Category: Helsinki

ONE-WEEK-RESUME

A week and a day have passed by since I arrived here in Helsinki so it is time for a short summary:

It feels like yesterday that I stranded at the central station. Having relied on knowing the city from the last visit a year ago, I neglected doing research in advance on how to get to the hostel. Standing at the central station with nothing more in my hands than the hostel’s adress, I realized how foolish that was. [Note: I have made the very same mistake when I started my year abroad in Seville… And it feels like I have learned absolutely NOTHING from it!] Unfortunately there wasn’t even any info-point (opened) where people could have helped me. So I decided to drag myself and all my luggage to a well-known fast-food-restaurant, supposing to find WiFi there. I did. After a small research  and imbiss I could finally head towards the hostel. After checking in, I spent the rest of the day with searching for flats and contacting countless landlords until heading to bed not too late at night.

In contrast to the arrival-failure, the next day was rather succesful. I found the office at first try and everyone was really kind. All in all I had a perfect first workday at ALA!

In the evening I planned to visit two flats, but after communication problems with the first landlord, I went directly to the second… Or at least I tried: I got lost on the way to the bus stop! [Note: I am not such a mess as it sounds like – I swear!]. But in spite of the fact that I arrived half an hour late, the couple renting the place still chose me as a renter. Which got me into even bigger trouble: The flat was way further from the city center than I planned to live, but on the other hand very beautiful. Besides I didn’t want to waste too much of the few time I have in Helsinki staying in the hostel searching for flats. All the evening I tried to decide. In the end I decided not to take it and called to say no, but somehow ended up saying yes. The same night I signed the contract and on Wednesday I moved in already. I am still getting cozy here, but overall I don’t regret my decision.

The rest of the week had its ups and downs, but ended perfectly with a beer at the seaside, together with the other ALA-interns. All in all it was an exciting first week and I can’t wait for the next adventures to come!

SO HELSINKI IT IS!

I had never thought, that this traveling-working-adventure would turn out this difficult to organize! In the end I actually sent 121 (!) applications before I finally got a work placement. But let’s start from the beginning:

In the end of March I started planning the trip. I wanted to start in a European country because this makes many things easier like the visa, health care and of course the arrival. My wish was to start in either the UK or in Scandinavia. As my plan is to go to and work on every continent, I decided to apply for 3-months-internships only, which is a rather short period in my profession. This, plus the fact that I applied very short-dated (the ideal was to start in June already) made it seem very difficult to find a placement. Anyway, I started optimistically.

The optimism slowly faded away when the number of unsuccesful applications increased, while the days counted on. At least when June, the aimed start of the travel project, passed by without any change of the situation, scepticism almost dominated. I was already thinking about cancelling the whole thing and to continue the master’s program at the uni instead.

This was when one of the first studios that I applied to – which left me hanging with a “Maybe” since April – finally made up their mind and accepted me! I am very happy to say that I will start an internship at ALA Architects in Helsinki in August. It is a very innovative studio, focused on public buildings, which I was lucky to visit on a university excursion to Finland in 2015.

In this sense: Helsinki, täältä tullaan!