So different and so new – you will never know what’s inside

Russia, Russia..our dear old neighbor Russia. Many of us have strong opinions about it, yet still so few have real-life experience about this beautiful country. In the title I am quoting a video clip shown to us exchange students in a marketing class in Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. Very good four minutes of introduction to the Russian state of mind.

Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance

After being able to fight through the incredible amount of bureaucracy, some grumpy customer service ladies and other frustration-triggering peculiarities, such as endless amount of queuing basically everywhere you go; the student life in Saint Petersburg can at its best be awesome and life changing. This is the land of plenty in terms of art, architecture, progulkas (= wandering around the city with cool people) and cheap vodka. In addition to endless amount of student parties and mingling with other exchange students, if you are lucky enough to befriend locals, you can find yourself starting to unravel the mystery of being a Russian,and making forever lasting memories while at it, like I did.

St Petes is a hidden gem for which too many people turn a blind eye. Choosing this city as the destination of my exchange semester is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Besides the obvious, exchange studies, my main goal for the exchange was to get a grasp of Russian state of mind and perhaps be able to see how things are in their point of view. This, I figured, will not only benefit me professionally, but personally as well.

Chilling out in the good company

Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, or more casually Finec, is one of the most respected universities in Russia. The good reputation is not only visible when talking with locals, but also in the conditions that are provided for the foreign exchange students.

The exchange semester is conducted fully in English, and those with language skills can choose to attend courses in Russian language. There are also a lot of international open lectures arranged by Master of international Business Administration program (MiBA) about current topics such as economic crisis and sustainability issues. The lecturers in such events are typically visiting professors from European universities.

Sadly, everything has to come to an end, and so did my exchange semester - but in life, when one chapter ends, another one begins. And as sad as it is to leave my life in Russia behind, I am eagerly looking forward to the next chapter which is about my internship in New York. All the best!

Text and photos: Salla Seppälä, International Business student in TAMK

Cigarette-project

The three day anti-smoking event working under the CDS-project (To Care To Dare To Share) started eagerly in February 2 at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Interesting meters or maybe the sweets gathered people around and the students as well as the staff wanted to test their lungs. The FVC-meter indicated the lung capacity in liters and the PEF-meter indicated the peak expiratory flow. Everybody got proper figures or even better than expected and the young smokers were happy about their (so far) healthy lungs. Still they got some friendly advice about the lungs getting weaker among the age and smoking years.

The idea of the project was to tell about the new smoking area behind the Q-wing and to move the smokers there from the main entrance. Of course we also tried to wake smokers to think about the health issues of smoking and possibly quit.

We interviewed twentyfive smokers and asked their opinion about reducing smoking. Answerers’ average age was 25 years and eighteen of them were men and seven of them were women. Over a half of the answerers were studying technical studies. There were eleven people who had been smoking over seven years and one had been smoking less than a year. The rest have been smoking from two to six years. Sixteen of the answerers were smoking as a habit for example on recess and eleven people said they were smoking more when stressed. The biggest reasons in starting to smoke were friends and upper secondary school or later studies. The positive thing is that eighteen of these people have tried to quit smoking and four of them have succeeded.

Other positive thing was how the smokers reacted on non-smoking. Only three people thought that the smoking law considering restaurants and stores was a bad thing when eleven people saw it as a good thing. Ten answerers thought that forbidding smoking in restaurants was good but hiding the cigarettes in stores is foolish.

Also propositions about reducing smoking came up and the most popular choice was the electric cigarettes. Only two of the interviewed people thought that smoking is everybody’s own decision and it doesn´t have to be reduced. Of course everybody makes their own decisions but also the non-smokers should have a choice about having to breathe smoke on the street waiting to get in to a bar. Seems that if you bow in one direction you´ll be showing your bottom to the other. Let´s still remember To Care To Dare To Share.

Thanks of these rewarding days for all of the participants!

Annemari Humaloja

Teachers from St. Petersburg visiting at TAMK

28 teachers from St Petersburgh State Forest Technical Academy and St Petersburgh University of Plant Polymers visited TAMK on 1-3 February 2012.

The purpose of the visit was to become acquainted with university of applied sciences education and diverse learning environments as well as to develop cooperation.

On Thursday 2 February, the teachers visited Proacademy and Demola. They were very interested in entrepreneurship and the study process. On Friday 3 February, the Russian visitors learned about the Finnish education system and TAMK's diverse learning environments, such as eXpertia and Kykylaakso.

The group vividly discussed the teaching methods, thesis process, and total duration of the studies.
The representatives of the Russian universities and TAMK also discussed development of cooperation and potential joint projects.


In Russian:

С 1 по 3 февраля 28 преподавателей из Санкт - Петербургского государственного лесотехнического университета и Санкт - Петербургского государственного технологического университета растительный полимеров посетили Университет прикладных наук города Тампере. Задачей поездки являлось ознакомление с процессом обучения и различными обучающими средами, а также развитие совместного сотрудничества.

В четверг 2.2 гости посетили Проакадемию (Proakatemia) и инновационную среду Demola. Интерес во время посещения был вызван организацией предпринимательства студентов и процессом обучения. В пятницу 3.2 российские представители ознакомились с финской системой образования, а также с различными  средами обучения, как например c eXpertia и виртуальной средой Kykylaakso.

Методы обучения, написание диплома, а также продолжительность обучения вызвали оживленную беседу. Представители российских университетов и университета прикладных наук города Тампере обсудили вопросы о развитии сотрудничества и о реализации возможных совместных проектов.



Text Julia Sergeeva and Sirena Rainamaa
Photos Seppo Pajari

Strengthening ties with Belgium

TAMK has been working closely for years with Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge - Oostende (KHBO), Belgium in the framework of Erasmus mobility. The existing cooperation agreement covers several degree programmes, eg. Construction, ICT, Electrical and Environmental Engineering, Hotel and Tourism, and Nursing, and it enables exchanges for the students and staff in these fields of study in Belgium and Finland.

(Natalie Voet, Anne van Deynse & Bart Bonamie)

Riku-Matti Kinnunen, International Coordinator for Engineering, Technology and Natural Resources, attended a five-day teaching staff exchange in Brugge and Oostende in early February. During his exchange, Riku-Matti had the chance to meet students and colleagues at the both campuses, and to present TAMK and some elements of the Nordic business culture to the local business and engineering students.

(Renaat De Craemer, Pol Coudeville & Gwendolyn Rogge)

The programme also covered round-tours in the very modern Brugge campus that serves to the business and nursing students, and the engineering campus in Oostende which boasts a wide range of laboratories in several engineering fields.

The visit was hosted by Anne Van Deynse, Natalie Voet and Bart Bonamie at the Bruges Campus, and Renaat De Craemer and Gwendolyn Rogge in Oostende. In one of the laboratories, Prof. Pol Coudeville gave a spontaneous presentation of the latest developments in the use of elastic materials in construction. All the colleagues were naturally invited to TAMK to attend a staff exchange in their turn.

Visitors (and chilly weather) from Siberia

25 Jakutian students are currently in an intensive English language course at TAMK. The students study in various universities in Russia, most in St. Petersburg, but have (at least) two things in common: they all come from Jakutia and they are all excellent students. That is why they were chosen by the Sakha Ministry of Professional Education for a fully financed language course at TAMK.

Jakutia, or Sakha Republic, with less than one million people, is biggest federal area of Russia. The capital Yakutsk has a population of 10,000.

Liuba Novikova chose to go to university in St.Petersburg, because the Yakutsk State University “is not so esteemed”. Novikova now studies for Masters in Economy of Enterpise, Quality and Innovation in St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (FINEC).

- When I saw the forests here, I felt that I was in Jakutia. It is a little bit warmer here, said Novikova on 30 January when the temperature was still -25C.

- In Jakutia, it can be -50C!

 - I want to get to know TAMK, learn about the exchange programmes and meet local students. And also visit Lenin Museum!, says Novikova.

Text: Mirja Onduso, Incoming Services
Photos: Mina Bouhlal, Mirja Onduso