Wanhat

Wanhat

On this special day in February, all the second graders celebrate that they are the oldest of the university because the third graders already had the long holidays for studying for their final exams. During the weeks before Wanhat all the second graders have learnt a lot of traditional dances in gymnastics with their teachers.

On Wanhat, all the students show the old fashioned dances in front of the other students, parents, teachers and other guests. All the girls are dressed up really nice. They wear beautiful dresses and make up as well their hair is made perfectly. Also the boys are all wearing tails. 

The dance choreography is being danced for almost one hour. It is a very big event for everyone and in my opinion a very special Finnish tradition.

Naantali

Naantali

One of the most beautiful town in Turku area is Naantali. You can reach it by bus. The bus leaves in front of the library in Turku center to Naantali more than one time an hour. You can use your normal Föli ticket to get there without paying an additional fee.

I went to Naantali with other exchange students from my university. Naantali is famous for its Moomin-world. This is an island next to the town on which the houses from the well-known Moomin characters are built. It is also a museum. I recommend to visit Moomin-world in spring or summer.  

During wintertime there is a trail where you can go ice skating on the frozen sea. Rental services provides skates for little money. 

This area is also very nice do a long hike along the little islands you can find there.

Cultural exercise routes Turku

Cultural exercise routes Turku

The culture and sports department of Turku provides 8 different routs through Turku. On the map you will also learn new things about Turku by reading the explanation of every location on its route.

You can find the maps for it at the library of Turku or download it here: https://www.turku.fi/en/culture-and-sports/culture/cultural-exercise-routes

I really recommend this Cultural Exercise Routes to everyone who wants to explore Turku. I stayed in Turku for 2.5 month and I even explored new places by following this route. The information which are written next to the maps explain a lot about the history and other things and it’s really interesting. 

Basics of Finnish design

Basics of Finnish design

There are two simple things to remember about Scandinavian design: There are a lot of Finnish designer who stay for simple but amazing design. The Scandinavians designers use to say: “Buy something and keep it forever.”

Alvar Aalto is a well-known Finnish architect and designer. Aalto means wave in English. He loved to create wavy things.  Alvar designed Finnlandia house in Helsinki which is located next to the train station. He loved constructions in the color white. They have to repaint the buildings in white a lot. Alvar Aalto also designed all the furniture and glassworks like lamps which were inside of his constructions.

In Helsinki there is also a stone church. It is famous for the acoustic and light. It is built into a hill. The light is changing every time, it depends on the daytime as well as season. It's worth it for a visit for sure.

Eroa Saarinen designed the Flight Center in NYC. Nowadays, inside of it is a luxury hotel. Furthermore, he designed Gateway Arch which is located in St Louis. You can reach the top of it with an elevator. 

The library in Tampere was designed by Reima Pietilä. It is a very special building because it doesn’t have any corners. I already visited this library but in my opinion it wasn’t that special.

Armi Ratia was the founder and manager of Marimekko. She was a very clever business lady and a very famous person in Finland. She is also well-known in Japan. A fun fact is that the airplane which fly from Finland to Japan has also the brands’ famous flowers on it.

The brands’ idea was to bring brightness and equality to the world. After the war everything was dark. With those colorful flowers on the designs she wanted to change it. Also, the equality was very important to her. Marimekko’s cloths are designed for everybody. It doesn’t differ the gender.

Oiva Toikka is famous for his birds made of glass. Those birds are quite expensive and getting even more expensive because Oiva Toikka won’t be able to do new hand-blown birds because he passed away last year. He told his secret how to make these birds just 10 glass blowers in the world. That’s the reason why the market of his glass birds is so small. I’ve also learnt that glass is made of sand. It is quite hard to find sand in those colors he made those birds.

I like Tapio Wirkkala. He is the designer of the old currency of Finland as well of a vodka bottle. Money and Vodka are very important to mostly everyone. He designed an everyday bottle which suits in your pocket. 

Fiskars is a small town not far away of Turku. This brand is producing orange scissors. The shape of handle is perfect made for everyone. The story behind the color was that they just had orange plastic in their factory. Furthermore, it was so easy to find it in a store because of their bright color. 

Angry birds were lanced by Rovio. Those birds were designed by Jako Isolo. 

Tove Jansson draw the Moomins. Some people think she was Swedish but actually she was Finnish. Tove also draw oil paintings and did other works but everyone is just remembering her about the Moomin.

Timo Sarpaneva designed famous Glöög glasses with the waste of zips. It is a very good and also ecological idea. 

Lapland

Lapland 

As Dalai Lama once already said, happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. The one-week trip to Lapland taught me this lesson; I got so many different feelings during this week such as grinned like a Cheshire cat, overwhelmed with emotions, excited, bubbled over with laughter and I was just happy. At the same time, I got annoyed, tired, sleepless and sick. It was a big rollercoaster.

My bag pack brimmed with homemade sandwiches, cookies, cucumber, tomato and a thermos flask the journey has started. By “Onnio-Bus” my friend and I enjoyed the calm ride through the breathtaking scenery from Turku’s area to Helsinki.

Two coffees, a Chai tea latte, some hours spending in a fancy shopping center and new knowledge about Italian’s food and places the journey finally continued. A white “Lentimäki” coach headed to Levi with many curious and sleepless travelers. The day has passed, and a new day has come. With it a couple of turbulent sleep and some more coffee breaks at the gas stations. I woke up in a snow surrounded ambiance and found myself at the magical “Santa Clause Village” in Rovaniemi. As every good tourist I made the experience to cross the Arctic circle while listening to Christmas songs.  

After a 22h bus ride to the deep north of Finland the bus finally reached our target. A cozy cottage with a fireplace, beers and lovely company awaited us. The four days I got in Lapland were scheduled pretty tight. The first day in Levi I did everything to check a lot of bullets on my bucket list:

I arranged the superior for alpine equipment which included a pair of boots, a helmet and fancy snowboard. As early birds always are, I was the first on the slopes. More than one meter of snow, ice cold wind, wearing five layers of cloths, 15 degree under zero and a little bit of sun made the adventure on the 43 slopes at Levi ski resort unforgettable. Catching some powder snow behind the slopes and watching the amazing landscape of Lapland – that was one moment I will always remember as this perfect moment in life.

After six hours of Snowboarding I found myself sitting in a sledge pulled by a crazy reindeer. At this point I want to share; reindeer are small, half-wildlife and insane animals which got ways too large feeds for their size.

To finish my almost perfect day as an absolute perfect day, I ignored the temperature which was 25 degree under zero and went out again to catch some Northern lights. I was told that the perfect spot to see it it’s the frozen lake next to Levi. Armed with the flashlight of my Phone, we walked around for hours and nothing happened. I almost quit any hopes to see them and this was the moment the sky begun to turn into green. The day finally turned into one the best days in my whole life!

The rest of the week was loaded with other different activities; taking a dip in the Arctic Ocean in Norway, eating waffles and reindeer burgers, buying souvenirs, take a walk through the wilderness around Levi and a making husky safari.  

I’m sure I could create my own happiness there and I will never forget this week in the pure winter wonderland in Lapland, above the Arctic circle.

Campus Sports

Campus Sports

To keep me healthy and active I got the membership from Turku university’s gym the first day I arrived. Especially during wintertime in Scandinavian with those short days it’s hard to do something else than sleeping or watching Netflix..  The membership cost 44€ for the whole semester. There is a small additional fee (8€) for the key tag which you need to get into the gym. You can use it from January till April during the spring term. The gyms are open every weekday from 6-7am till 10-11pm and on weekends the open a little bit later. There are five different gyms where you can different equipment to do exercise. My favorite gym is ASA gym because it’s bigger than this one in Educuarim and just a few minutes apart from Student Village, where I live. Sometimes the gym is crowded. But one thing I’ve noticed is that Finn prefer to go jogging outside instead of using the equipment from the gym even it is very cold outside.  Moreover, they provide almost 100 hours of instructed sports classes weekly and over 20 hours ball sports shifts. You are able to reserve the classes online a week before it take place. 70% of available places in each class can be pre-reserved and 30% are available on a first com, first served basis. I wanted to try every course they offer to us. I like Pump, bubble football and Twerk the most. Pump is really intense and in a big group (around 50 people). Bubble football is so much fun, it’s always about to push others and not about the ball or the win. The twerk class is quite difficult (well, I’m a bad dancer but anyway). The sports classes are a good chance to get to know new people as well. Furthermore, you do something good for your body! So I would recommend to get the membership to anyone which is staying in Turku for a longer time. It’s definitely worth the money.

Pikkulaskiainen

Pikkulaskiainen

After a long winter, the big day finally arrived. In front of Heidi's bierbar there was a little spot with artificial snow for the Pikkulaskiainen race. Because of the lousy winter, there was no snow in Turku at this time of the year. I definitely had the great festival feeling; the sun was shining, the face coloring was on point, music, beer and good friends. People from all over Finland, mostly students, travelled to Turku to see the famous race in Turku. The race isn't all about who arrives first the target line, it's more about how the participants are dressed and performing with their sleds. All the sledges are self made. The themes of it are different and it's about the creativity of each team. Unfortunately, my friends and I did't get a spot to participate the race itself. You have to apply for a spot for the race. Even the tickets for the event are rare. To get the tickets my friends and I were standing in a queue on a rainy and cold morning in January. It's a very popular event.

At 2 pm the event has finally started. There were a already a lot of people. The first sledge went down the slope and it crashed the blockade really hard. I realized that it is kind of dangerous to do it. But also fun. The ambiance was very enjoyable and fun. A jury voted the teams. After the race itself a famous Finnish singer had a concert at the market place. At this time, the patch collecting in Turku's bars and restaurants also has started.

Around 12 pm the afterparties in Turku's clubs opened their doors. I had one of my best parties there with an amazing DJ. It was an amazing experience.

Official Aftermovie 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8g_A4s7DtY