Initial Travel Day Report

by Aidan Stewart

For the 18 of us that started in Raleigh, we started convening around 9:30 am for a 10 am departure on an NC State bus. We arrived at Charlotte Douglas International Airport shortly before 1 pm and proceeded to gather and wait for the Lufthansa check in desk to open at 2:30 pm. After checking in, we had until 5:30 pm to wander around the airport for our 6:30 pm departure.

The first leg of our flight lasted almost 8 hours before finally arriving in Munich for a 6 hours layover. Students explored the airport, played card games, ate pretzels, and most importantly napped before the 3-hour final leg of our journey. Touching down in Helsinki at 7:15 pm (12:15 pm back home). We journeyed to the baggage reclaim before meeting our bus driver and Valmet sponsor, and heading to the hotel. At this point, we had some free time to explore the city, get dinner and enjoy the sauna. Most, however, we are exhausted from the almost 28 hours of traveling, and quickly retired for the night.

We are excited for what this trip has to offer us!