Letter home - Justiina

1. In what country and University are you studying? /

Where are you doing your internship?

I studied in Chile in Universidad del Desarrollo.

2. In what Study program are you studying at Centria?

I´m studying business economics.

3. What are the courses like at the host University? or What has your work placement been like?

The courses were fine, but in my opinion there were too much group works or working in pairs, but what I really liked were the professors. I had three different ones and they were all very good, interesting to listen to and really knew what they were talking about.

4. Describe the study culture? / What is the corporate culture like?

We did not have that much home work but I really didn´t have that much in Finland either. What was different was the amount of group works and presentations. Basically what we did there, was we made groups or pairs, did the task and then we presented it in front of the class using power point. Also in the beginning of the courses the teachers told us that we can only skip like less than 10 lessons, but then the locals disappeared for 2 months and they were still aloud to pass the class if they came for every lesson for the rest of the semester. So it was chill.

5. What is your study group like?

It differed between the courses. One course was basically only international students, one course had maybe 30% locals and one course were all locals except me and one Swedish guy. In international business we got to work with the same pair for the whole semester so that was good since I had a good pair, but in one other course we changed the groups all the time so sometimes the group was good and sometimes not so good.

6. Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?

Going to school 4 times a week and after class to the school’s gym, then relaxing at home and on Wednesdays there was always a student party, so the student life was pretty much the same as in Finland. What was different was the fact that I lived in such a big city. It took an hour to get to the school, had to use both, metro and a bus to get there. In Kokkola it took 5 mins with bike to get to the school. Although the distances were long, the good thing with living in a big city was that there were more things to do. And the parties were better.

7. What has been challenging? Why?

Outside my school and student house, basically no one spoke English and my Spanish level wasn´t too good so it was a bit difficult when you had to run errands.

8. What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?

Highlights were all the good parties with my friends and trips to Buenos Aires and Easter Island.