First days…
Alright finally I have some time to write some more =)
After arriving at our flats on Monday, our tutor Jouni showed us the campus and university. Later we went to have something to eat and afterwards already home sleeping. It was a long day anyway so no going out anymore on Monday.
On Tuesday we went to Lappeenranta ‘city centre’ (in the following posts just called ‘downtown’) for the first time. We were about ten students and three tutors, who showed us some places, including a Russian second-hand shop and an alco store. On the evening we went to some pub called Iltatähti, where also many exchange students were. After seeing and talking to many new faces I finally went home at 3:30 in the morning, knowing that the next day the orientation program for the exchange students starts…
Wednesday morning, hangover and far too less sleep already… At the university we heard many people from the university speaking about all different issues, about Lappeenranta, the university itself, the student union, health care, languages and culture. After lunch break it continued like this until about 2pm. Enough time to go home, clean up some stuff, go to the next supermarket to get the most important stuff like food and getting back again. At 6pm there was a Finnish Evening at the university. We heard a short introduction to Finnish Culture and also about some student clubs at the university. Afterwards there was dinner for free at the restaurant of the university and a band was playing some Finnish and also international songs. After that we (about 10 exchange) went to the next supermarket to get something to drink (some beers and siders, which is pretty popular here in Finland). Then we went to the flat of some of the students, where we were drinking our stuff and talking a bit, before leaving for a party at the Student Union’s basement at the campus. Looks like a pretty tough schedule already, but after some more beers we went to Gigglin Marlin (the area’s biggest nightclub) at about midnight. The music there is actually almost the same as the music in nightclubs back home in Austria. What is funny in Finland is that it is pretty popular to pay with credit cards or such as, even small amounts, like a beer or a shot… and what shall I say, after some more beers at 4 in the morning we were finally taking a taxi back home, which isn’t too expensive if you are with some other students so you can divide the costs among each other. At about 4:30 I was finally in my bed and sleeping – it was a long day, but it shall not be the last one of its kind =)
Thursday morning – again hangover. Orientation day number 2 and again we got a lot of information about studying at LUT (Lappeenranta University of Technology). Just everything which has to do with the university and studying matters… After lunch we were having a library visit and after that I went home to finally register for my courses at the university. I had to change 2 courses, because one I can’t take, and another one overlaps with another course in almost everything. So the new courses I’m taking (just to keep it complete) is Bioenergy (instead of Research Methods) and Object-Oriented Programming Techniques (instead of Wireless Service Engineering). At the evening we went to the Student Union building again, where our tutor had reserved a room. There we had some beers, snacks and were playing some games, including poker =) Afterwards we went on to Iltatähti – the same place I’ve been on Tuesday already. Again and how could it be any different, at 4 in the morning we (me, a russian girl and my tutor – the last ones this evening) finally also went home. Good to know that on Friday the program starts not before 12:30.
Friday morning – again hangover or shall I say ‘still’. Anyway, I woke up at 11 in the morning but couldn’t get out of the bed until about 11:30. Then I went to the university having breakfast/lunch (well who knows the difference…) and afterwards there were ‘Mini-Olympics’ organized by the university. We (the exchange students) had to compete in our tutor groups against each other in some games like ‘mobile phone throwing’ or ‘carrying a woman’. Afterwards there was ‘Lappeenranta sight-seeing’ scheduled. A bus was driving through the area and a woman was talking about history, economy and other issues refering to the places. I actually prefered using the time at the bus for a little nap, but I was not the only one =) Afterwards I went home, had something to eat and again already had to leave for another party at Karankokatu (the student house where most of the exchange students live (about 70). After a short warm-up there we went to Gigglin Marlin (the nightclub I already mentioned) and after a really really nice evening we finally went home at about 4 in the morning – by taxi of course =) Another long day and even longer night and I was actually glad that I could finally sleep, because there was nothing from the University scheduled for Satuday morning…
alright that’s it about my first 5 days… pictures following soon… Stay tuned =)
..:: Finland 2008 ::.. 