After I left Turku by myself it was time to ride the bus to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It wasn’t a huge trip, just a few hours to Helsinki and then it was time to get off. First I thought the bus would join the trip on the ferry, but the trip ended there.
Everyone was getting off and it was time to have the included ferry trip.
Taking the ferry to Estonia
I was on my way visiting my friend Marcel in Tallinn, he did an erasmus there, adding to this I liked Estonia a lot when I visited 2020. The ferry was very modern with many entertaining things happening. You could go shopping or be in the restaurant at quite high prices. I was just relaxing a bit on the deck and felt the fresh air.
To be honest it was getting super cold after a while, so it was time to go inside again. There all good spots were taken. Had to be happy with a bad one.
The ride was not taking that long, so when arriving it was time for the different lifestyle which I am not used to.
Marcel picked me up in a rental car and we were meeting his friends.
First night in Tallinn
We directly drove to the old town, which actually is very pretty. In a pub the friends were waiting, it was only German speaking people so no internationals at all. I was wondering, why not make international connections when being in an international school.
I was not drinking that day, but that wasn’t luckily an issue. Such a hard time for me though, due to the fact that I was not fully getting comfortable in the first place. I did not have a quick connection with the people, even though they seemed like nice people. Sitting at the edge wasn’t helping of course.
At the end everyone was driving home by bus and there it was possible to at least talk a little bit to some of them, which is for me easier in a small round. They told me to not buy a ticket, which actually worked super well during the roughly week I stayed in Tallinn. This is not advice but it seems that there isn’t much control.
After arriving at the student dorm it was time to finally relax after having some dinner. It was basically a hostel but there were few sections just for Erasmus students.
There were two rooms in one little apartment, one for his roommate and then the kitchen with a toilet next to it.
Student life in Tallinn
Every day started the same, I was working while Marcel slept and after work we were preparing for the after events. We went to a birthday and a beer pong tournament. Just many things happening and for me it was interesting, due to never studying in a university.
Just being around so many students is weird and even more weird being around only Germans. Not a problem, I am one myself, but still not as expected.
The work from abroad wasn’t that hard, due to already knowing myself how it is going, but having so many plans after work was new. It was good though, that I knew Tallinn already so nothing really new actually.
Birthday in Tallinn
We were invited to a birthday party by a girl who actually grew up not that far from me. We went to a pizza place, with burned pizza and so many unfilled ones that I had to buy a second one, but the food was still decent. It was nice there and I could have more conversations with the people, because I knew them already. A nice group and of course only Germans.
After the pizza place we went to a pub again, drinking a bit, before going to a karaoke bar. I was a bit hyped to sing there, which we were doing and it felt like we were not that bad!
Last time Marcel wasn’t able to perform, so it was our chance!
The birthday was fun in general and I was connecting with the birthday girl a bit, who also has autism, so we had some similarities. Again taking home the bus being luckily with no controls.
Beer Pong Tournament
Before going to the tournament we also went to explore the region a little bit and actually I was showing Marcel the surroundings. I knew one place in which it was possible to walk. There was a great park with a castle. Probably there will be a little article in the future about it.
We also decided to go to Lithuania at night, which was an interesting idea, because I haven’t been to the capital Vilnius yet and getting home from there was easier.
At the tournament we were one of the first people to arrive, so it was time to do some practice rounds. Quite nice actually, with three tables inside a bar. It was a knockout only. Not how I am used to, but still fine. Marcel and I never played together, only against each other, before the tournament.
Actually we had a great chance to win, due to being one of the best teams in the whole bar, but still we lost our first match. We were quite nervous and lost due to that. It was possible to buy yourself back in, we did it and at least made it to the second round by destroying the opponent team. Sadly we lost in the second round, even though we could have beat them, which was a bit frustrating.
At the end someone in our group was winning the whole tournament and we were able to celebrate it. Marcel and I were able to beat the winning team, so it made us the winner of the heart or something like that. It was frustrating, but a little bit tipsy. We went to the bus stop, in order to drive to Vilnius through the night.
What is up next?
Next week you will be reading about my time in Vilnius, so stay tuned!
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