Ylioppilaskunnan Soittajat

This is the name of the orchestra I applied for, it means Musicians of the Students Union. I thought it was more or less similar to the AOV in Göttingen. But when I arrived at the audition in the Vanha Ylioppilastalo (old students house), I had to fill in an application sheet in Finnish, answering questions about myself, my motivation for this orchestra, my previous orchstra experience and even if I study my instrument and had taken any viola exams. At first I didn't even understand some questions, but someone helped me.
Many violinists and violoncello players were practicing in the room for warming up, but I was the only violist. Before I started playing, I was asked several questions in Finnish, e.g. why I had a Finnish name. However, the people were nice and they told me that I should come tomorrow to the first rehearsal :-)

I am really happy to have the possibility to play the viola here and I hope to get to know nice Finnish students in the orchestra!

Finnish course

During the breakfast Corinna (my second Italian flatmate) and I noticed that we had registered for the same Finnish course! It started today. We are 25 persons from many countries in the course. The teacher who speakes a very clear and understandable Finnish is quite nice. She gave us lots of homework and the next lesson is tomorrow in the morning, so I have study a bit now...

Nuuksio Kansallispuisto

Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund (the early bird gets the worm) - we got up early and reached Nuuksio nationalpark (http://www.luontoon.fi/page.asp?Section=5131) near Espoo after one hour by local train and bus. The sunshine was particularly beautiful in the morning. From the bus stop we had to walk 2 km, but the air smelled already so Scandinavian and I found the first blueberries and strawberries and collected them like the "Children from Bullerby" on a grass stalk. At the entrance of the national park there was an information point where we asked which hiking route was the best. The woman answered "all". So we chose at first the yellow one (7km), along several calm lakes, forests, bridges, planks, blueberries.

Whoever goes hiking with me, will notice quickly that I am blueberry-addicted! We had picknick on a rock. In my opinion bread with cheese tastes approximately 5,000,000 times better outside in the wild nature than at home!
Afterwards we walked on a steep path (green, 2km) and the red one (2km). Many people were there to collect not only blue- and cranberries, but also buckets full of mushrooms.

This was such a great trip! We didn't see squirrels, but we heard and saw a woodpecker (Specht) knocking on a tree trunk.

When I came home, my flatmate Anne-Sophie prepared a lasagne for our flat and I made pancakes with blueberries.

Seurasaari

My weekend was really like holiday in Finland :-) I was outside in the nature nearly all the time. On Saturday, 12.09. I cycled to Seurasaari together with my neighbours Jan and Manu from the flat above mine. We live in the capital but it took less than half an hour to reach this beautiful, bicycle-free island.

We left our bikes at the mainland and entered the island via a wooden pedestriants' bridge. Walking around the island, we met many confiding squirrels. They were so cute!! I wanted to feed them with blueberries and they came interestedly to my hand, but finally they didn't want to eat them. Therefore they climbed upwards on our legs!

An outdoor museum of old Finnish wooden houses is also located on this island. There were even people wearing traditional clothes.

We rested on seaside bluffs, partly with a view on idyllic watersides and partly on factories at the other side. So we were aware that we were still in an urban region. We experienced the untouched nature on Sunday!

Music

One advantage of living in the capital is that there are lots of cultural events like several orchestras and theaters here. Last week on Thursday I went spontaneously to a concert of the Helsingin Kaupunginorkesteri (Stadtorchester) with my cousin Emil. They played a piano concerto by the Estonian contemporary composer Arvo Pärt and additionally the first symphony by Johannes Brahms which I had played in Göttingen in the AOV three years ago! So listening was a special pleasure :-)

Tomorrow I will have an audition for the students orchestra Ylioppiskunnan Soittajat. I have been practising Bach and Brahms in the last time and today I played for my flatmates and our neighbours from upstairs as a final rehearsal.

After the audition I want to search for a viola teacher. I really miss the viola lessons! But in this city is so much music that I am confident to find someone.

I was thinking about joining a choir, but then I noticed myself (!) that it would be a bit too much program if I also wanted to study, learn Finnish, play the viola, travel through Finland, spend time with my flatmates,... Consequently I didn't go to any choir rehearsal.

Orientation

On Thursday I took part in an orientation rallye in the city centre for the new physics freshmen (many) and exchange students (few). So this was a good opportunity to get to know some "native Fins".
The motto of the orientation -organised by Resonanssi - was Monopoly: In groups we had to find several streets and places which occur in the Finnish monopoly game. There the tutors had prepared funny games and tasks for us. Afterwards there was a nice party.

Courses

Last Tuesday (8.9.) the courses started. I take part in quantum field theory, theoretical particle physics, mathematical methods and cosmology. But the first week was quite relaxed since the exercise sessions and some lectures begin only this week. On the other hand, we had already homework in the first week.
In the first lesson every teacher asks if there is anybody who wishes the course to be held in English. That is good. But I would also like to participate in a Finnish seminar, unfortunately I haven't received an answer yet.
Tomorrow my Finnish course will start: 6 hours per week!

Opening Ceremony

The academic year started solemnly on Monday 7th with an Opening Ceremony in the huge hall of the university. The professors proceeded into the hall while the Ylioppilaskunnan Soittajat (students orchestra) were playing the Andante festivo by -of course- Sibelius (the most famous Finnish composer). Three speeches were given about the university reform in Finland (this year there is a big change in the university politics to more independence), the connection of tutkimus ja opetus (research and teaching) and democracy in universities. Between the speeches more music was played.
In the afternoon there was the Opening Carnival - no carneval like in Venice, but plenty of students organisations were presenting themselves. There are e.g. political groups, associations of students from the different regions of Finland and groups for the departments. I joined Limes and Resonanssi, which organize parties, games, orientation rallyes, sauna events for physics students. Addionally I got my ESN card (Erasmus Student Network) so that I can take part in their trips for example to Lapland and St Petersburg.
Later free wine and pizza were offered in the university main building. Furthermore some chamber music was performed. I asked 3 students with violin cases (in Finnish :-) ) if their orchestra needed still violists. Yes, they do,so I will have my audition as an entrance exam for Ylioppilaskunnan Soittajat on Tuesday. Let's see...

Jyväskylä

Last weekend (5./6. september) I visited my relatives in Jyväskylä. I went 300km by train to the north together with my cousin Emil. It was really nice to be in Jyväskyllä again, see my uncle, aunt and cousins, pick red- and blackcurrants in the garden for a milkshake,... We came back by car because Emil moved from Jyväskyllä to Helsinki.
From the train and car I could already see beautiful lakes and forests, but more about the Finnish nature 1 week later!

Dilemma

For me writing a diary or a blog is a dilemma: Whenever I experience a lot, I don't have time to write it down. But the other way around, when nothing happens, I have time, but nothing to report...
My last week was full of events!

Finnish

The finnish language is so difficult:-( But I try to use it as often as I can. Today I took a placement test for a continuation finnish course. But I wasn't able to negate the konditionaali (the finnish language doesn't only have 15 grammatical cases, but they also conjugate the negation particle as a verb)...
I also take part in the ALICE program: Academic Language and InterCultural Exchange. German and Finnish students teach each other their language and culture! Because there were more interested Finnish students, I have now two nice Finnish tandem partners. Laura studies German and Emmi studied in Berlin during the last year so that both of them are extremely good at German and we can discuss about complicated topics. On the other hand, they will teach me Finnish and talk with me about simple topics of the Finnish life. Tomorrow we are going to meet in a café for the first time and I am looking forward to practicing Finnish and learning about the culture in such a relaxed and self-determined way :-)

Erasmus

The orientation week is finished now. But the tutor program will continue. Our tutor Mikko takes care of the international physics students. He showed us the different campuses, explained important things and yesterday we even had a discussion session about "cultural shocks" which may appear while living abroad. Now we aware that the so-called "honeymoon" phase (during which everything in the foreign country seems so fabulous) might be followed by a depression, loss of identity, homesickness,... due to non-understanding of the other culture. Well, I will see... So far I have been enjoying the start in Finland very much!

ERASMUS - commonly associated with lots of parties: yes, of course also here are many of them. However, the beer costs 4 euros and the music isn't always so good, but therefore extremely loud.
Further on, I like living in the international students' hostel. I usually have dinner with my nice flatmates and we often have visitors from other flats.

Food

Yesterday I baked traditional Finnish PULLA with lots of cardamom and cinnamon :-)
I am really delighted with the mensa food: It is tasty, healthy and you can take as much salad, whole-grain bread, water, rice, potatoes, noodles as you want and one glass of milk or juice is also included. In Finland there are 3 kinds of milk: rasvaton (fat-free), kevyt/ ykkös (low-fat with 1%) and täys (full-fat with 3%). While the former tastes like water, the latter (in a red package) is considered as the "evil" milk...

Helsinki

Please notice the blue sky on all of these photos. It wasn't added artificially, but aurinko paistaa Suomessakin :-) (The sun also shines in Finland.) But sometimes it rains heavily. I don't know how it is in Germany at the moment, but here some trees start changing colour already.

The famous white cathedral can be seen from everywhere, also when you leave Helsinki by boat. The first picture shows Esplanadi, a nice street with trees, flowers and noble shops connecting the city centre and the harbour.

I am really happy to have my bike here. Not only because I save a lot of money by cycling (the tickets are quite expensive - as everything here), but I also feel more "at home" here when I can go everywhere independently by bike. And I see more of the city, for example I can sometimes use cylce paths through green areas. But especially close to the city cycling is no pleasure since there are not always bicycle lanes and cars often don't respect the bikers' rights... Here in Finland most bikers wear helmets.

You can find rocks in the middle of the capital at several places! The urban image is also characterised by lakes, bays of the baltic sea and the harbour from where you can often feel a steef breeze.

Update of the last week

Now it is time for an update of my blog. Lots of things happened during the last week. From now on I will try to write my posts in English. In the following I will report shortly about: Helsinki, the university, the opening ceremony, Erasmus, my steps in Finnish, food and a trip to Jyväskylä.

Eindrücke

Ich fasse mal meine Eindrücke über Finnland und das Erasmus-Programm aus den letzten zwei Tagen zusammen:

• Mit dem Abhol-Service, Willkommens-Paket, der Orientierungswoche, Informationsbroschüren, Tutor-Gruppen,... scheint das Erasmus-Programm sehr gut organisiert zu sein!


• Überhaupt macht das Leben in Finnland einen ziemlich geordneten Eindruck auf mich. Das geht allerdings auch mit viel Bürokratie einher. Schon bei der Bewerbung und jetzt auch vor Ort muss viel Papierkram erledigt werden. Alles ist genau beschrieben. Aber ebenfalls auch, was passiert, wenn man sich an die Regelungen nicht hält...


• "Du gehst nach Finnland, ist es da nicht zu kalt??" - Allen Vorurteilen zum Trotz war heute im September nochmal Spätsommer: Bei strahlenden Sonnenschein konnte man im T-Shirt draußen sein.



• Finnische Spezialitäten sind toll! Meinen Einkauf von Blaubeersuppe, Piroggen, Lakritz und Viili habe ich sehr zufrieden fotografiert.

Sprachen

Hier sind Erasmus-Studenten aus der ganzen Welt. Natürlich wird viel Englisch gesprochen. Aber ich habe schon viele italienische Studenten kennen gelernt, mit denen ich gerne mein Italienisch übe. Allerdings habe ich bisher noch nicht so viel Finnisch gesprochen, was mir auch noch sehr schwer fällt. Einen Platz im Finnischkurs zu ergattern, ist wohl nicht so leicht. Trotzdem werde ich morgen mal zum Uni-Hauptgebäude in die Innenstadt fahren und versuchen, mich für einen Kurs einzuschreiben.

Orientierungswoche

Heute ging die Orientierunswoche für ausländische Studenten mit Informationsvorträgen über die Uni, die naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Sprachkurse und über lebenspraktische Hinweise los. Es mussten auch einige Formulare ausgefüllt werden. Der Eingang des Studentenbüros ist bemerkenswert schön, mit Bänken und Blumen.
Die Uni besteht aus mehreren Kampus, von denen der naturwissenschaftlich -wie in Göttingen- im Norden der Stadt auf einem Hügel liegt. Mein Weg dorthin führt durchs Grüne. Glücklicherweise habe ich auf dem Schiff mein Fahrrad aus Deutschland mitgenommen, sodass ich hier gleich losfahren kann. Die Physik-Fakultät heißt "Physicum", die Mathe "Exactum" ;-) Die Gebäude sind modern und schön. In der Mensa gibt es sehr gesundes Essen und man kann so viele Beilagen, Brot, Salat und Wasser nehmen, wie man möchte.

Wohnen

Im internationalen Studentenwohnheim wohne ich in einer Wohnung zusammen mit zwei französischen und einer italienischen Studentin. Das Haus ist architektonisch nicht so herausragend schön, aber meine Mitbewohnerinnen und die Nachbarn sind sehr nett! Das Wohnheim hat sogar eine eigene Sauna. Um mein möbliertes, aber schlicht eingerichtetes Zimmer mit dem Nötigsten auszustatten, bin ich gleich am ersten Tag zu IKEA gefahren. In Helsinkis Umgebung gibt es zwei IKEAs, zu denen kostenlose Shuttle-Busse fahren.

Ankunft

Am 30.8. bin ich abends an Board der MS Finnstar gegangen. Dieses kombinierte Fracht- und Personenschiff hat mich nach einer entspannenden, 27-stündigen Fahrt über die Ostsee sicher von Travemünde/ Lübeck nach Helsinki gebracht.

Dort hat mich am 1.9. früh morgens freundlicherweise eine finnische Erasmus- Tutorin abgeholt und mir mein Willkommens-Infopaket samt Wohnungsschlüssel mitgebracht. Nachdem ich bei der Wohnheimsverwaltung alles unterschrieben hatte, bin ich endlich mit meinem vielen Gepäck in mein 10,5 m² Zimmer eingezogen.