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

The Onnibus:

I was really shocked that Finland had so many bus companies till a friend asked me where are you from? i was surprised of the question ! then he asked again is it a little country? I replied yes Belgium… Oh he said Belgium can go 10 time in Finland… normal they have more bus companies than in your home country. I smiled and say he was right, but it didn’t change the fact i was surprised.

Some other thing that shocked me is that people don’t do a small talk with the bus driver in Belgium we often do this …here most people just pay and go sit, i find this a bit sad. But i should remember it when taking the bus not to start a small talk because it’s not done here in Finland.

onnibus

The Onnibus is a cheap way to long traject i often use it to go to Helsinki and come back to Turku i like the fact that if you book it in advance you can travel for 2 euro! that really cheap 🙂 and student friendly. I also like the fact there is wifi in the long distance busses which we don’t have in belgium.

friendly regards

Olivia x

After one of the activities we went to sauna and a cold pool!! typical finnish.

Kurkki our guide gave me some good advice, thanks to that at the end i could stay a bit longer than i would have expected in the cold water en even just in the snow!!

It’s a good thing i trained my body for the cold water because i wanted to be able to go in the sea in norway the next day!

Sitting and playing in the snow after a refreshing dip feels so nice.

Throwing snow

Actually the snow and just standing out of the pool was still warmer then the pool i just swim in.

smiling in the cold water brrr

for the last time in the pool!! i must said that after that i was really tired but ina good way i slept wonderful that night.

Greetings from the snowy Lapland

Olivia x

We ( everyone of our cottage : Anna, Juan, Mara, Niels and My self Olivia )went to the reindeer farm.

The bus came to pick us up at the bus stop to go to the reindfarm! When we arrived we were split in two groups, the first one was going to sleight with the reindeer first.The second group will receive information about reindeers and drink so nice warmed up berry juice and try to catch the reindeer with a special lasso!

i was really concentrated i wanted to catch the reindeer :).

as you can see down here i catch the reindeer ahah (… at least his horn)

I catch the reindeer horn with only one try!

after i finished the berry juice it was our turn to sleight with the reindeer: photo will be added later when received from photographer 🙂

it was really fun although i slightly prefer the husky’s because the reindeer didn’t look really enthusiastic  i heard reindeer are usually lazy animals maybe that was the reason.

Greetings to you 🙂 from the cold Lapland

olivia x

Mara and I decided to do the snowmobile activity, this was a really endorfin full activity (really exciting). We were really well dressed i could even dare to say we were dressed to impress the cold weather.

dressed to impress

We Both found the activity nice but lucky we are experienced drivers ( we had some really bad drivers before us which did not followed the rules of the guide and didn’t use the learned gesture to inform the driver after them). Still the activity was nice we went to chase the northern light and we catch it!!

northern light

the tippie is called Kota in lapland we made a stop there and saw the northern light i was so happy and we drink some really good warmed up juice to warm up.

we did have could when we weren’t driving but the driving was really fun although it asked a lot of energy and concentration.

so we were happy to go back  to our cottage after we tried the reindeer hamburger (we made an appointment with the rest of the cottage to go eat together after the snowmobile activity was done).

reindeer hamburger

Greeting to the northern light and to you guys xx

olivia x

We went to the husky ride it was such a fulfilling and magical moment not only for me but for my friend Mara too

The husky ride was one of my dreams from when I was young and so this was an amazing moment! The dogs were excited, I was excited and so the ride could begin. At the first I was a little nervous because I didn’t knew what to expect, but when the dogs were started and where pulling us in the sledge, it was so much fun. I felt the adrenaline from the speed they made and from driving the sledge.

Also sitting in the sledge was excited. You had to trust your partner and the dogs. We almost bumped into a tree so that was super scary but exciting.

After it, we could meet the puppy’s. They were so cute and fluffy. I didn’t expect that they could have cold, but they were shaking. They need to learn social skills so that’s why we could hold them. I really like animals, so I was really happy when I could hold them.

Greetings too the husky’s!!! and you !!!

olivia x