TAMK hosted Erasmus Intensive Programme in Sustainable Tourism

Grilling sausages in Seitseminen National Park

The last two weeks we had extremely nice and instructive time during the project course about Sustainable tourism management! Course’s aim was to analyse three different destinations in Tampere from sustainable point of view: city centre, Pyynikki and Seitseminen national park. So we had a great time by making these destinations familiar for our visitors from Spain and United Kingdom! Based on our experiences and lectures we had to make a presentation in mixed groups about our proposals for those destinations.

On a first day all three nationalities had presentations about their culture which was really interesting and good opening for the weeks. The visitors could even taste a little piece of Finland: Finnish salmiakki, but it didn’t get so great admiration. I just have to wonder why!;) We Finns also arranged a welcoming party where everyone had a good chance to make new friends and enjoy their time.

Our first destination was city center where the majority of students went to see Tuomio church, the Main Square, Finlayson, market hall and Vapriikki-museum. There was a little snow storm during our walk, but we solved the problem by drinking hot cup of coffee in Vapriikki-museum till snowing was over.

The trip to our second destination, Pyynikki and Pispala area, was a whole new experience for the majority of our visitors! They were thrilled about wooden residential area of Pispala, tasted the best donuts of Tampere in Pyynikki observation tower and walked on an icy like for the first time. In addition the weather was lovely because sun was shining.

Walking on a lake in Pyynikki

City Tour and Tallipiha

Our final destination was Seitseminen national park where we Finns arranged different kind of activities outdoors. First there was a short document about the nature of Seitseminen and after that we had a walk in a forest. Few people took a sled with them and there was a lot of screaming when they went down the hills! After our nice walk we grilled some sausages on a campfire and enjoyed our delicious picnic lunch. Before leaving we played football in the snow, skied a little bit and played Finnish game mölkky.

Team working

After long days of teamwork finally every team succeed and made good presentations. Now it is time for the final party and we have to say good bye.

Writer: Niina Väisänen, student in Tourism in Ikaalinen Campus

New exchange students are here

While the degree students were still on holidays, the exchange students already started their semester with the Orientation on 3-4 January 2013. The Main Exchange Student Orientation gathered around 60 new students together to learn about studying and living here.

Exchange students in International Business, Tim Denissen and Valeriia Gorlushko, on snowy TAMK Main Campus

The new Erasmus students Valeriia Gorlushko from Poland and Tim Denissen from the Netherlands didn’t face any big culture shock when arriving to Finland. In their opinion, the weather is not too cold but the only thing Valeriia is missing is the sunlight. During the first weekend in Tampere, Valeriia and Tim were lucky to see the sun when having a walk on the frozen lake. They also saw people ice-fishing  and the fishermen were proud to present their catch of frozen fishes for the foreigners. It was funny!

The first day of orientation with different forms to fill

The students taught each others some Finnish words they had already learned

The main part of the arriving exchange students are from Europe. This spring the biggest groups come from Spain, France, Hungary, Netherlands and Belgium. However, there’re students also from more distant countries like South Korea, China, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mosambique and Canada. 

In total, there will be over 120 exchange students at TAMK this spring. Almost 40 out of them will study in the Degree Programme in International Business. The Degree Programmes in Media, Nursing and Tourism will also receive more than 10 students each. 

Text and photos: Kaisa Merilahti, International Services

Two groups from Miyagi University

In the end of August two groups from Miyagi University, Japan, arrived in TAMK for study visits. Three Nursing students participated in an intensive course called Gerontological Nursing. At the same time Research & Development department was hosting a group of six Miyagi students.

The nursing students Yoriko Arashida, Risa Nishiyama and Chiho Saito had a full programme for the whole two weeks. They participated in the lectures with Finnish nursing students and they had a chance to see different aspects of elderly nursing in Finland like hospitals, retirement homes and home care. The organizer of the visit, Principal Lecturer in School of Health Care, Sirpa Salin was really pleased to see how eager the Miyagi students were to learn. She also got lot of new energy when she saw the enthuasism of the students.

The girls become friends with TAMK nursing students and luckily they're going to meet again next spring when the TAMK student group is going to visit Miyagi University.

In the end of the visit Principal Lecturer Sirpa Salin handed out the Certificates to the Miyagi students.

The other Miyagi group consisted of six students from different fields like Tourism, Design and Business studies. The aim of the programme was to innovate new concepts in collaboration with R&D staff and their projects. During the visit the student stayed at home accomodation so they got the first-hand experience of Finnish homes, families and culture.

Looking forward to having active cooperation with Miyagi University in the future as well!

Text and photo: Kaisa Merilahti, International Services

160 new faces in the Exchange Student Orientation

New exchange students starting the Orientation on Monday morning

We all met lot of new people during the Exchange Student Orientation week.
Around 130 new exchange students, 20 tutors and some TAMK staff members participated in the Main Orientation on 20-24 August 2012.

The week started on Monday with welcoming words, presentation about TAMK and filling different kind of forms.

Jonathan, Netherlands, is playing games with the others

The official part was soon over, because in the afternoon it was time to make a trip to Viikinsaari island. The sun was shining and people had a good chance to get to know each other while playing games, going to sauna, swimming and eating picnic. The trip was organized in cooperation with CLINT.
On the way back to the city, the boat was full of happy faces!

Joanna, Mexico, and Daniele, Italy, are enjoying their time on Viikinsaari island

Tuesday was a long day with plenty of information about studying in TAMK. The students saw presentations on different topics like UNIPOLI studies, Demola, library services, living in student housing, student activities, etc.

Tutors organized activities for the exchange students on Viikinsaari

On Wednesday the day started with a guided city tour. The weather was rainy so luckily the tour was done by bus!

The rest of the week was reserved for the practical matters and Learning Agreement meetings with own International Coordinator in each school. Student from other campuses than Kuntokatu Campus had also time to get familiar with the own campus.





 In this Autumn semester there will be over 160 exchange students in total. Around 30 students will arrive during September. But now the main group of the exchange students is ready to start the studies this week!

Everyone is excited about the upcoming semester in TAMK!

Text: Kaisa Merilahti
Photos: Sanna Hosike and Kaisa Merilahti, International Services

Omanis Learnt Engineering and Life

"I love walking. The summer has been really nice here as I have been able to walk as much as I have wanted.” In Tampere, the summer joy of engineering student Fawziya AL-Jabri from Oman has been as simple as walking, but walking cannot be taken for granted in hown home country.

Sumaya AL-Maimani, Doctor Harith AL Bousaidi and Fawziya AL-Jabri think the summer weather has been great in Finland: "We love the rain as the temperature in our home country can rise to 50 degrees."

AL-Jabri belongs to the group of 25 eager engineering students, who arrived at TAMK in Midsummer for a two-month education. The Omani engineering students have three years of engineering studies behind them in their home country and are now complementing their studies at TAMK. They are learning about IT tools of engineering and use of laboratories in measuring and analysis.

"Finland is a very safe place. At first, our students’ parents were of course a little worried when they heard about their adolescents’ summer destination but everything has gone so well that there has been no reason to worry. Our trip has been successful. Our students have gained confidence and diverse culture experiences in addition to studying their own field", tells the group leader, Doctor AL Bousaidi. The trip to Finland has been a dream come true for Fawziya AL-Jabri and Sumaya Maimani.

"Most of us students had earlier only travelled in the Gulf countries. All have been very friendly towards us in Tampere and at TAMK. Finns are always on time everywhere and thus one of the most important things we have learnt is respect for punctuality. At first, we always had to run for the bus from our lodging in Lapinniemi as we slept so late. We wondered why Finns did not run. We have also been greeted with friendliness in the city. In our opinion Finns are well-mannered."

The girls say that studying in a new environment, speaking in English, and learning to know new people have been the best part of the trip. "I have felt myself as a princess as everybody has been so helpful towards us here", tells AL-Jabri.

Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and chemical engineering studies at TAMK

After the joint studies at the beginning, the students were based on their special fields divided into three groups for the practical works.

  

The electrical engineering students thought the practical works were interesting and told that they have learnt a lot of new things.

 

Mansoor AL Harthi’s and Jaber AL Jahwari’s task was to set the digital dial indicator and measure with it.

 

Mansoor AL Harthi and Jaber AL Jahwari are studying mechanical engineering. AL Harthi and AL Jahwari told they were surprised and happy when they heard of being accepted to Finland by the Omani higher education ministry.

"This has been a very good experience for us. Our parents were also happy and proud when they heard about the matter. TAMK’s teachers and staff have been very friendly and helpful. We have also been very satisfied with the quality of teaching. The best part has been the visits to companies, such as Fastems. Even if the theory is important, it is still a different matter altogether to see how the machines work. We have also had leisure time. We have explored the city, gone to the cinema, fished, and admired the sceneries, especially the beautiful lakes."

According to Laboratory Engineer Jani Katajisto (the bearded man in the middle), studying of the Omani students has proceeded in the same way as with the Finnish students. The task of another mechanical engineering group was measuring with a micrometer.

The chemical engineering students had the task to perform a metal analysis on lake water.

Diverse laboratory assignments have been completed in the chemistry laboratory, for example analyses of plastic types and chemical oxygen consumption. The cooperation between Teacher Seija Haapamäki and the chemistry students has been smooth.

The girls analysed the composition of a perfume. The perfume called Noora was brought from their home country, Oman. Noora has a typical, strong oriental scent.

Laboratory Engineer Heli Knuutila and the group of girls studying chemistry.

In the middle of their studies, the students organised an Oman event for TAMK staff where they presented Oman. Omani delicacies were also served.

Men's dress is a long shirt-like gown with a turban or embroidered cap. TAMK’s Continuing Education Coordinator Virpi Heinonen was one the persons who were in charge of the practical matters of the visit.

Both men and women wear traditional dresses in Oman. Women wear a black gown when they go out. During trips abroad they may also wear Western clothes.

  

Tourists have a lot to see and experience in Oman. Oman is located at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula with Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates as neighbours.

The luckiest TAMK staff members could also have an extremely skilful henna tattoo on the hand. There are 3 million inhabitants in the country reigned by the sultan.

The Omani group, which has studied at TAMK for two months, spent their last weekend in the middle of August on a Stockholm cruise. The students will then return to their home town of Sohar. Read also: There is demand for  TAMK´s compenetence in Oman

Mexican girl in love with Finland

Culture, people, music, education, art, innovative design and sustainability issues.

Finland is a dramatic change for me, I’m from Mexico and I’m in Tampere as an exchange student in TAMK Media programme for this semester.

The Mexican lifestyle is totally different; the food, education, culture, people, design, arts and weather, that means a huge experience for me in a good way because I’m enjoying being here.

At the beginning was a little hard for me because the Mexican people are warmer than in Finland but I realized that is part of the Finnish culture so it isn’t a problem now, because after you meet Finnish people they introduce Finnish lifestyle to you, for example the sauna, summerhouse, traditional dishes, nature, hobbies and at the same time I have the opportunity to introduce them my own culture.

I think the order in the country is admirably, everything is in the right place and of course the education, music, arts, design and sustainability issues are amazing. Talking about the education, I think a big advantage from the way of government is the opportunity to offer free education and student support because in Mexico it doesn’t exist, our parents have to pay all the education and expenses we need for studying, as a result not all the Mexican people have the possibility to study.

On the other hand, I’m surprised with the Demola projects because offer the opportunity to acquire knowledge and experience in different technological fields to the students furthermore you could get paid for that.

The architecture and design are unique with an elegant style and always considering being friendly with the environment. About the environment and sustainability I love the use of bikes, the machines to recover the bottles and cans and all the green products with innovate design, in other words the Finnish culture shows the awareness of the environment and I really like this issue because in this way is easy recycling and be awareness for everyone.

The winter is coming and I’m glad to experience the Finnish winter because the weather is colder than in my city, which is the highest city in Mexico and the weather during the winter is around -5º C. but we don’t have snow, so hopefully I’ll be prepare with the suitable clothes for enjoy this season.

I could spend much time writing about my impressions and experiences in Finland but I don’t want to bore you. In a simple way I like the Finnish lifestyle, I have found good Finnish friends and definitely if I had to choose again the country for my exchange would be Finland without doubt. Mexico is maybe the opposite in many ways but I’ll be happy when I come back after this amazing experience.


Finally you are welcome to Mexico to experience all the differences by your own!

by Karen Ivette Plata Reyes

Originally posted on http://tamk-artmedia.blogspot.com
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