Metropolia Exchange - Metropolia Blogs

Incoming Student Story: Roos Popkema from the Netherlands

16.8.2023

“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia in the field of culture, in media design. I had heard lots of things about Finnish education and that it’s a good place for studying and doing your exchange. I’m half Finnish from my mom’s side and because of my background I was interested in learning more about the country and it’s culture. I also wanted to experience the Finnish winter and learn more about cultures and meet different people. Studying at Metropolia has been very nice and pretty chill. The orientation days in the beginning of the exchange were very nice, it was nice to learn a little bit about the campus and get to know other students. Way of teaching has been different than I’m used to. In my home university teachers are more critical and here they will help you if you ask for it. You need take more initiative here to get feedback as well. I think it’s very nice you can plan things yourself for your studies here, so it’s pretty flexible. My favorite course, Media and Culture, contained a lot of visits to different places in the city that were related to our studies, such as the news and radio stations. It’s cool that the teachers brought us there and showed how a Finnish news station does their job. One teacher also brought us to a forest close by, we were walking around and had a potluck lunch. My studies took place on Arabia campus and I met there also often with my project groups and had lunch together. It took time to get used to a different way of teaching at Metropolia. I realized after finishing my courses that it feels like I have learned a lot but it happened differently than it would in my home country. During my free time I have visited a lot of museums and discovered parks - it’s nice to be outside now in the spring when the weather is better. I went to the city for shopping and visiting cafés. I visited also some cities in Finland, went to Tallinn and went to some parties. In the beginning of my exchange it was a bit hard for me to fit to the group. Everyone was really nice and after a while I found some friends that are also living close to me. I did not have a culture shock but I found out some things about the culture, such as that people bring their dogs everywhere and people really like coffee. I have also been learning to appreciate coffee more. I really enjoyed thrift shopping here and the overall way of thinking about sustainability which is seen in daily life in different ways. There are for example lots of vegan and vegetarian options which is great! During the dark winter I learned to appreciate the sun, I was so happy to see some sun during those dark months. Another thing that I loved are those big city rabbits that are just chilling in front of places where people live. It has been really nice to meet new people and I have a lot of new experiences. By being on your own in a new place you discover so much of yourself, what you like, what you don’t like and what you want to do in your life and how to develop in that direction. After this experience I might want to continue living on my own, I’m now so used to it and having so much freedom. Big part of the Finnish culture is being relaxed and chill, in the Netherlands life is pretty rushed and crowded. I learned to appreciate little things, being on your own, nature and developing yourself.”

19.6.2023

Metropolia Exchange Bloggers

“I did my exchange semester at Metropolia in the autumn semester 2022, in the field of Health Care and Social Work. I study occupation therapy back at my home university PXL university College. We had a lot of countries to choose from and most of my fellow students wanted to go to Africa but Finland was the number one destination for me. I love Nordic countries but I had never been there before so I wanted to explore the country. I’m also a rower and there are a lot of lakes in Finland so I thought I could keep doing my hobby in a very cool environment. Before I even applied to Metropolia I downloaded Duolingo and practiced a lot of Finnish. I did a placement internship at Metropolia, so I didn’t do actual courses. First two months of being in Finland I had a lot of free time and I was writing my thesis. In October my internship started at the HyMy Village on Metropolia’s Myllypuro campus. The concept is really great and we were also given the chance to work on our own ideas. I’m used to having one placement at a time but here we had like five different projects and the variation during the placement was very nice. I got to work with Finnish students and Finnish patients and in the end learned a lot of Finnish. Teachers were very nice and approached us as colleagues. During my free time I went to the gym and to rowing practice. I also participated to events organized by tutors and did different activities with other exchange students, such as playing board games in Oodi and went for a dinner. I also got very close with my tutor, we were meeting weekly to do winter swimming. I’m so thankful for her! Unfortunately, I missed the HOAS apartment application deadline so I had to search an apartment on my own. I lived together with two other people and was very happy about the accommodation. I made a lot of new friends from around the world and learned a bit of the Finnish mindset. People in Finland are more relaxed and take more time for coffee, sauna, walking and being in the nature. I feel connected to Finland and could imagine living here in the future! Maybe in the future I could become and entrepreneur and return to Finland through that. I loved everything in here!” Tips from Dakota: Be flexible: you will go out of your comfort zone and not everything will be nice. Being flexible makes it easier. Explore the nature and the surroundings in Finland Visit Lapland

14.3.2023

Metropolia Exchange Bloggers

“I spent autumn semester 2022 in Metropolia doing my exchange semester. I studied in the field of Culture, in the Degree Programme in Music. I had a couple of friends who had done their exchange earlier at Metropolia. They spoke really highly of the program, country and the city so it was no-brainer for me. My home university MacEwan University has a fantastic team of international coordinators and they gave me a bunch of things to look up for, such as weather, political situation, cultural norms and language. It was very helpful in preparation for coming to Finland. Studying at Metropolia has been a good experience overall. Teachers have good knowledge to share and the atmosphere is very open. Arabia campus for the field of culture is new and it was nice to study in such a nice facility. There were a lot of rooms for students to work with what they want. Some of the courses at Metropolia were a bit different than what I’m used to. One course focused on clinics and people such as composers were brought from outside to Metropolia and we worked with them. I participated in an ensemble and that was made into a course. The best thing about my studies at Metropolia was for sure the private lessons with my instructor Tommi Rautiainen. He is a great musician a I learned a lot from him. Music students could also apply for access to the campus outside the normal opening hours which was great in order to have time for practicing. In addition, I ate at the student restaurant every day, the food was very good and also cheap. As I was a music student there were jams pretty much every day, so I was often in jams in the evenings. I was also walking a lot around the city especially before the snow fell. There were lots of events going on. I went camping in Porkkala with another international student in November and also traveled to Tallinn with a ship. Tallinn’s old city was fantastic. I didn’t really have a culture shock but I noticed that people in Finland are generally a bit more reserved than in Canada and I had to get used to that. I got to know Finnish students through jams. Teachers in Metropolia were also pretty relaxed. During my exchange I learned to live in a different culture as an outsider, that was a very valuable experience. I have to be grateful for people speaking English and dealing with misunderstandings. I would recommend the future exchange students to do as much planning as they can while they’re still at home. Stuff will go wrong and luckily, I had all the necessary information on my phone or on paper. This way you can enjoy your experience and don’t have to worry about things. In the future I would love to do more traveling, in exchange or otherwise. I would also really encourage others to do exchanges like this as it was a life-changing experience.”