Take your shoes off!

When you visit someone’s house you should take off your shoes while entering the house of the Finnish host! I heard that in Most Finnish households they remove their shoes at the front door and walk around wearing socks or slippers. This is not a rule in every Finnish household, If you see shoes stacked cleanly at the entrée of y the front door, it may be the case in that household if your not sure you should ask! In my family we are used to walk with barefoot so in the beginning getting used to put on slippers or socks was an adaptation.

Extra  tip :here in Finland its not done to come uninvited or unannounced!! My tutor told me I should always announce or be invited because the Finnish host must be able to prepare  them self for your arrival!

Friendly regards

olivia  x

Fazer !!!

I come from Belgium where our chocolate is world renowned, so I was scared that I would not be able to eat good chocolate. Then I found out about Fazer which is Finnish chocolate brand with a lot of different taste.the brand exist since 1891, a lot of years and expertise fazre not does not only sell chocolate. Fazer has a lot of different kind of tastes in his chocolate!  I must say I do prefer the simple milk chocolate.

see link for history of Fazer!!:http://www.fazer.com/fazer-since-1891/

My top 3 of fazer chocolate:

• The normal milk chocholate
• salt and caramel milk choclate
• bleuberry milk choco late!!

Funny fact :

Karl Fazer Milk Chocolate has always been wrapped in blue. In Finland, the blue colour of the wrapper is even copyrighted.

I’m surely going to by some Fazer chocolate for my family and friends in Belgium.Its not easy to say for me but Fazer has delicious chocolate!! maybe FAzer is a good competitor for the belgian chocolate!!

friendly regards from Finland

olivia

Lapland part 2: Party woop woop:

We went to the party from our organisation. We left from the cottages to do a walk for 20 minutes in a temperature of -20. This was really cold and I was happy that I was in the partyplace.

Because we weren’t with the a lot in Saariselka, the party wasn’t that big. We only went until 1.30am, because we were really tired because of the trip. We talked with the fellow students and with our guide Karkki. One positive thing was that the water was free! That we don’t have in Belgium. We went back and we did a walk in -28! It was so cold that I didn’t feel my face anymore. Also we did a little detour because we missed a turn. I was so happy when I was back under my blanket in the cottage.

fun fact about students in finland!!:

Party overalls: each faculty has his own colour in Finland we in Belgium have hat or sach!!

For the exchange student the overalls are bleu and Niels, Mara and I bought them at the ESN office in our campus. Normally health care students have a yellow overall with red pockets!(so I heard). people are really creative with the overalls!! and for each event they attend the can collect badge to put on the overall that’s really nice!!

example overalls in Finland bellow:

Friendly regards from Finland

olivia x

Lapland part 2: Swimming in the artic see +sauna:

I went to swim in the Norwegian sea, it  was really cold but  the sauna  made  the cold so bearable.

I must admit that the cold let me feel so alive.

Talking about sauna!!!

Sauna is a really important component of the Finnish culture!! There are approximately 5million persons in Finland and over 3million saunas in Finland so it mean nearly every house has a sauna!!

The sauna is a place to relax with friends and family but not only that you can relax in the sauna on a mental and physical level. I would like to dare to say that sauna for Finnish people is not a luxury ! but more must . in the old days it was common that mothers would give birth in sauna.

I do need to say that sauna is a relaxing thing  and does brighten your mental and physical health. I have the change to go to the sauna at least one day a week. Oh something important I should say most of time public sauna are  separated for woman and men  and you should not wear clothes or swimsuit in them!!

Tips in sauna:

• Take a shower before going in the sauna
• It’s important to always ask if you can add water (Löyly!)
• Don’t make a competition listen to your body
• No clothes no swimsuits in public sauna’s ‎
• Vihta is a branch that you are using in the sauna. You hit each other to the back with it for better blood circulation.

Friendly regards from Finland

olivia

Lapland part 2 :Santa clause village

When going to Lapland we visited the Santa clause village. I must admit I found it way overrated and to tourist for my taste. I did like the giant snowman but as for the rest of  the village that fascinating in my opinion. Maybe the fact we should pay 40 euro to take a picture with Santa clause and the fact there where more than one Santa clause in the village disturbed me.

Even small souvenirs were really pricey for what it was and I did expect it the village to have more houses and things to see. But yeah for me this was a bit of   a deception I had more expectation of it maybe to high which made the deception higher.

So always important to have realistic expectation and not put the  expectations to high so you can be deception. I do feel a bit sad I didn’t take a picture with the Santa clause because of the expensive price.

Friendly regards from Finland

olivia x

Fences(moose)

I saw that there where a lot of fences around the highway and was wondering why so I asked my tutor and she told me that was for the wild animals such as deer and moose etc. She said if you have an accident with a moose at a high speed it can be fatal for both the moose and yourself.

In Turku there is more chance of seeing a moose than a reindeer. I would like to see a moose but not in the highway as it could be very dangerous 😊. Perhaps I could visit a national park here in Finland, before I leave, in the hope of seeing a moose and maybe some other Finnish wildlife also.

Friendly regards

Olivia x

Studying higher education in Finland vs Belgium

There is a big difference between higher education systems in Finland and Belgium.

In Finland the students can choose the courses they are taking and besides that they do have some compulsory lessons everyone need to take. They writing and choosing their own education story and knowledge they want to acquire during their studies. In my opinion Finnish students are more free in making their choices and having more responsibilities, which is good in my opinion. The students here seem more responsible and I think it’s because in Finland independence is an important thing. Talking about independence is really important in Finland and people go live quite soon on their own, where in Belgium people tend to stay longer living with their parents after their studies, probably to save some money.

In Belgium everyone who is attending the same studies, for example in the healthcare department, has  the same course so everyone will have the same knowledge at the end of the studies. In Belgium we receive a lot of structure, a weekly schedule and a lot of compulsory lessons.

The hierarchical system here in Finland is really different from Belgium. In Belgium hierarchy is needed  and people who are placed higher than you in the hierarchy should be addressed differently (teacher vs student or students vs mentor for example). In Belgium it is important to have in mind that the teacher is higher in the hierarchy and the students has to be really formal to them during contact. In Belgium we would write a formal mail and always say mister or miss. However the teachers here in Finland are really easy in contact and the fact that the student can phone them or send an Whatsapp-message when needed is something really weird and informal for me. However it makes the relationship between the teacher and the student more open and less tensed.

Another thing in the school system is that in Finland you need to apply for the direction and need to be chosen in Belgium you can start nearly any study without a test or application. The model here below show the education system in Finland in big lines:

As said in the previous post of The Onnibus, I’ve noticed Finnish people aren’t that good at small talk. It’s sometimes still difficult for me to accept the fact Finnish people often only say what needs to be said and can enjoy silence.  I still struggle with this although not as much as in the beginning of my Erasmus. I can now appreciate the silence and don’t necessary take it as a punishment anymore.

In communicating with each other Finnish people are tennis players – when someone speaks the other one listens. When Italian people talk to each other they both speak at the same time. There will almost never be a silent moment.

In the model of Lewis, Belgium is between linear-active and multi-active when Finland is placed nearly between the linear active and the reactive but still more to the linear active. This explain why I as a half Belgian and Italian girl sometimes have difficulties when Finnish person don’t use body language and I find it difficult to know what they are really thinking. I think the Finnish tend to appreciate their personal space. For example when waiting for the bus don’t get to close- I went to sit next to a lady who then stood up and waited for the bus to arrive. Next time I will keep in mind not to get in the comfort zone of another and instead I will ask if I can sit there.

Oh yeah and for next time I will remember these as conversation topics as they seem to have a good reaction :

• Your business background and experience.
• Positive travel experiences in Finland and other countries.
• All current events of a global nature
• Finnish history, sports, and other aspects of the culture

But the most important thing I learnt is Less is more… keep small talk minimal and don’t try to fill silent moment! + don’t interrupt people when they are talking each his turn (finnish people are tennis player in the conversation )!!

Friendly greeting from the cold Finland

Olivia