Erasmus Turku

1. Make a presentation of yourself.

I’m from Paris and I made my Erasmus semester last Spring in Turku. I was a Law and English student at that time. Now I took a ‘break’ in my university studies, and I’m working in an association that helps children and youngsters from the poor districts.

2. Describe briefly the place you are from.

I leave very close to Paris, but I studied in the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin

3. Tell us how the city where you study is.

Turku is the eldest city in Finland, so it’s pretty interesting! It’s not very big, so you get used to it quickly. There are loads of museums, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, … So I guess you can’t really get bored there. Stockholm is very easy to reach, and it’s definitely a city I would recommend.

4. What do you think about your home university? (Before you go on Erasmus) Be honest ;)

My home university is quite small, but I like it. There’s a good atmosphere there. The city of Saint-Quentin is very modern, and there is a big forest just besides the campus.

5. What encourage you to go on Erasmus? Reasons, etc..

Erasmus is the best way to confront yourself, it’s some kind of “challenge”. You’ll have to get by on your own in a totally foreign country, and you’ll need to adapt to the local way of life. I think it’s a very good experience. Meanwhile, you will meet great guys from all around Europe and beyond, and you’ll live experiences you will never forget!

6. When you decide that, what countries / destinations you had in mind and why?

Finland, because I didn’t know the North and I wanted to be far enough from home. I really can’t stand the cold, so I wanted to check if I could survive in such a country (masochism..).

7. Once you know definitely the destination

a. How did you feel?

Happy!

b. What did you think about the place?

Nice!

c. What your closest people (family, friends, colleagues ...) told you or thought about it?

“Why do you want to go there?? Are you crazy? You’ll get frozen!”

d. If you had a choice to choose another one, what would have been?

Maybe Santiago de compostella (but I think it’s not so funny…) or Copenhagen.

8. For how long is / was your stay? Do you think that's enough? Would you have liked to have stayed longer? / Would you like to stay longer?

5 months. I think it was enough. I’m very happy about my stay, but in the end of it, I really wanted to go home (I missed French food so hard)

9. How did the paperwork, formalities, etc..? What do you think about all this?

It was not so complicated, especially in Finland (the administration is very well organized there)

10. How is the city where you live or you used to live during your Erasmus?

Turku is nice (I talked about it above)

11. Where did you stay (residence, apartment, dorm)? Explain how it is.

I stayed in the student village. I had a room with furniture and a bathroom, and I shared the kitchen with all the other Erasmus students who lived in my floor. It was really perfect!

12. Well, what about the Host University? How it is? What do you think?

Turku university is nice, the courses were interesting there. The Abo is much prettier than TurunYliopisto.

13. Compared to your home university,what advantages and disadvantages do you get when compared to the host university?

14. During Erasmus, it iscommon make trips taking advantage of the staying in other countries and places. Did you already make a trip? Got one in mind? Where do you want to travel? Where have you gone?

I made a lot of trips, because I thought it’s the king of opportunities you got only once in a lifetime. So I went to Lapland, Stockholm, Tallin, Copenhagen, Aland, St-Petersbourg and Moscow.

15. Finally, the most important. Tell us as Erasmus generally is in the place you are or were (as applicable). How the partys, the other Erasmus, social life, student organizations, associations Erasmus, are and so on (The more you can write, the better!).

There were a lot of parties in the student village, in Turku. I think there was a party nearly every night in the shared kitchens. The student village was a perfect place for socializing because we all really lived together. There was an association for the Erasmus students that organized a lot of events, and it was really cool.