Erasmus Turku

1. Make a presentation of yourself.

Ciao!
I am a 24 year old student from Italy, currently studying Languages, Literature & Intercultural Studies. I made my Erasmus in Turku, Finland.

2. Describe briefly the place you are from.
I was born and raised in Florence, a beautiful city in the north center part of Italy.

3. Tell us how the city where you study is.
I also study in Florence; Erasmus has been for me the first time that I lived for such a long period of time (9 months) far away from my town.

4. What do you think about your home university? (Before you go on Erasmus) Be honest ;)
I really don’t like my home University. It’s terrible, nothing works there. Before going to Erasmus I had to wait several times for 5 hours in front of the International Office.

5. What encourage you to go on Erasmus? Reasons, etc..
I’ve always been attracted to try to live in another country for a period of my life, then I wanted to improve my language skills. I also like meeting new people from all around the world.

6. When you decide that, what countries / destinations you had in mind and why?
Before getting enrolled at Uni, I already decided where I wanted to go: Scandinavia.
I thought of Sweden, Denmark or Finland. Since then I accidentally started studying Finnish language, it was obvious to choose Finland.

7. Once you know definitely the destination

a. How did you feel?
Of course I was happy, but at the same time I had some doubts. I applied for Helsinki, my first choice, but because of some problems with the agreement between the Italian and the Finnish University, I was moved to Turku.

b. What did you think about the place?
I had already been in Turku, two years before, just for one afternoon, and honestly, I didn’t like it so much.

c. What your closest people (family, friends, colleagues ...) told you or thought about it?
I was lucky, because everyone was supporting me. Everyone knew that it was going to be a wonderful experience.

d. If you had a choice to choose another one, what would have been?
As already said, Helsinki was my first choice. Turku the second one, and the third and last, it was Jyväskylä, another city famous for its University.
If I had to chooseanother country, for sureSweden or Denmark.

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?
I lived in Finland for 9 months, they just flew, and I would have loved to stay there so much more.

9. How did the paperwork, formalities, etc..? What do you think about all this?
Finnish bureaucracy is just perfect, at least it is so much faster than the Italian one. Just the first day at University I had to wait a little bit in front of the International Office.

10. How is the city where you live or you used to live during your Erasmus?
I never regretted of my choice. Just perfect. Turku is a small town in the southern-west Finland, and it’s anUniversitary town. This means that it’s full of youngsters, it has the biggest student village of all Finland, three different and wonderful Universities and an incredible nightlife.

11. Where did you stay (residence, apartment, dorm)? Explain how it is.
I applied to live in the Student Village, so I could have my own room with bathroom and a kitchen in common with other guys. I didn’t manage to live there, so I got a three person apartment, 40 minutes by walking away from the city center.

12. Well, what about the Host University? How it is? What do you think?
I loved my Host University. Great Professors, new and light buildings. I could have lunch every day for a few Euros in more than ten different cafeterias for students.
Inside one of the main building there was even a gym, where I used to train with the University football team.

13. Compared to your home university,what advantages and disadvantages do you get when compared to the host university?
I just saw advantages. Professors, classes, buildings, cafeterias… Everything there was better than my home 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 guess every student travels somewhere during his/her Erasmus. I managed to go to Lapland, I met Santa Claus and managed to swim in Norway in December.
I have been several times to Tallinn, one of my favorite town in all Europe.
I have been twice to Stockholm and so many times  to Helsinki and on this 24 hours cruise that are so popular in Finland.

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!).

My town is definitely bigger than Turku, so there are so much more options for the Erasmus students. Accommodation is totally different; since there is not a dormitory for students, every Erasmus has to look for his/her place, usually in the city center. 
 Since I came back from Finland, I started to be a volunteer for F.A.C.E., Florentine Association for Cultural Association. We organize parties for Erasmus students, different activities (Salsa classes, karaoke etc.) and we give them the opportunity to discover my region, Tuscany, or other wonderful cities in Italy (for example we organize trips to Rome, Venice, Verona, Pisa). In an ordinary week we have Karaoke on Tuesday, Aperitif + clubbing on Wednesday, Party on Thursday and dinner + clubbing on Friday.  So as you can see, there are quite a lot of things to do here J!