Submitted by Christina Conte on the 2013 spring semester DIS (Denmark’s International Study Program) program in Copenhagen, Denmark…
This week was my long study tour to Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland for my Health Delivery and Prioritization in Northern Europe course. I love Copenhagen, but it was enjoyable and rewarding to experience other cultures for a week. We began the week with a walking tour of the Old City of Tallinn. Although it was chilly (-1 degree Fahrenheit!), it was fascinating to learn about this country I knew so little about. It was incredible to me that the country has only been independent for about twenty years, yet they have made so many strides in their modernization nonetheless. We got to see the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the War of Independence Victory Column, and the city wall, for example. We visited various health institutions such as a health station, a general practitioner’s office, and a sexual health clinic.
We took a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki on Tuesday evening and began our time in Helsinki the next day with a self-guided walking tour of the city. Some highlights of the tour were the Rock Church, Esplanadi Square, and the Olympic Stadium. In Helsinki, we visited a health station where we heard about the Finnish healthcare system from some public general practitioners, heard from a representative of a Finnish youth party about the current healthcare reform, and learned about the public health trends from an epidemiologist. While in Helsinki, my class attended a philharmonic orchestra and went ice-hole jumping. Ice-hole jumping is actually a traditional activity of the Finns where they sit in a sauna for 10-15 minutes, go outside into ice holes, and repeat! It was probably one of the craziest and coolest things I have ever done. To top it off, it was snowing while we partook in this activity! It was such a fabulous trip, but by the end I was definitely ready for some sleep and my regular routine!