know that feeling all too well. It is very quiet and clean on the metro. I am nervous and excited but nervous energy turns into good energy.

Finnish people are very soft spoken and even the intercom voice on the metro sounds like she is whispering. I looked up a couple of times to see if the people were still breathing, I'm exaggerating, but I am not exaggerating the absence of noise on my ride. Even the children were quietly sitting next to their parents, I was just in awe. A ride on the Atlanta MARTA or New York metro is anything but quiet. If it were not for the tracks, I would have probably fallen asleep. Let me stop typing and pay attention to these stops because I am trying to look at the map and the words flashing on the screen to make sure I'm getting off at the right stop.

9:57 a.m.  I'm at my second organization, HelsinkiMissio, and I have a meeting at 10:30. I'm super early as it's 9:57. I'm super happy that I found this one without any detours. I think I'm getting better with directions, not really. Anyhow, I found my other organization at 9:07 after wasting 15 minutes on the wrong side of the campus when I exited on the opposite side of the metro. First I asked a student on the campus but he didn't regularly go there, I think he may have just been taking a summer class.

Next, I stopped at a restaurant, Fat Lizard, and asked a waitress for directions and she said she didn't know the area, only the restaurant. She then asked one of her coworkers and the coworker showed me on my phone map that it was easier for me to reenter the metro and go to the other side of campus. I only had a three minute walk after exiting on the right side. After this interview, I have two more today. I will be going to Globe Point Art and Suomen Mielenterveysseura, a mental health organization. Global Point Art is not too far from here, but I will be getting back on the metro to go to Suomen Mielenterveysseura.

Globe Art Point 

10:19 a.m. HelsinkiMissio is super nice. They have multiple floors, long hallways, a nice water cooler/ coffee maker, which is essential in Finland, and many offices. At least ten people have come to get some coffee in the past fifteen minutes. Umm, I even saw a lady just walk in with her dog. It's super quiet in here besides the music coming from an office that just changed from pop to rock to classical guitar; I am about to fall asleep.

HelsinkiMissio - Ms. Niina

10:34 a.m. I was slightly dozing off and one of the workers here touched my knee and said something in Finnish and I replied "ma'am.”  She smiled and she then spoke in English and asked what time was my appointment but I can tell she doesn't speak English very much. I know hello and thank you in Finnish and that's about it. She notified me that she would get back with me shortly.
It turned out that I was told by reception to go to the wrong floor and I sat there for thirty-five minutes while the lady who I was interviewing was on the third floor. After showing the lady who touched my knee my messages, we spent about five to seven minutes going back down to reception so that they could call around to see where I was supposed to be and Ms. Niina came down and got me.

Between this time period, I did go to my third organization, Globe Art Point however, I was in a bit of a rush since it took longer than expected at HelsinkiMissio and it was a short distance from HelsinkiMission so I was walking with a purpose and the wind was in full effect. After my interview with GAP, I went to my hostel, which was only five minutes away, for about thirty minutes. 

12:58 p.m. I am currently on the tram headed to my fourth organization. I have about ten stops but I will get there in about 20 minutes.

1:11 p.m.  There are people talking on the tram with some volume, lol. Finns do talk at some point.

Suomen Mielenterveysseura - Mental Health Organization

2:06 p.m.  My last interview was amazing and insightful. I learned a lot about the mental health sector and community in Finland. I am currently on the tram and the female driver is jamming to music and tapping her nails on the dash. Everyone else is quiet though. I think I got on the right tram but then again I'm not really sure.This lady just sat next to me and she is extra close. She just plopped down.

Before getting on this tram, a guy was walking and stopped to ask me a question; however, there was one problem, he asked me in Finnish. I said I speak English and he shook his head and repeated what he said slower. I looked at him and shook my head like sir no, I do not understand. After about thirty seconds, he said you don't understand and I said no. He asked again and I said no. I was in shock that someone spoke to me because as I mentioned they are very quiet, blank-faced people walking through the street.

2:37 p.m.  I am back on the metro because I got on the wrong tram and it was confusing me. I am headed to Kamppi to get something to eat and then I am heading back the hostel to sit down for a minute and charge my phone. Just looked up I am on the wrong metro too, it is really time to get back to the hostel. I am totally over transportation today. I need to eat, regroup, and then figure out my plans for tonight. I am back on the right tram headed towards food for real this time. It is too cold for all of this switching. The afternoon train has some movement and talking so I assume the coffee or lunch wakes the Finns up a bit. By the end of today, I will be able to tell you all of the metro stops and drivers too if I keep this up.

Hesburger

4:11 p.m. I got back to the hostel about ten minutes ago after I got lunch at Kamppi. I had Hesburger again but I got a chicken sandwich this time. It was really good because I had not eaten since breakfast this morning. I am currently proofing my blog; I will end it here today. If there is anything interesting or fascinating like warmer weather, I may mention it in tomorrow's summary. I look forward to going to Suomenlinna, Helsinki sea fortress, tomorrow and riding the local ferry.

10:21 p.m. Well, I am back. I went out with the girls in my program for dinner and dessert so I figured I would update this to finish off my day. We went to a restaurant called Kaarna Baari and Keittio. The decor was warm and outdoorsy. The view from our table was  pretty and we could see the shops and big buildings. The prices were semi-high but I got a small Salmon soup and was very full after it. It was great! I am also going to be trying the Salmon soup at Cafe Esplanad before I leave because it is supposed to be the best in town. After dinner, we went to Kamppi mall and got oreo gelato from Spice; it was really good as well. I do plan on going to bed at a reasonable time tonight. Hei hei toistaiseksi! (Goodbye for now) Well, until tomorrow.