Happy blogging season! Oh, how I miss the blogs each summer--we have so much to catch up on!
This summer, I spent all of June in Helsinki, Finland, as part of a June Language and Culture Intensive course. These are month-long abroad experiences led by Oberlin professors. They’re perfect for students who want to go abroad, but maybe not for an entire semester. This particular course was called "Finland and Its Welfare State: The Happiest Country in the World?" We had a cohort of sixteen students and two professors, and it was a month full of adventures, exploring, and getting really into Love Island. To document the experience, I’m doing a post for each week.
6.2
After an eight-hour flight, we took a train and a tram to our new home for the month: Töölö Towers. They were once part of the Hesperia hospital, since converted into a hotel/apartments. We dropped our things off and went to the UniCafé for dinner.
6.3
We spent the morning at Oodi Public Library. From there, we embarked on a walking tour which took us through the neighborhoods of Kamppi, Hietalahti Punavuori, and Eira. We stopped for lunch at a vibrant market square in Hietalahti Punavuori. Z got Finnish strawberries to share with everyone, and they were amazing.
In the evening, we took a ferry to Lonna island. This is where we had our first sauna experience! Sauna is a vital part of Finnish culture, and most saunas are between 80-100 degrees celsius. The 18 of us being packed into the medium-sized sauna like sardines was quite the introduction, but we made it work. After the sauna, we went to the bar to wait until our dinner reservation. Gigi read people’s palms, Annika got out the tarot cards, and it was a truly lovely time. We had a delicious dinner, then ran to catch the ferry home.
6.4
We did a group grocery trip and made lunch on the terrace. Later, we met with a University of Helsinki student for dinner and drinks.
6.5
We visited a mental health association called Yeesi to learn about project Muudi. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to tour the Arkadiankatu elementary school and learn about the Finnish school system.
6.6
We went on a walking tour through Itäkeskus, Kontula, and Mellunmäki.
We also got to meet a Finnish psychiatrist who specializes in LGBTQ+ care. We learned about the health care system, the cultural understanding of health, mental health, and well-being, and what the field of psychiatry looks like in Finland.
6.7
An early morning and three buses to Nuuksio National Park. At the Haltia Nature Reserve, we had lunch and explored the exhibits. It was then time for the main event: volunteering! We helped to combat an invasive plant species from North America called lupine. We covered a lot of ground and pulled 4800 liters of lupine. With the hard work done, we had the option to sauna at Haltia or head home. I was pretty exhausted, so I joined the homeward bound for a sauna back at the Töölö Towers.
6.8
Sundays were our free days. These were great opportunities to complete our scavenger hunt assignment--we each had to pick a type of place, visit four of them, and reflect on their communities and connection to happiness. I picked knitting shops, of course. Other places included saunas, markets, ice cream parlours, bomb shelters, cafés, beaches, churches, bookstores, jazz events, and parks. My first shop was Lankakauppa Snurre. I met a lot of knitters and had a wonderful time. I took the rest of the day to recover from our busy week and prepare for the next one.
Until next time!
