Last year, I visited two countries in West Africa. During my visit I decided to make a presentation in the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and to teach a course in the University of Bamako in Mali. I wanted to have an experience of how teaching and learning works in West Africa and to share my own experience from ...

Jyväskylä is a small town with many students. This means fierce competition among job seekers, especially if you don't speak the language. In Finland, studying is still free, no matter what passport you are holding. But life indeed isn't. Many students find the place not just amazingly cold but beastly expensive. Even among the EU-countries Finland's price level is high, not ...

In life, there is no difficulty, which we cannot overcome when we are really determined. Yet many of us fail in big and small ways because our determination was never strong enough. Determination is very important because it enables us to persist in the face of difficulties. It makes us to march fearlessly ahead with faith until we achieve our goal. ...

The Finnish Language Club gives foreign students the chance to use newly-learned language skills. A group of foreign students grimace as each tastes a bite of black liquorice for the first time. ”I promised I would bring you candy”, laughs Sanna Rauhamäki, the leader of the Finnish Language Club and a biology student. The first session of the ”Suomi”-club this semester was focused ...

Finland is increasingly popular among exchange students. Most come from Europe, where also the Finns are usually heading. Finland has become an increasingly popular country to do an exchange in. According to the statistics of the Centre for International Mobility the number of incoming exchange students has doubled since the beginning of the 21st century. Since year 2007 there have been ...

Finland is famous of many things: Aurora Borealis, reindeer, Santa Claus, Juhannus, a rich culture, and winter: including the snow and the freezing cold. Many foreigners have never experienced a winter like the Finnish one, and it's not always clear what to expect. Therefore, this report will present some tips how to react to the cold and the snow. Tuomas Roininen, student ...

The International Christmas Games have been easy to organize after one difficult decision. Sometimes choosing what to do on a Tuesday in December can be tricky. ”First we voted on how to vote and then we voted on which sport to choose. It took two hours”, tells Lorenzo Telleschi, a student of Sports Management and one of the organizers of The ...

Being an international tutor has changed the way Maiju Tarvainen views Finnish culture. Housing, banking and other day-to-day necessities – those are the subjects of questions an international tutor most often gets from newly arrived exchange students. ”Although once someone asked me, why Finnish people don't exchange kisses on the cheek when they meet. For that I had no answer”, tells Maiju ...

International students planning to stay in Finland for the holidays are planning for a Christmas celebration together. The party will take place in Kortepohja, Lillukka, on 25th of December and will include Christmas traditions from Finland and other countries, lots of delicious treats, Secret Santa, carols and a warm atmosphere. The group welcomes fellow students to come and plan the party ...

Also foreign students are welcome to pitch in – survival Finnish required. When you see Tanssisali Lutakko for the first time, from outside, you don’t really know what to expect. Its industrial appearance, as it was an old bakery on the outskirts of the city center, can be quite deceiving. The building was once condemned to be torn down in the city ...