How quickly can you get to the FINNISH line?

Hehehe... and so many more jokes to come.  Here I am folks, now reporting from Turku, Finland, a fairly small city that is currently taken over by students!  The semester officially began Monday, September 3, but campus had already been buzzing with Orientation sessions and running around trying to get all official business done before studies (cough cough) take over our lives.

(Turku is about 160 km West from Helsinki, the capital of Finland)

(Our trip from Latvia to Finland was partly by ferry!)

It's been a blast getting settled into a new place and trying to warm my ears up to such an interesting language.  We had our first Finnish language class this week and it is a tongue twister to say the least.  Easy because the letters you see, you have to also pronounce, but the words get quite long and the rhythm is new to me.

-Hei!
-Hei, hei!
-Mitä kuuluu?
-Kiitos, hyvää.  Entä sinulle?
-Hyvää, kiitos.

(View from our kitchen balcony into the courtyard)

Our student housing is a bit out of the center of town and we have to take the bus about 15-20 minutes to get to campus.  The commute is not bad at all and we are many students who take it, so it's more of a social thing than anything else!  Arriving at our housing we were a bit nervous because everything was so green, I thought I was living in the middle of nowhere...  But instead I live in Iltakajo complex with two wonderful roommates- one Belgium and the other German (Vietnamese).  Madara, my friend from Latvia lives in the building next door, which is convenient.  It's great to have such an international setting, but a bit unfortunate that the go-to language of communication is English... this also makes it much harder for me to say that I'm from Latvia because my American English accent totally gives me away.

(My building is the one on the left)

 (Madara and I taking a walk around Turku)

(By the main Cathedral, a regular meeting place and compass!)

Classes haven't started full throttle.  The semester is split in two periods at the University of Turku, which means some classes don't begin until October/November.  It's a bit strange for me and I'm worried that I won't like the extreme concentration of classes- long hours of one lecture squished into one week, etc.  But I think it will be an interesting change to have the opportunity to focus on one or two topics at a time, as opposed to juggling all of your classes at once.

 (On the first day of school, on our way to campus)

The University does a great job to take care of its Erasmus students.  The Erasmus Student Network organizes so many events it's crazy!  Weekly parties at random clubs with various themes, weekend cottage trips, and what I'm most excited about- a trip to St.Petersburg, Russia.  It will be a short trip, but I think full of many new sights and sounds, tastes and smells.  They also did a great job at organizing a "Amazing City Race" that took us in teams around Turku, taking pictures and completing some challenges to really get our grips of the lay of the land.  I definitely know my way around much better now, that I had to run all around!

(By the famous Finnish Olympic runner)

 (Taking the free ferry from one side of the river to the other)

Obviously, one of the best parts of an Erasmus exchange is the opportunity to meet people from all over Europe.  It's refreshing to be in such a multi-cultural setting and to have interesting discussions with everyone you meet.  Here we are with some of our new friends having a Sunday dinner.

(Eliska, Romana, Imanta and Madara)

More to come soon, I hope!  So until then, Hyvää jatkoa (take care)- Nähdään (see you)!