My personal goals that I wanted to achieve through the stay abroad were to improve my English skills, broaden my horizons in a foreign environment and improve my professional opportunities in Germany and abroad through the multicultural skills that one acquires through a stay abroad. Being a sunshine kid, I wasn't sure if Finland was the right choice at first, however, I heard a lot of good things about the education system in Finland beforehand (Finland has the highest level of education in the world) and a generally bustling nature made the whole planning of the trip palatable to me. Besides, I always wanted to travel through Scandinavia and get to know the people there. But actually Finland doesn't belong to Scandinavia at all, as Scandinavia only includes Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Nevertheless, Finland is quite influenced by Sweden, but also by Russia through history and has a strong Scandinavian touch, but clearly more Russians live in Finland than other nations. Finns in themselves are very shy people and rarely seek conversation on their own. However, if you approach a Finn and "warm up" to the person, most will open up and become super warm and friendly.
As an exchange student, you can find accommodation quickly, since almost all universities have their own student dormitory, which was recommended to me in advance by the partner university. You could decide whether you wanted to live in a 1-bedroom apartment, a 2-bedroom shared apartment or a 3-bedroom shared apartment. The price range was between 285€ and 400€ per month. I deliberately chose a room in a 3-bedroom shared apartment to get to know people faster and paid 285€/month for a well-equipped apartment and a room with a bed, closet and desk. Shared life was super relaxed and I happened to find a younger copy of myself in my Finnish roommate and we really became friends for life.
I took 5 subjects that gave 5ETCS each and since I only had to bring 15 ECTS to get the semester recognized, I was able to be relatively relaxed about it. Almost all subjects were very practical and you had a lecture here and there and some theory, but basically it was in every lesson to work out a presentation with 4-5 group members and to present it at the next lesson. Often you only had university every 2 weeks for this, but you had to meet privately and self-organized with the group members to create the presentation. In the beginning, the whole system seemed a bit annoying, because you really had to work for each subject and give a presentation regularly. In addition, you already got a small grade each time, which were summed up at the end with the final written examination. However, you quickly realized that these small intermediate works basically bring you further, because you learn something permanently and playfully and you could already work out your credit points in advance. In addition, you always had to complete 1-2 assignments (tasks or homework), which were also graded. The atmosphere in class was always super relaxed and never stressful or overloaded. In the written examinations, you were usually only asked what you had worked on yourself in the presentations and assignments beforehand, which is why you couldn't fail at all if you had done the things beforehand. On the contrary, everyone who had worked beforehand always got the best grade or at least the second-best grade. The final written examination was only a fraction of the final grade, so it was really stress-free to go into the written examination phase without having to do a lot of work. In Germany, the performance before the written examination is usually not evaluated and on day X it is only about passing or failing, which creates a lot of stress and many other factors such as daily form etc. are not integrated into the evaluation. On the whole, I can say that the education system is rightly the best in the world and I was very satisfied with university life.
Besides the university, a huge Erasmus community was formed, which really became a family for the entire time. There were parties 2-5 times a week in the dormitory or in other locations. Barbecued together, ate together and most importantly traveled together. The university and other associations organized really good different trips and we traveled together to Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), to Lapland and to many other cities in Finland, e.g. Helsinki and Tampere. I never thought I would experience so much and travel to so many different cities and I am really grateful to have been able to experience these different cultures.
Most of the time there was always a student discount, which made the trips really affordable. Finland itself is very expensive, just like the other Scandinavian countries, because there is a high standard of living and there are extremely high taxes on almost all products, but especially on alcohol and cigarettes. In the supermarket you pay around 2€ for a beer. In bars and clubs the price is of course 3-4 times as high, which is scary at first. As with everything in life, you get used to these things and always somehow find a way to have your fun. In the end, I personally needed about 1200 € a month to live, if you include the food shopping (twice as expensive as in Germany), the parties, the losses that occur now and then, eating out and traveling, although I did not have a particularly high standard of living.
I have to say that the decision to go to Finland exceeded all my expectations and it was the best decision of the whole studies! Every cent I spent was worth the money to meet all these great people, travel places and have experiences. I don't regret a second of it and I'm just glad I did it and I really recommend it wholeheartedly.
P.S.: English was of course also learned and automatically improved.
