Writer: Carla Batlle
I’m Carla, and I’ve spent my whole life in this small city in Catalonia. Since I was a kid, I’ve always had this desire to live abroad for a while. So, as a microbiology student in Barcelona, I got this chance to do an Erasmus program for my final year. I picked Finland cause I wanted something completely different, and Finland is known for its breathtaking natural landscapes, innovative education system, and unique culture. So, off I went!
This is an unforgettable, incomparable experience.
I heard stories, saw photos and read articles, but I never thought that I could see and feel Finland with my own eyes. I was lucky to get to the very cozy city of Kuopio, which immediately struck me with the abundance and beauty of nature, benevolent people.
Becoming part of the UEF and the whole atmosphere that is being created here is awesome. Here you feel like a part of a huge family, you want to grow and make the world a better place due to your capabilities. And UEF provides such opportunities in the form of knowledge and support. I am grateful for this experience, people and teachers with whom I met here.
Karina Shingareeva,
exchange student from I.K. Akhunbaev Kyrgyz State Medical Academy,
Kyrgyz Republic, at UEF in spring 2019, under Erasmus+ Global Mobility
Programme
Hyvä lukija, kerron tässä blogissa Yhdysvaltojen Pensylvaniaan sijoittuvasta tutkimusvaihdosta tammi-maaliskuun aikana. Suomi 100 -teeman sopien matkan kesto on; mitä muutakaan kuin sata päivää! Toivon blogista apua erityisesti sellaiselle henkilölle, joka pohtii ulkomaan tutkijavaihtoa, mutta ei oikein tiedä mistä aloittaisi valmistelut. Tervetuloa mukaan seuraamaan matkaani!
Kuka?
Nimi: Saara Sillanmäki
Koulutus: LL, tohtorikoulutettava ja kliiniseen fysiologiaan ja isotooppilääketieteeseen erikoistuva lääkäri
Kotipaikka: Kuopio
Perhe: Puoliso Tero ja Ninja koira
It was a sunny afternoon somewhere towards the end of august in Amsterdam, being approximately twenty-two degrees and thus quite okay for a Dutch smelling-the-end-of-summer-day. Nonetheless, I found myself wearing my ultra-hot ski-jacket, winter boots and 2 layers of clothes as I entered the airport of Schiphol, holding my backpack firmly to my chest. The content of it: my warmest sweaters and trousers, carefully selected pictures of family and friends, a Lonely Planet that I bought only one day ago and, last but not least, some Vitamin D supplements.
You could have guessed it by now: I was standing at the beginning of my Erasmus semester, land of destination, FINLAND!
A couple months back I decided to do my Minor in Biomedical Sciences in this beautiful, but relatively undiscovered part of Scandinavia, at the University of Eastern Finland, or UEF. I remember navigating through UEF’s website for the first time and stumbling on their headliner: ‘University of Eastern Finland: In the middle of (k)nowhere!’. Serving as background of the website were some pictures of mirror-looking lakes, stunning landscapes with countless-tree-containing forests, more lakes and more trees. It was therefore not wrongly placed that the campus I wound end up, was defined by the UEF as their ‘Lakeside Campus’, located in Finland’s beautiful lake district, Kuopio. Continue reading “The Finland experience – Exchange Maastricht to Kuopio”
