Exchange Finland 2011

Jinke Siebring

This was my second time on exchange. I really would like to see the differences between all the country’s in the world. I was fascinated by Finland because it’s very unknown here in Holland and I really love Scandinavia, but I never went to Finland. I also wanted to learn better English in Finland.

Kuopio was different then I thought that it looks like. But I really like the typical Finish/Scandinavian houses!  The city’s here in Holland are more colourful then in Finland.

The Atmosphere in the Dutch group was very nice. I really enjoyed my stay with them! The thing I liked the most was skiing in Tahko. It was different as skiing in France or Swiss,  where I normally go skiing. Tahko was more quiet,  but the mountains are smaller. We went to Tahko on Wednesday.

We also went also to two companies in Finland. The company’s are working “for a greener Europe”, that was also the reason that we came to Finland. In my opinion is working for a greener Europe a good investment in the future. Because we need to make our planet more environmentally conscious.

Archana Chedoe

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It was the first time that I've been on exchange, but i had a very nice week.
On exchange i have seen a lot weird things, but also nice things.

The Finnish students where very quiet and they don't talk so well english like we do.
I've learned much about Finland. In Finland are many emo's.

I liked my first skiing experience, because it was very nice. And now i can skiing but not so very well.
I didn't like the visited to the companies, because they were very boring.
I think Kuopio is a very sad city, because there happen nothing

I didn't like the food at school, because it was all mass production.
I've learned much about Finland. It was a good experience and exchange!

Lisa Burgers

We went to Finland by plane. We went from Schiphol to Helsinki in Helsinki we transfer in a plane. This plane brings us to Kuopio. The view was beautiful in the plane. On the airport in Kuopio  a Finnish teacher welcomed us. She brings us to a bus. That bus will bring us to our hotel for the next four days. The first night we went to the city center, this was an half an hour walking, we eat in a pizzeria. At a quarter to nine the lights were flashing. The owner of the pizzeria told us that u want to close and we had to hurry to eat our pizza. We went to pub and we drink there some wine of beer, it was very nice but also here the lights were flashing and the owner told us that he want to close. The next day we went to the school we got a tour to the center and to the school.
After these tours we had the presentations about our country. As first the Finnish had their presentations and we were ware. At twelve hour clock we had a lunch. We had a warm lunch and I think it was spaghetti but I am not sure about that. After the lunch we moved on with presentations. After the presentations we went to a shop of reuse stuff. After this we free time for the rest of the day. We were all tired and went to the hotel. Some people had bought wine for us. We went for diner to the restaurant in our hotel. After the dinner we went to the room of Patricia and Amber because Patricia had a party because it was her birthday the next day.
I had some card and we play some games with it. After twelve we went to the bar in the hotel. The rest of our group was sitting there. We had drunk a glass of wine and after that we went to our room. 
The next day we went skiing. Bur first we fisted a green company. We went skiing in Tahko, you can do there all kind of activities. I had never skied in my live but I think I going to do this more. After the skiing we were all very tired and do not want to walk for an half an hour to the center. Next to the hotel there was an indoor shopping center and a pizzeria. In the supermarket we bought an ice cream and went to the hotel. Some people came to our hotel room to talk. The next day we went to school. We had to talk with the Finnish people about the different between Holland and Finland. After the school lessons we went shopping and eat in the Mac Donald’s. The next the we packed our stuff in our bags and went to home.

Amelda Hettema

When I first heard we were able to go to Finland for a school project I got really excited. I have never visited Finland before so I was very curious about it. When I googled it I noticed a lot of lakes and hills, the opposite of the Netherlands. Because of the pretty sunny weather in the Netherlands at that moment, I forgot that there was still some snow in Finland. So I had to buy a few warm things in the last days. 
After 2 flights we finally arrived in Finland.  I found out that we could not understand a word they were saying. It’s totally different from the English and Dutch language. 
The second, we went to a school where we met the Finnish students for the first time. They showed us Kuopio. After that we went back to their school to show some presentations we made. 
The third day was the most fun day for me. We went skiing with the group at Tahko. It was the first time for me so I felt a lot. But we saw some great sides of Finland.
The fourth day we went to school again. We started off with some more presentations. After that we had to form groups (2 Dutch + 1 Finnish student) and make questions for the other groups. It was nice to answer them because we got to know how the Finnish people live a little bit more. I found it pretty interesting because it’s very different from the Dutch way of living.
The last day we had some spare time. We went to see the Puijo Tower with a group, I loved the ski jump next to it.
The week in Finland felt short, they say: time flies when you’re having fun, and it really did.

Jennifer van Bussel

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Finland was an enormous challenge for me. The first time flying and the contact with another culture and speak English the whole week. Improving my English is my goal to go to Finland. I also like the project. On this way you can see how the people from Finland dealing with sustainability.

Tuesday we went to the Finnish school. There we made ​​contact with the Finnish students and we made a tour trough the city. When we returned to the school we had our presentations. We were told about: geographic information, economic information, political issues, history of the Netherlands, the school system and the youth culture. The Finnish people look weird by some things how it goes in the Netherlands. There you can work and drink when your 18. In the Netherlands you can drink by 16 and you can work by 15/16. After the presentations we going eat in the school canteen. We got Kasvis. This is vegetarian and not eating spaghetti!  After school we went to a recycling company. There they go well with durability. The most things there are second hand. You can also see the dress that they wear in Finland. 

Wednesday we went to go skiing in Tahko.Before we go to Tahko we visit a company. This time it was a organic company specializing in blueberries. When we arrived in Tahko I noticed that all the ski lifts were used but it was not busy. And they used fake snow, the most snow was smelting. The staff riding a lot on snow scooters. It was unnecessary it was really quiet, but it was good for the safety. 

Thursday we went back to school for the rest of the presentations. After the presentations we got an exercise to look to the different things. Like houses and side jobs In Finland and the Netherlands. In Finland they life in a wooden house, and in the Netherlands we life in a stone house. 

On this day we eat again in the school canteen. Spinach soup with bread. After the lunch we played ‘’floorbal’’ it’s an inside hockey game and very funny.

It was a funny and educational week. It was very interesting to go to a country where you usually do not come so soon. You've got much learn about the culture and see many beautiful things.

Dinanda Marsman

The nature in Finland is very nice. Finland has a lot of mountains. We have not mountains in The Netherlands. The people in Finland know how get to on with snow, because they have a lot of snow every year. They go also to school if it is snowed. In the summer have the students three months holiday.

If children five years old are go to school in The Netherlands. In Finland go to school children if they seven years old.
The people in Finland have Finnish, Swedish and English at school. Finnish is the first language and Swedish is the second language in Finland. 

The houses in Finland is other than in The Netherlands.  They have a lot of wooden houses in Finland. They have also two bathrooms in a house. A lot of people live in a flat. In The Netherlands live a lot of people in a row house with one bathroom.

Floor ball and ice hockey are in Finland one of the famous sport. In The Netherlands is one of the famous sports football and swimming. We don’t know what floor ball is, but it is very nice. It is a type of hockey.   

In The Netherlands can you work if you are 15 years old. In Finland work a lot of people when they are 18 years old. That is a big difference. A lot of students work in a supermarket in The Netherlands and Finland. That is the same.    

Amber Berghout

We had the chance to give us up for a interchange to Finland. Without doubt I signed in. I found it very interesting to learn about other countries, studies and ways of living.

In the week of 11 till 15 April we flew to Finland with a group of 16 students and three teachers. This was a very fun week. On Monday we arrived after dinnertime in Kuopio. That evening we could do what we wanted to do. We went to town for something to eat and look around.

On Tuesday we went for the first time to the school and meet the students. We had a tour through Kuopio with the students. In Finland get the students a warm meal at school, so I liked to experience that. Then we exchanged differences between us and the Finnish students. In the afternoon we went to a furniture store. That was very interesting to walk around.

On Wednesday we had a very fun day. First we went to a biologic store where the owner explained us about how they make the food en were it comes from. That was very informative. Then we went skiing. We wanted to ride on de snow scooter, but there was too little snow for that, but the skiing was very fun! I already know how to ski so I did not need a lesson. It was a beautiful day with a lot of sun.

On Thursday we went back to school. We got a assignment to do in groups of three students from Finland and Holland mix. This assignment was very instructive because we had to take the trouble to talk more with each other. We had another warm lunch at the school canteen. In the afternoon we held a presentation about Holland. That went well. It was fun to do and fun to hear the presentation from the Finnish students of Finland.

On Friday we flew back home. The flight took about 5 hours. We had a great group and had a lot of fun! 

Diewertje Schut

My name is Diewertje Schut, I’m 17 years old and I’m studying laws. I think Finland was a nice experience because I met students from another country and had a great time with my classmates. It was nice to see the city and the school.

I think the Finnish people were quiet and closed. It was hard to talk to them because they never asked something to us. When I asked them something, you only got an answer. They were also very uninterested in the assignments, we, the Dutch people, did a lot and the Finnish people were only watching.

Outside that fact, I think it was a very nice experience and I would like to do it over. We stayed in a very nice hotel and the employees were very nice. Finland is very different than the Netherlands, in the Netherlands there are more bright colours on the street and the people wear brighter close. It looks a lot happier than in Finland.

I’m happy I’ve done this and I thought it was nice that the Finnish and Italian people were in the Netherlands to. I hope they enjoyed their trip to the Netherlands. 

Dani Prins

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Communication, the lesson was interrupted. A project abroad, who wants to go? 
If I wanted to go I had to sign in today. Okay, I’ll go. No thinking, just do it. 
My experiences in Finland were very impressive, Finns have yet other habits and 
the environment was also quite different than that I'm used to. The people 
seemed not very happy, I do not know exactly why. I myself had a very nice time 
in Finland, we went with a nice group of people and we did  a lot of projects. We 
visited companies, got a chance to relax also and met Finish people.
Everything was all fine, I would go back!

Cherina Visscher

This year we went to Finland for a exchange. We flew from Schiphol to Helsinki. In Deventer we took the train to Amsterdam. The train was already cozy.
At Schiphol we checked in and drink some coffee before we go to the airplane. It was a quietflight to Helsinki. In Helsinki we are a little bit hungry. Jinke liked the Subway and said: “Lets searching for the Subway.” It was just pity for Jinke because there wasn’t a Subway so we had to search for some other food.
Once arrived in Kuopio we went into the viewing room and freshing up. Then we went looking for something to eat. We found 10 minutes walk from the hotel a good pizza place and a friendly pizza chef.
Finland was nice. The group was cozy.
On thuesday we had a nice day at school and i ate with Jinke the Subway. 
Tahko was also nice with Dani in the swimming pool.

Annemiek Langeler

We have a great time in Finland. They were very hospitable, the hotel was clean and there are nice people. It was a great experience with other students from other countries. The differences between the countries became clear. School hours, the food, the language all different.
It is good that there is a mutual exchange. You learn and make new contacts. It was nice that Italian and Finnish came to Holland.
We let them see our country were we are proud of.
I think ( i hope so) they had a great time in Holland. I hope that we ever meet again and talk about our experience. I wish you all the best!

Mirna Bussink

My name is Mirna Bussink, I’m 18 years old and studying laws. In Finland I had a great time with my classmates and the students from Finland.
When we were talking about the possibility to go to Finland, I was really exited. For me it was a very good way to practice my English. It was my second visit to Finland, the first time we were in the south of Finland. This time we were in the city and the first time we were rural area. When we on the second day met our Finish students, we could not speak a word with them. Because we spoke a different English.

The hotel was great and I keep very good memories about this time.
I think the visit from the Italian and Finnish people to Holland was a success, I looking forward to tomorrow because the Danish people will visit Holland. 

Anita te Riele

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First day(Monday):
The first day we had to be at the train station in Deventer at half past 7 in the morning. We travelled by train to Schiphol(Amsterdam). First we flew from Schiphol to Helsinki(Finland). From Heslinki we flew with a domestic flight to Kuopio. 
I was very tired at the end of the day.
In the evening we went with a part of the group to a restaurant and a pub in Kuopio.
The pub closed very early that evening.

Second day(Tuesday):
We went to a school in Kuopio the second day. There we met the Finish students for the first time. Before the trip, we full in a questionnaire about the environment. The talked in a group of Finish and Dutch students about the results of that questionnaire. That was very boring. The Finish students had prepared a presentation about Finland and we about the Netherlands. So we learned something about Finland and they about the Netherlands.
In the evening, we celebrated the birthday of Patricia.


Third day(Wednesday):
  The third day we went with the whole group to Tahko. That is a kind of area where you can do all kind of activities. A part of the group went to the spa resort and the other part went to the ski-area. I skied for the first time in my life and it was really nice to do.  It was very nice that we had an instructor who taught us how to ski. At the and of the day I became to be a quite good skier.

Fourth day(Thursday):
The third day we went to that school in Kuopio in the morning. We made groups from Finish and Dutch students. I was in a group with Dani(Dutch) and Reetta(Finish). In that group we had to talk about the agreements and the differents between Dutch and Finish students. We also had to make a presentation about the agreements and the differents.
In the afternoon we were free so we went to Kuopio to shop in the shopping mall.

Fifth day(Friday):
That was the last day in Finland. In the morning we visited the famous ski-jump of Kuopio. After that trip we went to the airport of Kuopio. We flew from Kuopio to Helsinki and from Helsinki to Schiphol(Amsterdam). I took the train from Schiphol to Deventer.  In Deventer I was picked up by my parents and after that I was finally home. 

Patricia Beumkes

While we were traveling by bus to our hotel, we’ve saw some major differences between Holland and Finland. The type of buildings and nature were the biggest differences. Buildings were looking more sad and grey but the nature was beautiful. We were staying in the ‘best western hotel’. This was a nice good hotel with good facilities.
We had to look for the differences between Holland and Finland about the global warming problem. At the end of the day we went back to the hotel and we’ve held a little party at 12 o’clock because it was my birthday on Wednesday.
The bus arrived early in the morning to go to Tahko. On our way to Tahko we’ve made a stop to go to a biological shop. The owner of this place showed us his shop and told us about the products he sells. After this very informative stop went back on our way to Tahko.  Once we’ve got to Tahko, we went skiing. I’ve never skied before so I had to take some lessons together with some other students of our group. We had two very strict teachers but it was very fun to do. Some of our group turn out to be really talented skiers and some others had a very hard time to get of the hill without falling down (especially one of our teachers). At the end of the day everybody was exhausted and tired and we went back to the hotel.

 The exchange to Finland was a nice experience. We’ve had a lot of fun and saw some major differences between Holland and Finland.