Finland by Csaba Csorvasi, Hungary

Finland

I arrived in Finland last Saturday. (07.05.2016)

I travelled by plane.I have many good experiences because Finland is a very beautiful country.

Next day the programme started.

Finland has many amazing places.For example : Many forests,many lakes.

We arrived in Mikkeli at Sunday night.

My host Family gave many good experiences.For example I tried the traditional Finnish sauna.I tried the Finnish foods.The Finnish foods are very tasty!

On Monday we visited : -Mikkeli city,Mikkeli highest place (viewpoint)

On Tuesday we visited : -A temple and Mikkeli city,at night the teachers went to Päivi`s home.

On Wednesday we visited: Hillosensalmi forest

On Thursday  we visited : Hirvensalmi ,where we had a boat trip,traditional Finnish games and a delicious traditional dinner (salmon,salad,potatoes,fruitcake and home-made fruit juice)

On Friday we went to school  to finish the project work and then we had a  free afternoon,we wanted to say goodbye to Mikkeli.

At night we went for a farewell dinner.

Finnish people have a nice but difficult language (I have learnt some numbers in Finnish)

Finland is as if it was my worderful second home.

Thank you all the people (my host family -Päivi and her husband- and the Finnish teachers ) for these days.

Finnish experiences by Zsofia Kiss, Hungary

Finnish experiences

This is the first time in my life that I am in Finland and I am very excited.

I arrived in Mikkeli with two teachers and three students on 7^th May 2016.

I was very curious about my future host family.

When we arrived in Mikkeli late on Sunday,my host family(Miia Roos and her daughter) were waiting for us.

They welcomed me and my fellow student very kindly and we were taken to their flat which is not very far from the city centre.

We were shown the flat and our cosy room,then we had a nice dinner. Then we met the family cute dog. Finnish food is very interesting and strange for me.

Next day our Erasmus+ programme started.

After it the school was presented and then we went to see the city. In the evening we went with the family to a small house not far from Mikkeli where we tried the typical Finnish sauna. After the sauna we jumped into the lake where the water temperature was about 15 degrees Centigrade. I think it was a breathtaking experience for me!

The next morning we did the project work again, then we went to church which was very nice.

The next day we went to a lumber yard which was very interesting after it we visited a bakery factory where we got some presents (traditional Finnish bread)

In the afternoon we went hiking in Repovesi,the national park where my teacher, Niki neni and me had a 10 km hiking tour. We were the “heroes of the day”!

On Thursday morning we made the project work.

In the afternoon we went to Hirvensalmi. First we went by bus then we went by a speedboat. It was very exciting.

When we arrived in Hirvensalmi, we were playing typical traditional Finnish group games.

The last day was in Mikkeli at school to finish our project work and we had a farewell dinner with our host family.

I want to thank my host family (Miia Roos and her daughter) for their hospitality and their kind welcome.

 I will never forget the beautiful days in Mikkeli! 

Being during meeting in Finland

Hello its Jere!

I had a great opportunity to be a host to Jacopo Benedetti from Italy. This week has been amazing for me. At the first evening were in Joannas house where we barbequed and spent time together. Sunday morning we slept long because we all wanted to sleep long. Then we met the others again and we walked around the city. Sunday was like a lazy day we didn't do much in that day.
 Monday we woke up early because it was a school day. In school we get knowed each others and walk around our school buildings then we went to do the project. After school day we had a free time so we spent time to city and shopping. Every morning we had to came to school and we were doing the project work. After school students had some program what is going to happen next. This has been great to be a part of this project and i will remember all moments what we did in this project. Chicken team you was the best! ♥

Lets be in touch! ♥ 

Jere Moilanen
Finnish student 

Joanna Kaarnajoki Finnish student

I had an opportunity to be a host for Linda Mazzieri and later also for Elena Camiletti from Italy. They came here 7.5.2016 by train about 19.00 o'clock.

In the first night all the Italian students came to my house and we barbequed and had fun. We ate a lot of the traditional Finnish barbeque food. After that we showed them places in Mikkeli for example Naisvuori hill and harbor.

Everyday we all spent time together. We toured them around Mikkeli. We also showed them Puumala which is about 70 kilometeres away from Mikkeli and Lietvesi which is on the way to the Puumala.
Italian students loved Finnish lakes and they took a lot of pictures of that.

We visited to Repovesi national park and ma and Jere walked long way with Italian students and teachers, Germany students, Hungary students and we were their guides. Thursday we were in Hirvensalmi, Tuulis fathers farm. We had a lot of fun, we was in sauna and swimming on the lake.

I really liked to be a host and I really liked the girls also. At first only Linda was my guest and we had fun. Later in the week Netta get sick and then Elena came to my house and stayed rest of the week.

I'm so glad that I had an opportunity to get know these peoples and be part of this project. We got many new friends. I'm gonna miss you our chickens ♥ 

Joanna Kaarnajoki
Finnish student

My experiences in Finland by Laura Szilvia Gubola, Hungary

My experiences in Finland

We arrived in Finland on Saturday. 

We were traveling by plane. It was the first time I´ve flown. Before we went to Mikkeli, we spent a day and one night in Helsinki. That was grate. The capital city was beautiful. On the next day we arrived at Mikkeli. My host family was waiting for me in front of the hotel, where my teachers were staying all week.

 My host family live in a big house in the countryside. It was so strange for me, because I can’t see such houses too much. They were very kind, and nice with me. We spent five days in Mikkeli. The Finnish team organised great programs for every day.

 On the first day, we arrived at the school at 8:15. We did the project in the morning, and after that we went for lunch at 12:00.  The Finnish foods were strange for me. My stomach didn´t like it too much. But I think most of them were delicious.

 In the afternoon we went sightseeing. The city was cute and small. All over Finland there are a lot of woods and lakes. In this city it is the same. Lakes and woods are everywhere. The next day, we spent in the school, and worked on the project. That was boring for me.

On Wednesday we went to visit the Misawa Sawmill factory and the Bakery factory. It was exciting. We got some presents (typical traditional Finnish bread). We looked very funny in the bakery uniform.

In the afternoon we went hiking in the mountains of the National Park in Repovesi. It was a tiring but beautiful experience for all the group. The heroes of the day were Niki neni (our teacher) and Zsofi, one of my fellow student because they have done a 10 km route.

On Thursday we had a project morning again at school and in the afternoon we went to Hirvensalmi, which is a wonderful island. We went there by boat. On the island we played traditional Finnish group games and after them we had an also traditional dinner. That was the best experience in the week.

Friday was the last day of the project work and we worked very hard. We managed to finish the project. In the afternoon we had a farewell sightseeing in Mikkeli and a farewell dinner with the project partners.

Thank you for this amazing week. I had a great time here. Especially great thank to my host family who were my second family in Finland.

The best experiences in Mikkeli by Zsofia Kuti, Hungary

The best experiences in Mikkeli

On Sunday night we arrived in Mikkeli (09.05.2016.)

My landlady was Miia Roos and her daughter. It was a great experience how much love we got from them when I arrived.

The first day we went around the town, I really liked the area. 

One of the best experiences was when they took me to a weekend house which has a lake. In this place I could try the sauna and swim in the lake. They've done everything possible to have fun. I really liked when I woke up every morning and the breakfast was waiting on the table. 

Another favorite experience was when we went to Hirvensalmi where we were welcomed very warmly.  So far I have hated fish but here I got to love fish. The Finnish traditional games were very good and exciting while I was waiting to be ready for dinner. It was a great experience when we went out to Hirvensalmi by a Viking boat.

 I would like to thank for so many wonderful experiences I gained during this week. 

My Experience in Finland by Portuguese students

Portuguese crazy students loved the week in Mikkeli integrated in WoCu2 Erasmus+ project:

• friendship and atmosphere among students from other countries,
• sightseeing programs,
• new food tastes,
• language learning,
• communication challenge,
• project work activities,
• collaborative work,
• local culture such as sauna,
• environment concerns,
• host families take care

Nuno, Mariana, Maick and Gerson

My Experience in Finland by Nicolas Helm

During my time in Mikkeli, I had the opportunity to meet new people and to learn about a different culture. The project work wasn't that much. My job was to fix some audio problems and to fix some other video issues.

The cultural program was very good I got to know some things about Finland and I also had the opportunity to see some really nice places like the national park Repovesi. Mikkeli itself is a very nice and quite town with a lake near by which is really nice to walk by. There are many nice and interesting places to see there.

My host family tried to make us feel like I'm at home. They were very nice people which told me a few things about Mikkeli. The food they provided was very good at first i was a bit scared what I will get to eat. But in the end this concern turned out to be wrong.

This one week trip to Mikkeli was short but still nice so from my opinion this intercultural project was a full success.

Italian students in Mikkeli

We are four Italian students and we took part in a project called  “Erasmus +    WoCu 2.0“.

Our experience in Finland was amazing. We went to Mikkeli. There every morning we met in a class where everyone had a computer to work.  In the school we watched videos about the different way each country behaves at work with customers, boss and other employees. The videos were in the original language, so we put English subtitles in each films to make the other people understand.

In the afternoon we did different things every day, such as a guided tour through the town, an industrial visit to a bakery which gave us some bread to take home and to the Misawa company that is a sawmill. On Thursday we went to an island where we made sauna and we swam in the cold lake (Hot and freeze, what a shock!). It was the most amazing thing in all the week! 

We were lucky because the weather was sunny and we could do activities without any problems. We ate typical Finnish meals, like grilled salmon and some little fishes, that were fished the same day, so they were very fresh.

In the evening, we went out with the other students and we discovered the places where Finnish guys like going.

I´m Giulia and my host was Tuuli, a very nice girl who made me feel like I was at home. I also loved her mother, who was very kind with me. They always explained to me the things about the town and the Finnish culture.

I´m Elena and my host was Netta. But unfortunately she got sick and then I had to move in Joanna´s house. However, it was a fantastic experience!

I´m Jacopo and my host was Jere that I met last year in Italy, with him I passed all the time and I was very happy about it. From him I learned a lot of Finnish mores and I hope to continue our friendship also in the future because this experience will be a very good memory.

I´m Linda and my host was Joanna. I immediately felt at ease with her, but also with the rest of the family and the dog. It was an amazing week because I learned about the Finnish mores and I hope to return there in winter.

My experience in Finland by Simon Schwalm

Hello,

my name is Simon Schwalm from Germany and I participated in the Work and Culture Project. I also had the opportunity to visit Mikkeli for one week. During this week we made subtitles for the YouTube videos that we made before and redesigned them. It was fairly easy to do that. But most of the time we all were traveling through Finland, hiking through the forests and exploring Mikkeli.

I lived together with  someone from my country and someone from Hungary in a house owned by a teacher who participated in the Work and Culture Project. She and her husband are lovely people and I very much enjoyed my stay there. They also had a dog with which I played from time to time.

The whole work and culture group also visited an island, hiked through the forest, made barbecue and met at a restaurant. We also had some time to do what we want to do in Mikkeli. I for one visited a museum and some stables in Mikkeli with a bicycle that was provided by my host familie.

I enjoyed my stay and would like to come back to Finland someday.

My experience in Finland by Nelly Rachimow

Our journey to Finland started on the 8.05.16. I was really excited to meet students from other countries and have a good time in Finland.

My host sister, Emma, is an amazing girl, she is very nice and was always looking out for me. We did a lot of cool stuff in our free time together. We went hiking with a few other friends, went shopping, and so on. I`m happy that I got such a nice girl as my host sister.

Also the things we did with all the other students was great. We had a little tour around Mikkeli, went hiking and grilled sausages. The finish nature is very beautiful, but also scary. For example I saw two snakes in the woods. On another day we went on an island in a boat, which was very interesting. We also played traditional finish games which were really funny and ate traditional finish food there. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was also very nice. After we ate, we could go to sauna and swimming, if we wanted. Later we went back with the boat and home with the school cars.

In Finland the people are very nice and I felt welcome. I also noticed a few differences, like there they have warm meals often, different than in Germany. In Germany we eat breakfast, warm lunch and for dinner just sandwiches or snacks. In Finland they eat breakfast, warm lunch, warm dinner and a snack before they go to sleep. But the food was always good.

In the end I can only say, that this trip was an amazing experience and I´m really glad that I could be part of it. I met a lot of nice people and made new friends.   

My experience in Finland Mara Horst

The project meeting started on 8^th of May 2016. It was funded by Erasmus+. Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe.

After the 1^st week in Finland, I’m really happy that I could be part of it. I met many friendly people and I love my host family. They were so kind to me and I felt like a part of the family for the week. My host sister is Siiri. She is so friendly and I like her really much.

Our little video project worked out really good. We did some good work.

We went to some cool places here in Finland, e.g. the National Park Repovesi. I also took some beautiful pictures of Finland. The nature in Finland is really pretty. We saw snakes and got so scared.

In Finland we ate 4 meals a day. Breakfast and 3 cooked meals. The first around 1pm, the second around 4pm and the last around 8-9pm. It was really weird because in Germany we eat 1 cooked meal around noon and then whenever we want.

Many thanks to my teachers/school because without them I wouldn’t have been able to meet my new friends. And also to Siiri and her friends, the week was really nice and I enjoyed being in Finland.

Finland: 12 Points! - German teachers give full score for meeting in Mikkeli

"Finland, Finland, Finland - the country I quite want to be ...". With this tune from The Monty Python Flying Circus on our minds we arrived in Helsinki on a perfect spring day with blue sky and 20°C. And as perfect as it started it continued throughout the whole week. Our hosts were taking care of us perfectly, the working atmosphere was concentrated but relaxed and we have learned a lot about the Finnish culture and landscape. This meeting was the perfect end of an amazing project and we will continue to sing "Finland, Finland, Finland - the country I quite want to be ...". Thank you for this wonderful week!