Four months I wish I could take back – Experience report

Collien Maria L., International Management Studies in the Baltic Sea Region, 6th semester, Finland, Kouvola, XAMK – South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, summer semester 2024

Well, where should I start…

Application

When I chose my program, a semester abroad was a priority. Thanks to my eight-month experience in Canada, I knew what to expect - I wanted to explore a new country, get to know new cultures, but still feel a bit at home. Above all, I wanted to see a different side of a country that I wouldn't necessarily choose as a vacation destination. So: off to Finland! I took care of the application and the necessary documents quite early; I wanted to have the basics in place about a year before I left. Finland, or more precisely Kouvola, is easy to reach by car from my hometown of Stralsund, for example by taking the ferry from Travemünde to Helsinki. A friend also recommended that I travel by car if possible, as it is almost impossible to explore Finland without a car, and the journey from my student accommodation to the university is only about 10 minutes instead of 45 minutes by public transport.

Thanks to my work as a SHK in the International Office, I was familiar with the application process and everything that goes with it, so I had no problems and everything was very relaxed until my departure - but then...

Arrival

Three days on a ferry across the Baltic Sea sounded more relaxed than it actually was. Unfortunately, my body didn't take it so well, so the start was accompanied by a lot of nausea and weakness. After about 1.5 hours of driving I arrived in Kouvola and was very happy to find a decent bed and what seemed to be a clean apartment. But appearances can be deceiving.

Housing

I shared the apartment with two other Erasmus students, one of my roommates was from France and the other one was from Italy. We each had a room, but shared the kitchen, toilet and shower. There are separate toilets and showers in the flat, which is of course an advantage for women. We weren't given much except plates and cutlery. None of us knew that, so we got a lot of equipment from other flatmates or from second-hand shops. This was quite annoying in my opinion, because a flat for such a short time should be equipped with the most necessary things. Unfortunately, you have to clean up after your stay, otherwise you have to pay for the rest. You can either throw it away, take it with you, or take it to a thrift store, which is very popular in Finland.

Of course, buying utensils is also expensive and doesn't really make sense at this time. As time went on, the apartment turned out to be more unattractive and uncomfortable than we first thought. The bed was much too small and looked like a single plank of wood. We were not even given the conditions for leaving the accommodation at the end at the beginning. I can only recommend that you choose an apartment on one of the upper floors, because the toilets are all on the same floor... I think that says it all. The two buildings A and B each have an elevator, which is very convenient for carrying luggage and shopping. There is a small sauna in building A, which is open on Saturdays for one hour for both men and women. There is also a laundry room with two washing machines and a dryer, as well as drying rooms. A washing machine was mostly broken and the dryer either didn't work at all or took up to six hours. There were also a lot of disrespectful students who didn't sign up for a laundry time, stole other people's times, or even tore out the weekly lists and started a new one. Pretty cheeky. For the rent of just under €305 per month, per person, I had hoped for a little more and, above all, more service from the housing agency. Wi-Fi had to be paid for separately and was not enough for three people with at least two devices.

Studies @ XAMK

Since you apply to the partner university about a year before the semester abroad and organize your courses accordingly, I preferred to take some courses at HOST to make my semester in Finland easier. It was quite easy to find suitable courses at XAMK in the summer semester that I could recognize. This included a preparatory course for my bachelor thesis and I was even able to choose Soumi 1 - the Finnish language course for beginners. Totally motivated and inspired by the upcoming courses, I went to the lectures and was quickly disappointed. None of the professors were motivated or really interested in the semester. Statements like "I'm just doing this until I find something better", courses that didn't take place for a month for no reason, changing professors in the middle of the semester, there was really something in each of the six modules I chose that caused my motivation to drop. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to learn a new language because the course was only online once and the rest of the time I had to study on my own. Of course, I could have sat down and studied for three hours every day, but did I still have the motivation after two weeks? Not at all.

Unfortunately, the International Office at XAMK didn't organize any events, parties, etc. either. So you couldn't really get to know other students or get inspiration for trips and activities. Most of the professors took us "Germans" as role models because of our achievements. On the one hand this was a compliment, but on the other hand it wasn't really a challenge for us and I personally didn't get much out of most of the lectures.

Living

Like I said - Kouvola is very gray and is known as the most dangerous city in Finland. There are some things to do on the side, but after a while it gets very boring. The city has an ice hockey club, which you can watch at the weekend, even if you don't understand the rules after the fifth game. It's always entertaining. Otherwise the train tickets from Kouvola to Helsinki are quite cheap with the student ticket if you want to go partying or see a real city for the weekend. As already mentioned, I can only recommend to travel to Finland by car and then explore the country by car.

Recommendations

Don’t. Just don’t

Unfortunately, I can't recommend the city or the XAMK. Nothing is really organized or we were just unlucky. I've heard this feedback from many students, so I'm not alone. But I learned a lot for life, especially how not to do it...