Hi there all!

So here I am - finally in Finland. I decided almost one year ago about my arrival in here. This is my final year and probably my last term of education in my life. Maybe it's pretty late for Erasmus exchange, but, well... I say: better later, than never!

Although Finland wasn't my first choice in my Erasmus application, I was really glad that I got it in the end. After i found out about the results I started to interested and learn more about this country. It surprised me how little I know about Finland, country which isn't really far away from my homeland.

I left Poland and big city life in Cracow behind me. Now I'm in small finnish village which is called Korpilahti.

Why I decided to change my reality so much? I have a lot reasons. The biggest reason was NATURE. Yeah, that's right. I was feeling kinda tired of big, noisy,crowded city like Cracow (which i also love, but sometimes it gets a bit hard to be there ;)). Furthermore I was born in such a town like Korpilahti, small, but beautiful. Some people may say it seems boring, but for me it’s perfect place for finding calm and balance in your life. I expected to be surrounded by lots of fine-looking landscapes, but i didn't know that it will be so wonderful!

Before my trip I’ve already started to explore nordic culture, I’ve read some books, seen some movies and been a couple time in Sweden and once in Denmark. I really enjoyed it. Even though every nordic country is different I think all of them are truly amazing.

I hope that this time while I am here I will be able to finally visit “real north” - Lapland. This land seems to be magical, not only because of Northern Lights and Northern Days and Night, but also because of herds of reindeer, Sami people and of course… Santa Claus! Speaking about Sami people - it is surprising that not many people (including me two years ago) heard about these native people from the north. I am very fascinated with their traditions, culture, language and music.

My decision about going for student exchange was made also, because such an experience helps to be more open and learn a lot. I think it will be a challenge to leave my comfort zone, places and people I know. It might help in becoming more independent. Communicating all the time not in my mother language is also a great challenge. There is no better way of learning than practicing it all the time!