My travel diary Gothenburg, Sweden Erasmus student exchange programme 24. - 29.4. Day 1, Sunday We met in our schoolyard and taxi that gave us a ride to Turku airport left at 10:30 am. After a little bit of waiting in the airport’s empty lobby we got through the security check and went have some light snacks and coffee or other beverages. Our plane left at 1:35 pm. We had a layover in Stockholm and hopped to another plane. Right after arriving to Gothenburg and meeting my host family we went to their home to leave my suitcases there. Only fifteen minutes later Lova and I got back to the car and went to Liseberg. Liseberg is the biggest amusement park in the Nordic countries. It was fun to spend some time in there although it rained very heavily at times and in the end our hands got so cold we could barely feel our fingers. At least I’ll remember that for a long time I think. In the evening Lova’s parents had made us delicious dinner and after that we spent plenty of time getting to know each other. When I went to sleep I was more than excited of the next day.
Here's a picture I took in the rainy Liseberg.
Day 2, Monday This morning we got up early and Lova made us very tasty breakfast. In the school we started off with a thing they called “speed dating” in which we tried to get to know each other by making random questions for 30 seconds with each person. After that we got split into groups and each group started to work with their own book trailers. My group had a very good start and I found it easy to work with them even though there was the language barrier. After school Lova and Anna made us pancakes and I studied for Tuesday’s math test. At half past five we all met at the school’s sports hall and spent two hours playing different kind of funny games. It was fun though there were a few situations that lowered the feeling a little bit. For example one of my classmates fell of some climbing stairs and hurt his wrist so they had to go to a hospital. Luckily nothing was broken and it wasn’t stopping him from doing the national math test. I was very nervous about the test but I knew that as soon as it was done I could enjoy my time in there for hundred per cents.
Day 3, Tuesday On Tuesday we woke up even earlier because I had the national math test that started at 8 o’clock. The test didn’t go so well but the rest of the day was super so I didn’t mind.
All the Finnish students went to a place called Universeum a while later than everyone else. Universeum is the largest science centre of the Nordic region and it’s full of interesting stuff. We ate our lunch there which was tacos so everyone was happy. After lunch we did all kinds of tests and at 1 pm we all took a tram to get nearer to the centre and go shopping etc. I had so much fun shopping there and found a lot of cool things that I bought for me, my mom and my friends. In Espresso house I had the biggest cup of latte of my life, yum! When we got back to Lova’s home I was a little sad because there was an important hockey match going on and I couldn’t see it since my phone decided not to work. But I did find a radio in the net where the game was on and something amazing happened. Lova's father decided that we should all listen to the hockey match and he plugged my phone to their stereos. So for 15 minutes they listened the game even though they couldn't understand a single word of it. I was very thankful for that. They even understood me when I started to jump and dance around the room....because Tappara won!! I couldn't believe it! I could write here a short novel about Tappara's way to the gold medals so I'm just going to say that I was super happy and smiled the rest of the evening. Tuesday was great.
At the Universeum
Day 4, Wednesday This day we got up late and met the others at a tram station at at 10 o'clock. We split in two big groups. Our group went to Haga at first. There we ate huge
cinnamon rolls (they really were like seven buns put together). We also went to see some parts of Gothenburg's museum. In the afternoon our group went to a guided boat ride called "Paddan". The wind was freezing and all of us were cold but it was still nice and the guide told us lots of interesting facts about the city. The rest of the day we had some free time so I, Lova, Anna and Laura went to a cafĂŠ together. In the evening almost all of the students met at the school and played football and just hung around. We left very late because we had so much fun there.
Picture of the cafĂŠ that sells the huge cinnamon rolls.
Day 5, Thursday We shot and finished our book trailers and viewed them together. I was surprised by the fact that none of the groups ran out time and every trailer seemed like all the groups had had a good time filming them.
In the afternoon we had three hours freetime before meeting at the school. Some of us went there earlier to hang out with others. At four o’clock we were in the home economics class and made traditional food from all four countries. We had so much fun, especially when someone came up with the idea of playing some music and almost everyone was singing along. We even got to see Jamal and Dewi doing their personal version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Right after we had eaten we went to the canteen to have a “Farewell party”. There was good music, snacks and of course amazing people. No one wanted to leave in the end and everyone was signing each other’s yearbooks and even crying a little. Many of us didn't want to go back home right away so we stayed in the schoolyard's football pitch for a few hours. By the time we had to leave we hugged everyone and wished them good night being sad about the fact that we might never see each others again. But some of us promised to meet again in the future :3. It was very late when we got back to Lova's place but it was okay since it was our last night there.
Some pieces of our set for the trailer.
Last day, Friday
On Friday we had to wake up very early because Lova had a French test at 8 am. I packed my stuff, said goodbyes to Lova's parents and we went to the school. After Lova had done the test we stayed in the school for a while. At 9:30 we met other Finnish students and all of the English students at a hotel where our teachers had stayed. We said goodbyes to the English students which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be since I made some really good friends with some of them. Then we had to leave to the train station. Our plane left at 12:50 so we had plenty of time at the airport. It was not like that when we arrived to Stockholm and literally ran all the way to the next gate. We made it to the plane but it lift off a little later than it should have. I remember being very tired and confused all the way to home because I'm not that familiar with airplanes and saying goodbye to so many people made me kind of sad. In Turku everyone else was also starting to get a bit tired and we were all glad to get into the taxi. The taxi arrived to our schoolyard at something like 6 pm.
Altogether I will remember that trip for the rest of my life and I'm beyond thankful for my teachers who asked me if I wanted to go with the others. I learned a lot of English and even a bit of Swedish. I also made some new friends that I have kept in touch with and even talked with some of them every single day after we left. Just an amazing experience. Thank you.
All of the students in the canteen on Thursday evening.
Iiris Karikytรถ 9D