The document provides advice and guidance for international students studying in Finland on how to have a meaningful experience through integrating with local Finnish culture and people. It emphasizes the importance of interacting with locals rather than just other international students, learning some Finnish language and customs, and being open-minded about cultural differences to gain a true understanding of Finland. International students in previous studies are often satisfied with their academic experience but less integrated into the local communities and culture.

1. WHAT YOU DON’T READ ABOUT FINLAND:
Your orientation to understanding Finland,
Finnish culture, Finnish people and to
knowing more about yourself, too
Esko Johnson
PhD (Education)
Formerly Principal Lecturer of English Language and
Communication
Centria University of Applied Sciences

2. Guess who!

3. What did international
students like best in our
country?
• A peaceful country
• Natural beauty with contrasts
• All is quite well organised, including HE study
and study opportunities
• A less stressful ’study climate’; the university
staff are easy to approach and empathetic of the
learners
• The friendly, honest & helpful Finns
• International student communities (local)
Sources, Garam, I. 2001. My Finland. Survey of experiences of
international students in Finnish higher education. CIMO; Johnson,
Eijsberg & Finell 2009; Johnson & Finell 2005.

4. Typical quotes about Finland
• Model of an information society with a high
level of social and intellectual capital (PISA
results etc.)
• Our country promotes equality
• Our country a good balance of the ’faceless
forces’ of globalisation1
• Our telecomms is a ‘strong muscle’, yet, the
whole body needs a shape-up2
1Castells (2001), 2Hautamäki (2001)

5. So how do you get onboard this wonderful ship?

6. What this talk will do
• Increase your awareness about your
situation and your non-academic
learning task right now
• Clarify what you can do and what you
might want to do
MOTTO: This is the first day of the rest
of your life, for becoming a truly global
person; you’re the change agent for
yourself – later for others, too!

7. What this talk will not do
• Provide facts and figures about Finland,
Finns and Finnish society/ culture, overall
• The above content you will get in two
courses:
- Finnish Society and Culture, 3 ECTS
- Getting Local and Global, 3 ECTS
• Don’t hesitate to ask me for more information!

8. A quick poll for you (Y/N/DK)
1. I (already) know three street names in Kokkola.
2. During my stay, these are my priorities here, in this order:
(#1) having a lot fun, (#2) making friends, for my life,
(#3) completing a few courses (the degree) - a must
3. On and off the campus, I will hang around mostly with
foreign (international) students and my own countrymen
(countrypeople)
4. Every day, I will try to learn at least 5-10 words of Finnish
5. I will make friends with local people in pubs, clubs and
restaurants
6. I will follow the local and national/Finnish news regularly
7. I will try to travel as much as possible

10. Adapting and fitting in?

11. Is adapting stressful?

12. Based on previous foreign student
experience, what should you know?
And what (not) to do?
• Intreract with the locals in the right places;
use your imagination; learn the best strategy,
and take time to become confident at this
• You cannot make friends with the locals in a
pub or a restaurant if you are in a group of
other foreign/international students
• Finnish people (both young and old) go to a
pub/restaurant to have fun in the first place,
not to make friends with other
people/strangers
• To make friends is a long-term process

14. FROM GENNY’S STORY (2013)
When I ask her to define a global person, Genny tells me that
basically, an exchange experience can be nothing at all for some,
just because of enjoying the more relaxed and freer settings with
not too many assignments, in other words, “if they’re just thinking
of their free time, like drinking, partying, and night life. The core
priority is to mingle with the locals, not to hang out too often with
other exchange students from other countries.
“We have to communicate with the locals- this is the way how
we know about their culture and lifestyle. I wouldn’t say I had a
really great time as an exchange student if I just mingled with
other exchange students.”
“To become a globalised person is by meeting the locals, by
knowing about the locals. This is how you become a globalized
person, it’s not because of crossing the border literally and
staying there for four months without doing anything.”

15. 0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
9 Learning and using Finnish language
8 Finland being a country of natural
beauty
7 Finns being friendly, honest, and
helpful
6 A less stressful study climate than in
my home country
5 University staff being easy to
approach and empathetic of me
4 Self-directness and flexibility of study
(i.e. academic freedom)
3 Things being well organised
everywhere
2 Finland being a peaceful country
1 My higher education study at COU
overall
Europeans
Non-Eur Gr3
Non-Eur Gr2
Non-Eur Gr1
Facilitators: What things made your stay enjoyable and
meaningful? (MC question)

16. Some findings of the Johnson & Finell
(2005) study
 International students: satisfied with their study
–liked the approach of teaching methods and
tutoring
 Had their own networks international friends
and acquaintances – but were not well
integrated into the local communities
 Said they failed to learn Finnish/Swedish
language and culture

17.  Learning the national language(s) and culture
was rare
 Adaptation to and integration into the academic
and local communities varied somewhat between
European and non-European students, as well as
between exchange and degree students
 Adaptation and integration seemed to be directly
dependent on the length of stay in Finland
Some findings…. (cont.)

18. 0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
10 Personal health problems (physical
or mental)
9 Too much academic freedom: I can't
control how I...
8 Lack of meaningful freetime activities
7 The Finnish climate being too cold
for me
6 Feeling homesick and lonely
5 Much too quiet life in the university
town
4 My lack of Finnish skills
3 Finland being so expensive to stay
and study in
2 Lack of parttime job opportunities
1 Finns being shy and not always easy
to approach
More than 1 yr in
COU
Less than 1 yr in
COU
What is related to experience of stress?

19. Liisa Salo-Lee on communicating
with “the Finns” (*)
• “Triple W”: word, work, watch (Kirri)
• Be careful not to generalize/stereotype on individuals
• What makes your intercultural communication
effective with “the Finns”?
• Tolerance of ambiguity, being non-judgmental,
empathy skills
• Be flexible, sensible, other-oriented
• Be culturally literate!
(*) See http://www.jyu.fi/viesti/verkkotuotanto/kp/vf/liisa.shtml

20. About the triple W
Dear Stephen
Please meet me tomorrow Thursday at
11.00 in my office, room # 287.
All the best, Esko

21. Can you follow these
rules when communicating?
1. Never comment on anything that is obvious
2. If you say something, say something that all should
know (high information content and relevance)
3. Never raise issues that might cause conflicts;
keep up the good harmony
4. Commit yourself to whatever you say
5. Whatever you say will become the
basis of future co-operation
(Carbaugh 1993)

22. What is the expected academic
conduct in Finland?
• Centria UAS has publisehd the Code of Ethics –
read it!
• Observe and learn how to work, create knowledge,
collaborate, and how to submit the results of study
at campus
– Individually, on your own
– In a group (in a team)
– In class
• ”Copy+paste” , in other words, using other
people’s work as if it was your creation (i.e.
plagiarising) in all forms is penalised

23. Stereotypes
• Are ‘pictures in our heads’, or images of reality –
metaphors, beliefs, ideas - that define different cultures in a
very rough way, but can be harmful
• Streotypes are group concepts held by one
social group about another, often used in a
negative sense and used to justify discriminatory
and unacceptable behaviors
• What stereotypes determine your behaviour,
communication, and thinking when in Finland?
• You need fewer stereotypes to understand the world and
other people than you realise!

24. WARNING! When do you know you have gone
native in Finland?
• You wear shorts and a T shirt in June while the
thermometer shows plus 10 centigrade
• You think it’s fantastic to sit in your class and say
nothing
• A stranger who smiles at you can only be 1) a
foreigner, 2) a lunatic, or 3) an alcoholic
• You have been engaged for four years without
intending to get married
• You go to the movies early enough to see the
commercials
• Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids

25. STATISTICS!
MY OWN ”GETTING LOCAL STRATEGY” YES NO I DON’T
KNOW
1. I (already) know three street names in Kokkola
2. During my stay, these are my priorities here, in this order: (#1)
having a lot fun, (#2) making friends, for my life, (#3)
completing a few courses (the degree) - a must
3. On and off the campus, I will hang around mostly with foreign
(international) students and my own countrymen (country-
people)
4. Every day, I will try to learn at least 5-10 words of Finnish
5. I will make friends with local people in pubs and restaurants
6. I will follow the local and national/Finnish news regularly
7. I will try to travel as much as possible