EXCHANGE STUDENT IN HELSINKI.

Moi!! ( finnish for hello )

Upcoming months I will live as a exchange student in Helsinki. This website will give insights about my experiences with funny facts about this city. I am writing this blog in English to develop my English writing skills and it's also more accesible for international friends ;).

First notice in this city where: the rubber boots.. I could see this as a warning or a tip for the rain that will come in Autumn.

First interesting lecture was about how to overcome wintersad. The university of Helsinki offers free light therapy for students who are struggling with this dark period during winter. This is interesting but I think I will manage in this period. I am actually looking forward to the cozy city with lights and christmas markets.

The courses that I am enrolled in during the first period are:

• The Politics of Rights *politics, development and difficulties of (human) rights.

• Global labor and worker migration today - causes, phenomenon and consequences *brain drain, legal/irregular migration, human trafficking and integration topics

• Theory of Peace and Security Studies *how to achieve peace, what causes war? history of wars and scientifical approach of peace making.

• International mobility *the major aspects and causal links between international mobility and international development issues.

My favorite courses at the moment are Global labor and worker migration and Theory of Peace and Security. For International mobilty and Global labor my final grade depends on writing an essay and in almost all courses I have to give group or individual presentations. I really like the interaction during the courses and all the different nationalities. Most of the time the classroom is filled with people from all over the world, there are a lot of students from Asia (mostly Japan and Hong Kong) and a from Europe mostly Germans. The discussions on topics such as the Ukranian crisis are very interesting with all these different world perspectives.

My room is very nice and perfect for me! Except the only problem: I have no internet :(. It is not working but I phoned the internet company and they are working on it!

I live in a building with a lot of other exchange students near the centre, it is the perfect location and with my awesome bike I am at the campus in 8 minutes. Yes, I have a bike and it is excellent. Sometimes a little bit dangerous because I don't understand all the Finnish trafic rules but I am learning.

I already made a lot of new friends and am meeting new people everyday. There is so much to do: party, discussions, exploring the city and going on trips to islands.

Tip of the day: Brooklyn Café. This is a really tiny café with free wifi and really nice!

#exchange #helsinki