Hello, I am Louise Dagassan, a 16-year-old Mistral-Boréal exchange student from France. I stayed in Finland for 3 weeks at my correspondent’s, Venla’s, house. While in Helsinki, I spent time with Venla, but also with her friends and her French correspondent. I visited Helsinki and its monuments, for example the Oodi Library, which is huge, the Sibelius Monument, the Hietaniemi Cemetery, and the famous beach. I also saw an exhibition in the Amos Rex museum, and then we went to drink some hot chocolate in a café.
I also went to Tallinn, in Estonia, for a day, and it was a beautiful city with very colourful houses. On the second weekend, we went to Venla’s cottage with her friend and her French correspondent. There, we experienced the sauna and a hot tub. It was my first time, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it was very nice. I learned more about Finnish traditions.
During my stay here, I bought a lot of presents for my family, for instance, magnets, chocolate from a Finnish and Estonian brand, and even some Moomin tea and biscuits. Every day, I went to Venla’s school with her. I was very surprised because it differs from our high school in France, for example, you finish at 4 pm at the latest, while in France our school days end at 6 pm. When it comes to meals, the canteen is free, but in France we pay 4,30 euros per meal. I learned a lot about a different culture and manners than mine.
Louise Dagassan
