I must admit than when I first saw the Finnish agenda for the mobility I felt disappointed, I was going to travel thousands of kilometers and I wouldn’t be able to visit the capital city Helsinki!, instead there were lots of places to visit and activities that didn’t seem very attractive to me at the time. I did tell Carmen on the day we all had a meeting previous to the trip and she told me: ‘Don’t worry, Ana, you’ll have a great time, you’ll see, and you’ll get to know places you wouldn’t be able to visit as a tourist’. Well, I wasn’t totally convinced but what I could do? nothing! things were like that and I couldn’t change them
Now, as I seat in my house writing this I must admit that not only was she right but the whole trip went way above my expectations!!
I started to change my mind while I was on the bus on our way to Huittinen. The landscape was what first called my attention, it was flat but with lots of forest, I started feeling relaxed and enjoying it. But a new surprise was waiting for me. People, I had never talked to before, welcomed me with open arms.
The place where we stayed was nice and cozy, All the places we visited and all the activities we took part in had been prepared with great effort and enthusiasm. I immersed myself into them easily, I just enjoyed them. I did not feel as a tourist in a foreign country, I felt part of it thanks to the Finnish people that were doing their best for us to feel part of them, and they succeeded in a way I would have thought impossible!
When I remember my first impression in reading the agenda, not only was Carmen right, I enjoyed myself beyond all my expectations!!
ACTIVE LANGUAGE 