Originally going overseas as part of a foreign exchange program, senior Sophie Jackson lived in Finland with a host family for one semester of her sophomore year. Jackson decided to go because it was a huge opportunity that she couldn’t pass up.  

“In April [2013] I received an email from a guy I had just met,” Jackson said. “It was my dad’s friend from Finland who [my dad] had hosted when he was 19. About two weeks after, it was decided I would go to Finland.”

Adjusting to life in Finland was hard because of many cultural differences.

“Small talk isn’t a thing there,” Jackson laughed. “So when you finally have a personal conversation, it has a lot of value to it.”

“[Finland] changed my perspective on body [health] and education — [I] love the school system.” Jackson said. “It’s about independent learning, and if you want to learn, you will. That’s your choice.”

Among the other various cultural contrasts, food provided an interesting experience. Jackson’s favorite snack was something called “Korvapuusti.”

“It’s a Finnish cinnamon roll. It roughly translates to ‘Ear whack’ or ‘Ear punch,’” Jackson said. “It’s topped with sort of this crystallized sugar.”

Jackson also had to adjust to the Finnish language, which differs greatly from English.

“You build a lot of words from other words,” Jackson said. “My favorite word is the word for dragon. It’s lohikäärme (LOK-HA-r-r-RGH-MAY) which means ‘Salmon Snake.’ The word for computer is ‘knowledge machine.’ There’s a couple of words like that.”

Jackson was exposed to many wonders while in Finland.

“I saw the Northern Lights,” Jackson said. “It’s quite rare considering we were only in central Finland, and you normally only see that in the Arctic Circle. It was very light, but you could see these strange blue and green swirls in the sky.”

Despite witnessing this natural phenomenon, the Northern Lights were not Jackson’s favorite.  

“That wouldn’t be the coolest part,” Jackson said. “I went to Nuuksio Puisto [a national park]. I stepped into the forest, and lost my foot in the amount of moss there was; it was really cool.”