My Days In Finland

Cultural Awareness We are living in the fast-changing world in which people have to work in a multicultural environment. With the rapid development of globalization, cultural awareness plays an key role in our living and working life. For me, as a overseas student, I used to have many problems with adapting to a new environment. This can be considered as Cross Culture. According to Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, this path has six stages with different behaviors and perceptions. Below are explanation and more detail of each phases: Denial: In the first stage, people may feel aggressive and refuse all interaction with other cultures. Defense: In this stage, people consider their own culture as the best and tend to criticize other cultures. Minimization: This stage, people start realizing that other cultures might have something in common with theirs. Acceptance: At this stage, people may become interested about other cultures and want to explore

My Great Experience After nearly two years staying in Finland, I still haven't explored all the culture of this country. I would say Finland is one of the great places I've been visitted. More than that, I learnt a lot of things from the day I came here, met many friendly people, realized the cultural differences. The another significant thing I learnt is how to speak up my ideas even if it sounds strange as Finns respect the differences which contrast to my home country. I really love that point of view since I can do whatever I want without worrying about others' thinking. I have to say that privacy is one of the fundamental rights in Finland. It's can be easily seen when Finns waiting for the bus, they always keep a space between each other. Finns birds

Cherry blossom in Kupitta Park The most popular place for picnic or family trip in summer is Kupitta park. The is not far way from the city center. This is a complex structure with a park for picnic, sport area for football, basketball and so on. One specially feature in this part is the cherry blossom. Meanwhile in other western countries with better weather condition ( I mean warmer), cherry blossom is very popular. In Finland, it is not widely planted in large number, and Kupitta park is one of places possesses numbers of cherry blossom trees. Not so gorgeous like in other place like Japan or Korea which are famous with beautiful road of flower. The cherry blossoms in Kupitta have their own attraction.

Holy Cross – Koroinen Koroinen is old village in Koroinen district. This was the location of Turku Cathedral before 1300. Today it is a small village with just dozens of villagers. Visiting this area, you may find a small hill with a White Cross with some stones which belong the old Turku Cathedral before destroyed in 1396. I love to visit here in summer, which I can enjoy the fresh air and a peaceful scenery.

Turku Cathedral This is the most famous tourist attraction that you must know about Turku. It is not based at the center of the city like in other Western cities but you will definitely see it when you come Turku. This is one of remaining structure of the old Turku after the great fire in 1827 that almost destroyed city. The Cathedral witness many important record of Turku and Finland history. Started by Catholic Church, but after the reform in 16 th century, the Cathedral now belongs to Lutheran State Church. The Cathedral play an important role in religious life of Finnish people as well as a center of celebration in Christmas.

Finnish nature One fact about Finland is that most of the country covered by forest. Even in the city, you may find some small part of the forest surround living areas. This condition gives us chances to live harmonizingly with the nature. Though living in the city, you can easy to catch up with some small animals. Rabbits are the most popular. Or sometimes there are some squirrels playing on trees. If lucky, you can even see a fox or porcupine. Living in Finland make me feel the closer connection between human and nature.

Steak & Lobster Land Having an awesome lunch in Woolshed restaurant with the wonderful combination of steak and lobster at a reasonable price. Anything can be greater than that? The answer is nooooo - from a big fan of food.😍😍😍 Hungry???

Food Festival Turku becomes more active in summer, there are many activities celebrated along the Aura river. One of the most greatest activities is the food festival where selling handmade stuffs and especially traditional foods at reasonable prices. It usually takes place at weekend during summer vacation from the beginning of April. You can find there many special gifts which are limited designs. I came here in a sunny Sunday with my beloved friends, we had a wonderful time enjoying a lot of dishes. Great thing to try!😋😋😋 Have you ever seen a 'crowded Turku'? Enjoy the day with lovely locals Amazing cakes Delicious dish

Medieval Restaurant In my trip to Tallinn, I went to an amazing medieval restaurant Olde Hansa which is known as the home of a rich merchant, located near the Old Town. The restaurant was decorated in an ancient style which I haven't seen before. I felt like I'm back to the medieval stage from the moment I entered this place. It's not just a restaurant but also a great place for relaxing with so many games. And the dishes are pretty delicious in the traditional way with friendly waiters. I must say this is a wonderful experience I've had.

One day in Tallinn - Old Town If you are in Finland, going to visit Tallinn is a must. It just takes 2 hours from Helsinki by comfortable ferry with many services such as restaurants, bar or shopping. After 2 hours enjoying coffee and shopping, I and my friends arrived to this lovely town around 12pm. We took a map available at the terminal and started to plan for our 4 hours trip. Amazingly, Tallinn is a small historical city where you can easily explore on foot. This is a great trip for me as the wonderful landscape of this capital. We also enjoy the local food which is called sweet almonds. It's made from almonds with some traditional ingredients. Sweet Almonds In this trip, we got some problems when trying to find the way back to the ferry terminal as we lost the taxi's number. Luckily, there are some awesome locals, they helped us to call the taxi and arrived to the terminal on time.

Means of transportation in Finland Finland does not have a large population and the population density is also quite low. The traffic is also quite light and clear. The main means of transportation here are private cars and public transport. Finnish public transport systems are extremely convenient and comfortable. In harsh weather like in Winter or rainy day, the public transportation shows its utility. In summer, the nice weather encourage people to use friendly environmental means of transport like walking and biking. In Finland, there is a separate lane for bicycle riders along with pedestrians. One important feature is that facilities for handicapped citizens are organized around the cities in order to support them better. This shows the highly developed social system in Finland.

Paavo Nurmi Games Finland has a harsh weather for the large time of the year. But if you think Finnish people do not exercise much, you are so wrong. I have to said that Finnish people are workout-addictive. They do jogging in any condition of weather even in heavy snow or temperature around -20 degree Celsius and the gyms are always full of people. Maybe that the reason why Finland has one of the greatest athletes in the Olympic Games history. He is Paavo Nurmi with nine Olympic gold medals, the 7 th great athlete of all times. He was born in Turku, Finland. Therefore, in Turku, you can find a stadium with his name and a  Games held every year in summer – Paavo Nurmi Games. This Games include many subjects which are organized at Paavo Nurmi stadium. However, the focus of the Games is the marathon subjects which attracts many athletes from both professional as well as amateur. In short, in Finland, sport is not just about the hockey.

Oras Swan Ship Race One of the best things that makes the beauty of Turku the Aura river, which flow across the city center. Thanks to that, in summer most of activities are organized near the river. One of interesting event in summer is the Oras Swan ship race. Many ship crew across the country and also from other nations as well gather at Turku to join the race, which creating a very uproarious scene. Though I could not watch the race because it happened offshore, the event created bustle atmosphere for the summer.

Vietnamese Tet holiday in Finland In Vietnam, we celebrate a traditional holiday annually – Tet Holiday (Lunar New Year). Some of you may think that our holiday came from the Chinese New Year. However, our holiday has no relation with them. Yet this is not a topic to debate about this. I would to tell about the Tet holiday I spend in Finland. As a tradition, Vietnamese will spend holiday with their family but we could not do it here in Finland. Fortunately, there are many Vietnamese students in Finland as well as a large community of Vietnamese immigrants who came here long time ago. Thanks to this, we, student, still had chance to spend a warmly holiday with full of traditional meaning as we live in Vietnam.

Mediaeval festival This is a very special festival among numbers of events are organized during summer. This event is organized by the mediaeval style along the main river at city center – Aura river. There are many kiosks  selling or exhibiting items made from the mediaeval age or traditional stuff and food. Along with these kiosks, there are some activities which remind about the mediaeval time.

Coffee shops in Finland There is a fact about Finland you may not know is that Finland one of countries that consume coffee the most though their population is roughly 6 million. There are a lot of coffee shop you can find here, in every corner of streets of shopping malls. Starbuck also present here but not so popular. Coffee in Finland is arabica coffee. It is quite sour, unlike robusta coffee in Vietnam. Hence, I usually try other drink that normal coffee, and hot chocolate is my favorite one. The best hot chocolate that I am fancy at Bean Bar coffee shop. In my opinion, they have best hot chocolate in Finland. Their drink is very delicious, not so sweet, a bit condensed and it can be hot until the last drop of your cup. 

Nordic night sky One special feature of Finland that the sky is most clear during the night, a perfect prerequisite for star gazing. When I was in Vietnam, hardly when I had a chance to enjoy the clear blue sky with full of star due to light pollution and cloudy sky. But one constrain I got here is the cold weather. If you can to take a walk at night, you should take care of your body temperature. In summer, it is not cold but the sun is just set for 3 hours so the sky is not totally dark. However, it would be rewarding prize if you leave the coldness behind. Due to geographic position, you may always see the Ursa Major constellation at the top of the sky. Besides, you also enjoy thousands of stars sparkling in the Nordic sky. there is not many  good times to enjoy the night sky, so prepare yourself and choose a good place, good time to enjoy the  gorgeous Nordic night sky.

Helsinki Trip I came here several times but didn't have enough time for travel around the city so I decided spend one day here. First destination after 2 hours on bus is the Central Railway near kamppi. It's one of the most beautiful station I visited. It's the ancient architecture located in the middle of the modern capital. Next is the White Cathedral with a unique construction I've seen on many movies.  White Cathedral And the next amazing place is Fazer cafe - a famous brand of chocolate in Finland. There is nothing better than a combination of a cup of hot chocolate and a strawberry cake and enjoy the beautiful of the city at night. Fazer Cafe Acctually, I have a great dinner in Vapiano restaurant - an Italy pasta restaurant. It's so amazing, you can order your meal and see how they make it. I'm too hungry as I have to wait 45 minutes for my meal. So I forgot to take a photo 😆😆, but it's really nice. You should try once when you visit

Ruissalo - Camping Land As I mentioned in the previous post, Ruissalo is a first destination for me in summer, an ideal place for BBQ. Yes, I come here in a sunny day. The first feeling is that it's colder than in the city as seawind. We start to find a suitable place for BBQ. Fortunately, there are many free table for us, we chose a site near the beach to enjoy the fully seasights. It can be said that the island's beatiful in many ways depending on the seasons. In winter, it's a white picture with peace beauty while it's a colorful picture in summer. One year in Finland, I still cannot explore all of places there like a mystery.

Pho - Vietnamese beef noodle soup After a year in Finland, I and my friends celebrate a small party, spend time to remember about our home country with a special dish called Pho. It's a kind of noodle soup that you should try. As I know there are some restaurant in Turku serving Pho and other Vietnamese dishes. For us, this is the first time preparing Pho. It's so amazing and not easy to cook. It requires a lot of ingredients which some can be found in China market and some are missing. By the way, all are really enjoy the dish as it reminds us about our country and our memory from the childhood. Living away from home is not easy for us, we have to adapt a new environment without family, without parents. Luckily, Finland is a beautiful and peaceful country with friendly people. It helps pretty much in reducing homesickness. Just some moment!

Naantali – A small pretty seaside town In Turku area, there are two places that you can come enjoy the sea winds: Ruissalo, Naantalin. If Ruissalo is place for camping and bbq, Naantali is where you can enjoy the life of a seaside village. The best time to visit Naantalin is summer or autumn. However, in Autumn, the weather may not support your trip so that I recommend summer trip. The main focus of Naantali the coastal area with many restaurant and activities along with romantic view of Baltic sea. There is also an antique church with a nice view at the other side of main coastal street. This place is very suitable to people who like to enjoy beautiful scenes or taking photos like me. Or maybe you just want to breath some fresh air from the Baltic sea.

Kuralan – The mediaeval village in modern time As I used to said that I have special interest in mediaeval age of Europe. Therefore, I was so excite when was introduced about this village. This village around 15 minutes of biking from my place, not far from the city. Every August, this village open a day for people to visit and explore the life of villagers. Villagers  here are the host of the Mediaeval Festival that is held in summer (I will write about this festival in another post). The mediaeval structure of the village is still kept by the city and villagers. Come here, I can witness myself how the life in 14 th – 15 th century looks like. One the exhibition day, villagers plays roles like their ancestors: live by rising animal (until now), making leather, metallurgy, agriculture. Beside normal activities, visitors also try to wear heavy armor, using sword or arrow like a real knight and the kid were extremely fascinated with this.  Visiting this village make me more exci

Cruise to Stockholm If you have chance to visit Finland, you probably also travel to Stockholm by cruise. By the advantage of geography, the most common mean of transport is by cruise. The time of travelling by cruise is much longer than by airplane, around 12 hours from Turku to Stockholm and vice versa. It means that you will need one day just for moving. After spending 12 hours on the ocean, I had my first step at Stockholm. This city is named as the heart of Nordic area. Coming here, I understand why people said that. I came here in December, when the winter had already arrived. However, contrary to Turku, there were always people on the street. They are tourists or local citizens. The urban area are also quite crowed with lots of building as well as constructions. I just spend haft day in Stockholm before catch the cruise to return to Finland. The time was quite hash to explore the whole city. Yet I had chance to visit som

Suomenlinna Island I visit Suomenlinna in a windy day - an island located at the entrance of Helsinki's harbour. From city center, I get there by ferry which just takes 15 minutes. I take a cup of coffee and enjoying the sea sights while waiting for visit this famous island. The very first feeling when I come here is that it's really colder than in the city. Luckily, I have brought warm clothes with me so it's not a big problem😅. As I haven't check the timetable of the museums so I just can go around myself following the map can be found at the entrance. There is no place opening at the time I visit but the island's still mystery in its way. Well, for a photo-addicted like me, nothing can be greater than the beautiful nature. I start to explore the island with only the map and camera. The most amazing thing is that this is a land of museums. There is one thing come up in my mind: "How many museum are there in Finland?". I'll google it later but I g

Turku Library There are several libraries in Turku and the main library is located in the city center and near the Aura river. You can easily get there by bus and take a walk for about 5 minutes from the bus stop. Amazingly, Turku library is the combination of two building which two styles, one is the old and traditional construction and the other is the new and modern architecture. There is a ton of books you can borrow and plenty of computers for accessing the internet with free wifi. There is a small restaurant in the library offering food and coffee with nice price which is really convenient. To be honestly, I haven't been in any library longer 2 hours as I just come for borrowing books. Suprizingly, I spent all day exploring there without getting boring. This is not only a place for reading and studying but also a destination for relaxing and enjoying the city sights.

Mökki-Porvoo My next destination in this summer is Porvoo located on the sounthern coast of Finland, near Helsinki, which is known as a medieval city of Finland. You can easily get there by bus. From Turku where I live, I have to catch one bus to kampi in Helsinki and transfer once. It takes about 4 hours and costs approximately 15 euro. I'm so exciting for this trip as I mentioned in the previous post, mökki is a traditional holiday of Finns. Therefore, I decided to spend some day exploring mökki, do like Finns do. I and my friends booked a cottage house in Porvoo, it costs around 300 euro for 3 days. For those days, we play yard games, bbq, boating and of course sauna - a traditional activity of Finns.  Now I know why Finns always go to countryside for their vacation. Enjoying the clean and silent atmostphere is the effective way to relax after hard working days. More importantly, there is nothing greater than spending time with the loved people in my life.

Juhannus – the heart of Finnish summer What is Juhannus? It the longest day of year where in some part of Finland, the sun never sleep. It is the midsummer by the normal name. the Juhannus holiday usually last for 3 days. Sometime, I ask myself that why Finns have so much holiday during a year?! As I used to explain in other post, winter in Finland is quite long so they love the summer so much. At Juhannus, Finns do not stay at home, but the street is also empty. Where are they? The answer is mökki! This is another Finnish tradition. At Juhannus, they usually travel with their family to a mökki – a cottage in the forest or camping station which near a lake or river. They play, relax and enjoy the summer and leave their normal day jobs behind. 

Vappu  In Finland, the international labor day is also have another meaning which made the Mayday become one of the biggest holidays in this country. Visiting Finland at this time, you will have chance to witness a special festival here. It usually starts at the night of last day of April and continue to the next day (Vappu). The main focus of Vappu is the parade of students wearing traditional hats. This hat is a sign that they are passed the high school. Joining the parade also many people who already past there high time long time ago. But they still keep their hats whatever how old is it. In this occasion, people usually use alcoholic beverages and traditional drink call “sima”. Yes that it, come to Finland at Vappu, join the parade and … toast!

Summer – a different picture of Finland. W hen talking about the Nordic countries, people usually remember about the winter which can be last for half of the year. However, in my opinion, the winter is just the background for the summer to be shined. Contrary to long winter, summer in Nordic countries is quite short, roughly 2 months. However, it could be the best time around the year. In Turku, the summer also lasts for around 2 months. The sun is always shining on the sky. In the longest day, the daytime is around 20 hours and sun just has 3 hours to sleep. In summer, Finns have many activities. People tend to gather outside instead of bar or stay at home like in winter. You can see people where you can see the sunshine. This creates a whole new picture of Finland that you may not notice when talking about this country. The summer here is short but values for every second.  

Turku Castle I was offered a best price for visiting Turku castle as a student. It is known as one of the remarkable medieval castles in Finland constructed in 1280.  The castle represents the history of Turku near the harbour and 4km far from city center. From the market square, you can catch bus number 1 to the harbour, luckily there is one bus stop in front of the castle. There is a souvenir shop in the castle where you can buy gifts for friends or just keep it like a collection.

Aurora - The Northern Lights The Northern Light is a unique natural light dancing in the sky. And Finland is known as one of the best places to spot the aurora, to be honestly, I came here because of it. Aurora can be easily seen in the North, when moving southwards, the frequency is reduce. Catching this magical phenomenon requires clear, dark sky and a viewing place without light effect such as street lights. Luckily, there is a ideal spot to watch aurora near Student Village. It's a wheat field located in Hallinen. After several waiting days, I saw this amazing light. No word can describe how beautiful it is.

Christmas Night First Christmas in Finland, we celebrate a small party with Vietnamese community in Finland in an exuberant atmostphere. It's a time for relaxing and rest. We gather together, preparing traditional foods, playing games and giving gifts to each others. Suprisingly, no one go out as people are home and prepare Christmas dinner, it's really a silent night which is totally different to Christmas in my country. It reminds me that no matter how modern life may become, Christmas always be synonymous with age-old traditions.

Ruissalo Island In Winter My hobby is going around Turku, taking pictures all places that I visit. Ruissalo island is my next destination which is located to the south-west of Turku city, between Hirvensalo and Pansio. It just takes about 20 minutes to go there by bus. This is an ideal places for BBQ in summer but it's still crowded in winter. People go here for winter swimming, sauna and skiing. One thing is amazing is that Finns children can ski very well regardless of there ages which cannot be seen in my tropical country. And for me, it take weeks to learn how to ski. In winter, everything is covered by snow like a fa iry story which I only saw on movies. It's really awesome place. I definitely will come back in summer for camping with my friends.

Finnish Christmas Market People said: "Christmas is a magical time to visit Finland - the official hometown of Santa Claus". Yes, I totally agree with this point. There are many activities in Christmas, especially Christmas markets. The holiday begins with pikkujuolu - Little Christmas. At this time, Finns start to decorate their houses preparing for juolu. Christmas is known as the time for family which is similar to Tet holiday in my country. In Turku - the place that I'm living, there is a Christmas market offering an abundance of unique gifts, delicious food and glogi - a traditional drink of Finns in Christmas to take the chill out of the air.

The very first winter at the land of Santa You may find in my blog that there are many “my first” titles. Obviously, that is because I moved to a whole new environment, new country with totally different culture. And today, I would like to share with you about the first winter I experienced in Finland. Certainly, it would be a mistake if do not tell about winter when you come to Finland. However, I had to wait quite long until the winter actually came. The winter usually comes around November and it is starting to snow. Unfortunately, in the year I came to Finland, I had a first snow after Christmas. Some people said joke that we brought the heat of tropical area to Finland (I come from Vietnam). The feeling of seeing snow for first time is so strange and special. Everywhere has just one color – white. The snow makes the gloomy scenes of winter more lively and beautiful. I enjoyed the snow for around one month before the temperature got higher and snow was starting to melt.

European first trip (end): Belgium – Bruges Yes, you are right. My ultimate destination of my trip is a city called “the Venice of the North”. This city has a beautiful and romantic architecture. As the name, the main impress of the city is on the system of canals around the city. This is also a famous city for tourist, therefore it would be very crowded. There is always a supper long queue to acquire a city tour by boats. If lucky, you may have your turn. I was not so lucky so I decided to explore the city by walking with my cousins. My trip was on winter, it somehow affected the sightseeing due to the coldness and winds. However, it is still a good choice to visit though. The city’s architecture made me feel like to whole city is a giant castle in the middle age, which I always wish to visit whenever I watch on movies or television. Beside the beautiful scenes, I also had chance to taste the Belgian beers and foods. Belgian beers are always famous for its flavor and I have s

European first trip (P3): Belgium – Antwerp  My next destination is Antwerp – Belgium, one of the most antique city in Belgium. Antwerp is haft a hour of driving from my cousins city, Breda – Netherland. This city is at the border between Netherland and Belgium so my cousins usually visit here. This also a city for tourism. There are many tourist attractions that are recommended on Tripadvisor.com that you can easy to take reference. This city has many large antique cathedrals. Visiting there, you can know more about the history of the city with lots of events which are strictly adhered to the conflicts between Catholics and Protestantism. Outside the city center, there are a crowded modern structure. Therefore, you can don’t have much time, you can spend around half day to walk around the center as well as some famous tourist attractions.

European first trip (P2): Netherland – Rotterdam My next destination in Holland is Rotterdam. This is a major port city in the South Holland. My first impression is that the city is so crowded with full local citizens as well as visitors. Maybe because I come at the Christmas season. This city has a spectacular structure called The Cube House. It was built with a strange style of architecture with an array of cube blocks. It is so interesting. We took a walk around the city, tasted foods, enjoyed the nice atmosphere. Visiting Netherland, it is totally different in comparing Finland, from the custom, the weather as well as the architecture. It is true as people said that ‘’travels form a young man’’.