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\"A new door to the Unbelievable, to the Possible, a new day that can always bring you anything if you have no objection to it\" - Tove Jansson, from the book \"The exploits of Moominpapa”
\n\"Why?\" - it's the most popular question I've heard before moving to Finland. I will tell you even more, it's the very question which I couldn't answer properly. It just happened. A long chain of coincidences which turned out to be a lucky ticket. But let's return to the moment of packing bags, soulful meetings with friends before departure and listening to a short guide of survival in a foreign country from parents. All of a sudden, I felt totally unprepared for studying abroad. Indeed, why and where was I going? Of course, there are some stereotypes about Finland, but they don't help much in such situations. The only thing I was totally sure in - Finnish winter can't frighten a person who went to school when it was -36 Celsius. Yes, I am not kidding you. Although I am not sure what forced me to do it: thirst for knowledge or contempt for the thermometer. But if seriously, I went to Finland with poor knowledge about the country, just expecting a high quality education. But, believe me, there's so much more to it. You can feel it in the atmosphere which is created here for students. You are always helped, you feel comfortable and peaceful, your opinion is valued and respected. I study at the Faculty of Education, University of Turku and feel totally happy with the choice I made. Studying is really fascinating here and people are passionate about what they are doing. As a result you have a strong desire to learn as much as possible and apply the knowledge in real life trying to make a world a better place to live in.
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\n\nWhen you feel that you need a break from studying, you can do an abundance of things: go to various activities, which are organized by the student union; do sport; go to parties; attend language circles; have great movie nights and what not. It's up to your taste. I personally like to walk around and observe the nature. Finns care about it a lot and you can find untouched sceneries which can amaze you. The nature in Finland reminds me of my home town - Perm. It's the city near the Ural Mountains which separate Europe and Asia. It's a pleasure that I can go to a forest, pick berries or mushrooms, and enjoy a picnic with my friends. Just imagine, you can go to the nearest forest and pick as much blueberries as you want! For me it feels absolutely like home. Cozy, relaxing, safe. I guess that a lot of people who live abroad try to find such a cozy atmosphere. And Turku is definitely a perfect place to experience such a feeling.
\n
\n\nP.S. In case the only thing you are afraid of is a cold winter, here is a trick for you. Use a \"cabbage principle\" in clothes: not one super warm jacket, but a normal one with several sweaters. It will keep you warmer and you can easily change the amount of layers depending on weather. And here you are, not worrying about Finnish winter, but ready to experience Finnish lifestyle and education.
\nText, Anya Skuratova
","heading":"Finland is much more than just a high quality education","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fb37071-5fe56-d31b53anya_skuratova.jpg?alt=media&token=258274cc-bb41-46dd-abfd-4642775c8111"},"-L9_0zPokd-MxiFJJepJ":{"content":"Nature can be impressing and another example is the phenomena that has gained popularity during the last years: The Northern or Polar lights. These lights in the dark sky cause colourful nights – and also that many people spend several hours each night freezing outside with their cameras. They call themselves Aurora hunters and usually they don´t have only spare batteries with them but also a backpack full of passion and motivation.
\n
\nBut of course this light show nature offers has existed longer and was already known by the indigenous population. The Sami living in Lapland perceived them to have supernatural power - and it can be magical indeed. Finns are used to it, so usually they are not spending their nights outside to watch the \"revontulet\" (how the Northern lights are called in Finnish). For them it´s as normal as snow in the winter. For me it was something new and unknown. However, I witnessed my first auroras already 2 weeks after arriving in Finland. It was something really special and I knew already back then that it will not be the last time.
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\nThere are apps and other forecasts online. When the alarm goes on, pack your camera and dress up as warm as you can because you might need some patience. And a clear sky without clouds. The main season for auroras – which might be surprising – is autumn and spring. They come in different colours – most often green, but sometimes red and blue – and move to different forms.
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\nApart from time and luck, the place is an important factor. Of course the further you go up north the more possibilities you have, but even in Southern Finland you see them. The problem you often face is the light pollution especially in and near big cities you can´t see them properly. In the Northern part of Finland you can see them more easily and there are even special resorts that offer accomodation in glass igloos where you can spot the Northern lights conveniently while laying in your warm bed looking up in the sky through the glass roof. Amazing!
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\nSources:
\nText by Veronika Bauer
","heading":"My first time...Northern lights","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F552f89-784262-e0276cnorthern_lights.jpg?alt=media&token=5455257f-76b7-402b-97ad-a98226bece0c"},"-L9_L8v3bzkEEz_xlTj8":{"content":"The reason why Eftychia Giatsiou chose Finland is because she wanted to study cultural history in an advanced level. She is studying in University of Turku and this is her final year to complete her Master's inEuropean heritage, Digital Media and the Information Society.
\n
\nThe reason for joining the Network is because of her being international mind oriented. In 2012, she went abroad to study in Italy which led to her interest in internationalization. Her vast travel experiences for studies and work helped her in learning about different cultures, and be open to different opinions. She is understanding and compassionate about the society she lives in and seeks for bringing different cultures together.
\nOnsite visits, face to face discussions, and social media are the most important factors for her for creating awareness amongst the two regions she is part of, and for bridging new contacts within the Network.
\nText, Muhammad Umer
","heading":"Eftychia comes from Volos, Greece","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fd1ad9e-de83-e48578eftychia_article_photo.jpg?alt=media&token=c801336f-1b97-47bc-864a-7d8d00ed27a3"},"-LAnChPI_857bm6OKigw":{"content":"Good day to everyone who are reading this. My name is Fuad, and I have been a Student Ambassador of South-West Finland since last year. Autumn has come, along with a new academic year in schools and a new round for ambassador application is now open; so I feel like why not take some time to look back to talk about the blessings of ambassadorship that was descended upon me.
\n \nIt all started in last year as I mentioned at the beginning. I applied and got into the program of volunteership to promote South-West Finland in different sectors such as business, education, tourism etc. Now one might ask why would someone work for some organization during study period while investing time without making money? That’s a valid question, but hey, like they say, there’s more to something than just meeting the eye; meaning that working volunteer may not benefit you in the short run, however, if you are a person who understands bigger picture, then you can make lot out of this.
\nThat being said, why would you believe me without any substantial evidence, right? Of course, and that’s why I am going to talk briefly who I was, and am right now.
\n \nFirst of all, like many of you, I am an international student of business in master’s level, and I speak neither Finnish nor Swedish. But I never got afraid of the culture and the people, rather I embraced it. My first step towards that was joining as ambassador.
\n \nLets talk how that has benefited me. One of the many perks of Ambassadorship is that we are exposed to many inside information of future development. Therefore we have been through many sessions of trainings that expose you to know current state of the country in almost every important aspect (education, business, tourism) and consequently can share them with others. I will mention the session types later on. One of the many sessions, that I like the most is to visit many private or public companies and meet with key personnel’s. The advantage of such visit is that you get to create and maintain connections that will benefit you in future. So last spring this year, we visited Axel technologies, a small start up doing business in the OTT market. We got to know what Axel does through their presentation and a short q/a session. But how I got benefitted from this is an interesting turn of event. During a course work in school, we were supposed to write a chapter for a marketing academic book. We were asked to look for a company, which operates in B2B sector. If I hadn’t known the CEO of Axel from Ambassador meeting, I never could have interviewed Axel for our course work, and published the book. To me, that’s an extraordinary achievement, which can be added in resume for future job opportunities.
\n \nBut I didn’t stop there. During the beginning of my second academic year, I had been planning to conduct my Masters thesis work with a company so that my academic understanding can be implemented practically in field. With that in mind and help from Ambassador network, I successfully landed Masters thesis position with the city itself for an upcoming project that involves digitalization.
\n \nAll these couldn’t have been done without the help of the people of Ambassador network. Because at the end of the day, it’s not only your academic result that defines you, also how you have managed resourceful networks is also very important and will help you get to your end goal.
\n \nLike I said before, as an ambassador you would have to attend plenty of informative sessions that will give you a brief picture of South-West Finland’s strongest points so that to share them with your friends and families. There are three most important domains that we work on and these are – education, business and tourism. Southwest Finland’s best institutions are great at quality education and research; therefore we learned about the best higher education institutions here and how they maintain their quality.
\nWe also came to know about the top grossing companies, and how external investors can come here and invest in such areas. More of such information can be found here- http://www.investinfinland.fi/home\n\nDid I mention that we also learned how to pitch ourselves? If you are thinking of setting up your own business, then it might be important for you. You can learn various techniques and smart tactics in pitching your ideas to investors in a convincing way.
\n\nVisiting companies is another angle to get to know more about diversified fast growing business market in South-West region in Finland that are arranged by this program, let alone the fact that its another great way to make helpful connections for future. Towards this effort, we visited companies such as Axel technologies, city newspaper Turkulainen and so on. So if you plan to stay in Finland after graduation and want to work for a company, ambassadorship program will help you making the initial connections.
\n \nWhether you are a student or a businessperson or a Finnish enthusiast, ambassador network is a great place to hang, listen, share opinion and grow yourself into whole another level. The choice is yours!!!
","heading":"It's your time to apply for Ambassador program!","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F339f76-13f073-a153a2anya_summer.jpg?alt=media&token=c3078679-ca66-469c-8e4f-a49c7cdce54d"},"-LAoIteaxxPUVxwMxsgD":{"content":"I was already in Florence, Italy having my traineeship when I received an email from University of Turku that the application round for joining the Ambassador Network was open for those who wanted to apply. I remember the semester before that actively looking for a traineeship in Turku. I had participated in many career events, career guidance lectures, I had visited the Career Services of University of Turku trying to find some help and guidelines as I was in doubt whether or not my searching method was the best. So to cut the long story short, in all my attempts and efforts to find a traineeship, and this is something I also realized later on while I was looking for a job here, one word “rooted” very well inside my mind: Networking.
\n\nI knew that having a vast network in my home country is crucial, especially when it comes to job related issues, but I never knew that this would also be the case in Finland. Networking is an important factor and everybody who lives here, Finns and international people, believe that the bigger someone’s the network the more the opportunities for them. Even though they claim that the Finns as people they are shy and do not socialize easily, (I remember my professor of the Finnish language at the University mentioning it) when it comes to networking and to the means they use I would say that they are pretty good at it. But networking in Finland does not have one face only as it can happen through various modes and in different times and places. When I am outside I see networking taking place almost everywhere: at cafeterias between friends, at the University between students and professors, at the working place between colleagues, even at the park where teenagers spend most of their time now that the weather is getting warmer. When face to face interaction is not possible I see them networking through their mobile phones, by chatting on whatsapp or snapchat. And when networking becomes a serious issue I see them joining organizations or forming teams and groups, official or unofficial, something very common in Finland.
\n\nSuch group for instance is the Expat Turku Network (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1029500543741308/), a group of expatriates that work or study in higher education in Turku and who gather together at Caffè Latte and take part in various activities, something that makes their integration in the local community much easier. The Ambassador Network of South-West Finland is another active network in the city of Turku, whose network I am also a member, and which through its international members aims at promoting the region of South-West Finland as a great place to study, live, visit or do business.
\n\nHaving lived in different countries and cities the last 5 years, I would say that networking is really important, especially for international people. First of all, from my own personal experience I can say that I integrated easily to the local community of Turku. I learnt so many interesting facts about Turku after I started networking outside the University that I had never before. Second of all, I met new people. Except for my friends I also met people in important for the city of Turku positions that gave me their insight and advice regarding education, tourism and business in the region. Third of all, being part of such a network is seen as something positive and flattering on my CV. I have had the chance to be asked at job interviews where the interviewers would show interest in my role in the Ambassador Network and in how does the region benefit from it.
\n\nFrom the very beginning I knew that by joining such a group would give me the chance to expand my personal network outside the University circle and also boost my communicational skills. Besides I had already started writing my Master’s thesis and writing for lots of hours during the day was a bit too much for me as I also wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was away in another country and explore my University city and its opportunities to the fullest.
\n \nSo don’t waste time! Go out there and start getting networked!
\n \n \n\n
\n\n In September 2007, here I was, back to Finland again, but in Turku this time. I did not apply for a Master’s degree in Helsinki,\n I wanted to be in a big student city, but small enough to be able to bike everywhere, have a simple life, close to nature.\n I was also accepted in a Swedish master’s program, but decided to go to the University of Turku because I felt it was\n the best choice, judging from my previous Erasmus experience in Finland. As a student here, you feel supported by the\n University staff, even with matters outside the University, like accommodation and healthcare services.Since August 2011,\n my path in Finland has continued further, and I am about to finish my PhD degree in Health Sciences, at the Department\n of Nursing Science, University of Turku.\n
\n\n The last 5 years in Turku have taught me a lot, with 3 major lessons -\n
\n\n 1) Give some time to myself to enjoy, and appreciate the nature around me. How magical it is to finish work and while walking\n back home to see the northern lights? Or walk around on a sunny Sunday, look up and see the blue sky with the white fluffy\n clouds, which seem so close, like cotton balls which you can easily grab if you stretch your hands. Or walk during a\n winter night and see small animals searching for food in the snow. To be honest, it feels like a fairytale, isn’t it?\n Also, I really like that Finns respect nature, in a sense that they try not to consume a lot or buy unnecessary items,\n and recycle.\n
\n\n 2) If you are in a supportive environment, where you can work hard, while being in touch with your true, honest self, then\n you can feel fulfilled. The academic community here offers many opportunities to learn and explore new skills and talents.\n All these years I attended and met professionals not only from the departments of education and nursing science where\n I was registered, but also attended seminars and events about fashion, cultural heritage, innovation and entrepreneurship,\n among many others. I love how easy is the access to knowledge, and how simple is for everyone to participate in any activity\n even though it is not relevant to his/her field of study. I think this is due to the fact that Finns not only appreciate\n education and lifelong learning, but they are open-minded enough to promote inter- and multidisciplinary education and\n cooperation.\n
\n\n 3) Be humble. A simple example, almost all Finnish people I know, they speak 2-3 languages. To everyone’s surprise, however,\n they never admit they are proficient enough, and they really believe they are not good enough – although they are fluent.\n Rarely I meet a Finnish person bragging about themselves, no matter their achievements and competencies. I admire that,\n it gives me an impression of inner strength and balance. A sense of pure confidence glowing from within. An inspiration\n for being a better person.\n
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\n\n Why someone should come specifically to Turku? Turku is ideal for a newcomer to Finland. Everything is close, thus you save\n time and your life is more simple, less stressful. You live in a city, but you are also in the nature, trees are all\n around, you bike next to Aura river, and you can easily visit the nearby islands. If, at some point, you miss being in\n a capital, Helsinki is only a couple of hours away with cheap bus connections, and Stockholm can also be reached by ferry\n from Turku, also in student-friendly prices. If you happen to miss the sun during wintertime, Turku airport connects\n you with exotic destinations like Alicante, Spain, again in student-friendly prices. The University campus is compact\n enough, for everyone to easily explore its various departments, the University libraries, computer labs and cafeterias.\n
\n\n I hope my story has inspired you to visit Turku and Finland, and see by yourself what a magical country this is.\n
\n\n Text, Christina Athanasopoulou (Tina Turku)\n
","heading":"\"Finland has been the biggest love and the wisest choice of my life so far\"","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F2c87ea-d376db-63e906christina_article_0.jpg?alt=media&token=0a9e0d40-6b8e-4319-8542-bef634ae43f0"},"-LAvjmoME3czwF4vAGNk":{"content":"\n Life is a journey full of adventures, I have lived mine to the fullest. I was born and raised in Beijing, the capital area\n of China. My family has a root in the north China way back. As a quarter Manchu, I have heritage from my culture with\n high regard to martials such as riding and archery, wrestling, ice-skating and falconry. As a Manchu girl, there are\n less demands in physical perspective comparing with boys. However, the perseverance from gyrfalcon (Hai Dong Qing, literally\n translated the eagle with eyes as crystal-clear as the ocean in the east), our spiritual symbol is highly resembling\n to Sisu: As fearless warrior in the far north sleeps with the cold. After I moved to Turku, I did naturally used to the\n harsh winter since our winter in north China is not so tamed at all. Only instead of 2-3 months, in here I have about\n 5 months’ time of winter wonderland, which means longer time I could spend on my favorite sport, ice skating!\n
\n
\n\n As a person pays extra attentions to details of life, Turku is genuinely a city with the best quality for everyone to live\n in. While I was doing my schooling in China, I had travel from north to south domestically, later I worked in Jeju island\n of South Korea. I had a great visit to Kumamoto before I moved to Finland as well. After miles of traveling, I personally\n prefer places with a bit of frosty in the air. About 3 years ago, I visited Finland for the first time, realized then\n I must come back since there is the strong affection grows inside me calling me back here. I like the sound of Finnish\n language, even I barely understood the context from the beginning.\n
\n\n Without any hesitation, I moved here, and started my master degree study in University of Turku. Turku as a city just like\n a beautiful maid with shyness in the south-west Finland area. Dwellers are both friendly and warm-hearted. The politeness\n and multi-cultural features of this city is tolerant for both new comers and travelers. Tranquil forest with historic\n buildings, theatre and museums, pubs along the Aura river, we could be catered for every need one could possibly come\n up. Another pearl of Turku is the region is one of the most prestigiously developed city for education. For every level\n with diversified subjects and countless academic conferences and activities hosting all year around, Turku is the home\n for both universities and polytechnics. And the one and only Swedish-speaking Åbo academi. I am blessed to be one of\n the luckiest to study with University of Turku. It is my honour to introduce mine to any that would be interested to\n come and study here. You will surely be falling in love with your school, then the affection is so strong that you would\n never want to leave this area exactly as I feel. Next year, on my short exchange outside of Finland, I am going to miss\n my life here for certain. Meanwhile, I’d more than pleased to act as a good message carrier to spread the words no matter\n where I set my feet on.\n
\n\n Same as other capital cities in the globe, Finland is well-presented by Helsinki. However, Turku area has no less to offer.\n Airport for traveling in and out of Europe, well-built public transportation network, habours for both industrial and\n commercial usages within reach. Turku has blended all features within. Plus, refined urban plannings, for instance, undergoing\n itäharju area, which will attract more to come to the lovely region to live. With flushes of potential home finders coming\n in, the region will sure to prosper. One of my hobbies while I am off class, is to take buses touring around Turku region.\n As a foreigner vagrant, I would someday find my home in this area. For this purpose, I could find my place as a promoting\n delegate for marketing this region as ideal as it gets, by letting the world to hear, Turku is always welcoming and well-prepared\n to cater everyone regardless of the heritages: for new homes, education, investments and tourism. With time went by,\n you cannot deny “the fact” is that why paris, when we have Turku, Turku is always home.\n
\n\n Text, Claire Schuen\n
\n\n Picture, Visit Turku\n
","heading":"“Why Paris, when we have Turku”","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F427b8e-4e8f24-972a67river_auracjenni_virta_iloinen_liftari_oy.jpg?alt=media&token=becc694f-d7ea-4bc0-962d-2147d834316a"},"-LAvkQ6C8fz8tmQ7qmWq":{"content":"\n Emrah is from Istanbul, Turkey. He has moved to Finland in 2009 to do master degree in Chemical Engineering. Currently, He\n is a PhD candidate in the field of Pharmaceutical Science at Åbo Akademi University. He spends his free-time at the associations\n for international students and expats, also he takes various courses from Adult Education center to practice new hobbies\n and meet locals. He has a passion for seeing new places and learning about new cultures, he has already been to many\n European countries for holiday. He thinks that Turku has an ideal size for a city to live, to study and to do business.\n He also appreciates the beauty and accessibility of Finland´s nature.\n
\n
\n\n He states that he lived in Denmark to take a course and perform research in 2013 at University of Copenhagen and when he\n worked in Germany for approx. 6 months in 2014 in a pharmaceutical company. He states that these visits helped him to\n be more interculturally competent, outgoing and curious about other cultures. He still has good business and study connections\n to his home country. That is why his goal as a student ambassador of South-West Finland is to focus on building up business\n contacts in the pharmaceutical, bioscience field between Turkey and Finland as he sees great potential in that field.\n Since, he already has experience and the relevant knowledge in this area, he could mediate and represent both sides.\n
\n\n In addition to business aims, he would like to promote the region as study destination in his home country whenever he can\n visit the universities there. Since, students of non-EU countries have to pay a lot of money as tuition fee from 2017\n onwards. Promotion will be very crucial.\n
\n\n Text: Veronika Bauer\n
","heading":"Emrah`s goal is to connect businesses between Turkey and Finland","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fa3c9c7-d90666-af8ee0thumbnail_potrait_emrah.jpg?alt=media&token=76f33155-24a1-40aa-b362-1a6371c805fd"},"-LAvl4ACnfqqvNEIaUwm":{"content":"\n Who am i?\n
\n\n Okay, in short and specifically, I am a student at a Finnish University. I study masters of Science in Digital and mobile\n business program at Åbo Akademi University, which is located in Turku, a southwest region of Finland. I hope that the\n readers already know that.\n
\n
\n\n But hey, like they say, “there’s more to a person than just meeting the eye”. So of course I have not just come to Finland\n from a small South-Asian country called “Bangladesh” for the sole purpose of learning new things. Besides my study, I\n do a lot and a lot of networking. I love meeting new people, connecting to them at a greater level, and I connect one\n people from one corner to another.\n
\n\n Joining as an ambassador with Turku Science Park is probably whole another angle of doing networking and promoting everyone\n and everything around you. I believe in growth and I would love to evolve myself along with a larger ecosystem of ambassadorship.\n As a result, I chose to promote the growing, unknown and untapped story of many companies resided in Southwest region\n of Finland. My goal is to uphold the beauty of Finnish companies in this region that were unspoken till date and how\n this place could be a potential for future business center and investments.\n
\n
\n\n Therefore if you love networking and love to be a part of a larger network for a bigger picture and goal, I am the guy, you\n want to be connected with. You want to know more about the SME’s, start-ups, their history and culture; you have come\n to the right place.\n
\n\n Text and Pictures, Fuad Khan\n
","heading":"\"I love to connect people\"","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F85b5bc-c77fee-51cbdefuad_1.jpg?alt=media&token=7b98fdae-2e29-4918-93b8-749b658d69d2"},"-LAvmghCHfMWjQ4g8xNT":{"content":"\n My name is Ionela Cioaca, I am from Romania and I study now at Turku School of Economics. I moved to Turku in 2015 because\n of my studies and I am really enjoying my staying here. I became interested in Finland four years ago and since then\n I dreamt about coming here to study and last year I did it. Every day surprises me and I still cannot believe that I\n am here in Turku, in Finland, at almost 2000 km far away from my country. And I feel that I am home, I feel that distance\n is not a problem anymore. I feel the international spirit in every corner of the city of Turku and I am confident that\n this is only the beginning of this journey toward internationalization.\n
\n\n I am lucky and very grateful that I am part of this Network, because it combines my personal and professional interests:\n networking with international people and strengthening the international cooperation between Romania and Finland. And,\n I really hope to bring value to the community with my experience, my positive attitude and willingness to help so that\n we can develop together creative ideas and projects that would help to promote the region of South-West Finland.\n
\n\n Besides, I am having a great experience here in Turku. Why not sharing it with others? Why keeping it only for myself? Being\n a Student Ambassador of South-West Finland is the perfect way to share my enthusiasm about the region. I think that this\n region is an amazing place to live and study. It is full of history, beautiful national parks, wonderful archipelago\n and interesting cities such as Naantali known for its Moominworld, the famous cartoons in Finland or Uusikaupunki, a\n small summer city that gives you the feeling of freedom. Then, Turku is definitely a city of science and research, a\n maritime hub and a lovely place to explore Finnish culture.\n
\n\n Text, Ionela Cioaca\n
","heading":"\"We have beautiful cities such Naantali and Uusikaupunki\"","image":"\n What would you like to tell us about yourself?\n Apart from my interest in the shipbuilding industry I like to think and discuss about different stuff covering wide range\n of topics. I have lived my life working for big multinational companies like Samsung etc. but now for some time I am\n looking at a bigger picture, something valuable in life. When I came to Finland seven years ago I had a completely different\n point of view about the Finnish culture and society but it turns out to be very different in a positive way from my expectations.\n In the recent past I have been thinking and trying to figure out “What’s the value of life?” and trying to find out the\n answer to the question “Who am I and what can I do?”\n
\n\n \n Why do think that Turku is the best place to live?\n \n It’s a city of water with amazing and up to date maritime industry, the educational institutes and the industry is well connected,\n the infrastructure is very admirable. The archipelago is very similar to an island from my hometown which gives this\n city a homey feeling. The environment is very clean but the most important thing is that the people are friendly and\n the place is calm with its long history of city. Thus to sum it up for me Turku is the city of Life.\n
\n\n Tell us about your Professional Activities?\n Shipbuilding and offshore industry is my specialty, I have worked for 20 years in this industry in Korea and now I am experienced\n shipyard manager for the last six years in Finland. I have many interests and now I want to follow my instinct that is\n why I am studying Service Design. I am trying to do business matching services between Finland and South Korea, trying\n to find people’s problems and finding solutions for them. At start I want to focus on the maritime industry but I don’t\n want to limit myself to this industry only.\n
\n\n What is your involvement in the international activities?\n My international activities are mainly focused on Finland and South Korea recently. I have participated in various international\n forums, seminars and workshops related in business. Discussions of ‘100 Days Project’ with partner companies in Finland\n have motivated further attention on my international activities.\n
\n\n \n What are your goals as the ambassador of South-West Finland?\n \n I want to know more and more about the business culture here, like how to find information about business sector? what are\n the laws? how to differentiate between right and wrong information? etc. On the academic side I want to bring talented\n Korean student here for exchanges to give them a taste of the academic and business culture of Finland. Also I want to\n find out the business possibilities for students who have completed their studies. Thus gathering information and spreading\n it is my goal.\n
\n\n What potential do you see in Turku in the future?\n The natural environment and resources as a city of archipelago with sun and water would have a big attraction for the quality\n of human life with the objectives of healings, health and life style etc. The infrastructure of unique technical environment\n including abundant academic resources will allow to develop the creative business further in the region of Marine, Bio\n science, Education services and IT Business.\n
\n\n Turku is one of the most favorable cities in Finland to live and to work for all talented persons who are seeking for the\n value of life and business. Thus, I want to be a member of the City of Turku.\n
\nText, Muhammad Yousaf
","heading":"\"Turku is the city of Life\"","image":"\n As I started a BA in Public Affairs and International Relations in Canada, I had the chance to choose Turku as my destination\n for a student exchange in 2013-2014. During this first year spent in South-West Finland, I learned to love the proximity\n of everything in Turku, the numerous opportunities offered by the city, and above all, the excellent quality of the education\n offered in my field.\n
\n
\n\n The quality of life and world class education played an important role in my choice to return to Turku for pursuing my studies\n in International Human Rights Law. Currently completing a Masters degree in Åbo Akademi, I have high hopes for what the\n future has to offer.\n
\n\n My main motivation to join the Student Ambassador Network is my will to give something back to the region which has welcomed\n me so warmly, and hopefully help others discover this beautiful place. Through my role as a Student Ambassador, I hope\n to promote South-West Finland as great destination for students, but also as a wonderful place to live and visit.\n
\n\n Pristine nature, gorgeous landscapes, historical landmarks, and a great diversity of cultural attractions make Turku and\n its surroundings a hidden gem for the lucky tourists who find themselves here. Hence, I am positive our beautiful region\n will become a recognised touristic destination in a not-so-far future. In addition to its natural beauty and numerous\n attraction, we should not forget the very dynamic economic environment South-West Finland has to offer to investors and\n entrepreneurs.\n
\n\n Overall, my mission as a student ambassador is to promote South-West Finland as a dynamic student region, bustling business\n environment, and attractive touristic destination. And to conclude, go TPS!\n
\n\n Text and picture, Michel Rouleau-Dick\n
","heading":"South-West Finland has it all!","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F66f1d6-fb48a7-20b47917.01.2016.jpg?alt=media&token=718880a2-bf4e-45d2-a5f6-e204fc1ff23b"},"-LAvpSpsEP8XbgiUk29w":{"content":"\n #Ambassador of the Silk\n
Road Minghui Gao comes from one of the most ancient cradles of civilization, that is - the Magnificent China. Her home\n city is Tianjin which also happens to be a sister city of Turku. With her rich and profound Chinese culture at the back\n of her head, she came to Turku and instantly grew a deep affection to this region. According to Minghui, “The rich history\n yet modern vibe of the city makes me feel like I’m traveling through time…makes me feel at home”.\n
\n Following the introduction of the Ambassador Network of South-West Finland, Minghui quickly became fond of the idea to improve\n the collaborations between Tianjin and Turku. She believes such fruitful initiatives should be done by utilizing individuals\n who love this region and want to do more.\n
\n
\n\n #International Talent\n
As an Ambassador, Minghui truly portrays diversity in her skills-set. While her Master’s degree in international business\n allows her to effectively be the bridge of opposite sides of the world, she is also experienced in media and has been\n working as a bi-lingual journalist and social media marketer in Finland.\n
\n “I aspire to facilitate diverse meaningful work that can challenge the status quo and immensely benefit a greater amount\n of people”, she emphasizes. And she also aims to open doors to collaborations, provide opportunities and cultivate novel\n innovations.\n
\n\n #Defining Polymath\n
Besides her international business mindset, Minghui also holds a Master’s degree in Baltic Sea Region Studies featured\n in Intercultural communication. Her parallel enthusiasm in education allows her to bestow her knowledge and teach intercultural\n communication at the University of Turku. She sees great importance in understanding interculturality and motivates her\n students to open thinking as she describes: “True growth can be acquired through unprejudiced views of one another. With\n a holistic approach we could examine how intercultural matters are represented in the media and efficiently improve it.”\n
\n #The Greater Good\n
Minghui’s multi-disciplinary background allows her to look at different projects while keeping the bigger picture intact.\n She explains: “Promoting this region will benefit both the Finnish and Chinese people and will help better the world.\n That is personally important to me. Cities could work hand in hand through positive utilization of their resources… I\n hope by using my professional skills and previous experiences, we could have ambitious and ordinary people GET CONNECTED\n and ultimately achieve great things! Only then we could say again: ‘That's one small step for man, yet one giant leap\n for mankind.’”\n
\n Text, Tarek Omran\n
","heading":"\"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind\"","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F855e36-84353-b0a571visitfinland.jpg?alt=media&token=c835b225-d4fb-4a6c-9a8a-9ee9d39a01f0"},"-LAvpw4cRGM9_FRpNI7s":{"content":"\n Muhammad Umer is a Master's Degree student in Turku University of Applied Sciences in the final year of studies,\n pursuing his MBA specializing in International Business Management. He is ethnically from Pakistan but he was born and\n lived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He lived 4 years in Pakistan to complete his Bachelor's Degree, BBA with major\n in Finance. In 2014 he came to Helsinki to attend advanced professional course, and during this tenure he was selected\n in the Turku University of Applied Sciences and eventually decided to live and study in Finland. His reason for moving\n to Finland was due to the fact that the country is ranked amongst the \"top best countries to live in\", and another attraction\n was the free quality of education.\n
\n\n He decided to join the Ambassador Network of South-West Finland since he is actively looking for opportunities to achieve\n his career objectives. As a Sales professional with a diversified background and extensive exposure to internationalization,\n he immediately grasped the opportunity to be part of the Network which is in-line with his studies and professional background.\n
\n\n As a Student Ambassador he aims to utilise existing contacts, social media and create awareness amongst regional groups and\n various other associations & organisations. He wishes to build and grow a network of potential contacts in order to establish\n a long-term mutual relationship which benefits all the parties by creating a win-win situation.\n
\n\n Text, Eftychia Giatsiou\n
","heading":"\"I love the clean air, water and cold weather. I am happy to be in Finland!\"","image":"\n Me coming to Finland was a decision that I took after doing a thorough research. Since I have great interest in Game Development\n and Finland is one of europe's fastest growing gaming industry so I wanted to learn from the best in the industry and\n that's how I end up in Finland.\n
\n\n I became part of this amazing ambassador network because I always try to participate in extracurricular activities and when\n I heard about this program I instantly felt that this opportunity is for me to grab.\n
\n\n I have been living in Turku now for over 2.5 years and in this time period I just fell in love with this amazing city. Not\n only I met a lot of amazing people and made awesome friends but I also got the chance to travel and explore. Turku has\n a lot to offer to everyone, it has many tourist spots for travel enthusiasts, it has a compact structure which makes\n it an ideal town for students as everything is more or less at walking distance, it offers a diverse amalgam of history\n and culture to discover for cultural nomads, it also has an exceptional blend of entrepreneurial spirit and education\n for future innovators. Thus in my humble opinion Turku cater's to the needs of everyone.\n
\n\n I like to think of myself as a global citizen and for that reason I believe in contributing in the development of the society\n I live in. For that very reason I try to volunteer as much as I can for the welfare of the people and for my personal\n development to whatever extent I can. My goal as an ambassador is to spread the word about Finland in general and Turku\n specifically. I have realized that people always form many preconceived notions and stereotypes about other people and\n places, which I believe is one of the main reason for today's hostile society therefore I constantly try to spread the\n word and break the stereotypes.\n
\n\n I am and will work towards my goal but I want and would love to see everyone of you as my helping hand in breaking the shackles\n as together we can achieve much more than what I can achieve individually.\n
\n\n I am always available for any kind of help if it’s in my capacity, therefore do not hesitate to contact me should you need\n any kind of assistance or just want to share or discuss stuff. Stay blessed!\n
\n\n Text, Muhammad Yousaf\n
","heading":"Yousaf is a global citizen","image":"\n It is widely believed that trust can be built based on a long period relationship via punctuality, keeping promise, working\n results, or even going through the mill. In other words, it usually takes people a lot of time to prove to each other\n that they are reliable. However, after living here for half a year, surprisingly, I figured out that there is another\n type of trust that makes Finland the whole different from the rest of the world – Finnish trust: In a relationship, Finns\n trust you very early and it will last until you prove that you cannot be trusted anymore because they believe in your\n autonomy. As I see, trust appears almost everywhere, on the street, in the supermarket, on the bus, at school, in family…\n To me, that’s amazing in a real sense. What a splendid region it is!\n
\n
\n\n I think that if Finland, especially Turku City, is the most desirable place to me, it will also be the most expected place\n to many other people like me. More than once I wondered if only I knew how wonderful it is earlier. Then when I know\n how it looks like, I usually ask myself, why don’t other people choose this promising region because of its best education\n opportunity in the world, the unique lifestyle, high-quality living standard, an auspicious future career, and sustainable\n development oriented by staying environmentally friendly? How could I make other people know about this place? For this\n reason, being an Ambassador allows me to have much more opportunities to share, connect, and touch.\n
\n\n I am excited about making the image of South-West Finland spread via communities and networks to reach prospective students\n in terms of discussion of “How to study in Finland” and help them understand more about the life here by picturizing\n real life issues and how great it is. As a student Ambassador, I will play the role of the face of the region, relay\n information about my experience to the prospective students and people of tomorrow. Acting that way, I will be highly\n influential in decisions that have a big impact on the Universities including a student's decision to study with us.\n
\n\n To me, becoming an Ambassador of South-west Finland would be my deeply rewarding opportunity both on a personal level, and\n also in terms of my career prospects in the future. I would love to be a dandelion to share my unforgettable experiences\n in the wonderland which is full of trust, opportunities of study and living.\n
\n\n By taking the role as an Ambassador, I not only take one more step to spread the image of the region, but also give one more\n step for those who are looking for enlightenment as the next generations of students or in search of a dream destination\n to come.\n
\n\n Get connected and see you!\n
\n\n Text and picture, Nhan Nguyen - Mac\n
","heading":"Meet our Student Ambassador Nhan from Vietnam","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F683f34-10f51c-993bdcmac_article_photo.jpg?alt=media&token=40a843ba-a146-4a0f-a728-85ddf33ac96f"},"-LAvrd83JGHHQMy_TiT7":{"content":"\n What would you like to tell about yourself?\n
\n\n I’m Obada Alzghool. I come from Jordan, the country which within is the lowest point on earth! That is the Dead Sea. Currently,\n I’m studying master’s degree in drug discovery and development at the University of Turku. Since I’m a pharmacist and\n considering my higher education, it is so natural to have a career objective of leading an R&D unit in one of the biggest\n pharmaceutical companies in Europe. I grew up in a family of Manchester United supporters _ Ryan Giggs Running Down The\n Wing_ I can spend hours and hours talking about United’s class of 92.\n
\n
\n\n What makes Turku a special city to live?\n
\n\n Turku is quiet, well-organized, and has a very good infrastructure. Using bicycle is very convenient, by cycling for approximately\n 15 minutes you can more or less reach anywhere in the city. To me Turku is so special, living in Turku is a mixture of\n both the modern and the country side lifestyles. This is an experience I go through on a daily basis! There are so many\n examples of this overlap, for instance, on a typical summer day you can have a little hike in any nearby forest and meanwhile\n pick up wild berries and mushrooms, and at night enjoy the nightlife at any of the city’s diverse night clubs and bars!\n Isn’t that cool!\n
\n\n \n Why you wanted to join to the Student Ambassador Network?\n \n
\n\n Joining the Student Ambassador Network is my small way of paying back to my university and the city I live in! I’m so grateful\n for the amazing, ongoing experience on both the personal and educational dimensions. I want as many people as possible\n to know about Turku and its very good universities, not only that but also to realize what this place has to offer. I\n admire Turku and I’m more than happy to promote this city as a great place to live in based on my personal experience.\n I hope to be able to do a good job in this goal!\n
\n\n \n Where do you see Turku region in the future?\n \n
\n\n Turku’s future is bright and promising. I sincerely hope to see Turku’s name among the biggest cities in Europe for education,\n internationalization, and business in the near future. Fingers crossed and thumbs pressed!\n
\n\n Text and picture, Obada Alzghool\n
","heading":"Turku’s future is bright and promising","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F90c9d5-1dfe1d-c6c30photo.jpg?alt=media&token=71e811a8-9640-4554-8149-5f3fddf9157c"},"-LAvsF2IiOKwFdAxoP1p":{"content":"\n My name is Sherif, I’m an Egyptian student from Cairo. I spent most of my life in the United Arab Emirates, where I was raised\n up in a very diversified community, which induced the international soul in me, and open-minded vibe. Spending my life\n in various regions of the planet made me more immersed into mixed sensations of architectures, cultures and traditions.\n I’ve always dreamt of experiencing the life in a culturally rich city, where I can live and pursue my studies.\n
\n\n Seven years ago, I decided to complete a higher education In Biotechnology field, for I want to know more, my passion for\n this field was totally controlling my mind.\n
\n
\n\n What makes Turku a special city to live?\n
Turku has always had a special and historical role among Finnish cities. The city has a distinctive cultural atmosphere;\n as most of the European art, science, political and religious movements found their way to Suomi through the beautiful\n city of Turku, which is separated by the Aura river and surrounded with the Archipelago. Finnish people are well educated,\n civilised and friendly and one could easily feel home in the town. In Turku, I could easily find people from different\n walks of life with more than 100 languages spoken in the outstanding city. Personally, Turku is an astonishing experience\n for all the senses; I even practiced taekwondo and played American football in addition to celebrating Vappu which comes\n with my birthday, so I couldn’t ask for more this year.\n
\n Why you wanted to join to the Student Ambassador Network?\n
I wanted to discover the genuine Turku culture and to know more about the old town. By taking part in a unique student\n activity where I can deliver my message to students in my home country and other countries as well and develop my networking\n and communication skills. I was fascinated by the vision of the network in terms of promoting the education in Turku\n and Southern-Western Finland generally. As said, it takes to tango, but in the network, I met very skilful ambassadors\n from different cultures.\n
\n What is your mission as a Student Ambassador of South-West Finland?\n
My mission is to promote the Southern-Western part of Finland as an educational destination for both undergraduate and\n graduate studies, especially considering that Turku is very evolving in biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical and food\n industry. Personally, I consider the city to be the Biotechnology valley as many companies and educational institutions\n conduct global, well recognized and reliable research studies in Biotechnology, Information technology and other fields.\n
\n Where do you see Turku region in the future?\n
The future is ours, the vast educational programs that are offered in the region support the economic growth and the\n market needs regularly, enabling the region to even play a bigger role towards the business world and concrete research\n centres in myriad fields.\n
\n Text and picture, Sherif Baoyumy\n
","heading":"Turku, the culturally and historically rich city","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fe81b75-efe4dc-d88a22sherif.jpg?alt=media&token=c045ed84-94da-4aac-afca-0c16a3f19f6f"},"-LAvvCc_8BUchOYJwfnu":{"content":"\n Hello, my name is Simranjit Singh. I am a\n Sikh of Indian ancestry but I come from\n Mombasa, a beautiful coastal town in\n Kenya, a promising, scenic and wildlife-rich nation in the Eastern part of Africa. I moved to study in\n Turku in 2013, and I’m now in the final year of my Bachelor of Engineering studies in Information Technology at the\n Turku University of Applied Sciences. I like my field of study and I’m positive about my future in it. I want to be part\n of a tech firm that I share a mission and vision with. Although I am focused on design, I have gathered a lot of other\n soft and hard skills through projects and group work in line with the field.\n
\n\n I like to be part of something trying to achieve a greater good, thus I am involved as a volunteer in a couple of organisations.\n This gives me the platform and opportunity to work with wonderful people on amazing things. I enjoy innovation camps\n as they engage my creativity and brainstorming skills and are a prime setting to meet open and like-minded individuals.\n Other interests of mine, apart from the standard listening to music and watching movies, include: art, both traditional\n and digital,\n Gatka, the Sikh Martial art, playing the\n Tabla, percussion instrument and\n Bhangra, traditional Punjabi folk dance.\n
\n\n Why Turku?\n
Turku is a special city to live in since it packs a global experience in a town of its size. I have met people from different\n countries, cultures, languages and educational backgrounds here. The town is small enough that I can walk around and\n get my affairs sorted. There’s a very well connected network of buses also, which you might take for granted until during\n the winter! :D )\n
\n The town is in close proximity to the capital Helsinki and sees a lot of daily traffic to and fro. Being a student-city,\n Turku is very comfortable to live in as the city has been planned with students in mind and aims to make daily life as\n easy and comfortable as possible. We have all the facilities we need at our disposal, from fair-deal apartments to a\n huge selection of study literature at the various libraries around the city and in the surrounding region.\n
\n\n The town is not too big, so life doesn’t just rush by and at the same time is big enough to allow lots of employment opportunities\n and scalability for businesses. One can engage in all kinds of fun activities as well, ranging from different indoor\n sports and activities during the colder seasons to hikes and trekking routes open to the public, for the residents to\n enjoy during the warmer months.\n
\n
\n\n\n Why the Student Ambassador Network?\n
I heard about the Student Ambassador Network and learnt that they are actively promoting the region. I felt like I wanted\n to do the same and took the opportunity to join the team and I must say, I have already learnt a lot in this little while.\n It has helped my social and professional network grow as I have been able to attend more events and go on company visits\n around the region. All the Ambassadors have rich backgrounds and are very interesting people. One can never run out of\n an interesting topic of discussion with a multitude of different points of view on the table.\n
\n Your mission?\n
I see the potential in the town I live in and its surrounding region and think they have a lot to offer anyone that\n visits or wants to establish themselves here. My primary reason for joining the Student Ambassador Network is to promote\n it as a region for people to come and study in. I want to share the privilege and beauty of the region that I experience\n everyday with others and hopefully leave them full of fantastic memories of a lifetime. The education here is of the\n best possible standard - there is no shortage of reports showing how effective the Finnish Education System is, ranking\n it as\n the best in the world. A good educational background opens up enormous opportunities to explore later in life, both\n personally and professionally.\n
\n Where do you see Turku region in the future?\n
The South-West region of Finland is a very promising and fertile ground for all kinds of things. You can already feel\n the ripples that signal the incoming tide of change, progress and industrial growth. However, in the coming years, the\n growth of the region is going to be very dramatically evident. A lot of big companies are investing in the region, engaging\n the economic growth, leading to numerous employment opportunities. This gets more people settling into and around the\n region, thus influencing other sectors like education, culture and lifestyle. The community is getting bigger and more\n diverse with Turku fast becoming an international hub as well.\n
\n Feel free to get in touch with me for a chat or something of the like on any of these channels:\n
\n\n LinkedIn\n Facebook\n Twitter\n Instagram\n
\n\n Text and picture, Simranjit Singh\n
","heading":"\"I want to share the privilege and beauty of the region\"","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fc8f124-e07384-3d747csingh-group.png?alt=media&token=aa9ba575-c8d3-4c89-bdc0-094a4818eb8c"},"-LAvvpveXg3NrKrbGOcM":{"content":"\n #The gift of the Nile\n
Originally coming from the mysterious and exotic Egypt, Tarek was born and raised in the United Arab Emirates, one of\n the most internationalized countries in the world. This unique life experience provides him the opportunity to benefit\n from one of the oldest civilizations while immersing in a modern and international environment.\n
\n #Healing hands\n
With a special interest in dentistry, Tarek joined the College of Dental Medicine at the University of Sharjah in the\n UAE. Later on, he came to Turku to continue his postgraduate studies in the same field. Currently being a Ph.D. student\n at the University of Turku, he is working on improving dental composites (A.K.A. “White Fillings!”).\n
\n\n #Soft skills\n
Besides dentistry, Tarek is also interested in soft skills development, as he believes that people should not only study\n professional knowledge, but also develop in a broader aspect. To implement this, he was appointed as the Regional Training\n officer at the International Association of Dental Students (IADS). This allowed him to be involved in training people\n from different countries and diverse professional backgrounds.\n
\n #Making connections\n
Being passionate about making connections with people, Tarek has been actively involved in networking activities. Before\n he joined the Ambassador Network, he was a founding board member of the University of Sharjah Dental Students’ Association,\n as well as Regional Director for the Middle East at IADS. Inspired by the old Egyptian saying “one hand does not clap”,\n Tarek believes that we “always make the best better when we do things together.”\n
\n #Expect to “harvest”\n
To Tarek, the South-West Finland has “a fertile ground with good potential that needs a bit of a push”. In his opinion,\n the South-West Finland has the right environment as well as room for further improvement and growth. Tarek’s interests\n are in collaborative initiatives in both education and the business sector. He is willing to utilize his experiences\n in order to make the “harvest” happen on this ground.\n
\n Text, Minghui Gao\n
","heading":"Tarek is a true Networking professional","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fb49b8c-793be9-4a1f91tarek_photo.png?alt=media&token=fad17e5f-7fac-424e-a702-0d40772d0a25"},"-LAvwPVR_Z_q_qX3aJpM":{"content":"\n \n What would you like to tell about yourself?\n \n
\n\n Hi! I’m Yuliia, from Ukraine. A combination of pure coincidence and curiosity about the Nordics led me to Finland. So as\n soon as I’ve got an opportunity to go to Finland, I with no hesitations decided to hop on it! In my case that opportunity\n came in my email box with a title «Welcome to Åbo Akademi University!». This is how I ended up here. At the moment I’m\n pursuing a Master’s Degree in Human Rights Law. I’m passionate about everything international, cultural, human rights,\n and also fine art, literature and cooking on weekends.\n
\n
\n\n \n What makes Turku a special city to live?\n \n
\n\n Many of us, students, mention its accessibility and comfort of a mid-sized town. Of course, it’s hard not to agree. If I\n was to pick one word to describe my first experience when I arrived to Turku, I’d go for «friendly». English-friendly,\n people-friendly, accommodation-friendly and many many more you’ll discover later . Whatever your interest whether is\n it learning Finnish language, sports or ice swimming, you’ll always have an opportunity to realize it here in Turku.\n
\n\n From a student perspective this town is a great choice. Student accommodation is offered for decent prices. From your new\n home you can usually reach campus within 30 minutes by bicycle or just walking. Tutors and teachers are always ready\n to give academic guidance. Student environment is very varied with people coming from all around the world. In addition,\n ESN offers countless fun activities in Turku and whole Finland.\n
\n\n \n Why you wanted to join to the Student Ambassador Network and what is your mission as a Student Ambassador of South-West Finland?\n \n
\n\n My main reason to join the Student Ambassador Network is to spread a good word about Turku and Finland as the experiences\n I had well overcame my expectations. Thus I’d like to convince in the opposite those who think of Finland as just being\n cold and expensive. In particular, in the field of education it can serve as a good example having one of the best internationally\n recognized education systems in the world.\n
\n\n \n Where do you see Turku region in the future?\n \n
\n\n In the future, and I’ll dare to assume, in the near future I see Turku as an active, developing and diverse town with many\n profiled international and local companies, people and citizens but also sharing its unique identity, culture and traditions.\n
\n\n Text and picture, Yuliia Mykhailova\n
","heading":"Turku is a friendly city","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Ffcc19e-12ff86-49f7f6yuliia.png?alt=media&token=56209695-dcd8-4a33-b8b5-2bc9cc73343c"},"-LAvzqYRfe8jiON7oUr3":{"content":"\n\tGood day to everyone who are reading this. My name is Fuad, and I have been a Student Ambassador of South-West Finland since\n\tlast year. Autumn has come, along with a new academic year in schools and a new round for ambassador application is now\n\topen; so I feel like why not take some time to look back to talk about the blessings of ambassadorship that was descended\n\tupon me.\n
\n\n\tIt all started in last year as I mentioned at the beginning. I applied and got into the program of volunteership to promote\n\tSouth-West Finland in different sectors such as business, education, tourism etc. Now one might ask why would someone work\n\tfor some organization during study period while investing time without making money? That’s a valid question, but hey, like\n\tthey say, there’s more to something than just meeting the eye; meaning that working volunteer may not benefit you in the\n\tshort run, however, if you are a person who understands bigger picture, then you can make lot out of this.\n
\n\n\tThat being said, why would you believe me without any substantial evidence, right? Of course, and that’s why I am going to\n\ttalk briefly who I was, and am right now.\n
\n\n\tFirst of all, like many of you, I am an international student of business in master’s level, and I speak neither Finnish\n\tnor Swedish. But I never got afraid of the culture and the people, rather I embraced it. My first step towards that was\n\tjoining as ambassador. First of all, like many of you, I am an international student of business in master’s level, and\n\tI speak neither Finnish nor Swedish. But I never got afraid of the culture and the people, rather I embraced it. My first\n\tstep towards that was joining as ambassador.\n
\n\n\tLets talk how that has benefited me. One of the many perks of Ambassadorship is that we are exposed to many inside information\n\tof future development. Therefore we have been through many sessions of trainings that expose you to know current state of\n\tthe country in almost every important aspect (education, business, tourism) and consequently can share them with others.\n\tI will mention the session types later on. One of the many sessions, that I like the most is to visit many private or public\n\tcompanies and meet with key personnel’s. The advantage of such visit is that you get to create and maintain connections\n\tthat will benefit you in future. So last spring this year, we visited Axel technologies, a small start up doing business\n\tin the OTT market. We got to know what Axel does through their presentation and a short q/a session. But how I got benefitted\n\tfrom this is an interesting turn of event. During a course work in school, we were supposed to write a chapter for a marketing\n\tacademic book. We were asked to look for a company, which operates in B2B sector. If I hadn’t known the CEO of Axel from\n\tAmbassador meeting, I never could have interviewed Axel for our course work, and published the book. To me, that’s an extraordinary\n\tachievement, which can be added in resume for future job opportunities.\n
\n\n\tBut I didn’t stop there. During the beginning of my second academic year, I had been planning to conduct my Masters thesis\n\twork with a company so that my academic understanding can be implemented practically in field. With that in mind and help\n\tfrom Ambassador network, I successfully landed Masters thesis position with the city itself for an upcoming project that\n\tinvolves digitalization.\n
\n\n\tAll these couldn’t have been done without the help of the people of Ambassador network. Because at the end of the day, it’s\n\tnot only your academic result that defines you, also how you have managed resourceful networks is also very important and\n\twill help you get to your end goal.\n
\n\n\tLike I said before, as an ambassador you would have to attend plenty of informative sessions that will give you a brief picture\n\tof South-West Finland’s strongest points so that to share them with your friends and families. There are three most important\n\tdomains that we work on and these are – education, business and tourism. Southwest Finland’s best institutions are great\n\tat quality education and research; therefore we learned about the best higher education institutions here and how they maintain\n\ttheir quality. We also came to know about the top grossing companies, and how external investors can come here and invest\n\tin such areas. More of such information can be found\n\there\n
\n\n\tDid I mention that we also learned how to pitch ourselves? If you are thinking of setting up your own business, then it might\n\tbe important for you. You can learn various techniques and smart tactics in pitching your ideas to investors in a convincing\n\tway.\n
\n\n\tVisiting companies is another angle to get to know more about diversified fast growing business market in South-West region\n\tin Finland that are arranged by this program, let alone the fact that its another great way to make helpful connections\n\tfor future. Towards this effort, we visited companies such as Axel technologies, city newspaper Turkulainen and so on. So\n\tif you plan to stay in Finland after graduation and want to work for a company, ambassadorship program will help you making\n\tthe initial connections.\n
\n\n\tWhether you are a student or a businessperson or a Finnish enthusiast, ambassador network is a great place to hang, listen,\n\tshare opinion and grow yourself into whole another level. The choice is yours!!!\n
","heading":"It`s your time to apply for Ambassador program!","image":""},"-LAwm39wtuTxFVWxF0Pg":{"content":"\n\tAutumn is not just a season of the year. No, in Finland it might become your favourite one. Why? Because of Ruska. Ruska\n\tis the phenomen when the leaves get coloured in fall. They become yellow, orange and red, so that the trees - and Finland\n\thas many of them - look as if they were on fire. After summer days are getting shorter and temperatures decrease but before\n\twinter is coming nature shows again how beautiful it can be. This happens usually at the end of September and beginning\n\tof October but it can vary a bit, of course, depending on the year and the location in Finland. But that also means it happens\n\tRIGHT NOW.\n
\n
\n\n\tHow can you experience Ruska? Of course you can enjoy it best in places with lots of trees. In Finland this shouldn´t be\n\ta challenge. Nature can be found basically everywhere and it is not far away even from cities, so for example if you live\n\tin Turku you can easily go to Ruissalo. You can also visit one of many national parks in Finland. There you can go hiking\n\twith friends, enjoy some fresh air and take many photos. I have to admit that I don´t get tired of those stunning colours\n\tespecially when they are reflected in a clear lake.\n
\n\n\tYou can combine that also with other activities typical for that time of the year: mushroom- and berry-picking. Please be\n\tcareful and remember to only eat what you know. If you are not experienced, you can also buy them for example at the market\n\tsquare of Turku (Kauppatori). You can get fresh chanterelle, lingonberry... and my favourite one: blueberry. Do it like\n\tthe Finns who usually fill their freezers with these superfoods for the winter, or you don´t wait and bake a cake -it´s\n\tup to you! However, you should not miss the colourful autumn in Finland.\n
\n","heading":"My first time...Ruska","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fc8d7c1-c4e6f2-1d0de2colourful_trees_1.jpg?alt=media&token=7ed06914-ec76-4cd6-aa83-f22d86cd25a1"},"-LAwotYJs9eJ6XIrLBTX":{"content":"\n\tEveryone can open his or her own restaurant for one day – four times a year and without bureaucracy. This sounds too good\n\tto be true. And it tastes even better! One year ago I experienced my very first Restaurant Day in Turku. I have to admit\n\tthat it took me almost the whole day because I became addicted to trying new flavors and spots which are only there on that\n\tspecial day. Ceviche in Forum Kortteli, the best Hummus I have ever eaten near the cathedral, a refreshing smoothie next\n\tto Aurajoki, a colorful cake in student village….\n
\n\n\tYou can find local as well as international delicacies spread all over the city and sold at a good price. If you want to\n\tcome prepared then check in advance online (restaurantday.org) where the pop-up restaurants hide – maybe even in your neighborhood.\n\tIt is a good opportunity to enjoy new food and get to know others while wondering around.\n
\n
\n\n\tRestaurant Day or Ravintolapäivä is a Finnish invention and was celebrated for the first time in 2011. In the meantime it\n\thas become a worldwide success. The next one is coming soon on 20th of May. I will definitely go and discover new taste\n\tsensations and maybe someday I will sell cakes myself.\n
\n\n\tphoto\n
","heading":"My first time - Restaurant Day","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F7772c6-b1b115-955bf6restaurant_day.jpg?alt=media&token=fc03d0ee-579c-4e19-818b-d1ac7a441425"},"-LAwquLZZDlnW83BSbg0":{"content":"\n\tYou don’t need to go see a psychologist to understand that you are going under depression because of same old work and studies\n\tover and over again that you have been doing for ages. No, you understand that perfectly and you also realize that sometime\n\tyou need a break from this conventional life you are leading by doing something refreshing. We all came across such situations.\n
\n\n\tAt the beginning of the March this year, I was having the same feeling. I gave too much of myself for heavy pressure of studies\n\tand work that I forgot that I need to balance my life with some chilling activities too. 24 hour IOT(internet of things)\n\tinnovation competition camping at Salo came upon me as blessings at that moment and I grabbed it.\n
\n
\n\n\n\tSince I live in Turku, it was an hour journey by bus for me to get there. In cases you have other means of transportation\n\tlike car, it will even take less time. Being a participant, I didn’t have to worry about the transportation, therefore I\n\twould not be able to mention here which bus to take to go there-that you have to do by yourself.\n
\n\n\tLocated by the riverside, we stayed in a beautiful mansion called “Bergvik” which is mainly known for its tourism, accompanied\n\tby two petite housing, one of which is used for meetings/presentation/reading room and so on, and the other one is for sleeping\n\tpurpose only. Moreover, there is a riverside wooden sauna, where you can sit back, relax, breath minty hot air, and when\n\tit feels too hot, you can always jump into the river to balance your body temperature. After you are done with sauna, you\n\tcan always enjoy bonfire barbeque all night if you want.\n
\n\n\tOur camping started with delicious lunch with super fresh salad, bread, vegetables and soup. During our lunch, the manager\n\tof the manor came to the café hall and welcomed us with a brief history of the place. After having lunch, we went to a different\n\tbuilding where all the meetings are usually held.\n
\n\n\tThe IOT innovation camp (also called ChallengeTurku) is organized each year to help companies develop their business. This\n\tyear, a company called “Satel” has joined and asked for creative solutions for their products. At first their representatives\n\tgave us a brief introduction to the company. The company website link is given below. After we got the picture of the company\n\tand its products and business process, the organizers formed us into several groups, and this each group has to generate\n\ta new innovative business idea that leverages new technology and Satels product. My group was a diversified one since members\n\there were from Finland, Iran, and China etc. Once the groups were formed, several presentations were made by teachers from\n\tUniversity of Turku to show us the guidelines, procedures and business models in order to shape our thinking pattern.\n
\n\n\thttps://www.satel.com\n
\n\n\tApproximately at 5pm, we started working on ideas, and worked till half past six when they called us for dinner. After dinner\n\twe had yet another training session on “pitching”, a useful and informative pitching for students like us. After the session,\n\twe had our sauna turns, and like I said before this is a wooden sauna, a far better experience than that of electric sauna\n\tfound in urban areas. Later after sauna, beside the sauna house, there is a place for barbeque with ready corn and sausage.\n\tWe continued working after sausage party till 2pm at midnight when then we called it a night. We woke up early at 6:30 in\n\tthe morning to take our breakfast and prepare for our final presentation, which was supposed to start from 10am.\n
\n\n\tAfter judges arrived, we all gave our pitches one by one. Many intriguing ideas were presented, and finally two teams were\n\tselected as winners in two different categories.\n
\n
\n\n\tAfter the declaration and prize ceremony at 12pm in the noon, it was time to wrap up the camping, and for us to get back\n\tto our home. Apart from the competition, I will specially remember this occasion not for the participation, but for the\n\thospitality of the people, the warm rural environment and the nice people I met along the way. And did I mention that the\n\tpeople I met here are from Africa, Middle East, Europe and Asia. Therefore it’s quite apparent that events like these are\n\tthe best place to meet diversified people around the world.\n\n
\n\n\tAs for the place, like I said it before, visiting to salo was a breakthrough for me since I was getting tired of my urban\n\tlife. No doubt that people who live in urban areas, will love Bergvik in Salo as it will give them a relaxing and soothing\n\texperience. My suggestion is that if you are Finnish but you neither went to Salo nor Bergvik, please go now, otherwise\n\tyou wont be able to tell others that there are other amazing places in Finland to visit other than Lapland.\n
\n\n\tReference:\n
\n\n\t1.\n\thttps://www.facebook.com/events/806627566132281/\n
\n\n\t2.\n\thttp://www.bergvik.fi/\n
","heading":"24-hour at Bergvik, Salo","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F450dfb-77be1-5d33defuad1.png?alt=media&token=baa0424f-1f2a-4f0e-9d00-948a132385bb"},"-LAwsrMRRaEJC9dBNihI":{"content":"\n\tOn 3rd of April, with first spring day arrives in Turku, the student network of west-east Finland was invited by the second\n\tmost disseminated local newspaper within the region.\n
\n\n\tHosted by the newly-appointed Editor-In-Chief Janne Koiviasto, all ambassadors are given the chance of knowing how the most\n\tprestige non-subscription tabloid’s running pattern and the history of the newspaper. The secret of being the constantly\n\tthrilling tabloid within the region is “we feed our readers with information of groundings of no kind” says Janne, “there\n\tis pages for dispute, where we deliver ‘spicy’ opinions from local residents. Feedbacks are welcomed to us. By doing so,\n\tour newspaper do not supporting any party”. The new ideology of the newspaper indicates that ‘Turkulainen’ as the name suggests\n\tis ‘Turku’+ ‘lainen’, it is all about the region and for the people who lives here, for whom of living a happy life.\n
\n
\n\n\tLike the other over 2000 small companies under the led by keskisuomelainen media company, Turkulainen is not immune to the\n\tstruggle of the facts that the ad-selling is the base of the newspaper. In ratio of 1:2 journalists and salesmen are doing\n\ttheir best to keep the paper running, from the year of 2015 to year 2016 the distribution sum had risen from 100.100 to\n\t129.000, with 19.4% in total. Under the influence of the financial recession world-wide, social media’s competitive marching\n\tinto the paper media’s field, Turkulainen’s performance in the market is a satisfaction.in Part of the national media survey,\n\tpaper copies plus online clicks together, in the year of 2015, the figure is high up to 129.000. Clearly, Turkulainen is\n\tamong the most popular on the worldwide web as well.\n
\n\n\tJanne had invited ambassadors to participant in the online blog session of the newspaper, wishing to see more articles reflect\n\ton “Finnish matters” in the foreign eye. “Human touch” is one of the features Turkulainen holds valuably, the charm of being\n\tthe most popular tabloid in South-West Finland. By 2 versions of one week to coexist with the daily, Turku Sanomat, the\n\tlargest daily newspaper within, Turkulainen serves the duty of being the local media. Being active in the social media,\n\tTurkulainen is expanding the targeted readers regardless of the ages, backgrounds or ethnicity by keeping its high tolerances\n\ton contexts.\n
\n
\n\n\tResonates to the ambassadors’ mission of being the promoting bridge to present the region to the world, Turkulainen would\n\tjoin hand with the network in communication concerning Turku region as the ideal destinations of education, business and\n\ttourism from the world perspective.\n
\n\n\tThe meeting was ended in an interactive discussion on news and journal writings. Janne gave a few suggestions of writing\n\tskills on practicals such as subjects and word length, which are more than helpful to the student ambassadors in fulfilling\n\ttheir individual missions in communication.\n
\n\n\tPictures, Annika Bernitz\n
","heading":"It takes 15 years to become one, visit to Turkulainen","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fd76b65-12b96b-3aed44turkulainen_vierailu_1.jpg?alt=media&token=7c6f3e74-97e6-439e-aafa-18b37247b8bb"},"-LAwuMOwQBi_p58xkPlW":{"content":"\n\tThe course of intercultural communication at Turku School of Economics has really motivated me, much more kindled my curiosity\n\tabout the cultural differences and social norms of Finns, and particularly the “formula” of Finnish reputation of creativeness.\n\tThat is why I decided to seek for answers to myself. After long discussions with a professor, classmates, and several entrepreneurs,\n\tthe lesson to me is that “Finnish operation” is mostly build based on “TRUST”. TRUST could appear to be a luxury in several\n\tplaces in the world; however, TRUST in Finland in simply the fundamental aspect of life.\n
\n
\n\n\n\t\n\t\tThe so-called Finnish trust\n\t\n
\n\n\tNormally, trust can be built based on a long period relationship via punctuality, keeping promise, working results, or even\n\tgoing through the mill. In other words, it usually takes people a lot of time to prove to each other that they are reliable.\n\tSurprisingly, by means of my local friend Teemu, I knew that there is another type of trust that makes Finns the whole different\n\tfrom the rest of the world – Finnish trust: In a relationship, Finns trust you very early and it will last until you prove\n\tthat you cannot be trusted anymore. “That’s amaaazing!”, I yelled. Then I wondered for a while and without hesitation, I\n\thad a follow-up question: “So, what is behind that kind of trust?”. And Teemu calmly said: “Autonomy!”. Before setting foot\n\ton Finnish soil, I determined to seek for the secret of Finland’s success in innovation and education areas. Perhaps, “Finnish\n\tTRUST and AUTONOMY” turn out the be the secrets I am in search of.\n
\n
\n
\n\n\tLooking back on the history, Finland was the first country across the world that fully gave women the right to vote and to\n\tstand as a candidate in elections. Based as the trust interpretation, I guess this could be well explained by saying that\n\twomen are trusted to be also capable of doing anything that men have been proud of for centuries. For this reason, it is\n\tnot difficult to understand why now, the country ranks number at the top in terms of the percentage of women parliamentarians,\n\twith women holding 42 posts in 2016 (according to the World Bank’s data\n\thttp://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS\n\t).\n
\n\n\t\n\t\tTrust in daily life\n\t\n
\n\n\tIt seems not to be difficult to incalculably find out trust and autonomy in Finland just because those characteristics have\n\tbeen an essential part of Finns. As I see, most houses in Finland have no fences as Finns believe that other people are\n\twhitehanded. While in supermarkets in Vietnam, there are up to two staff standing close to an electronic scale to “help”\n\t(!) consumers to weigh stuff and then seal the packs, buyers in Finland themselves weigh fruit or vegetable and then stick\n\tprice labels on the packs. Finland is the place that long-distance bus passengers do not have any tickets when leaving their\n\tbaggage in the luggage compartments, whereas even though you are holding a ticket somewhere else, you sometimes have to\n\treport your luggage situation at the LOST and Found (!). On crossing the street, pedestrians believe in drivers to give\n\tway to them, so people usually just cross without watching out vehicles. Personally, on being invited to a local guy’s home\n\tfor five days on the occasion of New Year, it was astonishing to me that they even did not close their bedroom door. “Wow!\n\tHow come Finns have put trust in others that way? What a splendid land!!!”. It is quite strange to me and probably, this\n\tnever happens in my home country (!).\n
\n
\n\n\n\t\n\t\tTrust in education\n\t\n
\n\n\tPerchance trust is the key the general operation in Finland and can be found easily in the Finnish education system. The\n\tlogic is simple like this: society completely place trust in school system that schools have highly qualified teachers.\n\tIn return, schools strongly believe that teachers are well-trained individuals. So, teachers can fully exercise the right\n\tto freely arrange and design learning environments in the class that best suit individual students. Accordingly, parents\n\ttrust teachers to be capable of helping children improve and learn. In the class, teachers put trust in students that they\n\twill learn for their own learning and knowledge. In accordance, students trust teachers to bring them “necessarily valuable\n\ttools” for their life journey. And society believes in the education system and give it the complete respect that it deserves.\n\tIt works in a simple way! For this reason, the whole system requires less structures, less rules and less costs in operation.\n\tFinland has been making it works well.\n
\n
\n\n\t\n\t\tTrust at workplace\n\t\n
\n\n\tFinnish people take “autonomy” for granted at workplace, which is implied to supply sufficient tools for work, such as good\n\twork facilitation, coordination, and role clarification. Once a task is assigned to Finns by a senior, they automatically\n\tbecome ‘self-bossed’. It means that they have individual responsibility for quality work, and contact the manager only when\n\tthey come up with a problem. It is interesting to know that Finns mostly keep silent and just go ahead with a shared goal\n\tat work, while Swedes keep discussing to modify the goal even after a decision has been made, both making those from American\n\tculture feel annoyed or difficult to collaborate with. Compared to other cultures, it would be rare to hear that Finns complain\n\tone another about the need for more autonomy. I may figure out that Finnish autonomy, taken for granted by Finns, leads\n\tto trust. In this context, it is natural for Finns to be more creative because they have freedom in their areas.\n
\n
\n\n\tI think I have fallen in love with you, Finland! To me, You are almost the Paradise!\n
\n\n\tPhotos\n\t
\n\thttp://www.worldatlas.com/articles/first-15-countries-to-grant-women-s-suffrage.html\n\thttps://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/how-smart-leaders-build-trust\n\thttps://de.fotolia.com/tag/wirsing\n\thttp://www.ibtimes.co.uk/equal-rights-10-best-worst-countries-attitudes-towards-gender-equality-1528452\n
\n\t\n\t\tData source\n\t\n
\n\n\tProportion of seats held by women in national parliaments\n\t
\n\thttp://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SG.GEN.PARL.ZS\n\n
\n\tThe Student Ambassadors of South-West Finland\n\tEmrah Yildir and\n\tEftychia Giatsiou participated at the Working in Finland seminar by having two presentations of their international\n\tstudying and working life in Finland so far. The seminar was organised by Career Services and the Student Unions and it\n\twas aimed at all international students and graduates from the Universities of Turku.\n
\n\n\tMain theme of the seminar was to inform international students on the working life in Finland: the possibilities offered\n\tafter graduation, the services to be consulted when looking for a job, and generally which are the key points for successfully\n\tlanding a job or an internship or even someone starting up their own business in Finland. The Student Ambassadors were invited\n\tto the seminar to share their personal experiences on how they got a job opportunity after/while studying.\n
\n
\n\n\tEmrah shared his experience on working in the pharmaceutical company Valmet for 3 months for the past 3 years. His presentation\n\tincluded how he first moved to Finland in 2009 to pursue his Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and how then he continued\n\tas a PhD candidate in Pharmaceutical Science. He spoke about travelling in Denmark and Germany for research and work, becoming\n\tmore interculturally mind oriented, and he emphasized on the grants he got that helped him build his professional career.\n\tHe also mentioned the Ambassador Network and the importance of staying connected through the University years.\n
\n
\n\n\tEftychia on the other hand gave a presentation on the means and networks she used for landing a job and the services that\n\tplayed a major role in her job search. She emphasized on the importance of being part of a network already from the early\n\tUniversity years and she mentioned that being a member of the Ambassador Network has had a positive effect on her job search\n\tand for being called for job interviews.\n
","heading":"The Student Ambassadors of South-West Finland at the Working in Finland seminar","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2Fff5c12-cc476e-16c592workinginfinlandseminar.jpg?alt=media&token=50b22cdb-a2fc-4881-8bd5-559d88562bf9"},"-LL3ht-4MGQKNn7gS78K":{"content":"\nWhat the hell? When you fly to Helsinki this sign might be one of the first things you see in Finland: Welcome to HEL. \n
\n\nWell, Finland is known for its rather cold climate but in summer it can get warm. These days it has been more than 25 degrees, it was even hot. In Finnish you call this “helle” – and it feels like hell. 25 degrees is not hot? After having proper winter for months with up to about -30 degrees the difference feels big.\n
\n\n\n*+25 degrees or more is called “helle” in Finnish – and it feels like hell.\n\n
\n\nMoreover, most buildings are built for cold weather, not heat. Insulation, double windows make you feel like being in sauna. In Turku the heat record this year was +33,3 degrees. \n
\n\n\nWeather map, caption: Highest temperature in 2018\n
\nFor some Finns this is even too hot. According to a study the best temperature for them is 14 degrees. Of course, weather is always a popular topic to talk about, but Finns do not complain about it all the time – although they could. I like this attitude of just accepting the conditions as they are because you ca not change them anyway. Personally, I am not a summer person and I would claim that liking winter is an advantage when living in Finland permanently.\n
\n\nFinns know how to enjoy winter they know how to enjoy summer to the fullest. When sun never really sets in summer and it is hot like in hell, take a dip in the lake, grab a chilled drink and do not forget: Winter is coming.\n
\n\nSources:\n
\n\n\n\nPhotos:\n
\nWhen beautiful faces and smart minds meet!
\n\nChilling evening with 5 PhD candidates from “North Summer School” of Roma Tre University and Rome Business School. They have fallen for the first Finnish student city. During the programme organised by Turku University of Applied Sciences TUAS the participants have been focusing on innovative pedagogy and entrepreneurship education.
\nDuring the week several student Ambassadors have been networking with the guests, presenting them the Finnish education system and providing them with social programme, such as visiting museums and cycling in the archipelago.
\n\n","heading":"University networking ","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F41089676_10212975281842099_2783084399162294272_o.jpg15363179714991536318126050?alt=media&token=809fd31f-6970-4e0f-b4dd-2e03bb987d57"},"-LMMGMo0314DK6GprNMW":{"content":"\nWhen it comes to being a student ambassador, one of the exciting experiences is to promote the South-West Finland region globally, making the region more visible on the World’s map. Ambassadors spread the name Turku in their home countries, making Turku and its distinguishing and unique features familiar to every ear. This fun task is also fulfilled when visitors visiting Turku or the South-West Finland region are familiarized with the great potentials of this place. But there is a personalized twist – it is through the eyes of the ambassadors.\n
\n\nBack in April this year, Tarek Omran and I, as student ambassadors, were suggested to give a short bus tour of Turku to a group of international visitors attending the Turku University of Applied Sciences International week. We were really excited to give the tour as a duet. However, to our surprise there was only one microphone on the bus for the two of us. After a short game of rock-paper-scissors, the winner, Tarek, kicked-off the tour as the bus driver started to drive. We continued the tour by often passing the mic and telling our own stories and experiences of every place the bus drove by as we made it further and further through Turku. The bus stopped at three locations: the Turku castle, the Forum Marinum museum, and finally the cathedral, were we all took a final group photo. The funniest part of the tour was the comments of several visitors suggesting we pursue a new career of being tour guides! The most enjoyable however, was answering the questions of individual visitors, asking us about our background and why are we in Finland and who are student ambassadors. The day continued by a visit to the Joki business center and a get together dinner at Potkuri center coupled with cheerful and joyful discussions. The highlight of this event was the awesome people that we met, and the friendships that we built. We further enhanced the connections we made through a smoked sauna gathering the next day and we learnt a lot more about each other through the refreshing ice dips and relaxing sauna steams. On top of all these, one of the student visitors is currently an exchange student in Turku, and all the fun and exploring of the city is being continued.\n
\n\nKhalil Shahramian\n
","heading":"A visit through the eyes of the locals!","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2FInternational%20week_DSC07475.jpg15369146706081536914700473?alt=media&token=edcd434a-9746-49a6-a5f1-96394e133e9d"},"-LOvfD151AAqfKBrPHUE":{"content":"\nDoctorate students and a professor visited Turku and the student ambassadors have been given the opportunity to meet and greet and show Turku city to them. Trips included visit to museum, beach, Sauna. After Italian students had a hectic week with their respective schedules with presentations at the University of Applied Sciences, a leisure trip to Ruissalo beach with Sauna and BBQ was awaiting them. We took few students to buy some groceries for BBQ preparation. \n
\n\nSurprise :\n
\n\nItalians surprised us with their kindness by presenting gifts to us which gave an admirable impression.\n
\n\nSea Swimming, Sauna and BBQ:\n
\n\nSome students went swimming on a boat in the middle of the sea. Some students were briefly shooted from sky using a high tech drone camera. After that we burnt the coals for sausages, meal included Italian cheese, salad and bread. Sauna had a glass view from inside to the seashores which made it a unique way of experiencing Sauna life.\n
\n\nWitnessing the Sunset and enjoying delicious food while chatting about various general subjects and spirituality made the occasion of a sensational story experience of the dip into cold sea water soon after Sauna had an energy booster feeling which enlightened many of us. \n
\n\nDeparting: being engaged into these extraordinary moments we lost track of the time and missed out on our last bus to city center. This turned out to be a great opportunity to stick and travel together using own conveyance and we managed to squeeze together and get back to our respective homes. \n
\n\nWaterbus trip: \n
\n\nThe very next day some of us met in city center again and decided to walk along the river Aura and grabbed an ice cream to enjoy some sweet memories and thoughts together. Then we went through the path of waterbus and decided to hop on it towards the next station Forum Marinum where we had opportunity to take river view pictures and visit couple of ships including Army ship, hostel ship and a display ship.\n
\n\nStudents expressed their interest to come to Turku again. This was a great opportunity for networking and connecting with Italian talents.\n
\n\nCheers, Tarek Omran\n
","heading":"Lovely time with lovely people from Italy","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F20180907_194338.jpg15396727464281539673259713?alt=media&token=10068e80-cef0-469c-9474-7e505cb769c8"},"-LOvj9hZMSiDlBOiL41u":{"content":"\nOn October 4th, the student Ambassadors took part in a training session on South-West Finland as a tourism destination. Experts from the University of Turku and University of Applied Sciences presented some facts about tourism in general and put our region into the map. Major attractions from the region were presented to the student Ambassadors. The training raised a lot of interest about tourism promotion and attraction of foreign tourists into the region. Education and science tourism were two of the topics discussed that evening.\n
\n\nProgram: \n
\n\nTourism in Southwest Finland - by Ms Juulia Räikkönen D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.), Post-Doctoral Research Fellow from the University of Turku\n
\n\nFinland as wellness tourism destination: best source of natural well-being in the world? -by MsTelle Tuominen, Senior lecturer from TUAS.\n
\n\nJuulia holds a doctoral degree in economic geography and work as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Turku School of Economics. She is interested in experiential consumption in its various forms, e.g. tourism, leisure, culture, well-being and retailing. Since 2010, she has been the editor-in-chief of the Finnish Journal of Tourism Research. She endeavours to promote tourism research on various levels. Juulia is a board member of the Finnish Society for Tourism Research, and represent Finland at the Nordic Society for Tourism and Hospitality Research (NORTHORS). Moreover, she is an active member of the Turku Tourism Academy, a cooperation network of local tourism reseachers and educators.\n
\n\nTelle has MA and M.Sc. (Econ.) degrees, and w…orks for TUAS as Senior Lecturer in tourism management and marketing. She is coordinating the wellness tourism business specialisation in business administration. She is co-author of The Routledge Handbook of Health Tourism (2017) as well as editor and co-author of the eBook How to develop a competitive health and well-being destination (2014). Telle is responsible for co-ordinating the ongoing project of Defence in the Archipelago. She was also a core team member of the EU financed projects Productizing the Finnish Lifestyle, Health and Well-being in Tourism Destination, and Innovation and Learning in Spa Management.\n
","heading":"Training session: South-West Finland as a tourism destination","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2F43097378_10156379825609584_8880360959160352768_n.jpg15396744002091539674419210?alt=media&token=dd10cd3a-fec1-47d0-951b-0ebf86b42691"},"-LZtACDyZQ1-SoOizH5u":{"content":"Can you imagine it being summer? When looking out of the window and seeing the wintery landscape while having -10 degrees, it is hard. But it´s the perfect time to make plans for summer that can open doors to Finnish working life as well: A summer job! (kesätyö)\n\nMy name is Kristaps Kovaļonoks and I come from Riga, Latvia. I moved to Turku in the Autumn of 2018 and am now pursuing a MA degree in Finnish and Other Finno-Ugric Languages at University of Turku (UTU). Alongside my studies, for the past few months I have been successfully representing UTU as a Student Ambassador and working as an Auditor at ESN Uni Turku student organization. These all serve as unique opportunities to improve my language skills, develop my network and expand my knowledge in different fields in a way that I just cannot do in my home country. Moreover, I am fortunate to improve my content production, reporting, communication, accounting and event planning skills.\n
\n\n\nUnlike most international students in Finland, I am fluent in Finnish and have spent a lot of time in Finland in the past (e.g. by participating in different summer courses, traineeships, exchange studies). In fact, my previous academic and working experience covers three countries: Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Also, my professional experience involves different fields, such as education, marketing and IT. Through rich experiences, I have gained an in-depth knowledge about conducting market research, providing excellent customer service, and managing different social media channels. I am also skilled in research, with good reporting skills, and experienced in delivering multiple projects in a timely manner.\n
\n\nBy becoming a member of Ambassador Network of South-West Finland, one of my key priorities will be to strengthen the cooperation between Finland and the Baltic countries (on a more global scale, covering the whole Baltic Sea Region) by supporting the mobility of young researchers and ensuring a better representation of this micro-region on the EU level. It is no secret that Finland, with its high living expenses, is currently failing to attract many international students and talents from the Baltic Sea Region. Therefore, my personal experience as both an exchange and degree student at UTU makes me an asset; thus, I can better identify and display the most crucial challenges and obstacles other international students are facing while trying to adapt, integrate and build a successful career in Finland.\n
\n\nFurthermore, I am eager to acquire new skills, continue adapting and pushing forward to every roadblock, work closely with other Student Ambassadors from different higher education institutions, lead others, be accountable for the success of the team, and have an important impact on the lives of other international students. I am confident that my success as Student Ambassador will depend upon my ability to positively affect other people. Developing my network, influencing others, connecting with stakeholders, and executing effective meetings will be fundamental to my success. I firmly believe that networking, done right, connects people with products, services, or information they need.\n
","heading":"Meet our new Student Ambassador Kristaps from Latvia","image":"https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/ambassadorsnetwork-f2db0.appspot.com/o/image-gallery%2FPhoto_new%20_Kristaps%20Kova%C4%BConoks%20(002).jpg15548870776851554887556500?alt=media&token=55f7aa78-21f1-4a0a-889c-b0b0690ad650"}}}