last wednesday we (the outgoing exchange students) had the final orientation - which may seem funny as it won't be til next semptember for most of us to leave. this orientation was about all the technical stuff we need to take care of and there are quite a few of such things: application, learning agreement, letter of confirmation, passport, finances, insurance...
we also heard some guidelines about the amount of money we will get from the university of vaasa and I started right away planning my next exchange. I've used erasmus, there are nordplus and bilateral exchanges to go.
I'd better not to tell my mum yet.
today I checked some flight options. on ryanair we could fly from tampere to bratislava via frankfurt (hahn) for only about 60€ including baggage costs and the bus from bratislava airport to vienna. the problem about ryanair is that their baggage allowance is only 15kg. actually, it might be a postive thing. the next cheapest flight option would be on air berlin from helsinki to vienna via berlin for about 90€.
I love to plan!
in two weeks I'll be in vienna for my short visit. vienna, get ready, I'm coming soon!
Samstag, April 28, 2007
Donnerstag, April 26, 2007
global village and the following disaster
global village on friday (20.4.) in fontana.
in global village the outgoing exchange students had the opportunity to hear about their home university-to-be from former exchange students and incoming exchange students. in the austrian corner there were christian, two girls going to klagenfurt, two exchange students from vienna and me. it was a nice evening. these are some of the differences the austrians told us about:
in global village the outgoing exchange students had the opportunity to hear about their home university-to-be from former exchange students and incoming exchange students. in the austrian corner there were christian, two girls going to klagenfurt, two exchange students from vienna and me. it was a nice evening. these are some of the differences the austrians told us about:
- it's important to be polite, to say sorry, please and thank you
- the bureaucracy is awful
- eating out is more common
- alcohol and vegetables are much cheaper
- there are lots of rules - but they don't have to be obeyed
- everything is negotiable
- the buddy system of the university doesn't really work - exchange students mostly have to survive on their own
I was back at home at about half past one. the next morning my dad called me to tell that he and santtu will move my stuff already on sunday (the following day) instead of monday as promised. I had no choice but to start to pack my things immediately. I packed the whole day - 12 hours to be exact. finally, just around midnight I went to sleep. I had to wake up at 4.30 to go to work and after work I returned to finish my packing. when dad and santtu came we had lunch before loading the van. of course, the car was too small and decided to finish the moving on monday. so I joined them and we drove to tampere. we were supposed to bring everything to the cellar of my mum's new working place but she had forgotten to leave me the keys before going to cuba. there we were, tired in the van with most of my fortune, unable to get in. luckily, on monday morning I got the keys from my mum's associate, although she suspected that we couldn't bring anything to the new working place due to some renovation work. after some phone calls we found out that there's one small room where we could leave my belongings. then dad and me headed up back to vaasa. monday was a far better day and we were able to load the van without any further problems.
for some reason I don't think I'll move again very soon... ;-)
Freitag, April 20, 2007
farewell party 17.4.
poem by maria.once again I was aware of how great friends I have. on tuesday it was the time for my farewell party - not that I was going to leave for vienna now, but I'll leave for tampere soon, so this was my official farewell in vaasa.
I had great company: suvi came from seinäjoki, maria came with her boyfriend, sanni came with johannes, maria came with biscuits (I've been eating them ever since), paula visited me for the first time... at least I had a great time until we went to oliver's inn. it's always frightening to take people to your favourite place for the first time. what if they don't like it? what if they'll judge you by that? what if...?
oliver's was almost empty. there was a djane who I had never seen before - and she wasn't able to get people on the dancefloor. we didn't stay for long. what an annoying way to end a nice evening! I suppose I have to go there once again before leaving vaasa, to get a nicer memory. hopefully my guests dare to give it another try! it can be worth it!
anyway, thanks for you who were there and for those who couldn't make it - let's try to meet before I go!
Freitag, April 13, 2007
first orientation
today we (the new exchange students) had our first orientation. it was a lecture about culture shock and it was a good one. surely most of the stuff was just repetition, but the lecturer had really nice examples from real life to share with us. it all brought back memories... I remembered things I hated about germany and being an exchange student (like the fact that I was well known in the school - I'd rather see myself as a celebrity than as 'the strange kid') but also the things I learned to laugh about or even like (like eating cakes every day and drinking apple juice with mineral water). I also learned not to care about certain things (siezen).
I also realized my culture shock could have been much worse. in fact, I find it was quite mild. I was sick for some time and hated the school (that didn't change much), but all in all I survived quite easily. it may be that the real severe culture shock comes this time. what do I know about the austrian culture? not much. what do I know about the dialect in vienna? not much, last time I hang around with international students. everybody have been scaring me with stories about the impossible bureaucracy there and I'm afraid of the hierarchy system as I struggled with it in germany, too.
the lecturer gave us four questions to think about: what am I most looking forward to about studying abroad? (interculturality, course variety) what do I think will be the most difficult about living in austria? (hierarchy, lack of money) what do I think I will miss most about home? (informality, the easiness of living in my own culture and language) what do I think I will miss least about home? (distances, difficulties in moving around (for those who know vaasa: vaasa buses!!!))
I try to remember to update my answers in vienna or after my "study trip" there. to cheer up the mood a bit I'll share some funny (in a way or another) cultural clashes with you.
a finn in germany (yes, it's me). I was told to bring some small presents from finland to the relatives and friends of my host family. I bought 20 wooden butter knives. in the first place we visited I handed my present over to our host. she smiled, turned around to my host mum and asked (I suppose she didn't realize I understood german): what is this??? so I learned that germans don't use butter knives but everyone has his own knife for all the things (how handy is it to use a knife that has been in a nutella jar to take butter or cheese? that's something I never understood). a year later when I returned I left the other 19 knives in my room.
another story about me. two days after my arrival the school started. I asked my host mum what time the school starts. she replied: viertel acht (=quarter eight). because I didn't know whether she meant quarter to or quarter past eight I asked what time we should leave the house and was surprised to hear at seven. the next morning I realized that viertel acht means quarter past seven. it took me weeks to learn to understand the time, months to tell it myself and years to get the logic (ok, I'm a bit slow). that way of telling the time is typical for the eastern parts of germany, not the western and so the exchange students who were in eastern parts used to tease the others by telling the time in the eastern way. what a nice way to get others confused!
an american in austria. an american girl was shocked when she found out that an american couple (both about 25 years old) was allowed to share a room during an 8-week language course. they weren't married but had been together for four years. europeans were shocked to hear about her concerns.
a german in the usa. a german exchange student closed the bathroom door after using it. a few hours later he found his host brother in the corridor waiting for his turn to use the bathroom.
an austrian in finland. an austrian exchange student had a crisis after coming to finland. she felt ugly and repulsive because finnish boys didn't buy her drinks or asked to dance with her.
at the moment I can't come up with more stories even though I'm sure I know more. please feel free to add your own experiences!
I also realized my culture shock could have been much worse. in fact, I find it was quite mild. I was sick for some time and hated the school (that didn't change much), but all in all I survived quite easily. it may be that the real severe culture shock comes this time. what do I know about the austrian culture? not much. what do I know about the dialect in vienna? not much, last time I hang around with international students. everybody have been scaring me with stories about the impossible bureaucracy there and I'm afraid of the hierarchy system as I struggled with it in germany, too.
the lecturer gave us four questions to think about: what am I most looking forward to about studying abroad? (interculturality, course variety) what do I think will be the most difficult about living in austria? (hierarchy, lack of money) what do I think I will miss most about home? (informality, the easiness of living in my own culture and language) what do I think I will miss least about home? (distances, difficulties in moving around (for those who know vaasa: vaasa buses!!!))
I try to remember to update my answers in vienna or after my "study trip" there. to cheer up the mood a bit I'll share some funny (in a way or another) cultural clashes with you.
a finn in germany (yes, it's me). I was told to bring some small presents from finland to the relatives and friends of my host family. I bought 20 wooden butter knives. in the first place we visited I handed my present over to our host. she smiled, turned around to my host mum and asked (I suppose she didn't realize I understood german): what is this??? so I learned that germans don't use butter knives but everyone has his own knife for all the things (how handy is it to use a knife that has been in a nutella jar to take butter or cheese? that's something I never understood). a year later when I returned I left the other 19 knives in my room.
another story about me. two days after my arrival the school started. I asked my host mum what time the school starts. she replied: viertel acht (=quarter eight). because I didn't know whether she meant quarter to or quarter past eight I asked what time we should leave the house and was surprised to hear at seven. the next morning I realized that viertel acht means quarter past seven. it took me weeks to learn to understand the time, months to tell it myself and years to get the logic (ok, I'm a bit slow). that way of telling the time is typical for the eastern parts of germany, not the western and so the exchange students who were in eastern parts used to tease the others by telling the time in the eastern way. what a nice way to get others confused!
an american in austria. an american girl was shocked when she found out that an american couple (both about 25 years old) was allowed to share a room during an 8-week language course. they weren't married but had been together for four years. europeans were shocked to hear about her concerns.
a german in the usa. a german exchange student closed the bathroom door after using it. a few hours later he found his host brother in the corridor waiting for his turn to use the bathroom.
an austrian in finland. an austrian exchange student had a crisis after coming to finland. she felt ugly and repulsive because finnish boys didn't buy her drinks or asked to dance with her.
at the moment I can't come up with more stories even though I'm sure I know more. please feel free to add your own experiences!
Donnerstag, April 12, 2007
expensive but so worth it??
I just had to have it.
they didn't even have it in tampere - it had to be ordered from helsinki. baedeker - österreich, 37,50. 549 pages and a map.
I already love it.
they didn't even have it in tampere - it had to be ordered from helsinki. baedeker - österreich, 37,50. 549 pages and a map.
I already love it.
Mittwoch, April 11, 2007
early days
congratulations! you have been accepted...
unbelievable. I'm going to vienna! for one year! so what if I can't write my bachelor's thesis. so what if I lose my job. after all: I'm going to vienna!
after I got the news, I couldn't stop smiling for weeks. that's me in a cafe in rovaniemi just two minutes after finding out that I'm going to vienna. the best e-mail for some time!
the international office of our university tried to scare us by saying it's practically impossible to find a room in vienna. me too got scared. as soon as I got the information I applied for a room via öad, kind of a voas for foreigners. in order to get my application even checked, I had to pay 500 euros (yes, honestly!). just few days after paying, I found out that melanie (a really nice viennese girl, laura's friend) will spend her autumn in italy doing erasmus and she kindly promised me to allow me to stay in her room. so I'm probably the only exchange student knowing where to stay already 6 months earlier! my next project is to get my 500 euros back from öad.
last week I got a letter from the university of vienna saying: "You have been accepted for the ERASMUS programme at the University of Vienna during the academic year 2007/2008 for the field of study Scandinavian studies (Skandinavistik)." scandinavian studies? I don't think so. why didn't anyone warn me? my next project is to change my field of study.
there are 3 other students from the university of vaasa going to vienna and at least one of them is going already in autumn. the day after tomorrow we'll have our first orientation, that's a lecture about culture shock. I'm looking forward to meet the others. what a pity that I got one of my wisdom teeths removed today, so my cheek will be twice the size it normally is and bruised. at least they'll remember me afterwards. ;-)
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