One week since we arrived in Tampere

 We've already been in Finland for a week. Today is our second Tuesday and this is what we have done.

In the morning, we were in the school being in our respective classes. The most notable were the Finnish as a second language classes, where we could see how many foreigners want to learn Finnish. 

In the afternoon, Mario and Álvaro stayed in music class and enjoyed playing some songs.

In the afternoon to celebrate our week in Finland, we went to the sauna where we were doing sauna in a lake, it was a unique experience!

Monday day in Tampere

 Well today we had a bit of a day off, we were supposed to have a class with each of our Erasmus students but most of them had exams and we couldn't get in. 

In Spain there was a blackout and we were very busy trying to contact our families, we didn't hear anything from our families until 7pm. 

In the evening we went to a shopping centre and spent the afternoon eating ice cream and doing some shopping.

Sunday in Tampere

 Today, it was quite a familiar day you could say; we spent the whole day hanging out with our families. I went for a walk in the woods and then did a tour around the national tv broadcast facility, where Lenni's father works. Álvaro went to the high school gym with Petri to play some volleyball. Claudia went to do some shopping around the city centre and Leire assisted Sini's basketball match. We all had a great time with our Erasmus families.

Visit to Helsinki

 Today, we woke up really early since today we were going to visit the capital city of the country, Helsinki, which was 2 hours away from Tampere. Some of us went there by car while some others went by train. Sini and Frans had work, so they couldn't come with us, but the rest went there. As we arrived, we went to a huge mall and after visiting some shops, we went to an Italian Restaurant where we had lunch. After eating, Lenni showed us some of the most known places in Helsinki, such as the harbor, the cathedral or the library. We went shopping and also to an arts museum which was quite interesting, and after that, we decided to leave since we had to travel to Tampere again. After arriving at our houses, we spent time with our host families, had dinner, and went to sleep.

Second day in Tampere’s high school

We woke up at 8:00, that day we had English with Tommi, and then after lunch we went for a guided tour of Hervanta with Tommi.

He showed us around the university, the local supermarket, a gigantic lake where we took some beautiful pictures and at the end we did a bit of shopping.

We went back to school and the last class we had was English but this time it was with Kati.

In the afternoon, we all went to Sini and Leire's house to play boardgames. We played a game that was about a train that had to choose whether to go in one direction or another, and these directions had both good and bad things, we also played a game of beans that I don't really know how to play but the afternoon was a lot of fun. 

Third day in Tampere's Highschool

 For breakfast we had some cereal and bread with butter. 

After breakfast, we headed to the school where we had an early Spanish class in which we collaborated with the Finnish students so that we could help them learn our language.

In the second period, we had English class, where we were also able to chat with the Finnish students and tell them about our daily lives and the significant differences between countries. We also did kahoot activities.

After these two classes, we went to eat. Today we had Mexican soup with nachos and sour cream sauce, which was spectacular!

After lunch, Petri (the school principal) gave us a tour of the campus where we could see how different classes are in Finland, those classrooms looked like mini factories! We ended our tour by going to the city where we were able to buy some things and spend time with our Erasmus classmates.

To end the day, each of us was with our Erasmus family, some trying out the spa or even showing Extremoduro to the Finns. 

First day in Tampere's highschool

 After having oat porridge and coffee for breakfast, we went to the school, where we were given a general lesson on Finnish history and culture. After that, we had a math class that was split by the lunch break. Once we finished lunch and wrapped up the math lesson, we went to a history class. Even though I didn’t understand the language, I could tell the topic was the Decline of the Roman Empire.

After history, we had Spanish class. Although the Finnish students didn’t know much Spanish, we managed to talk with them in English and teach them a few Spanish expressions.

Once that class ended, we took the bus back home, had dinner, and then went to a concert by Matias, Lenni’s brother, along with the rest of the group.

When we got back home, we relaxed a bit, and I tried playing the cello for the first time—an attempt at a Bach piece. Then Lenni, Matias, and I spent about an hour in the sauna, which was between 70 and 80°C, going back and forth between the sauna and the outdoors to cool off and stay hydrated.

Afterwards, I took a shower and went to my room to rest.

Arriving at Tampere

 22/04/25

The day finally came. I woke up at 5:45am and I made sure all my baggage were in order. As soon as I got dressed and prepared all I had to carry, I left my house and went to our school's entrance. A car would take us to Málaga Airport, where we had to be at least 2 hours before departure.

When we arrived, we checked in our bags, walked through the control, and then, we just had to wait for our plane to arrive. 

The flight lasted around 4 hours and 30 minutes.

As soon as we arrived and took our baggage, we left the airport and we reunited with our exchange partners. In my case, Sini greeted me and she drove me to her house, where I met her parents and her dogs. We had dinner together and they taught me a lot of thing about Finnish culture. 

It's only been a day, but I've already had a lot of experiences and I can't wait to see more of this beautiful country.