Field of study in Wageningen: Nutrition & Health
Study period exchange: 09/01/2023 – 31/05/2023
Country (exchange): Finland
City (exchange): Kuopio
University (exchange): University of Eastern Finland
Faculty (exchange): Public Health
2. Motivation for exchange
Why did you choose to go on study exchange?
When I started studying in Wageningen and learned about the possibility to go on exchange I immediately knew that I wanted to do that. I wanted to experience how it is to study and live somewhere abroad. To get to know a new country and meet people from all over the world.
What is the reason you chose for this country/university?
First I looked at which were the options for my study field, then I looked at what kind of courses they were offering. Then I saw that Kuopio had some courses which I found interesting and I had never been in any of the Nordic countries. So this together made me choose for Kuopio because I knew this would all be a totally different experience for me.
3. Accessibility to reach destination
Do you have any tips to reach your exchange destination?
If you have a lot of time beforehand it is possible to go all the way with train, bus & boat to Kuopio but this will take you some days. I myself flew to Helsinki and took from there the train to Kuopio. The flight is around 2 hours and then the train is around 5 hours, but this travel is possible in one day. Also if you book this train really early it can be really cheap, during my exchange sometimes I paid around 9 euro for this train.
4. University and studying
Could you provide some general information about the followed courses?
How is the study formalized?
I only had public health courses and they were also partly from the open university and that is why half of them was only given online. I did not have any exams, all my courses were graded with an end essay or presentation. All the courses were master courses but I must say the level was lower than in Wageningen I did not have much workload and also did not think it was really difficult.
What is the culture of the university?
The culture is really different than in Wageningen. All the courses I followed were mostly only followed by internationals it seemed like they had separate courses for the exchange students. Also in Wageningen people meet at university to study together and have coffee breaks, but here the university was always way emptier. The library here was also smaller and less full compared to Wageningen, here people study more at home I think. The teacher were nice, it was easy to approach them and if you had any difficulties you could always email them.
What does the university offer the student additionally?
They had sport facilities and it was also possible to follow sport classes just as by the Bongerd. Also it was possible to book a sport room to play football/volleyball/badminton yourself and they even had a sauna. Which was also really nice that if you became member of ISY you could lent a lot of things for free. They had a lot of (board)games, ice skates, sleds and more in good shape what you just could lend for a week. But the best was the lunch at university, at this moment it was the busiest at campus. For 1.83 for vegetarian/vegan and 2.95 meat you had a full warm lunch with salad bar, bread and something to drink. This was this cheap because it is funded by the government but this made everyone come to university almost every day.
5. Housing-travelling-living
What are the possibilities for housing?
The possibility of getting a room is really easy. They have one company which arranges all the rooms for students in Kuopio. They have 2 complexes with furnished rooms, so that is where the exchange students are placed. When I signed up for a room they answered and offered me a room in less than 24 hours, so that went very smoothly. I had a shared apartment with 2 other girls. They have 2 or 3 person apartments. I lived in Katiska and paid 287,02 per month. Here the 2 person apartments cost around 20/30 euros more. This was around 15 minutes by bus to the campus. The other complex, Kuntokuja, had bigger rooms, also shared with 1 or 2 others persons but also costs around 100 euros more. This was a 15 minutes’ walk to campus.
What is the culture of the country like?
People are way more close and to themselves. Finnish people are really friendly and willing to help but they will not approach you often by themselves. Only in the sauna, which is a big part of their culture, they are more talkative. Also they really like to be outside and do outdoor activities like ice skating or cross country skiing.
Could you give a general price indication of the place of residence compared to living in Wageningen?
As said earlier the rooms have a really good price, cheaper than my room in Wageningen and the lunch at school is also really cheap. Doing groceries is around the same or a bit more expensive than in Wageningen but going to a bar or a restaurant is expensive. You do not have cheap bars or restaurants here so I also did not eat or drink out often here.
Could you give some information about public transport infrastructure?
Where I lived was quite far from the city centre and university so I always had to take the bus but there was the possibility to buy a monthly bus ticket with student ticket and then you paid 37 euro per month and could take the bus as much as you wanted. In the night there was one taxi company who had 15% student discount and then if you were with 4 people it was around 5 euro per person to go from city centre to where I lived.
6. Free time
What are must-sees in the area?
The city is quite small, so you really come here for the outdoor life. I was there from January till May so this was really the winter season. There is a tower on a hill with really nice views where you also can hike and go sledding. Also the big lake was frozen and had a 7,5 km ice skating track and there was also another nice ice rank, furthermore more nice hikes, cross country skiing and there are places to bbq outside everywhere.
What does not appear in the travel guide, but is worth a visit?
Go on a hike and bring (vegetarian)sausages to have lunch at one of the bbq places. There is already wood there, it only needs to be chopped and you have to bring your own fire starter.
Do you have general tips and tricks about leisure time?
Ale Pupi and Nousu are places to go out or have a drink and there is a pool/bowling place which is really nice. But to be honest, if you want a party half year I do not think Kuopio is the place to be but there are so many nice other things to do that you will not miss it.
7. Challenges & best moment abroad
What was a challenge you have experienced?
I think for everyone the beginning can be a bit challenging by figuring out everything and being without people you know but it gets normal really fast.
What was your best memory abroad?
The whole experience, I did do so many nice things, made new friends and saw amazing things. There was a lot of time to travel; Lapland and Lofoten with ESN and also countries which surround Finland are easy to travel to.
8. Contact details
Would you like to ask Janneke more questions about her exchange?
Send her a mail: janneke.groenenberg@wur.nl