Tackling Personal Fears and Covid Restrictions
Daria Vanifatyeva about exchange programme in Finland
This is not an easy task to express in words all feelings and thoughts come across when living in a foreign country within one semester. Still, I tried to describe the most important problems I had to tackle and the most exciting events I was blessed with. I hope the report would be helpful for future exchange students.
My journey to Finland was neither planned nor expected. It is been five years since I started Korean studies. Obviously, I was more apt to going to Seoul, South Korea after passing the HSE commission on student mobility. But as I found out, the University of Turku, Finland (UTU) had the Centre of East Asian Studies. Its scholars are specialising in various fields of Asian countries’ development. So, I looked through the university study guide, applied for exchange programme in HSE, passes the commission and entered the path of everyday worries. There were plenty of them.
First, visa procedure has never been easy for everyone. Especially this time it was necessary to receive residence permit rather than student visa to enter Finland. This implied going through endless red tape.
Second, finding an accommodation appeared to be a tough issue. UTU does not have a dormitory, although Turku is known as college town. So, I had to look for an option myself. Moreover, one of the city dormitories was closed in summer, 2021 what resulted in mass panic in specific social networks. There was an immense number of messages on Facebook* accommodation groups, people were desperately searching for housing. The situation was dismal – by the time I received my residence permit, it was 2 weeks left before the beginning of the academic year and not a single viable option. I wish every reader would not undergo the same trials and tribulations that I did.
Third, I would like to remind you about new “covid reality” which surrounds us all and causes much stress. Do I need to keep quarantine? How many coronavirus tests do I need to take? Is my QR-code acceptable in Finland? I guess it is possible stop this list of stressful questions here since many of you are well familiar with it.
Fourth was culture. Despite common history of Finland-Russian relations, still it is a different country with different nation that follows different traditions, values, lifestyle and, of course, language. Being originally a region studies student, I cannot but think about cultural differences of peoples. Studies of Korean language in Busan, South Korea taught me to be considerate to the differences of world perception by individuals. Therefore, understanding of the fact the I was planning to live in a completely foreign country was associated with many challenges. I did not know much about Finland but for Nokia, Moomins, Lordi and Joulupukki (fin. “Christmas goat”).
In fact, visa procedure did not take much time and efforts. It appeared to be much easier than it is described on various information forums. The accommodation issue was solved accidentally. As for the pandemic, QR-code was a green pass to the world. And the cultural worries were not serious, Finns were very friendly and open to any kind of question or misunderstanding. This aspect is worth considering in detail.
I started receiving email with guides about adaptation and socialization at UTU long before coming on campus. There were tutors assigned to every exchange student. They were answering all question on a daily basis, tried to solve any problem and even were organising some leisure activities caring about our mental health. It was also possible to spend time with those people who share some personal interests in special clubs, teams, associations etc, including theatre, choir, boardgame lovers and many other unions. Another beneficial thing was Turku Friendship Programme which connects international students with locals in the Turku area and offers a chance for mutual cultural exchange and new experiences. Summing up, it was impossible to get bored since every week was full of on-campus or city events.
For instance, the middle of October was marked with free guided tour around Turku Cathedral with is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. And in December I was lucky to walk around the city with a guide telling the history of some Christmas traditions in the country. It was also vey interesting to attend a hockey match – it was my first time watching live game. By the way, it was again a student union that provided tickets with special discounts for international students. It seems to me that the main task of the university and its subdivisions is to “take care of people” – on Dec, 1st a small food truck came on campus and its workers were handing out free korvapuusti (fin. Cinnamon roll) and hot chocolate.
The most exciting event which brightly characterises Finnish student culture was International Sitz - a three course meal a vital part of which is singing. The guests are given a songbooklet with songs that will be sung during the sitz. After a song is sung, glasses are raised for a skål, or in English, a toast. The event is remarkable for local student culture, it is organised on a regular basis in different places and on various occasions. Attending sits is definitely a “must visit” point for every student studying in Finland.
Another “must-have” thing for students is overalls – a boilersuit of a colour of a faculty which a freshman joins. While studying at a university, a student attends different events, parties and joins some organizations which indicate themselves by specific patches. These patches are sewed to the overalls. There are even special sewing parties organised! So, each overalls are unique and valued a lot. That’s why they are always on a dress-code list for many events, even a Halloween party. For me it was a surprising aspect of culture since all the students like wearing these clothes while Russian pupils and students tend to neglect school uniforms. I was deeply impressed by such Finnish solidarity. Although I have not bought overalls, some patches are already waiting for being sewed on my HSE hoodie.
In general, student cultures as well as Finnish national culture is very hospitable, friendly towards foreigners and open for cultural exchange. It is impossible to not mention the tradition to take saunas. It is not just a pleasure to take saunas on a weekly or even daily basis for Finns, but an essential condition of a healthy and happy well-being. I was impressed by such attitude towards “just having a bath” and went to sauna several times. As a result, within these four months I’ve been in Finnish sauna more times than for the whole previous life and cannot imagine myself without this activity anymore. The reasons for such attitude lie in a feeling of calmness and harmony appearing after procedure. All in all, diving in sauna culture helps to understand the essence of Finnish mentality.
Local lifestyle is very relaxed and conscious. It took me a while to get used to lack of public tonus and slow walking pace of citizens. Moscow rhythm is very different. Life living in a megapolis appeared to be a serious obstacle to my life in small Turku. However, there were plenty of advantages of living in town. For example, instead of spending three hours per day in public transport I could walk around the city centre, read a book or just enjoy the calmness of the city library which, by the way, visually is no less perfect.
The beauty of local nature and architecture was another source of inspiration there. Looking at surrounding landscapes at the first days of my programme, I started wondering whether I came to Finland to do the “right” studies. But, of course, my exchange programme was very useful.
Finnish education system allows to select disciplines within a major and complement them with some other studies within a minor. Some minor subjects are accessible via intra-universities networks. Thus, I took a course on North Korea at the Asianet platform from the University of Jyväskylä. The UTU course on South Korea was valuable in terms of specialists who were giving lectures. The professor was attractive her colleagues form other universities to deliver presentations on specific aspects of the discipline. An unusual experience was connected with taking Finnish Survival Course for Exchange Students. I had to take the course after going to a shop to by some products – there was not a single word in English.
The advantages of Finnish education include to use of advanced systems for interactions with students and openness of teachers to communication. The latter is noticeable at the level of addressing each other – local corporate culture implies using just names without titles and surnames.
The studying process was psychologically challenging because the majority of courses were online but the bonus of it was physical freedom. I was able to walk around city and travel around country. Thanks to that, I have deeply and broadly explored Turku and its suburbs – Naantali city and Ruissalo Island, went to the historical industrial capital of Finland – Tampere, went on a couple of weekends to Helsinki and, finally, visited Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland.
I would like to conclude my report with a wish of successful exploration and joyful experience of living and studying in any country of the world to all those who have read it. “Next to love, travelling is the one thing which solaces and delights. There is a world of accumulated feeling back of the trite dramatic expression — “I am going away.” (Theodore Dreiser)
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