1. In what country and University are you studying?
I am studying at University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness Scotland.
2. In what Study program are you studying at Centria?
At Centria I study Electrical and Automation engineering but here in Scotland my courses are from Mechanical and electrical engineering studys.
3. What are the courses like at the host University?
I've had some problems with my courses, many of the originally planned couses were moved to semester two and for that reason I've had to change most of them. Now my courses have been sorted and all is fine. I've got two courses that are planned to last two semester but after talking with teachers I will be able to do them in one semester as long as I do a lot of private studies at my accommodation.
4. Describe the study culture?
Study culture here is different compared to what I'm used to.
At the first days intruduction our tutors told us that one hour in class mean 3-4 hours work at home. To me it is a hard thing to do so much work at home and then just listen teacher talk in class, as I prefer doing things in classes so I can ask if I have a problem. I think that my university is really modern university and it has really good softwares,websites etc.
It is easy to study from home when you can access all study materials easily.
5. What is your study group like?
My study group changes per course, so I haven't really got to know them. I have made many friends from other international students, every friday night we go out together and have some food and drinks together. We've also went to see some castles, Scottish sports and events together.
6. Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?
Everyday life in Scotland is much like in Finland, only thing very different compared to finland is their eating habbits. In my eyes they eat lot of unhealthy food and snacks, they also use paper plates in cafeteria. A decent lunch with salad costs around 5-6£ so I mostly make my own lunch in the accommodation with my friends. Allthough you can get really good food here if you are willing to pay little money for it.
7. What has been challenging? Why?
Scottish accent of course! Their language is sometimes very hard to understand especially if they get excited.
8. What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?
My highlight so far has been our trips to various places with other international students, as places are nice but to me it's also important to get to know new people while I'm here.
Upcoming highlight for my trip is going to be this Saturday when my fiancé is coming here and I'm going to travel around the Scotland with her.
-Joonas
I can relate to the problem with the amount of schoolwork to be done at home.
ReplyDeleteThe food culture here in The Netherlands is also unhealthier than the food in Finland. I miss Finnish schoolfood.
Sorry to hear your courses where changed like that, I wish you success with the new ones!