I step out of the plane and for that second, all of my worries are gone. All around there is white snow, sparkling in the moonlight. I am simply astonished.

It was my first time in Oulu and I didn’t know anybody. Already before the arrival I was thinking: “Will everything go as planned? Will I get to my apartment safely?” and the most worrying thought at that moment,” Will people like me?” The fear of not making any friends was growing bigger as the day of departure was coming closer. At the end I felt already a bit stupid because of all of the worries that have been going through my mind over and over again. I did have some good optimistic thoughts in between, and mostly I was just wishing for a pleasant experience.

The day finally came. I had a long day ahead of me. It took three different flights to get to my final destination. On the third plane, which was going from Helsinki to Oulu, I slowly started to forget about my worries. So I was sitting on the plane and on my left sat a younger looking guy. When the stewardess came to our row, he asked:
 “Excuse me, do you have some orange juice?”

At that moment my mind was already figuring out how I am going to start the conversation with him. These were the facts I knew: he looked young, he spoke English and he was going to Oulu in the beginning of January. “What are the chances that he is an exchange student as well?” A thought of excitement went through my mind.

Slowly, I was gathering the courage to say something and my heart started to beat faster. Then it came. ‘Sorry, where are you from?”

Yes, that was the sentence I had to think about for ten minutes before saying it. After the first obstacle of talking to a complete stranger I found out, that he was actually a very nice guy. Like myself, he was going to Oulu as an exchange student for three months and one of the first things he said about his country was, ‘Have you ever tasted Belgian chocolate? It’s the best chocolate in the whole world!”

Since I really had not tasted it before he said that he has some with him and offered to taste it some time. He was very talkative and amusing during the flight and the best thing was that I totally forgot about my worries.

But then, the flight was over and I was thinking: “What if he was just one of those people you sometimes meet, you have a connection and then they disappear out of your life?” My motivation for sticking with this guy was even bigger because he was the only one I knew at that point. So I tried to keep the conversation going on the way through the check-out, during luggage pick up and finally to the exit. He was probably already thinking that I’m some crazy Slovenian girl for talking so much but at least he was still there with me. My plan was working!

At the exit there were many people waiting and one of them had a paper with Maarten written on it. That was him. And the girl with the paper was his Kummi student (Kummi in Finnish means godmother or godfather). I also had my own Kummi student but he was supposed to meet me on the bus stop in Linnanmaa once I got there. Although her car was already quite full she was kind enough to squeeze me in as well. On the ride from the airport to Linnanmaa I didn’t say much. I am usually like that if there is someone else who is more talkative in the group. And more often than not, there is someone. After a while of listening to their conversation I suddenly realized that I do not have any contact information of the guy from the plane what so ever. My brain started to panic again: “Should I ask for his phone number or would that be too pushy?” What if I asked him where he lives? But I do not want to come out looking as a desperate crazy girl.” Well, I was a bit desperate but definitely not crazy! Luckily Maarten took care of my problem. He said: “Would you like to come over my place and we can try the Belgium chocolates tomorrow? I live in Yliopistokatu 16 on the second floor.” “Yea, that would be nice.” was my answer. I was saved from being alone, at least for one more day.

I was relieved because that was done and over with, not knowing what will still follow. After I said goodbye to everyone I went to the bus stop and there was no one there. I started to feel a bit nervous and scared that my Kummi would not come to meet me because he forgot about me. It was dark, cold and the streets were empty. It did not take long for me to start walking up and down the bus stop. I was getting more cold and nervous with every minute. Suddenly I saw a small figure walking across the street. My first thoughts were: “What kind of parents would let a child wonder around at such a late hour? I heard that Finns want to be independent but this is a bit much!” Soon I realized that the person was coming directly towards me. “Maybe the child is lost, but how can I help him if I do not know a word of Finnish?” were thoughts going through my mind. Only as the person got close enough I recognized the face. It was my Kummi student. I was shocked on the inside and trying not to show it on the outside. I did not know that he was a little person and I had never met one before. We walked to my apartment and he handed me the keys and the informational folder each exchange student gets. He was very nice and we agreed to meet in a few days to see how things have been going.

So, there I was, alone in a three room apartment. I was the first of the four girls to arrive and I soon realized that it was not such a good thing. The apartment was dirty, the bathroom did not even have a proper shower (instead of a usual cabin, the floor was just slightly tilted in one corner) and the bed felt pretty hard to lay on. I was already cursing the decision of coming here and wishing it was March already. At least then all of this would be behind me and I could go back to my normal life. But little did I know that soon I will be having the time of my life.