Unpacking my experience

The new semester cannot start without wrapping up the previous one. Welcome to unpack your experience to the Return work shop on 27.8.2019 at 9.30-13:00 in classroom #156. Please bring a picture that reminds you about your experience.

Will be great to see you on Tuesday!
Linda

The program for Tuesday

D-I-E Netherlands

D-I-E, Phong Ho, Netherlands

These were what I hear in Welcome Day for international student of Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (a city in Netherlands):
- Do you know that Netherlands is country with more bicycles than people?
- One survival lesson for new students is how to lock your bicycles correctly!
I think those are jokes.  Lesson about bicycle locking is over 15 minutes and was taught carefully. It is also like a marketing for bicycle lock and bicycles store. However, from those sharing, we could understand more about Dutch culture.

At first, I have no idea why there are a lot bicycle in Netherlands. Besides, although I know that bicycle is one main transportation in Netherlands, I think locking a bicycle is really simple. Why do they make it seriously? If many bicycles were stolen in Groningen, so they taught us about that. It was not normal for me because the police had been surprised when I had informed about my stolen bicycle Kokkola (Finland) police station. However, why does Hanze just not send new students an email as warning? Many stolen bicycles mean that the city is not safe. If the school doesn’t hide it, they should not public it like that. Having a bicycle is a kind of scary here. Maybe they just told us a joke...

After that, I knew that many bicycles was stolen in the city is real. Some sound like a joke, but they are serious. That shown Dutch culture. They are direct. they see straight to problems and try to find solutions. Maybe because they taught students to lock bicycle well, bicycles are more than people. Many international students come to Netherlands for study every year. They mostly stay from 6 months to 4 years and get out. They get out Netherlands, but their bicycles with good locks are stay.

From that time, I know that I will learn many things in Netherlands. Besides, Dutchs are humor. They smile with problem. They end lesson with a joke:
- If you do not loose bicycle three times, you did not really live in Netherlands. If you lost bicycle 5 times, you are like a Dutch. If you lost bicycle 7 times, we will beg you to get a Dutch citizenship.

After five months, I really learn a lot from my exchange study!

Phong Ho - Smiling from Netherlands

Hi friends,

My name is Phong Ho. In Finland, I study Environmental Chemistry and Technology in Centria University of Applied Sciences. From September of 2018 to the January of 2019, I had an exchange study in Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands. My exchange program is Renewable Energy, Materials and Processing. This time is valuable experience.

Generally, studying and daily-life in Netherland are quite different from Finland. They are different in details, also. Campus of Hanze is located in same place with campus of Groningen, so that area like a village with many large building from many faculty. Hanze university is much more crowded, diversity. In here, it is easy to meet all nationalities around the world. I had about three subjects per period. The hardest is project subject and the easiest is about Dutch culture. There were about twenty students in my class with half Dutch students and half international students. As exchange students, we had some field trip with bicycles to experience Dutch culture with other international friends. For other subjects, it is quite similar in Finland. I had lectures, assignments, group-work and presentation. From my point of view, teaching in Netherlands is not as freedom as in Finland.

For challenges, there are housing problem. About housing problem, Netherlands has serious housing crisis. In September, over 100 students did not have apartment. A big tent is located by school in campus (outside buildings) for some students. School also provided students live in a secondary school or a boat. I did not use these services. I traveled some hours per day for studying my between my relative house (in Einhoven) and school. Someday, my friends hosted me. However, I have apartment at November. This time is new experience for me.

To sum up, studying in Netherlands give me valuable experience and opportunity to live in a new place with new culture. During that time, I understood deeply about myself, recognized some problems which I had not realized before. I think exchange study is valuable chance for Centria student.

Phong Ho

Describe, Interpret, Evaluate. Scotland.

There’s many things I would like to tell about Scotland from Irn Bru and the different accents to Balmorality or the clans, but something that you will encounter straight away alighting from the plane is as follows:

Walking toward the terminal you make eye contact with someone and they greet you. Someone is approaching you and you avoid toward the same direction and they instantly apologize. You go to a supermarket, and at the till the cashier will wait for you to pack your groceries and keep a small talk going until you’re finished packing. You hold door open for someone and will be thanked with ”Cheers!”. Be prepared for their wittiness and sarcasm as well – you will find that sometime their seemingly polite comment may be backhanded!

The politeness and small talk seemed quite foreign to me and I can still remember starting to tell about my day when I was asked ”How are you?” at the till. People will apologize about any inconvenience however small it is, and it catches on very quickly. British are often really indirect and if you happen to actually do something resentful, they most likely won’t say anything but ”give you the evils”, which is a kind of a resentful glance.

Apart from the last part, this avoids conflict and gives good impression of the encounter with a person, which must be the reason why people do it. It also makes the people appear more approachable. This small talk is the deal breaker, as with it you’re giving first impression what kind of person you are. Generally you should avoid anything personal while still talking about something that fits the situation. Maybe it comes from the idea of being more classy and formal by humouring your company.  

After a while and after getting used to it more, it’s easy to see when people just say tthings but don’t actually mean it. Sometimes the small talk can lead into quite awkward situations, if you’re not used to it, but after a while making small talk will feel normal. As a Finn I found it slightly exhausting and still do after my stay. I would rather have meaningful talk with people or not talk at all. Though, every so often I found it fun and pleasant. Overall I've mixed thoughts about it. 

D-i-e

Describe

Overall nursing. I heard of an incident which really bothered me. I had heard about similar case before but this happened to my collegue. Mother came with her newborn child to show it to a nurse. The nurse did check the baby and found him dead. The nurse then continued her work and the mother was left crying.

Interpret
Like I said in my previous blogpost, in Uganda, nurse has a wayy more patients than here in Finland. There are alot things to do. But while I was treated for my back pain in a local hospital with a descent reputation I kinda bumbed into same issue. Some nurses were caring, friendly and listened to patienst while others were ignorant and even rude. This seemed to be more common than I thought in Uganda. Great variation how to treat patients.  Some were frierndly and others..cold. Why this is that way, I can only speculate. Maybe its because of rush. Maybe you dont have enough energy to give love, compassion to others. Maybe it has even something to do with culture: you really cant show your pain in Uganda. You might even get laughed at if you do. Specially labouring women, they cant really make sound when giving birth or they might get mistreated, laughed.

Evaluation

The way we live, is made from pieces like education, culture, family, even friends. Uganda has had big  difficulties in like 40 years, including reign of Idi Amin. It is a poor country. Harsh enviroment. You have to struggle. Maybe that is one reason why people there are like lions. They dont weep so much. They struggle to survive and maybe there isnt any place for "weakness". This same kind of thing happened here in Finland 70 years ago, when war ended. People were busy building Finland and there were so many wounds. Spiritual, mental, physical. I think people didnt have resources to deal with the pain and scars so what they did is they build. They build Finland as it is now. No mourning but many suicides. How we deal with our pain, past, is individual. But maybe there are some common elements  concerning us as a human specie. Love, compassion, we all grave that. But how can you give those if you are a broken spirit.



Mark 12:30-31

 ^"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

"Letter" home or memories from trip

I was having my work placement in Uganda, Kampala. I study nursing in Centria for a second year. 

Reason I named this as a "memories from trip" is, that I had to come back to Finland earlier. I had an accident that worsen my condition (Discus Prolapsis) and had to come for an operation back to Kokkola.

Uganda was nice. When we first arrived Entebbe, Uganda around 5am in the sunday morning, I could´nt help but wonder how smalll the airport was! After all, Uganda has around 42 million residents. But everything was well organinized by our host university. We had a driver waiting for us and we soon got to get going. 

City was quiet that time of day but we could still see alot people moving by car, walking etc. First thing I noticed was the poor condition of roads. Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world.

It took around 1.5 hours to get to our hotel and in some point we were in disbelief, does the driver really know where we are going. But we got safely (and tired) to our hotel and that day, we mainly rested. 

Next week we started working by getting to know our host university, Clarke International University. It was located in top floors over an hospital. Staff there was very friendly and we got to taste local cuisine. We spend the week by visiting different work placement places, mainly hospitals and health centers. This was the week when I hurt my back. Roads are awful over there. And the traffic..

I managed to still work by the power of medicine for 4 weeks, first 2 weeks in Rotom health center which was mainly for elders but had younger customers aswell. That time was amazing, we got to see how people live in rural areas. We had a "party" where we praised and sung and had a nice dinner after that. I learned alot about laboratory work. Patients were regurally inspected of malaria, HIV etc. Staff was friendly and guided us. 

Next 2 weeks I spend in Angelina Health Center. It was class 3 health center (scale is 1=best, 4=lowest). It is kind of same nursing than here in Finland, we give medicines, take care of the patients etc same way BUT there is alot more patieets for 1 nurse than here in Finland. Overall rate is that they have 1 nurse for around 1400 clients and here in Finland its around 12 (?)nurses for 1000 people. Example, there was 1 day a week, when there was vaccinations for small children. There might have been like 15 people in a small room, and nurse would just give vaccinations for the child and call next. It took around 2 minutes to give all the vaccinations for a child. That was efficient on its way..

Over all, I miss Uganda. I miss the team, my fellow students. I cherish the memories we had together and would invite anyone to try travelling. You get hooked.

Stay alive

Kyösti

Introduction of Fiona Mwacharo

Hello everyone. My name is Fiona Mwacharo and I am a third year Environmental Chemistry and Technology student. Honestly I am a little terrified about going on exchange because of being in a completely new environment and culture where I know no one, but I am looking forward to meeting new people, immersing myself into a new culture and experiencing education in Netherlands.