It is time to write about Finland!
This is my story: I came to Finland for the first time in August 21st 2014, for the Erasmus exchange programme, in Vaasa. As soon as my international tutor told me the most important information “Finns take off their shoes when going inside, don’t ever keep your shoes when you visit a Finn!” and showed me around in my student flat, I went for a bit of a walk outside, in the Palosaari area. I walked on the main road to check what’s around there and to find the University and be sure I knew where it was when I’d have to go there for the orientation week.
The first thing I thought was that it was so green, quiet and full of nature. Vaasa is not a big city, it’s sixty thousand people, and now that I think about it, that is really, really small. You can reach places simply by bike, and it’s very easy to get around and find places. Well, after my exchange I went back to Italy to finish my bachelor degree, and then I went back to Vaasa to search for a job. I did not really search for it though, I ended up going for six months as an au pair in Heinola, on the other side of Finland, to learn a bit more of the language.
While I was in Heinola, I decided to apply for the Master’s programme in Intercultural Management and Communication at the University of Vaasa, where I was an exchange student. In April, I received the acceptance letter. I was so happy and couldn’t wait for the many things to come, it was so exciting to know that I would be studying in Vaasa again, and this time for two years!
I really didn’t know what was coming, the lectures, the people I met, the friends I got, ESN and the student life, which is so different from the student life in Italy. I really felt at home in Vaasa. Until now, I spent a total of two years and ten months in Finland, and all of my last five winters. For the first time ever, I will spend the whole spring and summer in Vaasa; I have never been in Vaasa during the summer, so it’s going to be a new experience for sure.
Right now I am working in Talent Coastline, a project under ELY-centre Pohjanmaa. I am an intern, and I just started. The first week in the workplace was so interesting and made me want to write again in a blog, so that’s why I’m back here.
Look Into My Ice 
Lovely post. Thank You. When inside, we are barefoot.
Have a good day!
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Congrats on your new job! Your photos are very pretty. What I’ve always wondered about (bc I’ve lived in both Finland and Malaysia where you never keep your shoes on when going to someone’s house) is that do people really walk with their dirty shoes inside? If that was done at my house, I would have to clean all the time and the parquet floors would be ruined!
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Thank you! Well let’s say that it’s not as strict as it is in Finland, you can walk in the house with your outdoor shoes for a while, before putting on your home shoes on. And when you visit a friend (at least in Italy) well, you don’t take the shoes off, that would be weird 😀
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