Thus far Turku is amazing and everything I had hoped it to be. I love the outdoors and spend most of my free time in Toronto walking my dog and exploring the city. In Turku, I have been able to do the same, only with new and exciting things to see! I have explored multiple parks including the Kuppitta park, Turku’s largest park which happens to be right outside our hostel! It has probably around ten soccer fields, a few cricket fields and basketball courts. It also has a giant outdoor pool and a mini zoo type thing containing odd ducks, goats and birds. As a cross-country runner at Centennial, I specifically loved the running tracks and exercise equipment!
Turku is a small city in Finland but so far has shown so much culture. The people are friendly and luckily, most of them speak English! I love the architecture and many of the buildings are a colourful shade of yellow or orange, which lightens up the whole city. Maybe Toronto should consider more colourful buildings, the mundane glass and grey high rises are quite depressing compared to the assortment of colours here.
Turku has felt much like home to me, I am from Washington State and since moving to Toronto last year I have gotten homesick. Turku resembles my home town greatly but is much more exciting. I feel safe and cozy here and will hate to leave!
I hope the rest of my classmates are having a great time as well! I will write more about my experiences next week!
THE GLOBAL EXPERIENCE BLOG 