A Spanish Girl in Finland

During my stay in Finland, I had the opportunity to participate in many projects thanks of Turku University of Applied Sciences. One of them was a project offered by “Multaa ja Mujuloita”, an association that organizes activities for children, to teach them sciences and social skills in a nature environment. This association is located in an area with small cottages, where children play, do activities, learn how to do gardening and take care of the nature. I had the pleasure to organize a new project to this association, and it had the main goal to connect children with elderly people. Me and other three Finnish girls made a schedule full of activities where elderly people and children can learn from each other. I think it was so beautiful! In my opinion, these type of associations are so useful in the society of nowadays. Children are always playing with computers and videogames, and they need to have strong networks and learn from the nature! I think that this experience wa...

During these months in Finland, I had the opportunity to do many cool things and to live very funny and amazing experiences. One of them was to visit a Primary School in Turku, to speak with the students in English. Turku University of Applied Sciences gave me the opportunity to be “English teacher” in Hannunniitun Koulu two days, and it was amazing! It helped me to be more confident speaking in English, now I know that I can do everything I want! Me and other three students met with Krista Paavola, the English teacher of this school, and she was so kind! She told us that we were totally free to speak and teach the children, and she made me feel as one more. I spoke with eight groups of six children more or less, from 3th, 4 th , 5 th and 6 th grade, and they were so kind! At first, they were a bit shy, but we had to speak together 40 minutes, so with time, they were more confident and they spoke so much! They had a very good level of English. When the activity ended an...

The High School Graduation is something very special for all students. It means the end of a step and the start of a new life, full of new and difficult decisions about your future. So, it is something that students love to celebrate, but the celebration is different in each country! In Spain we celebrate it, but it is not a big celebration as in other places. We have a big ceremony in the high school, where teachers, families and friends are invited, and then the students go to a restaurant to have dinner and have fun. It is great! One month ago, I had the opportunity to go to a student graduation in Naantali Lukio, the High School of Naantali, and it was amazing! They celebrated the Prom in the gym of their High School, and they did many beautiful dances. It was like in the movies! One of the students told us that they receive lessons of dancing for this celebration. Cool! We had the opportunity to speak with some students and they explained us that before the big day, ...

These days, I have been thinking about my stay here, and about how quickly the things can change. As I said the entry before, “coronavirus” has changed the life of all the world in some days, and it is useful to value the things you have. Now, if I reflect about my life in Finland, I can say that these two months I’ve been very happy. I’ve had everything I like: friends, very interesting lessons, an amazing practice placement and an amazing routine. Now, everything is different: my lessons and my practical placement have been cancelled, so now I only can learn online; and most of my friends are now in their home countries, and I didn’t have the opportunity to say them goodbye. With these anecdotes I want to say that everything can change in a couple of seconds, so let me to tell you one tip: enjoy, please. Enjoy your friends, your family and your daily experiences. Every day, when you wake up, enjoy your day as it would be the last, because we don’t know the future, so we mus...

“Coronavirus” is a topic that nowadays is everywhere, in all TVs and newspapers around the world. In these last days, everything is changing so quickly. Anybody know really well what is happening, but “coronavirus” is affecting all the countries, and it is a bit scared. Last week, I was doing my normal life here, and suddenly everything changed. Most of the exchange students came back to their home countries and I had to say goodbye to good friends. It was so sad; I think that anybody could imagine to be in this type of situation. At first, I felt a bit scared because I didn’t know what to do, but finally, I decided to stay here. I’ll enjoy all my Erasmus until I can, and I’m sure that since now, I’ll learn and enjoy so much. It is sad to think that maybe, this situation is necessary to value the things you have. One week ago, I was so happy and I wasn’t aware of it. Now, everything is different, but I still have time to enjoy. I only hope that the situation in Spain and ot...

In Turku, there is one of the oldest and most interesting Pharmacy Museums in Finland. It is called “The Qwensel House” and it is a bourgeois hosing from the autarchic times built in 1700 and it is located near Aura River. In the 18 th century, it was a big pharmacy and the residence of one of the most known families in the area of medicine, called “Qwensel family”. Nowadays, it is a museum. In one half of the building you can see so many materials of pharmacy and medicine that were recollected of other pharmacies around Finland; and the other part of the building is the “Qwensel House”, where you can see the rooms where Wilhelm Qwensel and his family lived more than 300 years ago. I had the opportunity to go with Daisy Ladies and it was amazing! People in the museum wore costumes as people that lived in 18 th century, and we could see all the rooms of the house. It was shocking because this house was spared in the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, so everything was so old. ...

On 8th of March, most of the countries in the world celebrate International Women’s Day, in Finnish it is called “Kansainvälinen Naistenpäivä”. In 1975, the International Year of Women, the United Nations reaffirmed the day’s celebration and called it “United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace”. Nowadays, it is an official holiday in many countries, and thousand of events are held worldwide to celebrate women. For example, in the socialist countries, International Women’s Day is a national holiday, and in the workplaces and squares men remembered women with roses and different activities. In other countries, this day is similar to “Mother’s Day”, and men give presents and roses to their mothers, wives and friends. In Spain, this day is used to claim women’s rights. Women and some men do strike and go to the streets for shout for equality in jobs and daily life. In Finland, there is not the tradition to do anything special this day, but I’m lucky to work wi...