1ST SEMESTER ALMOST DONE

I so like my way to our other campus. Walking through this field, especially when it's sunny and like yesterday, a perfect winter weather.

Yesterday we had our last class of the year. 1/4 of my Master's degree is done excluding two essays, from which the other one is luckily almost ready. I think I will write the other one after New Year's and now just relax and enjoy Christmas. After the class we went to eat burgers with girls to celebrate the end of the first semester. Best burger I have maybe ever eaten, ahh it was so good. Haha. 

It feels crazy how fast time has went, it's not so long time ago when I moved to Sweden and in the end of this week I will be already in Finland spending a Christmas brake with my friends and family. Soon! <3

xo, Viivi

UPPSALA / PART 2

So here is the second set of the pictures from Uppsala a week ago. It was so sunny and beautiful last Saturday with snow and sun in this cute city. The first part you can read from here. Like I told you last time I took over 100 pictures during that day but here are my favorites. Now let the pictures talk and share the feelings from wintry Uppsala!

So here, couldn't really pick just a few pics. It was still so nice and snowy last weekend but now it's again grey, rainy and normal November weather, at least here in Stockholm.

Have a nice end of the weekend!

xo, Viivi

UPPSALA - SUCH A CUTE CITY / PART 1

Uppsala 38 mins away from Stockholm by train. Such a beautiful and cute city where I recommend to take a day trip. I went there on Friday to meet my really good friend and came back yesterday. Yesterday I got a tour around Uppsala and I took over 100 pictures. I was lucky with a perfect winter weather. -3C degrees, snow and sun shine, cannot complain. But those sunny pics I'm gonna show in separate post, this time pictures from Friday evening. There was some kind of light event in Uppsala so some buildings were lighted up. Quite beautiful, I think.

 

For more pictures from Uppsala, stay tuned! Those are coming soon :)

xo, Viivi

BYE BYE AUTUMN, IT'S WINTER NOW

Wow, a real winter came like in a day. I don't know if nobody was ready. Check out those leaves on trees, they are yellow and still there. Like I said in previous post (here) that it was already snowing a bit during the weekend but when I woke up yesterday there was like a small snow wall on the other side of my window and it was snowing like crazy. Everything was just white and is still.

I wasn't surprised about snow coming, it comes every year. Okay, maybe not this early and not this much at a time but still. They said at news paper that yesterday was the snowiest day of November in 111 years here in Stockholm. Anyway, the thing I was surprised was Stockholm public transport. Like come on. I used to live in Brussels, Belgium, where I understood that snow can mess up the public transport and close schools but in Sweden. One of my classmates from my Swedish class (where we were just 7 yesterday) told that their seminars were cancelled because of the snow and lack of the public transport. Bus lines have been cancelled and those which are not run late, trains are running really randomly with over one hour gaps and even metros can be late. I also heard that some people were asked to go home from their office yesterday in the middle of the day. I understand, who wants to dig a car out of snow after a work day? I also understand that if it is the snowiest day in November in 111 years things get messed up but I thought those could be fixed by next day.

Today, when it was not snowing anymore, I was waiting for a buss about 15 mins at the bus stop before realizing that there is maybe no bus coming. I walked to the other street and waited there like 10 mins and saw that the bus line I waited at the first stop and one which I could have taken from the second were both totally cancelled with other bus lines. Really didn't want to stay and wait for a bus which was running cause who knows when it would have come. So in the end I took a metro, which I should have taken in the first place, and was 45 mins late from a meeting.

And why I was so surprised? Well I'm from Finland and I haven't seen the same kind of problem there. Of course snow surprises every year, but buses are still running, maybe late but still. Trains maybe cancel one or two shifts but that's it. Everyone are still going to work, still going to school. Digging their cars out of snow.

Hopefully trains are working tomorrow cause I need to travel with one.

Enjoy the winter!

xo, Viivi

A LITTLE ESCAPE FROM EVERYDAY LIFE

Friday morning in the middle of February, it's seven o'clock and I'm sitting in the bus starting my trip to North, or in the middle of Finland. Eight hours in the bus from Helsinki to city of Oulu. Not bad if you ask me, someone could have taken a plane (1 hour) but I like sitting in the bus, just relaxing. Not even kidding, I'm serious. But anyway a little bit after 3 p.m. I arrived to Oulu to have a nice weekend with my friends.

I didn't have any plans for that weekend. Just needed a little escape from my everyday life in Helsinki without any stress or have to do things. And of course I wanted to spend time with my really good friend I haven't seen in a long time and to see two of my friends from Erasmus I spent in Ljubljana, Slovenia in Spring 2014.

Weekend was amazing, just perfect. Full of nice things, activities, new friends and relaxing without any pressure or hurry. Holidays should always be like that.

Friday evening having fun and dancing, Saturday visiting Koitelinkoski, taking fresh air and staring beautiful snowy winter views, relaxing, having a great dinner and tasty cocktails, playing board games and chilling. Sunday having a hotel breakfast in a spa, taking a reindeer ride, watching junior football game, relaxing, cooking and watching a movie. Monday playing tourist in the city center, drinking tea with my Erasmus friends and meeting one of my best friendsat the bus station before leaving home. She had just come back to Oulu and I was leaving so we had like 45 mins time for gossip :D

The weekend was super and I really like Oulu. Next time I'm gonna go to there on summer to see that city without snow and to hang out with my friends enjoying the midnight sun.

But now I feel like I'm ready for the next escape. Oh well, to tell the truth I don't need to wait that long cause exactly after one week I will be sitting in the airplane heading to totally different views than seen in this post! IT'S ASIA CALLINGG!! So excited!! Over 2 weeks discovering new places and chilling. I'm gonna spend the first part of my summer holiday in Thailand and Vietnam, what I think is not that bad decision cause you can never know about the Finnish summer weather :D

See ya!

xoxo Viivi