Assignment 1 - Letter home

1. In what country and University are you studying?

Hi, im Sami Hänninen, 28-years old student from Kokkola. I was studying in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My university was Inholland university of applied sciences. My study program is bachelor of business administration.

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

I am studying business administration in Centria.

3. What are the courses like at the host University?

Courses are a bit different compared to Centria. You are expected to study at your own a lot. In the beginning there was just few hours of lectures per week. That was a bit challenging, when you expected daily lectures. Also studying in groups with different projects was big part of studying.

4. Describe the study culture?

The exchange period is only six months, so the study culture is a bit intensive. Study group contains students from different cultures and that has an influence on studying. Lectures are bit intense but there might be lots of self-study days between lectures. That’s why it is important to study daily even if there is no lectures.

5. What is your study group like?

My study group was great. There were people mainly from western Europe, but also people from for example Brazil and Russia. In the beginning of the exchange period I was a bit nervous if I get any new friends at all, but every exchange student is at the same situation.

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

Netherlands is almost just like Finland, but just less snow. Prices and infrastructure is almost similar. So if you’re going to Netherlands, you’re going to have big culture shock at all. Dutch people are more open-minded than people in Finland and it’s okay to talk to people you don’t know before. I started to play volleyball in two different teams with another exchange student from my group. I think that was the best thing happened to me during the exchange. I saw lots of different cities during the away games we had and met lots of new people. I still have contact with them, from time to time.

7. What has been challenging? Why?

I think the most challenging part is to understand different cultures. When you have to work with people from different cultures, sometimes it’s hard to understand each other. Then you just had to try to explain yourself a bit better and do it number of times if necessary. Working with people from different cultures becomes easier day by day. But in the beginning, it can be challenging, even if you all want the same result. 

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

Highlight of my exchange period was absolutely playing volleyball with two teams. First one was students sport organisation in Erasmus university. Second team was local sports team. Both teams had local Dutch people and players from other countries. That was nice to get to know also local people, not only people from my study group.