MY REAL JUNCTION 2019 - EUROPE LEADING START-UP COMPETITION

by YING TUNG (LIZ) WONG (Hong Kong)

A leap into the unknown Finland

Day 1 After reaching HEL Airport in Helsinki, we wandered around the city and visited a famous spot at a park. Due to the long delay of our departure flight , I was not able to join the day-1 session of my business exchange program provided by the host organization, Junction. Therefore, Daniel and I decided to have a nice meal together in Kamppi Centre instead. "This buffet lunch is marvellous, reasonable price with various kinds of fresh seafood! Thank you for being with me here. Otherwise, I would probably stay at hotel alone!" I said while chewing. "You're welcome! Good luck in your exchange week ahead. See you again after 5 days." As Daniel only joined the hackathon from Friday to Sunday. Day 2 After getting out of bed, the first thing I had to do is to greet my roommate! "Hi. My name is Liz. Sorry that cannot be with you yesterday due to my flight delay!" I said. "It's fine! My name is YinDong. Happy to meet you here. I come from ChengDu, China and currently studying a master course of Machine Learning in Finland. By the way, one more girl will be joining us later as roommate!" After that, according to our program schedule, we visited the Ericsson Company in another zone of Helsinki together! I was grateful to make new friends from the same country even in another part of the world! Day 3 After a long day of technological companies and design companies visits, the organizer arranged a traditional Finnish sauna for all of us to indulge ourselves in it for a night! In a wooded, round-shaped sauna room, six girls from different countries, including me, were chatting, enjoying our private time, and celebrating peace and diversity all together. It was such a memorable night for me! After an 1-hour session of Finnish sauna, I wanted to get back to my hotel while others were still enjoying the sauna as I feel exhausted. However, I forgot the way back to hotel from the sauna room with a 1 km distance! "No worries, I could go with you!" Madjda said, one of the girls I met in the sauna session, she comes from Algeria, North Africa, with high level of coding professional. "Thank you for leading me! Seems that I didn't see you yesterday!" I was curious. "As I just catched up the program today as late comer due to the departure flight issues in my home country. Ah... What's your room number?" Madjda asked. "I'm staying at Room 218." I replied. "Room 218? Really? You are my roommate then!" We shocked and laughed at that moment, I've never think about I could meet my roommate in such random way! Day 4 The task in Day 4 was to complete a "City Tour" with international group mates. We divided into 5 groups with 6 participants in a group. During the tour, we had to dance and pose in front of the national museum and record as video, squeeze in a photo booth at central station and take a photo together with group mates, interview a stranger with assigned questions, visit the well-known Fortress of Suomenlinna. We were asked to complete the City Tour within 4 hours ... It's a chilly and rainy day. Though it's not the best weather for outing, we gained the most valuable moments and friendships! Day 5-6 On Friday evening, all of my competition teammates from Hong Kong, Daniel, Jean and Von, have all arrived Helsinki and we gathered at the check-in section at Aalto University. We started brainstorming our project idea and visiting different company booths. After all, we decided to create a smart travel solution for travellers visiting national parks in Finland, which we had to finish a prototype showcase due by Sunday noon. Day 7 Although we didn't win any cash prizes at the end, it is truly a lifetime outbound experience and an adventure for me! I am very thankful to all the people I met during these 7 days and this memory will always be at my heart! Thank You Junction 2019 to light up my year! I stepped into the unknown!