Stay abroad in the 3rd semester of the master's program in Oulu/Finland

I spent my semester abroad from September to December 2013 at Oulun Yliopisto, where I studied in the field of biology and geology. 

Ever since my 3rd semester at the University of Jena, I wanted to do a semester abroad through Erasmus, because this possibility seemed very tempting to me and an ideal opportunity to broaden my horizons and explore whether living abroad might be something for me later on. I had been tempted by the idea of living in Sweden for a long time, so it wasn't hard for me to choose a destination. But of course nothing worked out the way I wanted it to.
First I applied for a stay abroad in my 5th semester, but the documents from the host university Lund never reached me and so I had to postpone my plans. But then, in my 3rd master's semester, it was finally going to work out. I applied for Gothenburg and Lund, but since Sweden is a very popular country, I didn't get the place. However, I still wanted to go to at least one Scandinavian country and Oulu was the last option.

A look at the map gave me a shock: This far north was this Oulu?! That could be something. And then I had studied Swedish for 4 semesters, only to have to struggle with Finnish. I quickly took another Finnish course, which was exhausting. In Oulu, I would later find out that almost no one had any prior knowledge of Finnish and you were really fine with English, yet I am glad I took this course because it definitely enriches your stay abroad to be able to read at least a few prints and signs. My knowledge of Swedish was also useful in all the supermarkets, since Swedish is the 2nd official language of Finland, even though almost no one speaks it in Oulu.

Another problem in preparing for the stay abroad was finding an apartment. I didn't apply for a dorm place until mid-May, which was clearly too late to have even a faint chance of getting an apartment from PSOAS (the student residence there). Now I had to search via Couchsurfing and Facebook and I was not alone in that. I met an incredible number of exchange students who didn't get an apartment from PSOAS when they arrived and therefore first slept in a hotel or did Couchsurfing (a highly recommended alternative to the expensive hotels).
I was lucky and shortly before my arrival met a Finn through Couchsurfing, who wanted to start a new WG, in which I could move in. This turned out to be ideal. He was able to help me with a lot of things in the beginning, lent me furniture, bedding, dishes and actually everything I needed to live and of course could always help with language problems.
The exchange students in the dorms hardly came into contact with Finns, however, they lived together at the campus, which was located about 7km from the city center and thus my apartment.
In addition, there were many parties in the dorms where all exchange students lived, which would have surely disturbed me and my night sleep quite a bit. So, in the end, I am very happy to have found a private place to live, which also differed only slightly in price from the dormitory places.

After the apartment search was clarified, the rest was hardly a problem. For my studies, I did not want to attend lectures in Oulu, but to carry out a 4-month project, and the people in charge at the University of Oulu were very helpful in the search. So I quickly found a biological research group where I could do this project.
In addition, I was eager to take a course in polarization microscopy and again the professor was very accommodating. Although the course was in Finnish, he offered me to read a book as a substitute for the lecture and to do some of his exercises in English.

I arrived 3 days before the preparation days at the university began. So I could still get to know the city and settle in a little. I flew by plane to Helsinki and from there I took the night train to Oulu. If you also want to travel by train, please note that it is not possible to use the student fares until you have the student card of the University of Oulu. Even an international student card is of no use.

In order to find their way around at the beginning, every exchange student is also assigned a Finnish kummi student (kummi= godfather), who picked me up from the train station, for example, and helped me a lot during the first days. The introduction days were also very useful for me. On the one hand, everything organizationally important was explained there and you could also pay all fees and have forms stamped right away without having to search for a long time. In addition, there was a NISO-afternoon (NISO= Network of international students Oulu) right at the beginning, where I met many friends, with whom I then had a lot to do during the next 4 months.

One of my fears before starting abroad was that I might be lonely. But NISO and ESN organized so many events that it was really easy to make new acquaintances and feel comfortable right away. Also, one very important thing in the introductory days was that you could apply for the kummi-family-program. This program is really an ingenious invention of Oulun Yliopisto. You are assigned a Finnish family who can then introduce you to Finnish culture. Many exchange students have taken advantage of this program and I have not heard anything bad about it from any of them. Everyone was thrilled with their families, although some only met with it 3 or 4 times. I also became incredibly fond of my kummi family during this time and we have already made plans for me to come visit them for Midsummer and for them to take a trip to Germany in the summer.
In Finland they showed me so much and did so much with me that I wonder if you would find the same hospitality in Germany. Every Wednesday we baked together and they took me to their different "mökkis" where they showed me the Finnish nature on beautiful hikes, cooked me Finnish food and also made me even more familiar with the Finnish sauna culture: Everybody should have taken at least one birch twig before leaving Finland!
They also took me to an ice hockey game of the Oulun Kärpät, they had already planned a skiing vacation and 4 times I went swimming with them in the Oulujoki, at the end at 0°C water temperature. So many Finnish things I would never have experienced without this family, so I recommend everyone to participate in the program, it is a real enrichment.

My studies in Oulu were also interesting and varied. In September, I got to travel 3 times to different national parks for fieldwork, which allowed me to see a lot of the country. One trip was to Oulanka National Park, the other two to Syöte National Park, which is closer to Oulu. From October I worked in the lab for 2 months and at the end they gave me enough time to write my report. The food in the cafeteria in Oulu is very cheap, rich and good, so I was happy to go there for lunch, where you could also always meet someone familiar.

What is also very important in Oulu are bicycles. A bus ticket costs 3.30€, which means to the university and back 6.60€ per day. As a student you can buy a bus ticket for around 40€ a month, but with a bike you are much more independent and don't have to deal with the incomprehensible timetable system of the public buses (until the end I had big problems to use the buses and then also to get out at the right place).

Another thing to keep in mind: in Finland, a bus only stops if you wave at it; just standing at the bus stop and waiting will automatically cause the bus to pass. Cycling is theoretically possible all year round in Oulu, as all Finns will tell you. Nevertheless, it is almost permanently very slippery in winter. Nevertheless, I almost always cycled and the route was really wonderful, because in the Oulu city area there is now and then a piece of forest and many bridges over rivers and the sea. As peaceful as the Finns are in all other things, you should always secure your bike in Oulu with lots of good locks. Mine was stolen after a month and I was not the only one.

Whoever comes to Finland, I have found to my delight, is mostly interested in the beautiful Finnish nature. Since I love the Scandinavian landscape, I planned from the beginning to go hiking a lot, because Finnish cities are usually not worth a visit. In Oulu, I met many like-minded people, so I was able to go on some really wonderful trips: Hiking the Little Bear Trail (Pieni Karhunkieros), dog sledding in Lapland, snow hiking in Riisitunturi and much more. Of course, a trip to Helsinki is well worth it.
Seeing the Northern Lights was also one of the wonders of my semester abroad in Oulu, visiting Joulupukki in Rovaniemi was just as much a part of it as snowmobiling and skiing in Ylläs. This semester abroad was the most eventful time of my life so far, I met great people who changed me and also found out many new things about myself.

The hardest part of this semester abroad was the preparation, where many things did not work out as I had imagined. But the effort was worth it and to decide what was the best part of the great time is unfortunately not possible for me. Oulu is definitely a wonderful place for an Erasmus stay, although of course I lack comparisons. I am very glad that fate led me to this place and I don't regret for a second not having been in Sweden. Here in Germany, I will now continue learning Finnish instead of Swedish.