Moi ystävät,
now some days went by and lots of things happened here.
The school just started and last week were the orientations. First two days were not too spectacular since there were only some speeches and campus introductions. We got some information about planned trips to e. g. Stockholm and Saint Petersburg. Unfortunately I can't take part in the Stockholm trip which is held on 12th of September where I'm gonna be in Berlin.
On Wednesday a bus sightseeing trip was organised by TAMK to get a first impression of Tampere city. It was quite nice too see different places but the guide was talking her head off so it was a bit exhausting. We also went into a church and visited a very beautiful lake nearby.
On Thursday was the first big exchange party in a club called "Onnela". Before we went there I took part in "Bubi Rundi" (or Pub Crawl) with Emil (my tutor) and Carolina (his other tutoree) which was very funny. We had to go to 10 (!!) different bars and in every bar you could have a drink at a low price. Actually I haven't managed to finish 10 drinks but of course the Finns did. :D As you can imagine after several Beers, Salmiakki, Caribbean Pussy (!), Lonkero and Cider we were a bit... well. No need to continue this sentence. ;) After that we went to Onnela. Even though we had already bought the entrance tickets we had to wait in the queue and it has been sooo freakin cold already. The music in the club was...well... marginal.. but okay. Probably I was not drunk enough to stand it. :D After that night I had a really bad day since I got the fever and headache so I stayed in bed the whole Friday.
Ahh...by the way..we also went to the Moomin museum on Thursday...this was too cute. And we visited the ALKO store...these state-owned alcohol stores...the only place where you can buy all the booze you want. The prices are really high. A bottle of sparkling wine costs around 7 Euros. (at least the cheapest one)
On Saturday we went to Särkänniemi, this adventure park here in Tampere. It was cold, it was raining but we had lots of fun there! Rollercoasters and dolphin show, fireworks and Uniklubi (a finnish-speaking band) live. We spent there around 9 hours and after that we were done with everything. :D
Today I had my first Finnish lesson and I've actually found an intermediary course taught in English. However, the teacher spoke almost only in Finnish and explained only grammar and stuff in English. I can proudly say that I understood almost everything. :)
That's been my time in Tampere so far. I'm quite tired so it's not too much text right now.
I'm enjoying everything here and looking forward to all the forthcoming activities.
Best wishes,
Sylvi
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Hyvä matkustaja...
Heippa hei tytöt ja pojat, :)
here my first blog post from Tampere City.
I had a very smooth trip two days ago and everything went very well. The aircraft was quite small and actually there were only 15-20 people inside... quite empty and a lot of room for me. :)
In Helsinki I had problems to find the platform where the express bus leaves so I asked a Finnish woman. It was pure luck since she orginally comes from Finland but currently living in Frankfurt so she spoke German very well. She helped my by asking a bus driver in Finnish where the bus goes to Tampere and some minutes later the bus came. The trip took approx. 2,5 hours and then I finally arrived. Then Karolina (the substitute of my tutor Emil, who wasn't in Tampere at this time) picked me up with the school car (Yes, the TAMK has own cars!) and drove me and another girl from Latvia to Lukonmäki. I got my keys and the survival kit (a box that includes bed linen, dishes and so on) then we went to a super market nearby to buy basic stuff. The prices are quite high since a bottle of water for example costs around 2,30 Euros. As you probably know in Germany you can buy it for 20 Cents.
During my trip the most common Finnish words in plane and bus were "Hyvä matkustaja" - Dear passengers... And then they told something about arrival times, security instructions and so on. Some things I understood even though they talked quite fast. :)
After my arrival I called Sonja, another German girl that I met on StudiVZ, and we went together with a third German girl (Annika) to Keskustori. (Translated: Central Market). There we met two Spanish girls - Ciés and Bea. We talked a bit and after that we went home because we all where incredibly tired. Poor Ciés didn't have her luggage these days since it was still in Madrid. So she had no clothes and no bed linen the first night. Fortunately today she got it. :)
Yesterday I picked up Sonja at the UTA (University of Tampere) where she attends the Erasmus Intensive Learning Course (EILC) - a Finnish course for exchange students. Then we went to R-Kioski, a small shop very you can buy drinks, magazines and the most important: phone cards. I bought it and the operator is called Saunalahti. I've already mailed you my new phone number. The German one is still valid but I won't use it here. So just use the Finnish one please. :)
After that we went to Keskustori again where we picked up Ciés and Bea and went to an office where we bought a month ticket. It costs 30 Euros for people under 25. Lucky me I'm still 24. :D It was quite funny since it's been like in a job centre. You have to draw a number and wait until the number is shown on the display. In Finland this is very common.
After that me and Sonja went to IKEA to buy different stuff, e. g. curtains, a sheet, a broom, scented candles (of course :P) and some other things. Fortunately I can use my Sparkassen-Card to pay here. We had lots of fun there even though this IKEA was in the middle of nowhere at the end station of the bus line 3.
Going by bus in Finland is a real adventure. There's nobody who tells you at which station you're and there's also no display that shows it. So you have to look carefully when you have to get out, otherwise you'll be somewhere else. :D Another important thing is that you have to wave your hand when you wait at the bus station. If you don't do that the bus won't stop and you have to wait another half an hour for the next one. The busses here in Lukonmäki, where I live, go every 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the time. The strange thing is that if you go by bus at night you have to pay another 2,50 € even though you do have a month ticket. It's a night fee between 0 and 4 o clock. So either you have to party all night long or you go home early. During the weeks the last bus leaves at 23:30 and the first one at 4 o clock. At the weekend the busses leave every hour all night long.
On my first day my flat was empty so I had some time for my own. Yesterday a french girl arrived and she seems to be very nice. Let's see when the other girls will arrive. The flat is quite okay. My view out of the window is great... There are only trees and nobody can look into my window. Yaay! I've already decorated a bit but still have to do lots of things. I'll take photos as soon as I've finished it. :)
Today I'll meet a girl from Greece to go down town to buy some stuff and I also want to go to LIDL with Sonja... and hopefully tonight we will finally have our first drink. Day 3 in Finland and I haven't been to any pub yet.
That's it so far. School starts on Monday and I don't know much what will happen there excluding time and room. :)
The exchange started...
Moikka,
Sylvi
here my first blog post from Tampere City.
I had a very smooth trip two days ago and everything went very well. The aircraft was quite small and actually there were only 15-20 people inside... quite empty and a lot of room for me. :)
In Helsinki I had problems to find the platform where the express bus leaves so I asked a Finnish woman. It was pure luck since she orginally comes from Finland but currently living in Frankfurt so she spoke German very well. She helped my by asking a bus driver in Finnish where the bus goes to Tampere and some minutes later the bus came. The trip took approx. 2,5 hours and then I finally arrived. Then Karolina (the substitute of my tutor Emil, who wasn't in Tampere at this time) picked me up with the school car (Yes, the TAMK has own cars!) and drove me and another girl from Latvia to Lukonmäki. I got my keys and the survival kit (a box that includes bed linen, dishes and so on) then we went to a super market nearby to buy basic stuff. The prices are quite high since a bottle of water for example costs around 2,30 Euros. As you probably know in Germany you can buy it for 20 Cents.
During my trip the most common Finnish words in plane and bus were "Hyvä matkustaja" - Dear passengers... And then they told something about arrival times, security instructions and so on. Some things I understood even though they talked quite fast. :)
After my arrival I called Sonja, another German girl that I met on StudiVZ, and we went together with a third German girl (Annika) to Keskustori. (Translated: Central Market). There we met two Spanish girls - Ciés and Bea. We talked a bit and after that we went home because we all where incredibly tired. Poor Ciés didn't have her luggage these days since it was still in Madrid. So she had no clothes and no bed linen the first night. Fortunately today she got it. :)
Yesterday I picked up Sonja at the UTA (University of Tampere) where she attends the Erasmus Intensive Learning Course (EILC) - a Finnish course for exchange students. Then we went to R-Kioski, a small shop very you can buy drinks, magazines and the most important: phone cards. I bought it and the operator is called Saunalahti. I've already mailed you my new phone number. The German one is still valid but I won't use it here. So just use the Finnish one please. :)
After that we went to Keskustori again where we picked up Ciés and Bea and went to an office where we bought a month ticket. It costs 30 Euros for people under 25. Lucky me I'm still 24. :D It was quite funny since it's been like in a job centre. You have to draw a number and wait until the number is shown on the display. In Finland this is very common.
After that me and Sonja went to IKEA to buy different stuff, e. g. curtains, a sheet, a broom, scented candles (of course :P) and some other things. Fortunately I can use my Sparkassen-Card to pay here. We had lots of fun there even though this IKEA was in the middle of nowhere at the end station of the bus line 3.
Going by bus in Finland is a real adventure. There's nobody who tells you at which station you're and there's also no display that shows it. So you have to look carefully when you have to get out, otherwise you'll be somewhere else. :D Another important thing is that you have to wave your hand when you wait at the bus station. If you don't do that the bus won't stop and you have to wait another half an hour for the next one. The busses here in Lukonmäki, where I live, go every 20 or 30 minutes, depending on the time. The strange thing is that if you go by bus at night you have to pay another 2,50 € even though you do have a month ticket. It's a night fee between 0 and 4 o clock. So either you have to party all night long or you go home early. During the weeks the last bus leaves at 23:30 and the first one at 4 o clock. At the weekend the busses leave every hour all night long.
On my first day my flat was empty so I had some time for my own. Yesterday a french girl arrived and she seems to be very nice. Let's see when the other girls will arrive. The flat is quite okay. My view out of the window is great... There are only trees and nobody can look into my window. Yaay! I've already decorated a bit but still have to do lots of things. I'll take photos as soon as I've finished it. :)
Today I'll meet a girl from Greece to go down town to buy some stuff and I also want to go to LIDL with Sonja... and hopefully tonight we will finally have our first drink. Day 3 in Finland and I haven't been to any pub yet.
That's it so far. School starts on Monday and I don't know much what will happen there excluding time and room. :)
The exchange started...
Moikka,
Sylvi
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The day before...
Hey folks,
now the time has come. Tomorrow I'm flying to my dear Finland. Hope, everything will work smoothly and the travel won't be that exhausting.
I'll let you know as soon as I arrived!
Näkemiin Berliini!
Sylvi
now the time has come. Tomorrow I'm flying to my dear Finland. Hope, everything will work smoothly and the travel won't be that exhausting.
I'll let you know as soon as I arrived!
Näkemiin Berliini!
Sylvi
Monday, August 2, 2010
Farewell party and travel route
Hey guys,
now the farewell party is done as well. It was a pleasure to have all of my friends around me and celebrate together. Thank you very much for coming and also for your amazing presents!! :) I'm very delighted.
Some impressions for the people who couldn't be there:
So there are only 2 weeks left and so much paperwork to do. For those who still don't know where Tampere is - here's a map for you:
Tampere is around 170 km from Helsinki away. I will fly from Berlin-Tegel to Helsinki at 10:10 and land at 13:10. Then I'll take the Express Bus from Helsinki Airport to Tampere at 15:20 and finally arrive at 17:50. Let's see if whole thing will turn out well. So think of me on 18th of August. :)
What else can I write? My tutor sent me an email last week. His name is Emil and he will help me during my stay in Tampere. He told me that actually nobody knows anything about the Welcome Package even though on the TAMK website you can find the following sentence: "After your both home university and TAMK have approved your exchange, you will receive an official confirmation letter and an information package from TAMK." Maybe this is a relict of former times. ;)
I'll let you know as soon as I've received new information. Stay tuned!
The dream comes true.
Take care,
Sylvi
now the farewell party is done as well. It was a pleasure to have all of my friends around me and celebrate together. Thank you very much for coming and also for your amazing presents!! :) I'm very delighted.
Some impressions for the people who couldn't be there:
So there are only 2 weeks left and so much paperwork to do. For those who still don't know where Tampere is - here's a map for you:
Tampere is around 170 km from Helsinki away. I will fly from Berlin-Tegel to Helsinki at 10:10 and land at 13:10. Then I'll take the Express Bus from Helsinki Airport to Tampere at 15:20 and finally arrive at 17:50. Let's see if whole thing will turn out well. So think of me on 18th of August. :)
What else can I write? My tutor sent me an email last week. His name is Emil and he will help me during my stay in Tampere. He told me that actually nobody knows anything about the Welcome Package even though on the TAMK website you can find the following sentence: "After your both home university and TAMK have approved your exchange, you will receive an official confirmation letter and an information package from TAMK." Maybe this is a relict of former times. ;)
I'll let you know as soon as I've received new information. Stay tuned!
The dream comes true.
Take care,
Sylvi
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