My First International Flight: Finland.

Over a decade ago I was working for a Finnish company and they requested me to come over to teach Indesign to the rest of the marketing team. While you're probably thinking, this could have been a "Teams" meeting, back then ( ha) we didn't have teams yet! I hadn't been to any other country yet, this would be my first. I was excited, thinking how lucky am I to get to go to Finland? What I didn't realize is how unprepared I was. .... I was going for a week, so of course, like any normal human being I checked a bag (Mistake #1). Thinking to myself, the more I bring, the better off I'll be!

Flying out of Cleveland, Ohio, I had several flights to get to my destination. First stop Chicago. It was only an hour and a half flight, easy peasy. When I arrived to the airport - it struck me. Where was my winter coat? I had forgotten it in the car. My first order of business was to buy a winter coat…. in the airport. Good times. Once that was solved, I had 2 hours to wait. Anxiety crept in, the waiting was torturous for me. I’m not gonna lie. I cried. A LOT.

Since this was a work trip, backing out wasn’t an option. I was alone, in Chicago and boarding my flight to Stockholm, Sweden. Thankfully, I was boarding an SAS flight and had their premium economy seats. Remember, this is my first international flight. I was floored by how massive the plane was, how many people were there, shoving their things into the overhead bins, getting off their necessities organized in seatbacks etc. I immediately sat in my seat, which was plush and comfortable. I remember thinking “ I can sit here for 8.5 hours no problem! “ two gentlemen were seated next to me, all of us were heading to Sweden for the first time. When it was dinner time, I remember laughing when they brought by a basket of warm rolls - was this REALLY what international flights were like? My mind was blown when I received actual cultery and the food wasn’t half bad.

When arriving in Stockholm, my saving grace was that I was staying inside the airport at the Raddison Blu. There was a McDonalds in this airport ( home sweet home!). I was exhausted, and I didn't know the language, hell, I didn’t even know how to naviagate the trains to get where I wanted to go. Every person I approached, spoke to me in sweddish - until they saw the “Deer in headlights” look on my face and immediately changed to English. I felt a rush of relief go over me, thinking, okay. I can actually order food, and get help with this train situation. I purchased a train ticket to go into Stockholm. My goal was to see the VASA ship that had sunk back in 1628. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I sat quietly on the train, when a couple boarded with a baby, in a bright yellow old style buggy., I was amazed by the simplicity of the stroller and thinking it was something out of the 1800s. #SillyAmerican. I began to smile and wave at the baby, like any normal human being - the parents said something in sweddish, and I sheepish replied that I didn’t understand. I was the first American either of them had met.

Once outside the trainstation - stepping into the city of Stockholm, fear swept over me. I had no idea where I was going, I had forgotten to charge my phone. I immediately called my husband crying, telling him I was lost. There were so many people walking around. Needless to say, after my husband helping guide me ( some 4,000 miles away) - I found the Vasa. It was amazing. How could people build all of this out of wood?? I didn’t stay long, the sun was setting, my phone was near death and I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to the airport. It took a bit of trouble shooting, asking for help to get back to the train station but I eventually made it. My flight to Vassa Finland was early morning. So off to bed I went.

The Vasa ship, sunk in 16

Arriving at my gate the next morning, I expected to see another big plane, with lots of people. Booooooy was I wrong. We walked on the tarmac to get to the plane, and this plane…. i’ll never forget it. It was small prop plane. There were about 40 of us on the plane, and the flight attendant saw the horror come across my face. She smiled and said “ we use this plane because it’s better for the environment, I promise you it’s safe.” Now, as many of us know, living in America we aren’t always environment first and this wasn't something I even considered. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to crash into the sea.

It was a short 45 minute flight - Landing in Vassa Finland, there was no customs and the airport had 4 bays., that’s it. It was the smallest airport I had ever seen. I was in country #2 and I was so tired, mentally and physically. I grabbed my luggage and headed towards the exit. Now, if you remember, i’m on a work trip. Therefore - I had a nice man with my name on a sign waiting for me. This couldn’t have been more welcomed at this moment. I didn’t have to worry about navigating anymore. My driver spoke English, as he worked for my company. The scenery was lush green, high cut Pine trees and giant fucking rocks. All of the houses were painted red, which I learned was because it was the only color that was cheap, weather resistant and gave a “Wealthy” vibe. There was so much land, land, more land, no signs of Walmart or target, no McDonalds….. I was in no-mans land.

Arriving in Jeppo Finland, took an hour. I was on company property / housing. They had a kitchen staff that fed me, and I had a “dorm” as a room. It was a very, very, very TWIN bed, with the littlest mattress I had ever laid eyes on and a tiny pillow. In Europe, they don’t have American style hotel rooms, beds, or sheets for that matter. I was in for a long three days. The Finnish water is something i’ll never forget. My skin and hair had never felt so soft. Of course it was coming straight from the mountains, the cleanest water I would ever have access to. I cried a couple more times, because I was so tired, jet lagged, 4,300 miles from home and on a 7 hour time difference.

A car picked me up in the morning to take me to the office,, where for three days I trained my marketing coworkers from all over the world, on how to use Adobe Indesign.