Studies begin, lack of sleep continues...

As the days began to blur into a conglomerate haze of fun, the stabbing reality hit me that I was here to study. My initial reaction to the problem of trying to find courses was that of fear, as I did not realise that each semester is split into two periods, where different classes are taken in each. I was happy I wasn't going to have a 30 hour week, to say the least. Due to the lack of courses presented in Social Psychology, I was implored to look outside the box and choose some modules that interested me. The Finnish language course was, of course, a necessity, and various other interesting topics presented themselves. Thus, studies had begun...

It became apparent to me over the next few days that 2 hour lectures were guaranteed, and 4 hour lectures were likely. Not something I really wanted to hear, but it actually makes things easier. Another problem arose, that being the demand of payment of rent. As im sure it is obvious, IBANs cost a charge from England at least, so I set up a Finnish bank account. This makes life much easier for me, with no charges.

After the first couple of days studying (which included a very amusing statistics lecture with my German friend Isabelle - note to self: don't ever watch binocular football during a lecture, its very rude!), the opportunity arose to go to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The term 'booze cruise' comes to mind, and is indeed correct, as many Finnish people hop over the Bay of Finland to the port city of Tallinn for the near half price alcohol. Old Tallinn is fantastically beautiful, looking something not dissimilar to that of a medieval town within a castle, right down to the old fashioned clothes the waitresses wear. And hot chocolate that is other worldly.... Whilst many people slept on the return trip, I played an energetic card game with the Spanish contingency, and by the time we got home it was dark. As I went to sleep that night, I thought to myself "another day never to forget in this seemingly endless adventure in the place I would come to call home in the next months. Of that I am sure...."