Tervetuloa Suomeen! – Welcome to Finland!
Lene N., International Management Studies in the Baltic Sea Region, 5. Semester, Finnland, Kouvola (XAMK), Wintersemester 2022/23

During the first semesters of my studies, it was clear to me that I wanted to go to Finland and participate in the Double Degree programme. The decision had to be made quite early, as it was required to attend a course from the 5th semester one year earlier, in the 3rd semester. The application process started around the same time. It was not always easy. Many documents had to be filled out, sent back and forth, and several things coordinated. Little did I know that this was one of the trickiest things to do. Luckily, the course matching for the double degree is predefined, and had just to be copied and pasted into the document.
Communication between two universities in different countries, various professors and the administration department is not easy to handle. It was not always clear what was required at what time and to whom. Unfortunately, I often felt alone and until now, it is not clear whether everything has been done the right way. The process was long and time-consuming, but after applying for ERASMUS and to the University in Kouvola, I got accepted and went to Finland.

Arriving in Finland

For quite a long time, it seemed as if everything was done. I had booked my flights and got my first email from the Kouvolan campus. Some days before my arrival in Finland, I got the details for my apartment in the student housing. Our coordinator in Finland had organised shared apartments for all international students. He took a lot of pressure off our shoulders. I assume looking for a place to stay abroad without being there yet is rather difficult.
We were four students from Stralsund. We arrived on the same day, which made it easier to handle the stress. Meeting so many new people was overwhelming, given that we were in a city we had never seen before. It helped a lot to know at least some people. We were picked up by our tutors from the train station in Kouvola and brought to the student housing. We all lived in different apartments, but in the same house – only 30 seconds apart from each other. All of us had two other flatmates. It goes without saying that living with people from completely different cultures is not always easy. It took me a long time to get used to the manners of my Korean flatmate. As my flatmates did not study economics, we had different timetables and getting to know each other better was difficult.
Overall, the atmosphere in the student housing was different to what I was familiar with. Never before had I lived in a shared apartment, or in a student housing. It was good to have your friends nearby. It helped to overcome homesickness and get some time off studying. On the other hand, you never had full privacy. Generally, it was never fully quiet in our flat, and even with headphones, you could hear other people talking. Sometimes, I even heard the students in the apartment underneath me.
I stayed in the very top apartment, so I was lucky enough to not have someone walking around above my room in the middle of the night. What was best about my room, was the view. Finland has a beautiful landscape, and I had nature right in front of me.

How the Finish Studies Invaded my Free Time   

Eventually, the lectures started and we soon realised how different it was over here. The lecturers had a more personal communication style. I never said Mr or Mrs, I called them by their first names, which I had to get used to. They also had different teaching approaches. The studies did not include any exams, but tons of assignments, presentations, individual tasks and group work. And I really mean tons! The workload was much higher than in Germany. We had to submit at least one task or assignment every week. Also, group work was tricky too. Most of the time, we could choose our own groups. However, I worked in a group with four different nationalities, and that was not the easiest thing to handle. Even though, during my studies in Stralsund I have had experience with other cultures in addition to courses focussing on intercultural management, the reality overwhelmed me. We were a group of five, but only two (and later three) were really working on the project.
Often, the assignments were divided into different steps. Unfortunately, we only got feedback in the very end of the studies, so we could never be entirely sure about the correctness of our work during the semester.
Until now, I am not sure whether I prefer the Finish way of studying or the German one. It was an important experience, and I am sure that I can appreciate some German ways more now, but in some cases, I almost hit the wall.
In total, the modules were longer, so often had to be on campus only on two days a week. Therefore, we had a lot of free time – mostly used to work on the assignments, but the four of us went on many trips to national parks, or anywhere else in the nature. We were lucky to have a car, so we were not limited at all. Our trip to a cottage in the middle of nowhere was one of my highlights. Especially the way to the campus was much easier by car or bike (until it snowed). The infrastructure of Kouvola is not the best, to be honest. It takes an hour to walk to the campus, which I did some days, but going by car was much better.
However, it is also possible to travel by train or bus. It is not too expensive to take the train to Helsinki, Lahti or other cities nearby. Some even took the plane to Riga or the ferry to Tallinn. The student union organised a trip to Lapland, which was one of the craziest trips of my life.

Last, but not least…

The Fins are a little different to Germans, but overall very kind and once they get to know you better, they can become very good friends of yours.
During the last days of my stay (only a few days until Christmas), I was very excited to go home. I did not want to be in Kouvola anymore. I had still some assignments to finish and all my friends had left already. I counted the days, and later on the hours, until my flight back to Germany.
Now, one month later, I must say that I miss it. Not the studies or the city (!), but the nature and the feeling of living in Finland. It was a great experience with many ups and downs, but in the end, I learned a lot about the Finish culture and myself, and I am very thankful for that experience.