Everything was going great until I stepped out of the airport in Vantaa. That's when I realized my life would never be the same, but I will get to that later.
I am a Portuguese architect and I came to Finland because of some projects. The prediction is to stay a year working on designs with some studios and afterwards oversee the beginning of the construction. I was kinda thrilled when my company, PORMENOR architects, sent me up here. I know some Finns already and I have one really good Portuguese friend living in Helsinki, so everything seemed perfect. I said goodbye to my big family, packed my bags, and made some contacts to find a place to live. I was right about to book a hotel, when a friend sent me an e-mail, saying I could stay with her for a few weeks until I would find an apartment. That sounded lovely... so I thought. Basically, from the moment I step foot in Helsinki, everything went wrong, and I will tell about you my adventures in this city every week, so you can keep track of everything, without any secrets.
The moment I stepped out of the airport I was full of energy and excited to begin a new life. I had left my sunny Portugal and my family behind during September. My plane arrived early in the morning, at 6h am. I walked out proudly with my sleeves rolled up and my sunglasses in my hand, ready to face the future. But by the moment the glass doors opened, the future hit me in the face with a cold embrace. That’s right, nobody warned me that in this distant north, summer doesn’t exist. Everybody says it does, during July and August, but we all know that’s a lie. The temperature was probably around 2 or 3 degrees, but I am a Latin man, so it felt like -10. I dropped my bags and ran inside the airport again. Everybody was looking at me and laughing. They were all prepared with scarfs and gloves. From the inside I looked at my bags on the ground outside while placing my sleeves down to go out to get them again, and hopefully reach a jacket from one of them. But before I went out, two cops surrounded my bags and started asking questions to everyone that passed by. Some tourists pointed at me... Rats!
It took me half an hour to explain that it was not a bomb, and after looking at every possible document, they let me go but not before making me lose the bus. By the time I got to Helsinki I was freezing cold and my friend was already ready to leave for work and tired of waiting. She let me in and basically said “make yourself at home” and left the house in a hurry.
And here I am. Her house is a studio in Krununhaka, a little bare, with only one room and one bathroom with a bathtub. It only has one bed and the sofa is too small for me... I wonder what was she thinking when she invited me over. I guess I’ll find out in a couple of hours. I’ll keep you posted. Next week I’ll tell you how it went.
