Where are the skyscrapers?

There are loads of international students in Tampere and to many they may seem like a uniform mass of people. You know, along the lines of Ilves fans, Tappara fans, foreign people.

Even leaving nationality and culture out of the picture, this still couldnÂ’t be further from the truth. We got our hands on three very different students from three very different places and asked them about their opinions on Finland, Tampere and our universities.

The newest to Tampere is Karolina Tadel, a University of Tampere exchange student from Poland. Exchange students are usually the least likely to know much about this place, let alone to speak the language. And already our assumptions fly out the window.

"I am studying Finnish as my major in Warsaw and wanted to come here because of the language. IÂ’m doing my thesis here while IÂ’m on exchange."

Ok, so she does already speak lots of Finnish but there must still have been some surprises?

"Not really. We had some culture classes, so I knew what to expect."

A completely opposite example, though, is sitting right next to her. When Ali Bin Tariq came from Pakistan in 2008 it was like moving to a parallel universe.

"It was a huge cultural shock. Pakistan is a predominantly conservative culture compared to Finland in every respect."

Like for many others, the biggest shock was how casually people would be naked in front of each other in the sauna and showers. But as he describes it, it turned out to be just one example of how nothing is made such a big deal here, which in turn is a very positive thing.

Ali is a degree student, studying RF electronics at Tampere University of Technology. After graduating he plans to return to Pakistan, at least for a while. But how he got here in the first place was practically by accident.

"My friend was studying here. I was planning to go to England but I asked him about his school and decided to come here instead. I knew nothing about Tampere, I couldnÂ’t even pronounce it right."

Dermot Lyons, an Irish social science major at the University of Tampere, is also nearing graduation but isnÂ’t planning to go anywhere. He came to Tampere two years ago from Cork.

"For the first few months I was dealing with the hugeness of the situation, by partying a lot. But after that I knew I wanted to stay. I already had friends here before moving here but it was still a big decision."

Unsurprisingly the trio have some very different experiences about the same things in Tampere.

The school

The biggest proponent for Finnish schools is Ali, for whom the difference between here and home is the most significant.

"The quality of teaching is very different. In Pakistan we are very focused on textbooks, and they can be from the 80Â’s or 90Â’s. Here the focus is on more contemporary research. Another thing is the relationship between the student and teacher. In Pakistan you have to be very formal all the time, here itÂ’s more relaxed."

"ItÂ’s the same in Poland", Karolina adds.

"We only had good contact with our Finnish teachers, who were actual Finns. I also like that we can choose our subjects here. Back home we have one schedule that we have to follow."

"Oh yeah, itÂ’s the same. I even studied some Finnish at the University of Tampere, Ali continues."

Dermot, being from probably the closest culture to Finland out of the three is also most prepared to offer some criticism.

"The classes werenÂ’t what I expected. They seemed sort of empty and you were expected to go and find the information on your own. I enjoyed maybe half of my classes."

Another strange thing to him was the library where, in his opinion, itÂ’s hard to find books. Which is funny for a library. At the same time he does give thanks to the university staff for being accessible and flexible.

"And the facilities are great. Like the 24-hour computer room, we didnÂ’t have that in Ireland. Also the food is pretty good most days."

With some thinking, Karolina also finds one negative thing.

"Learning diaries are killing me."

The city

Talking about Tampere as a city, Ali starts with his usual praises.

"I cannot see anything that needs improvement. I came from a place where buses donÂ’t have a proper stop."

Where he came from is 25 million people Karachi. DoesnÂ’t this small town seem boring? At least he wonÂ’t admit it.

"ItÂ’s like a very modern village, he laughs. ItÂ’s small but it has the feeling of a city."

Again, Karolina follows along the same lines.

"Warsaw is bigger but itÂ’s so crowded everywhere. My hometown has 50 000 people and for me Tampere is a nice combination of the two."

With one exception with the crowds though.

"Hullut päivät was not what I expected", she starts laughing.

Even Finns seem to have their moments.

Again Dermot is the exception, coming from a city almost exactly the size of Tampere. He has noticed something thatÂ’s all too familiar to locals.

"Some of the times of shops and offices can be a little bit weird. All of them close too early, except for one Siwa. ItÂ’s hard to get groceries sometimes."

Karolina also notes one very simple thing that is missing.

"Bus stops arenÂ’t written anywhere inside the buses so in the beginning I didnÂ’t know where to get out."

For Ali, one of the key features of Finnish people is a kind of calmness. But in Tampere he has noticed one very clear exception to that rule.

"I donÂ’t know what happens on vappu. The whole city is a mess", he laughs.

One more thing surprised him in the beginning, having never been to what he refers to as “the west".

"I thought there should have been skyscrapers everywhere. But now I think itÂ’s actually better this way."

Petteri Hiltunen, text

Samuli Huttunen, photo

Just go talk to them!

Talking to people is difficult. You have to move your mouth, breathe and think at the same time. To do this in a foreign language is practically impossible - or so it might sometimes seem when watching Finns interact with foreigners.

IÂ’ll be the first to admit that IÂ’m not the one to preach. After all, IÂ’m not exactly the person who goes and asks strangers how they are doing and what brought them here. But I found a solution to this reserve through a couple of organizations that practically force you to make friends with foreigners. The most important of these is AIESEC. It has profiled itself as a developer of young leaders and as an organization that offers great internship possibilities, but I really only joined for the people. To make new international friends. And I am not the only one.

In recent years, the biggest problem that AIESEC has had - at least in Tampere - is the lack of Finnish members. ThatÂ’s remarkable considering we are in Finland. There are lots of Finns around, so where the heck do you all vanish when you hear some other language than your own?

To keep international organizations going, we need Finns for an obvious reason. Most internationals leave at some point, so if youÂ’ve trusted them with running the organization, you might just find yourself in a car without wheels.

The people who come to Tampere want to meet you. If they didnÂ’t, they would have stayed where they were. And even if it seems scary and suspicious to, you know, talk to people, itÂ’s quite normal in many other cultures. So I guarantee you: if you talk to foreigners, most of them will not assume youÂ’re a mental patient or on drugs.

So go talk to them.

Petteri Hiltunen

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