Studying Abroad: Fastest Five Months!

I recommend that every student go on a study abroad if they have the opportunity!

 

Where to begin? This has been the fastest five months of my life! A few people have already left for home, but the core group of the exchange students are still here and we are all rushing to see things that we wish we had seen earlier. I've also been trying to travel as much as possible with the remaining time in Helsinki. I caught up with a few other study abroad students from Cap for the weekend in Prague. It was tons of fun and Prague is also a very cheap place (having said that though, anywhere is cheap compared to Helsinki). It was really cool to catch up with the other students and hear how their experiences are also going. It was nice to hear that everyone loves it and everyone is experiencing lots! I also spent a weekend in Dublin, Ireland and also a couple weekend trips to surrounds cities in Finland, Pori and Tampere. The best part though was a weekend trip to Russia! Myself and two friends went on a "visa-free" trip to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. It was unbelievable. Both cities were very cool, but Moscow was just something special; it is hands down one of the best cities I have ever visited! The history of the city goes back over 900 years and you can still see elements from then all the way to now! Finally, a group of us also did a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn was also a very cool city and it is very cheap! I definitely recommend it to everyone as it is just a short ferry ride away from Helsinki (think West Vancouver to Nanaimo with BC Ferries) and there is a very cool "old town" to explore.

Aside from travelling, we have been exploring Helsinki some more and the weather is finally above 0° so we have spent a couple days at the beach (we even got sun burns!).  We also went to an “abandoned house park.”  During the Soviet era there used to be a seaside resort, but it ran out of money and the buildings became derelict. There are only two buildings left, but they are pretty cool to check out and there is lots of cool graffiti.

I recommend that every student go on a study abroad if they have the opportunity! It’s tough to explain, but it is just tons of fun and there are lots of experiences to be had and lots of friends to be made!

Blogger: Stuart Werner is a student in the Bachelor's of Business Administration program. He participated in a study abroad semester in Spring 2017 at Arcada University in Helsinki, Finland.