Letter home - Emilia Syrjälä

LETTER HOME

1. Where are you doing your internship? 

I am doing my internship in Varna, Bulgaria. My internship is divided into three parts; working in three different NGO’s in 3 different fields. The first one offers after school care for children and especially for children with learning problems and special needs. The second one is operating in the field of child protection, offering alternative care for children that need urgent replacement. The third one offers recreational activities for the elderly women.  

The beautiful city of Varna, photographed from our balcony.

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

I am studying social services in Ylivieska.  

 

3. What has your work placement been like? 

Macaroni art with kids at working pracrtice 

My work placement has been everything from confusing and challenging to interesting, rewarding and heart-warming. 

I have had a chance to experience a lot due to working in these three different organizations. It has been interesting to understand how different the field of social services can be within the limits of European Union. Bulgaria is the poorest and most corrupted country in the EU, and the social welfare system is way far from ours. But at the same time, the education of the social sciences seems to be at the same level as it is in Finland, and the educated people that I have met and who work in these non-governmental organizations are usually enthusiastic about changing the country!  

My teacher from the local University has been very active and helpful. She has taken me to conferences and to visit different organizations that provide social services. That has helped me to get a better picture of the current situation here and to understand what kind of knowledge there is despite of the challenges in the society.  

4. What is the corporate culture like? 

All of these three organizations are different when it comes to the corporate culture. In one of the organizations it is very obvious, that the hierarchy is very strict. Over there the atmosphere between the employees is mostly negative and competitive. It seems that no one feels respected and that results in undermining the others. At the same time, in the other organization the corporate culture is mostly pretty social; meaning that there is trust and respect among the workers and between the employees and the workers. They openly discuss about problems and there is room for innovative thinking as well. The workers as well as the employees pay high attention to keeping the working atmosphere good and warm.  

 5. What is your study group like?  

I don’t attend a study group on a regular basis, but have had the chance to meet some Bulgarian students of social services a couple times, which has been great. They have been nice to me, offering their help.  

 

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

Everyday life in Bulgaria seems to be pretty easy-going. Well, at least our life in Bulgaria is easy-going compared to our life in Finland. After I come home from working practice, we go either to the beach, amusement park or to the playground with the kids. Eating in the restaurants is affordable, so we don’t even have to cook so much at home. We walk a lot, exploring the neighborhoods and I guess that is what keeps us so happy here.  

Compared to Kokkola, the public transportation also runs well over here. So, it is easy to survive without a car.  We have also enjoyed living close to an open market area, where we can buy fresh vegetables and fruit.  

And, of course I’ve got to mention the weather, because it’s just perfect. We all are glad that we could escape from snowy Finland to this nice, promising spring weather.  

 

7. What has been challenging? Why?   

It was quite challenging to get everything organized before our departure. We moved to my parents’ a month before, so that we could get our house rented. And then there was that packing for the four of us, getting vaccinations, finding a suitable family apartment from Varna, me trying to finish some school assignments, Joonas working and driving 160 km every day for work... Yup, that was a lot.  

During the exchange, the challenges have been among communication in the working practice and generally just seeing and understanding the level of poverty in which so many Bulgarians live. The poverty is visible everywhere, and it is saddening to see how it effects everything from the birth of the child till the end of one’s life, as well as the environment.  

 The sad side of Varna

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

There are so many highlights, but I guess the brightest one is simply the very nicely balanced and smooth everyday life that we get to live here and to see how the kids enjoy spending time with their dad and to get to do things together as family so much more than usually.  We have also had the chance to travel a little around Bulgaria, which has been great

From the internship itself, I want to mention a couple great moments. One was when I got to plan and accomplish an English class for the older women together with American volunteers as well as with my mother in law (who was visiting at that time). It was good team work, and so lovely to see that the ladies really enjoyed having us there.  

Another good one was when I finally found a way to reach connection with some of the teenagers in the child protection organization. I had been told that they wouldn’t want to participate in any kind of activity, and it was a difficult task for me to “sell” the idea of participation to them, since we didn’t have any common language. But I wanted to try, and when it finally worked, it was worth it. Having those rebellious teenagers all excited about foot massage or painting the sidewalks with chalk paint, instead of just watching horror movies the whole day, made me truly happy. 

Letter home

1. Where are you doing your internship?
I'm doing my internship in Toronto. It's huge town which located in Canada.

2. In what Study program are you studying at Centria?
I'm studying community educator. This is third year I am studying at Centria University of Applied Sciences.

3. What has your work placement been like?
I work with the youth in Agricola Lutheran Church, in confirmation classes, other youth work and will participate in other work in the congregation.

4. What is the corporate culture like?
Working culture is little bit different than in Finnish congregation. Church members are more active in congregation.

6. Please describe what the everyday life is like in your host country? What do you like in particular?
My day off are usually on Friday and Saturday. Usually I spend my free time exploring this exciting city. Work days I wake up before seven o'clock. I start morning with breakfast and same time I read messages from phone.Then I go to work. After a day of work, I often go jogging. I especially like this multicultural city, and of course, I have met nice people in Toronto.

7. What has been challenging? Why?
The most challenging thing is to move from one place to another in a big city. It is difficult to estimate the time you need for this. During rush hour you spend more time in traffic lights. If you use a subway, it can be full. So, you have to take next one.

8. What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?
Couple weeks ago I travelled to Niagara Falls. It was very beautiful place.

6.10.2018

2 kuvaa - Näytä albumi

D-I-E CHINA

D-I-E China

1.DESCRIBE
I’m doing my internship at one of the best hospitals here in Shanghai. One week my three classmates and I were at the operation department, where we had an opportunity to see breast surgeries. The operation room was full of doctors and nurses. They spoke loudly, laughed their own jokes, but they didn’t take contact to patient at all. I saw tears and fear in the patient’s eyes because nobody didn’t tell her what’s going on. She just lied quiet on the operation table. The patient was awake during the whole operation. I felt very bad inside of me, because I thought why nobody spoke with the patient. They didn’t tell her what they were going to do or didn’t even hold her hand. I think that the breast surgery can be very traumatic for the patient.

2. INTERPRET
In this department, the doctors are doing many breast surgeries during one day. When one patient is ready, next patient is waiting her/his operation behind the operation room’s door- and of course, alone. Alone and no one takes any contact to her/him. I think that the reason for that is that there is too much work and too many other patients. Doctors and nurses seem to be so busy all the time that they ”just do their work”, and that’s it. In China it is more common that the patients are left on their own, but I think in Finland it’s different. In Finland the nurses and doctors give more attention for the patients and they are trying to figure out what might be the patients real feelings and thoughts. The work here is more repetitive. Even though the situation seemed bad for me, I think that people here in China are okay with the lack of attention because there are just too many people here.

3. EVALUATE
I think this experience in the operation room will make me a better nurse in the future. I hope, that all the patients around me can feel safe and in good hands. I felt bad because I saw the fear and tears in the patient’s eyes. She was so scared. I felt that i was the only one who noticed that. It’s hard to say what would I feel if I waw a Chinese person in this case. Maybe I would like to be treated like in Finland. I saw a motto at one department that said ”What ever you do, do it for the patient”. I think it’s also good for everyone who are working as a nurse or a doctor.

D-I-E China

1. DESCRIBE
I think the most confusing and different thing to me in China has been people's lack of privacy. I have noticed this especially in public places (e.g. hospitals, metro, public toilets). I have observed many nursing procedures where the staff hasn't covered patient's private parts from others or they have been leaving patient's private documents and files on the table for everyone to look at. One time I saw an unknown man reading trough other patient's health records at the nursing station. Metro's are not any different from this because I have seen numerous times people reading random people's text messages behind their shoulders. Chinese people also tend to use public toilets without closing the door. I have been photographed so many times at metro and hospital that I have lost count. No one has ever asked me a permission to take photos of me so I have found these situations very uncomfortable.

2. INTERPRET
For me as a Finnish person, the sense of privacy and personal space is very important so I found all these situations very strange. I think Chinese people are somewhat used to the lack of privacy because there are so many people living in Shanghai. Also they just might not care enough to take care of everyone's privacy because of the constant rush and crowds in China. People seem to hurry from place to another constantly and the pace of the nursing procedures is very quick. I have started to think that maybe Chinese people don't value privacy as much as Finnish people. 

3. EVALUATE
I think that these kinds of situations are a part of normal day for Chinese people. They are more used to sharing everything with others because I guess they have no other choice when this country is so overpopulated. Maybe the positive outlook on this could be that at least this could help the Chinese value more the meaning of team work and sharing. On the negative side, everyone deserves to have privacy when needed. I don't think it's okay to leave the curtains open at someone's bedside when the nursing staff is for example cleaning the catheter or turning the patient (who's wearing a gown with an open back and bare bum) when there are 10 other patients and their family members sharing the same room.

Nevertheless, I have really enjoyed doing my internship in China. It has been an extremely eye-opening experience to see Chinese culture. Hopefully I have a chance to visit it again some day in the future.

Letter home: Suvi Lankila, Terhi Laitinen, Laura Mustanoja & Hanna Saukko

.        In what country and University are you studying?

We are studying at the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Shanghai, China.

In what Study program are you studying at Centria?

Our study program is nursing.

What are the courses like at the host University?

We have three different courses on every Friday: Chinese herbs, spoken Chinese and Taiji. During other weekdays we are training at Renji Hospital.

Describe the study culture / nursing culture?

We haven't noticed any major differences in the study culture in China, because the main reason for us to be here is internship, so we haven't really paid attention to that. We know that the Chinese students usually do long days at school and also invest in self-learning. 

Nursing culture in China is very different to Finnish one. There are lots of patients staying in the same room (even up to 10) so all the nurses, doctors and family members crowd the rooms even more. We have paid attention, that usually nurses or doctors do everything in groups. Aseptics is not as high as in European countries. 

What is your study group like?

We don't have a study group. We usually stay in a group of 4 at the hospital when following the nurses at the wards. Sometimes they ask us to divide ourselves in pairs.

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

       China is a very beautiful country and there is lots of things to see and experience in Shanghai. Food is great, especially when you are brave enough to try new tastes and cuisines. The weather is quite warm already (+28C). It is a shame that our SUMHS campus is so far away from the city centre, because it usually takes about an hour to get from campus to Renji hospital. It is very important to have enough time to travel around because the metro is packed full everyday, especially during the rush hours. Chinese people have no sense or personal space, so they push you into the metro car with force.

What has been challenging? Why?

It's challenging to go to grocery store, because most of the time there is no English translation for the products and food and all the stuff is very different and unknown to us. In the beginning, it took some time to get used to using squatting toilets because in many places they don't have normal sitting toilets. Also the internet is extremely slow and keeps cutting out.

What has been the highlight of your exchange so far?

The highlights of our trips were a hike in the Yellow Mountains in Huangshan and visiting the chocolate factory in Shanghai.