First days in Finland

The first couple of days in Finland

Already more than two weeks ago, on the 18th of August, I left home to go on exchange to Turku, Finland. My checked-in luggage could be 23 kg and my hand luggage 8. First I thought that it was quite a lot but when I started to pack it wasn’t. Especially if you have to bring your warm winter jackets with you it’s not much. I managed and took the maximum weight with me! After saying goodbye to my parents the airplane left right on time, something that rarely happens to me when going abroad by airplane. Probably this was because I traveled with a Finnish air company and they are very strict and always on time. The airplane arrived around 20 minutes earlier than expected which enabled me to catch my bus from Helsinki airport to the place to be, Turku. Everything went well and my tutor picked me up (by car!) at the bus station. She already had the key of my room and picked up my Starting Package (blanket, pillow, plate, cutlery, cup, glass etc) so I didn’t have to do that myself anymore.

When I told my family and friends that I would go to Finland they asked: “Why Finland and not a nice and warm country? It’s there cold and dark all the time!” Then I just told them that that might be the case in the North but the city where I would go to is in the South at the sea and I believe that the difference with the Netherlands is not that big. What I would expect from Finland is that the people have a very good command of English, that I would not at all be able to understand the Finnish language, that the people have blond hair, that everything is very well organized, that it is hard to truly get into contact with the locals and most of all that it would be expensive.

So let’s see if my expectations came true. 

The first one, that the people have a very good command of English, is true on average. Especially the tutors and other Finnish students speak English very well and some even sound like they are native Americans. Some also have a strong Finnish accent which is kind of funny. However, not everybody speaks Finnish here. When I asked for something in a big shopping mall for example, they couldn’t help me because they didn’t speak Finnish. The solution than is to ask one of the other young persons that is in the same shop and 99% of the time that person can help you. I’m indeed not able to understand the Finnish language and therefore very happy that the descriptions on the packages of food are also in Swedish. That is much easier to understand and pretty close to German. Finnish belongs to the Ugric languages together with Hungarian and Estonian and they even cannot understand each other. So there are not connections with any other European language. Pronouncing the words is very easy though because it’s just like it is written. If there are for example two a’s in one word you just have to say the a for a longer time than if there would be only one a. I hope that I will learn some Finnish to recognize what things are, but I don’t expect too much from it!

People have indeed blond hair. The first person I met, my tutor, has that white blond hair that you mostly see in the Scandinavian countries. Everywhere on the streets you see people with this color of their hair, but many people also paint it into another color. Until now I’ve met some Finnish students that are happy to help you out and that are quite open. Most of them were tutors of exchange students. These people were not that closed or hard to get in contact with I think and also very energetic. Unfortunately I’ve not met so many Finnish people, so more about this topic in my next blogs.

The expectation that the Finnish are very organized is true. What I’ve seen now at the university is that everything is very well arranged. The tutors help you with all practical matters and show you where to go. The orientation course was very informative and everything happens right on time. They are really strict with time matters, so the southern European people might have some difficulties with that. For me it’s only easier, because I’m used to being on time. Besides that you can also do courses from other faculties than your own which is very nice for me. This enables me to learn something about another discipline than Economics and this period I think I won’t have anything mathematical. Also the student housing is very well arranged. Big rooms, own bathrooms, shared kitchen and everything is on a first come first served basis, which is fair in my opinion. Because I was very quick with subscribing for a room in the Student Village I got a room there. Another thing that is very well organized is that exchange students get the Starting Package. I’m very happy that I don’t have to buy everything myself, I rather spend that money on other things during exchange! However, not everything at the university is that well organized. In Tilburg we have for example a great Blackboard system where you can find all the information regarding your courses on the same place. You’re schedule, information about the courses, power point slides, grades and registration for courses is all on or through this page. In Turku that is different. You have to figure out your own schedule. There is one big timetable with course codes and you have to find your own courses in that timetable to make your own schedule. Registration goes through a website called Nettiopsu, but not for all courses. For some courses you just have to attend the first lecture. For your exam results you have to go the a webpage called Wentti and your email can be found at again another one. From now on I will even more respect the Blackboard system at Tilburg University!

The price level in Finland is quite high. I’ve heard that they have a VAT (BTW) of 22%. Although the difference in prices in general is not that big compared to the Netherlands, but for one reason or the other, my money is flowing away! This is probably because you have to pay for the Starting Package, membership of the Student Union, a bicycle, buses etc. For €2,50 you can ride a bus for two hours and for €5,50 you’ve got a 24 hour ticket. Buying these tickets every now and then is an extra expenditure that I wouldn’t have in the Netherlands. Also ice-creams are very expensive and alcohol of course. Moreover they charge entrance fees for the clubs of between 3 and 8 Euros I think and for the cloakroom you always have to pay €2,50. After that, the prices of drinks are more or less the same as in Tilburg. Kitchen parties will be a good solution to these high prices for going out!

Some words to describe my first expression of Finland and the society: friendly, helpful, good public transport, structured, strict (on time), most of the people speak English and expensive.

Next blog more about my life in Turku, trips, courses etc. Now it’s time for me to go to the sauna with some friends!