El clásico in Finland

Yesterday a lot of Erasmus students got to together to watch a football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid. This time I was able to hear more singing and cheering for Barcelona than in Madrid because the supporters of Barcelona had to be more quiet in Alcalá and of course Barcelona supporters were minority. Erasmus students definitely created a great atmosphere for this match.

Today we had floorball matches of the league of the university. Some Spanish friends came to see one match. We won and lost one match.

Independent

I saw an article where was said that 6% of Finnish students live with their parents. On the contrary in Italy almost 80% and in Spain almost 60% of the students live with their parents. This means that when students from these southern Europe countries go to exchange they can live first time without their parents. Exchange year helps them to be much more independent and many of them have discovered that it is great to be independent.

Exchange year has a reputation of a party year. I think that chance to live without parents makes people more wild. Other reason is that all the universities do not recognize all the studies of the exchange year therefore exchange students are less motivated to complete courses.

Bicycle

In Joensuu it is essential to have a bicycle because it is very practical way to move around the city. Riding a bike on the slippery roads in the winter can be dangerous. This semester several exchange students have injured themselves in a bike accident. The most serious injuries have been broken collarbone and broken ankle. Also some slighter injuries have occurred like sore wrist and bruises. I have never been injured while riding a bike even I have been riding a bike every winter.

The police stops a house party

Exchange students arrange parties in their flats and often the police comes to stop the party because neighbors are disturbed by the noise. The university is trying to deal with the problem by threatening that they will report about the party to the home universities of the exchange students. The housing company sends warning letters for tenants that they can be evicted. Two years ago exchange student party got in Finnish police TV. The police is saying that they can see disco lights and hear loud music. In reality there was not even disco lights neither music. A lot people just make a lot of noise by speaking. The video is below.

Tortilla in Finland

Today student restaurant served Spanish tortilla as a vegetarian option. I decided to give a try for tortilla. Tortilla looked a bit different and it had some green spice but it was recognizable. Probably it was prepared in a oven and not fried like it should be done. The taste was not as strong as in Spain but it was fine. Also one Spanish person tried the tortilla and he liked it though he said that it did not taste like Spanish tortilla.

Swimming hall

I did not go to swimming hall in Spain so I did not know about the differences between Finnish and Spanish swimming halls before Spanish told me. In Spain all the swimmers have to wear a hat and everyone is also wearing flip flops to avoid foot fungus. In Finland anyone does not wear flip flops neither hat. They said that they were not allowed swim in a shorts and that there was not as strong smell of chlorine as in Spain. They did not understand why you have to be naked in sauna but the reason is that the chlorine vaporizes in hot and it is toxic.

Sports of the week

This week I have had a chance to do a lot of sports. I can use the gym of the university for free and all the other activities are also free because those are organized by the student union. Unfortunately there is not organized anything in the weekend. The following you can see the sports I did each day.

Monday: 45min gym and 1h floorball

Tuesday: 1,5h football and 1h floorball

Wednesday: 1h gym

Thursday: 45min gym and 1h floorball

Friday: 2h volleyball and 1h 45min floorball

Evening of economics

Today I Participated to a event of economics. The event was organized because this year is the 75th birthday of the federation of economics. Event included salad meal, coffee and various lectures. Especially self improvement lecture was interesting. Lecturer taught us how to find what makes you happy in life and how you can improve it. My result was that I am happy with my life and there was not any big things what makes me unsatisfied.

Floorball league

This week started the floorball league of the university. We will have ten matches and after that possible playoff matches. Playing time is two times twelve minutes. I am playing with the theology students because the before active business student organisation did not even sign up a team. We lost the first match against the finalist of the last year and played tie in the other match. On next Thursday we have our next matches.

Plans for the next year

I have been already planning to do an another exchange year. I have thought about going to Turkey. In Campus Europae exchange program it is possible to go exchange twice but in the second time I will not receive Erasmus scolarship like in the first time but I can apply for another scolarship. I have sent already some emails to Turkey and they have wished me welcome to study there next year.