Students made the most out of vacation during the worst possible time

Two Finnish girls had their holiday plans disrupted by the measures taken to prevent the spread of corona virus. When they landed in Denmark, they had no idea whether they would get back home any time soon. 

By Roosa Welling 

Anni Tuominen, 26, and Tinja Hokkanen, 24, stayed one night at a hotel in Copenhagen and three nights at their friend’s dorm in Aarhus. Photo: Roosa Welling

Imagine getting out of an airplane at a holiday destination, putting on the wi-fi and receiving a message from your government saying: “do not travel anywhere”. 

That was the case for two Finnish university students Anni Tuominen and Tinja Hokkanen, who on Wednesday the 11th of March landed to Denmark’s capital Copenhagen.  

They were coming to visit their friend, who was on an exchange semester in the city of Aarhus. And while this long-awaited trip had been shadowed by rapid spread of the covid-19, also known as the corona virus, while entering the plane in Helsinki the girls had no idea what was about to go down. 

While they were on the airplane, Finnish foreign ministry issued a recommended ban on all traveling. At the same time, the Danish government decided to close all schools and public spaces for two weeks.  

Denmark also announced that the border would be closing soon, which made it uncertain whether the two journalism students would be able to return home. 

“The first night in Copenhagen I couldn’t really sleep at all because of the stress”, Tuominen said. 

Had they booked the flights for one day later, they would have most likely ended up cancelling the entire trip. 

In Finland, hoarding food has become a problem in the recent weeks. On Sunday, Tinja bought a salad for the way home from a mall called Veri Center, which was still open and full of food. Photo: Roosa Welling

Reunion and outdoor activities 

The students eventually decided to travel to Aarhus to meet their friend, since the buses were still running, and the flights were not being cancelled. 

Despite the lovely reunion, it was of course a bit difficult to enjoy the stay. All the museums, bars and tourist attractions were closed, and people were told to avoid social contact. 

However, the trio ended up having a good time by taking walks in the sunny beach, beautiful nearby forest and the streets of Aarhus city center. They also ate a lot of junk food and consumed several liters of alcohol. 

“I actually had a lot of fun and it was a new experience for me”, Hokkanen said. 

After three nights in Aarhus they had to say goodbye to their friend again and head back to Copenhagen on Sunday evening. 

This was probably the only time their timing was on point. Had they left one day later, their flight would have probably been cancelled, since flight company Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) announced that 90 percent of their traffic would be cut from Monday on. 

The girls and their luggage received few funny looks from other people at the bus stop in Aarhus, but otherwise the trip to home went quite well.  

After arriving to Finland they had to be quarantined for 14 days, but the students seemed to be perfectly fine with that. 

“Now I finally have some more time to work on my bachelor’s thesis”, Tuominen said and laughed. 

Despite the corona-panic, the girls had a good time in Denmark and managed to get back home safely. Photo: Roosa Welling