Life in Finland | Six months of darkness and Santa Claus, what else?

This is the first part of Antoine Blanquart’s blog about his tenure in Finland and TT Gaskets. More posts are to follow.

Hi, first let me introduce myself. I’m Antoine Blanquart from France and more specifically from Nice, in the French Riviera, currently studying for a bachelor’s degree in International Business at the IPAG school of business. As a part of my studies, I have an internship to do abroad to acquire new knowledge.

Mr. Aleksi Arpiainen used to work in Switzerland several years ago and kindly offered for TT Gaskets to host me for 6 months, which is an amazing opportunity for me.

This blog is a great way for me to share my impressions and feedback on Finland and on TT Gaskets.  

Our Trip

We left France on March 3rd with my girlfriend Lisa and arrived in Tampere at 9 p.m. Over the day we lost 25°c, going from 15°c in Nice to –9°c in Finland.

Before arriving at Tampere, I knew practically nothing about Finland. I knew that the capital was Helsinki and that you had a region in the North called Lapland (the country of Santa Claus). It may surprise you, but in the mind of a Frenchman, in Finland it’s daytime for six months and then night for the other six months.

As you can see on this picture, there is some light. The time of the photo was 6.15 p.m.

I had already done several tourist trips abroad, but this was my first time traveling to a country for business purposes. It was also my first immersion in a company. I was quite apprehensive about my capacity to cope with a foreign language and business demands. However, it reassured me that I had already had some contacts with Aleksi and Mr. Matti Salo beforehand who contributed to making me feel more at ease. 

Settling in Tampere

When we arrived in Tampere, Sanni Kraneis, the company HR, welcomed us and showed us the accommodations she organized for us. We discovered a great flat, we were really amazed by the size and beauty of it! Sanni was very thoughtful and put some beautiful flowers on the dining table and on top of that, they had done some shopping for us so that we could have breakfast the next morning as we arrived very late in Tampere.

We were settled in our new home for the six months to come.

This is the first part of Antoine Blanquart’s blog about his tenure in Finland and TT Gaskets. More posts are to follow.