Vaihto-opiskelijat Sara ja Chisaki

Hei! I'm Sara Alcalde, an exchange student from Spain. I've been in Finland for about 10 months .

Chisaki and Sara

This experience was quite an incredible one for me . I've learnt about myself and how I deal with unknown  situations and how the weather actually influences me  a lot. I felt welcome to the school the very first day . Best principal ever , great teachers like Erkko who was really eagered for us to join his course, or Risto having patience with us every time we got lost trying to get to P.E, Matti being polite and caring always helping us understand  the tax system in Finland. I will  always remember playing the piano in the cafeteria  with the lunch ladies as the audience, or how Kirsi was dying for the weekend to arrive, and last but not least Marjut and her spoken English  classes where we had great laughs.

Being here  was an emotional rollercoaster, when the cold  came I suffered winter depression and trust me it was not easy to deal with . I'm impressed by Finns enduring this every year , you really are tough people. I was sometimes homesick and found myself complaining from time to time . Coming from such a warm country not only the weather but also the warmth in the people , it was quite a shock to see how people in Finland are. In Spain all the students would gather around you and ask you thousands of questions, here it was a different story.  Personal space is nice  but having too much can be sometimes upsetting. 

But one of the best things that Finnish people have is that once you make the effort to know them , they are kind and caring which comes to show that after all they are not so different from us .

When spring  arrived  around April,  my mood changed completely,  I again began to enjoy everything that Finland had to offer .

My friend Chisaki and I  decided to stop complaining and actually do things to make the lasts months more enjoyable, so we did . We went to the beach , restaurants , watched movies ,went horse riding.

I've come a long way since the day I arrived , I've grown as a person , made a strong bond with my host family , I've met people that I'll always have with me and lived incredible experiences such as avanto , and seeing Northen lights .  

I truly encourage other students to go on exchange , it's truly life changing and always for the better. 

Honorable mention to Kamilla for being one of the greatest home room teachers , I appreciate your patience and effort to make our experience even greater. 

Hei!

My name is Chisaki Kitaoka and I am an exchange student from Japan.

First, I would like to appreciate for hosting us for 9 months as one of your school as one of your students. I cannot talk about my exchange life without Lansipuisto. It was such a great time to spend my time in school. It took time to get used to it but thanks to my friends and kind teachers, I could enjoy the school life without changing.

While being an exchange student, I could notice that the things that I used to feel normal in Japan are not normal here. For example, you cannot expect that people know about Japanese basic idea or also no one would do anything for me without asking like family. While feeling the differences between the different cultures, I am so grateful that my host family accepted, understood me and treated me like a real family member.

School system

There are so many differences between my Japanese school and Finnish one. I was surprised that students can choose subjects whatever they want. That helped me a lot because I could take the subjects I was interested in instead of physic or science (which I am not so interested in). And I got impressed that we don’t have any homework during holidays! I will definitely tell my Japanese teachers about those things which is kind to students.

The level of teachers and students are quite equal even principle so I could see that students trust teaches and follow them. I thought that is the best relationship in the school.

Teachers

The teachers in Lansipuisto were amazing. First, our principle Raimo Lammi, his smiles and greeting helped me a lot. Matti was one of the nicest teachers I have ever met, he was always helping us with kindness and consideration. Anneli explained anything to me in English in chemistry and math class. I could feel her passion to her job. Petri was taking care of us as a support teacher anytime. Marjut was also a great teacher, she considers about students so much and she treated us like a normal student. I was so moved by cooking ladies that they tried to explain to me about meals and talk with. Even though they are not good at English so much or I cannot speak Finnish, talking with them was so much fun. I was so happy to greet them every lunch time. Kirsi was our amazing teacher who understood us so much and I learned Finnish culture by the conversation with her. We were even looking forward to art class. Kamilla who was our home room teacher was taking care of us and tried to make us get along with our classmates. She is a teacher but it was so easy for me to talk to her whenever I want. I could trust and respect her so much I am so glad to belong to her class. There are so many teachers who have supported and helped us in this exchange period. Thank you for everything.

Chisaki Kitaoka

Pro:

* Nice and kind people

* Avanto (after sauna)

* Sweets (chocolate and mustikkakakku)

* Food (karjalanpiirakka, makkara)

* Forest and peaceful places

* Not much homework

* Clean air

* Safety

Com:

* Too much personal space

* No confident

* Weather in January

* To many potatoes

* Not enough vegetable

* Closed shops on Sunday

* No one on the street