Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK)

Erasmus Intensive Programme for Social Services studies has begun on Monday the 13th of May. In total, there are over 60 participants, both teachers and students from six countries: Lithuania, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands and Finland.

See Me! Erasmus IP participants during the introduction day

During the two week programme the participants will get to know each other, work and study together and familiarize themselves a little with Finland and it's culture as well. In the programme there are several different workshops, visits and a lot of international teamwork!

Course participants prepared some special treats and drinks as a greeting from their region for the students and teachers of other countries. How nice!

See Me! -learning style. Fun!

Teamwork for the win!

Students and treats from Sevilla

Here in Finland we have this thing called Letkajenkka

Text: Panu Alanko
Photos: Sanna-Maria Anttila & Eveliina Anttila

International week for Nursing 2013 with the subject Family Nursing and Cultural Diversity of Nursing began on Monday with a cheerful performance by the TAMKvoice choir of staff and students.

TAMKvoice -choir with conductor Risto Hiltunen at the welcome event

Guests from six different countries gathered at TAMK's Kuntokatu 4 premises and started getting to know each other and the topics of the week. The guests will be having presentations about their own countries' interesting health care or nursing topics like Homeless attendance in Madrid or Nutrition in Kenya. The other events of the week consist of for example lectures, student presentations and a visit to the Tampere University Hospital.

Guests of the Internation week for Nursing

Text: Tuula Härkönen & Panu Alanko

Photos: Tuula Härkönen

The event called New Factory Open gathered several hundred people yesterday to see the best Demola projects from Finland and abroad, the New Factory start-ups and the speakers from different innovation sectors. The day climaxed with a pitching competition of three Demola teams that were selected to the finals out of all Demola teams the day before. The winner of the best Demola team award was chosen by an international jury.

A bunch of TAMK students have been working in Demola projects this season and TAMK was strongly presented also in the teams that made their way to the final competition.

The winners of the best Demola team award, including also two TAMK media students:
Rosanna Salminen and Erika Sangah Kim.

One of the three teams in the final competition was working on a project called "Visualize it!" for Yle, the national broadcasting company. The international TAMK group members, Joanne NH Wong, Lubos Rezler and Martin Kleinberns were happy for being a part of Demola community. After the last pitching, only one thing needs to be done with the project: to present their concept for Yle representatives in the headquarters in Helsinki.

The succesful Visualize it! team created a concept called Uncle Onni for Yle to attract young people.

TAMK exchange student Martin Kleinberns giving a pitch

The event attracted lot of people to see what's going on in the innovation scene

Changseok Kang ,TAMK exchange student in Chemical Engineering, and Réka Hajdu-Rahkama,
TAMK degree student in Environmental Engineering, were happy to present their Demola project.

This was the end of Demola Spring Season, but applying for Demola Summer starts at week 24. If you, TAMK degree or exchange student, are interested to work in a multidisciplinary team to create innovative solutions for real-world needs, check out the Demola page for more information.

Text and photos: Kaisa Merilahti, International Services

The fifth annual International Week for Non-Teaching Staff 2013 is approaching fast! The final preparations and finishing touches are getting done and the participants are counting days, some even hours till their arrival. The week begins in afternoon of Monday the 27th of May and lasts till Friday the 31st. The main topic of the week is "Intercultural Communication Skills", which should be interesting for everyone in the globalizing world of today!

The chaos under control.

Most of the programme at TAMK will be organized at modern premises of the Y-Kampus. Participants from all over Europe will work together and share their knowledge from their own expertise areas. The course will have seven different department expert groups: Library Services, Communications and Marketing Services, Financial Services, Project Management Services, Human Resources Services, Student Employment Services and last but not the least the IT Services.

Y-Kampus premises getting ready for the week.

The total amount of over fifty course attendees from 14 countries will work within their expertese group and with everyone else as well. Other organized events in the programme are for example a daytrip of work and Finnish culture to Maisansalo and a visit to Tampere University of Technology. Exciting!

The way we want our international guests to feel!

First things first.

Materials, what materials?

Text and photos: Panu Alanko

Check out the video of winter impressions made by TAMK exchange student Stephan Besseling from Hogeschool van Amsterdam:

The video has been shot in Tampere, Helsinki, Baltic Sea and Lapland during Stephan's exchange period. He studied International Business at TAMK for Spring 2013 Semester.

The spring season showed the very different faces of Nordic climat for international students. The spring semester started with cold and snowy winter months and ended with sunny and bright, even hot days in May. In March a rare phenomenon occured when the clear and colorful northern lights were witnessed in Tampere.

At the same time when the summer arrived in Tampere, the exchange students started to get prepared for returning to their home countries. It's time to say goodbye and thank you for this academic year!

Text: Kaisa Merilahti, International Services

The management of SARAR company with IP participants

European Advertising Teams - EUTA IP 2013 was organised in Eskisehir, Turkey. Altogether around 40 students and staff members from Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and UK took part in LLP Erasmus intensive programme. From Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Finland six students participated the IP: Hanna Nelimarkka & Satu Majava from TAMK Virrat, Degree Programme in Media, Scriptwriting and Visual Expression, exchange students Gabriella Fodor & Petra Turi from TAMK Virrat and from Tampere Laura Heininen & Jaana Syrjälä from the Degree Programme in Tourism. The coordinator of the team from Finland was Senior Lecturer in Marketing Pirkko Varis.

Demonstration of SARAR products

Advertising and media expert presentation

Students were divided into multicultural teams to work with company assignments. From each of the countries one company had given an assignment to the IP. The main task of the students was to plan a marketing communications and an advertising campaign for the European markets. Special lectures were given by experts in marketing communications and advertising to give students guidance in their work. Staff members of the universities worked as coaches for the teams. Students built up marketing communications strategies, campaign plans and produced creative solutions for the companies. Each of the team worked hard across the multinational boundaries and produced several campaigns for the companies.

Teams working

From Finland the assignment was given by Iittala. The aim was to raise brand awareness and sales of the vases and bowls of Alvar Aalto Collection among the selected target audience in Europe, to influence on the target audience, to raise the recognition of Aalto on social media in European markets, and to design an integrated marketing communications campaign including both traditional media and internet, online & social media. The student team from Finland did a market survey before the IP and the multicultural team worked with the assignment in Turkey. The company got the results of the work and is able to use suggested ideas in its operations.

Presentation of one team

Pirkko Varis with other judges listening to presentations

Team Iittala with certificates

To work in a multicultural team with a real-life assignment was a very positive experience. In addition to the study programme, some visits to the region and cultural programme were organized. More about the experiences and feelings you can find in the Facebook.

We did it! Happy IP participants

Text: The team from Finland

Photos: Staff of Anadolu University

Tampere loves CLINT - at least so it says on the members' hoodies. But why? Who are CLINT and what
are they doing?

CLINT's "working clothes"

Club International Tampere (CLINT) is a sub-organisation of our student union Tamko and consists of currently 6 members who are all both students at TAMK and International Tutors of Tamko. The board members for the upcoming autumn semester are chairperson Sanna Hosike, vice chairperson Annika Dillenburger, pick-up coordinator Essi Ihalainen, event organizer Marjut Lievonen, survival kit coordinator Dylan Rafferty and webmistress Iida-Maria Järvi.

It is quiet in TAMK during summer, however, behind the scenes there is a lot of preparation going on in order to organize the upcoming semester in the best possible way. That includes also CLINT who are already preparing for a wave of new exchange students that want to be taken care of and entertained.
About 120 survival kits are returned in the beginning of summer by the exchange students who are leaving back to their homecountries and all of them have to be checked by CLINT, so they can be given to the new incoming exchange students in the fall without missing or unusable contents.

CLINT is checking the survival kits

Even though there is a separate person in charge of the survival kits, usually all available CLINT members do the survival kit checking in team work, because it is much faster and of course also a lot more fun.

With teamwork every task is finished twice as fast

Also the dates for the upcoming exchange student events during autumn have to be decided on and arranged and most venues and means of transportation have to be reserved well in advance, so also the event organizer has some amount of tasks to do during the teaching-free summer period.

Busiest during the summer is pick-up coordinator Essi, as she has to keep track of all exchange student arrivals - a record number of 180 this autumn - and make sure all of them are picked up by their tutor.

So if you are an exchange student about to arrive to TAMK - WELCOME! As you can see, CLINT is prepared and waiting for you!

Text: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services
Photos: Club International Tampere

International week participants at Pispalanharju.

TAMK International Week For Non-Teaching Staff ended on Friday the 31st of May and the 34 participants from all over Europe said their goodbyes to Finland, TAMK and new friends. The theme of the week was Intercultural Communication Skills and the programme of the week concentrated on it very effectively.

Finnish-German-French teamwork

The lectures of the week about intercultural communication skills were presented by international coordinator and PhD Ms. Irja Pietilä. During the week programme the guests and TAMK personnel got to study and work together in both theoretical and practical tasks. The group also visited another interesting university at Tampere, the University of Technology.

Irja Pietilä presenting her lecture about intercultural communication

Intense international teamwork during the lecture of Irja Pietilä. Can you find the positive Portuquese João in the picture?

One of the tasks was to draw together as a group, not as easy as it may seem like

A pair of finished group drawings by participants from Finland, France, Czech Republic and Germany. Stunning similarities!

During the programme at TAMK the guests and TAMK participants were divided into seven different Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for example to IT and Library services. During the SIG sessions they compared and shared information, knowledge and experiences of their own fields. Possible future co-operation and projects were also discussed, and hopefully this will be a start or continuation to useful and valuable partnership.

Human resources Special Interest Group discussion

Marketing and Communications SIG sharing information and experiences

After an intense start of the week of working and getting to know each other the participants got to enjoy the recreational parts of the programme as well. Tampere and Finnish culture were also playing a big part in the week programme and the guests got to know a bit about them for example from a sightseeing bus ride in Tampere and in the evening event at restaurant Kaisla located in the harbour Mustalahti. The number one culturally oriented event of the week was nevertheless the day trip to Maisansalo in Teisko, which is located only 30 minutes bus ride from Tampere.

Tuesday evening dinner at the restaurant Kaisla. Great setting and fantastic food!

At Maisansalo the week participants started the day with a lecture from Ms. Pietilä and after it was finished a delicious lunch was served. The lunch consisted of some traditional Finnish dishes, especially the fish dishes were fantastic. After the lunch the group got to try some Finnish summer games like croquet, mölkky and darts. Many visitors also tried nordic walking with our sports specialist from TAMK, Mr. Esko Tirkkonen. Big thanks to Esko for helping with the sports and games, because of him our guests managed to get to know a bit more about the Finnish culture!

TAMK representative Noora Kahra and the guests enjoying a beautiful summer day at Maisansalo

Croquet, a Finnish summer game, also playable in a wheelchair!

Action shot from a Mölkky game.

Most of the guests wanted to try the traditional Finnish smoke sauna offered at Maisansalo, what a nice and exciting atmosphere it was! The regular Finnish sauna also had many users, and the bravest also took a quick swim in the lake even though the temperature of the water was only 12 degrees Celcius. Relaxed smiles in sunshine after the experience were everywhere and the guests would have wanted to stay there for days.

A typical Finnish lakeside scenery and swimming after sauna were the favorites of our guests.

Relaxing after sauna

On the final day of the week the guests were asked to summarize what they had learnt about Finland and the topic of intercultural communication skills. The resulting presentations were both funny and full of information and smiling people. Judging from the teams' presentations and guests' feedback it was a really successful week in all aspects! Many thanks to our guests and participating TAMK personnel as well as the organizers and lecturers.

Aww, what a nice message.

A little overview of the week and the experiences of the participants

Summary of our guests' feelings on the last day

Text: Panu Alanko

Photos: Panu Alanko, Noora Kahra & Tuula Härkönen

The journey is over - at least for the over 800 students who successfully graduated from TAMK during this spring.
One of them is Oana Syrjäläinen, who studied for 4 years in the Degree Programme in Tourism and graduated on June 8th as Bachelor of Hospitality Management.
There are uncountable experiences and impressions to collect during the time as a student and Oana shared some of them with us.

Why did you decide to apply to TAMK in the first place?
Oana: I actually got the idea to apply for TAMK (or PIRAMK at the time) one day before the application period ended (February 2009). It came as a surprise even to me that I wanted to apply, as I was not previously considering going back to school (after having already 2 BA degrees from Romania). I guess we are not always preparing for the future, but the future prepares itself for us. Tourism felt like a natural choice, also from my recently discovered love of travelling and because the programme was taught in English.

What kind of benefits and opportunities did TAMK give you?
Oana: TAMK gave me opportunities to work and study abroad, though Erasmus programmes, which enriched my life through new experiences and the people I have met while on exchange.
In addition, for me the practical training was an excellent chance to get to know the hospitality industry from the worker's point of view also and opened the path to working life in Finland, something most people might take for granted but not a given for us, foreign students, who struggle with language and culture barriers.

Were there any unforgettable moments that need to be mentioned?
Oana: I cannot speak of "unforgettable moments" but I can speak of unforgettable people: my colleagues are beautiful people from all over the world and I am happy to have met every single one of them! I feel that we have learned a lot from each culture and that we have come together as a small team during these years.

How was the graduation ceremony?
Oana: It was great that I actually had butterflies while at the ceremony, it is I guess a unique feeling for me and for the other nowadays alumni to know that studies are over, new challenges lie ahead and we no longer have to stress about exams, bachelor thesis and credits anymore. The ceremony itself was pleasantly concise and the speakers wittily entertaining, with subtle cross references on previous speeches, uncommon for these type of events, I think. Clearly a good decision to be part of it! Bonus for me was that I got to speak to Markku Lahtinen (President, Managing Director of TAMK) during the coffee-and-cake event, it was a perfect ending to the studies.

Do you have specific plans for the future?
Oana: I am one of the lucky graduates not to find themselves in front of a big question mark about the future, as I am already part of the team that opened in July 2012 Tampere's "youngest" hotel, so I will continue working in the same place.

Would you recommend applying to TAMK to other students?
Oana: Yes, I would recommend TAMK to future students. TAMK is young, dynamic and, in addition to wide fields of study, there is a visible "fun" culture through international events and club gatherings. Basically, I think there is something for everyone on offer, no matter how demanding and what is more appealing, anyone can get involved and be a part of it.
As for studying, tourism is still one of my favourite topics, so I definitely recommend future students to take up courses in tourism, it opens up the taste for travelling beyond imagination. And a piece of advice for all those pondering whether to go abroad for a semester or not: DO IT, you will become part of a community that will give you amazing memories and you will meet people that might change your life!

Oana Syrjäläinen at the graduation ceremony

Text: Oana Syrjäläinen, Bachelor of Hospitality Management; Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services
Photo: Oana Syrjäläinen

IP and some fun, Alexander from the Netherlands and Alexandros from Greece

When I saw the IP Finland announcement I was like… Here we go…Application, approval, all done and ready to go. Fly to Helsinki, and boom, temp goes 20 degrees down from Greece. But I was expecting that wasn’t I? Helsinki is a great city, full of colour and character, even in cloudy days, imagine the sunny ones! Time runs out fast so get on the train to Tampere and after two hours, in Tampere we are!

Dr. Agata Maccarrone-Eaglen from Salford Business School, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Sieck from HTW Berlin and students in a presentation

After a proper sleep and breakfast the DIGISOMEMAR IP starts! Put together by the overactive – ever moving – always there – always on time [sharply] Pirkko Varis, Senior Lecturer in Marketing & International Coordinator from TAMK University of Applied Sciences, DIGISOMEMAR IP as its abbreviation suggests, is focused on digital, social and mobile media in marketing, internet and IT applications & management of M- and E-business.

Workshops

In truth it is all this and much more as, besides a sniff of digital marketing, you get the chance to meet people from different cultures, get along with them, work with them, share your thoughts, argue, agree, disagree and finally, just to break the ice, throw a proper party!

Some activities between the presentations

The IP is mainly conducted in a small town called Virrat and the participants stay in a nearby beautiful place called Lomasaari. As you would expect, it is built in a traditional Finnish style, every house has a sauna and, of course, you are surrounded by immersive landscapes that mostly consist of forests and lakes.

Prof. Dr. Christian Reimann, FH Dortmund students, Prof. Dr. Uwe Grossmann and the bear

To the core of the programme now, as a student, or a lecturer you will have to present, cooperate and discuss several times during the programme. What makes the difference is that because of the multicultural character of the programme you will find yourself in the unique position of trying to solve problems by communicating in English with people from at least two different countries every time.

Team building activities - making a fire and cooking

But the IP is not just about work. You see, after dinner things tend to go partying very fast… No matter the place. Indoors, outdoors, house, Pub 66… same thing, makes no difference, doesn’t matter.

Relaxing in hot water

Multicultural environment is present again. Be it karaoke, be it conversation, dancing, taking a picture, lighting a fire, barbecuing, hot tubing, swimming in the frozen or not frozen lake etc. You don’t judge, you are not judged, you just act, just enjoy, just taking the experience. And that is the great thing.

Pirkko awarding the team from IT Tralee of the best student presentation

Pirkko and happy Iittala team members with a glass product

In total, DIGISOMEMAR IP is an excellent experience. You develop socially, culturally, academically. Also, utilising IP in your CV is a good idea and gives you a great advantage for internships and jobs abroad. Lastly, you will meet exciting people, be friends with them and you will never forget your days in Finland.

Text: Alexandros Keramidas, a student and a person who has participated in two other IPs, T.E.I. of Larissa, Greece
Photos: Christian Reimann, FH Dortmund; Pirkko Varis, TAMK University of Applied Sciences

Information about the IP:
DIGISOMEMAR IP - Digital, social and mobile media in marketing, internet and IT applications & management of M- and E-business was organized 14-25 April 2013. The coordinator of the IP was Pirkko Varis from TAMK Virrat. 16 universities and university of applied sciences from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, UK and Finland participated in LLP Erasmus Intensive Programme. More than 80 students and staff members altogether joined the IP. The IP included presentations, workshops and visits. In addition, assignments from the companies Iittala and Hyvölän Talo were done by several student teams, who gave proposals for marketing communications, web site design and social media to be used in international marketing. Students lived in wooden houses at a lake in Virrat and could enjoy special sauna, lake and other experiences of Finnish culture.

Munke Mose campus

Landbrugsvej campus

In April, two of TAMK's study secretaries, Mervi Tikkanen, study secretary of DP in Hotel and Restaurant Management and DP in Service Management, and Satu Kelhä, study secretary of DP in Construction Engineering and DP in Construction Site Management, visited Lillebaelt Academy in Odense, Denmark. The visit was an Erasmus Staff exchange period to one of TAMK's partner universities. Mervi and Satu spent a week from April 8 to April 12 at the university and during the staff exchange, they visited three campuses of Nonnebakken, Munke Mose and Landbrugsvej.

Nonnebakken campus

Here are some of their pictures and words about the visit, reported by Satu Kelhä.

"When spending a week in Odense, we were given the opportunity to tell a little bit about TAMK and Tampere to the Danish and International students."

Mervi Tikkanen presenting TAMK

"As a part of Erasmus exchange, we met our colleagues to discuss about our professions and daily tasks. at Landbrugsvej campus the Head of Department of Service, Hospitality and Tourism Mangement, Lone Iversen, who gave us a thorough and informative presentation of the programme."

Lone Iversen (left) and Satu Kelhä

The enigmatic picture consists of cake decorations!

"We were very pleased to meet our Danish colleagues; in the picture below there are secretaries from the Nonnebakke campus. We discussed the routines of our daily work, but grandchildren, gardening and hobbies also were among the topics of discussion."

"We totally missed thebeautiful main entrance to Munke Mose, and lost our guide Peter John Andersen as well. It was easy to guess, however, where to go for help – to the study secretaries’ office. Peter John Andersen gave us an interesting guided tour around in the Construction Department, andTanja and Signe, study secretaries, offered us a nice cup of coffee with a chat. "

"We were told (to our surprise) that today’s children do not always know who HC Andersenis. To me his stories are an essential part of my childhood, and Little Mermaidwas one of my favourites. "

At the end, these beautiful pictures from Odense welcome other TAMK staff members to participate an Erasmus staff exchange in Denmark. We hope to welcome colleagues from Odense to visit us in the future!

Text: Satu Kelhä

edit by Noora Kahra

Pictures: Satu Kelhä

Graduation ceremony at HCT.

There were twenty three very satisfied and happy TAMK graduates at the ceremony held at Sharjah Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) in April. The graduates of the 21st Century Educators programhad just completed three modules of online teacher education and were awarded a Post Graduate Certificate by the Finnish Ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Ilkka-Pekka Similä.

The graduates all work as teachers in the United Arab Emirates and although they all have good knowledge of their subject area content, most had never undertaken any formal teacher education. The TAMK 21st Century Educators program filled that gap with modules in pedagogy for the 21st century, appropriate use of educational technology and authentic assessment for learning.

The participants were all enthusiastic and positive about their experiences while studying.As Ms. Manal Eman, a business teacher said, “Taking the course was one of the most challenging and fulfilling experience I have ever had. I devoted loads of time to complete all the tasks, projects and blogs required for each module. I came to work with great people in team work. Personally I have benefited a lot from the well-combined program for both my postgraduate studies and professional work.”

Ms. Manal Eman receiving her diploma from Mr. Ilkka-Pekka Sipilä.

After the ceremony, the participants took part in the concurrent ELearning conference where they presented and showcased the projects they had completed during the program.

Dr. Dean Sheetz, the MBA Program Coordinator for the HCT had this to say: “Many people entering a classroom for the first time as teachers underestimate the challenges inherent in teaching well. The experience is difficult enough for those who have gone through teacher training but is doubly so for those with nothing to guide them but their own past experiences as students. The combination of teaching theory with teaching practice in this course was a real help to our content teachers; making them more comfortable in their role as teachers and opening up a whole new world of possibilities for them in helping students to learn.”

Mark Curcher, the director of the program was delighted at how well the program had been received and the amazing enthusiasm and development of the graduates.

Participants of the first 21st Century Educators program.

The ceremony also stimulated a lot of interest for the program among participants in the concurrent Elearning conference and several have already signed up for the second cohort of the 21st Century Educators program, which will start in September 2013.

Article by Mark Curcher

Pictures by Sean Dowling

Start-up lecture by Mr Philippe Mongondry from ESA Angers, France

Yesterday the IP "Traditional Food in combating food-borne pathogens" has started on TAMK's premises. Besides TAMK students also foreign students and teachers from France, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Malta, Spain and Croatia are participating in the programme.

The first day went very well with lots of information and lectures and ended deliciously with the European Dinner in the evening, where the students from every country could introduce their local delicacies to the others.

TAMK lecturer and co-organizer of the programme Ms Leila Kakko is explaining about Finnish food

France showed its sweet side...

Ham, goat cheese and wine from Croatia

During the next two weeks the students will work in groups on different topics related to Finnish foods and beverages and present their findings to the teachers and other students at the end of the programme.

Text & Photos: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services

...at least this is how one of the participants discribed it...

After over one week full of lectures and group work it was time for some well-deserved relaxation for the participants of the intensive programme "Traditional Food in combating food-borne pathogens".
And what Finns call a "normal summerday at the cottage" was a welcomed and very impressive change for the international group of students from all over Europe.

The IP participants enjoy the nice weather

We spent the afternoon at a typical Finnish cottage in Kangasala next to the lake 'Matalajärvi'. The weather was great, so everyone could enjoy the sauna and a refreshing dip in the lake. For some of them it was the first time ever in a Finnish sauna and therefore a great new experience.

Professional instructor in Finnish sauna culure: Ms Leila Kakko

Fresh chanterelles and blueberries from the forest

Apart from the sauna there was the possibility to enjoy Finnish nature by collecting wild blueberries in the forrest, which also suited the topic of the intensive programme very well. There were even some chanterelles found - and the self-picked berries and mushrooms were also a nice addition to the dinner.

Dinner with flamed salmon, fresh bread and salads

The food was very Finnish and very tasty. Minced elk soup, pumpkin soup and rhubarb pie for lunch and flamed salmon freshly from the fire, salads, fresh bread, selfmade buns and pancakes for dinner. A very special thank you goes to Ms Arja Luiro who made the effort to cook the delicious food for everyone - "the best salmon I ever ate", as someone said.

The participants with Leila Kakko, Arja Luiro and dog Rolle

All in all it was a nice and relaxing afternoon in the nature and gave everyone a bit of new strength to keep working on their group projects and the big final presentation on Friday.

Text & Photos: Annika Dillenburger, Trainee, International Services

Hiking in national park Seitseminen...

When settling into a new country, one can face new things that seem weird or awkward. The confused feeling can be strong or weak and it can arrive during the first days or even after returning back to home. The TAMK exchange students from the academic year 2012-2013 shared their experiences of culture shock and adapting in Finland in the evaluation questionnaire. Here you can read some of the answers:

I didn't experience culture shock really, as I noticed, that the mentality of the other students, the teachers and finnish people in general was much more easy to handle than in my home country and I adjusted very fast. It was also not my first time in Finland, so I knew a little bit of its culture already. And because of feeling more connected to the people, also going to school was more fun than in my home town, so I enjoyed not only the parties, but also the week-days when going to school. - German girl

One can have fun also in Finnish winter!

well, i was shocked about the way Finnish people behavior like they have schedule for everything, it was complicate to understand that at the beginning. – Mozambican boy

I enjoyed my time here. I didn't have much of a "culture shock", but the city is really welcoming. TAMK is a very well organized school and I am very happy that I made this decision of coming here. - Belgian girl

Well I really enjoyed for being in Tampere. A small but nice city and of course a safety city. If I compare Tampere with my home city which is bigger but is not offering as many as Tampere. During the first three days after arriving I asked myself "What the hell I am doing here"? but after one week I really enjoyed the time with my new friends and with the new culture. - Turkish boy

Marta from Spain enjoys a summer evening

My experience in Finland was great!! I knew a really hospital country, in which people are kind and direct. I knew a beautiful city, the lakes, the forest, the snow. I knew a new, efficient university. I knew young people coming from all over the world. Now I know I've a new home!! Thank you Finland - Italian girl

I had Spanish cultural shock. I had French cultural shock and believe me that was a big one. I also had Italian cultural shock. And Hungarians? Dont even get me started... But seriously, I rly didnt anything that could be described as "culture shock", never heard of it before either. Overall, it was rly awesome here and I loved it. Thank you very much. – Slovakian boy

Parties are always an important part of course

When I came to Tampere I got used to language and people easily, because finnish people are friendly,straightforward,interesting.I meet many people not connected to university activities, I had a great time, learned cultural things,like traditional food,drinks, customs, develop my basic finnish language knowladge, also city is very well developed in many ways, I love various interesting cafes, architerure in Tampere, facinated by grand event and exibitions that takes place here. - Lithuanian girl

Winter activities

The first shock when i got here was the extreme cold weather, which i am not used to and the darkness. Then it was the small city that is Tampere and the strange, unusual but cool campus in Finlayson, which i really liked and enjoyed. As a personal development i learned to live alone, to do everything on my own, administrate my time and money, to get along and work with people that has different backgrounds and beliefs; and to work hard. - Mexican girl

Tutors and exchange students in Särkänniemi amusement park

This was an amazing adventure for me. I always wanted to visit Finland, but to live here is different. I like that almost all the people can speak English fluently, so I could ask anybody for help or just make friends within Finnish people not just exchange students. The city and the enviroment is beautiful, calm, no stress and hurriness. I like to live here someday. - Hungarian girl

Ryo Tominaga from Miyagi University in Japan spent 1 year at TAMK, this is how he said goodbye to Finland and the many friends he made

Posted by Kaisa Merilahti and Annika Dillenburger from TAMK International Services
Photos by David Nakamurah, Ryo Tominaga, Marta Sanchez-Vina, Kaisa Merilahti

Family photo of Nice Network members

In summer 2013 Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences had the possibility to participate in the annual NICE network meeting, organised at Universidad de León in Spain. The coordinator of the meeting was Rafael de Paz Urueña from the international office of the university. The programme included plenary and workshop sessions on ERASMUS for All, international weeks, bottlenecks of internationalization, co-operation HEI-Enterprises, European Qualification Framework, cultural integration and future of the Nice Network. In addition, we did a lot of networking.

Banu, Thomas and Rafael with a new "old" member Alejandro

Pirkko was the facilitator of the workshop on co-operation HEI-Enterprises: other types of co-operation than placements. As introduction she gave a presentation on various types of co-operation between TAMK and enterprises, including SME co-operation, projects, business and product/service innovations, user-centered concepting, intensive courses and programmes etc. Thereafter participants told about their co-operation with enterprises and about their experiences. Finally we discussed about advantages, challenges and funding possibilities for this kind of co-operation. We could share many useful ideas for our work in this field.

A historical procession in Astorga

Some visits to the region of León were organized by Rafael, too. First we visited the bimilenary city of Astorga. With over 2,000 years of history, Astorga has Renaissance cathedrals, ruins of Roman baths and the Episcopal Palace, designed by Gaudí, just to mention some of the attractions. After being conquered by the Romans, the town became an important strategic centre, mainly on account of the area's wealth in deposits of gold. We had a guided walking city tour and visited several Roman sites and ruins of Roman baths. In Astorga we also had a chance to follow a historical procession.

Castrillo de los Polvazares

After the visit to Astorga we made a very special visit to the pretty village of Castrillo de los Polvazares, which is an excellent example of perfectly preserved buildings and architecture since the 16th century. The red stone and clay of its house fronts are in contrast with the blue, green and white colours of the doors and windows. We visited the house of Rafael’s family, too. The village is a local heritage showpiece. Thank you Rafael for organizing this fantastic experience!

Rafael in Castrillo de los Polvazares

Text : Pirkko Varis, TAMK
Photos: Ines Hammermüller-Sweeney, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden & Rafael de Paz, Universidad de León

What is NICE network?
The New Initiatives and Challenges in Europe, NICE network is a network for representatives of more than 35 business schools, faculties and departments of business and economics. They work together in order to develop curricula, joint projects, intensive programmes, exchanges, internships and other cooperation. Pirkko Varis from Tampere University of Applied Sciences has taken part for many years in the NICE network and in the projects initiated by the members of the network. For example the IICEE European module was developed by some partners and now it is part of the curriculum in several universities throughout Europe. An intensive programme (IP) was developed based upon the module, too. In annual meetings of the network study programmes and methods are compared, new initiatives are discussed and proposals are made for cooperation and development of the network. The Quality Charter of the NICE network and other information is available on the website of the network www.nicenetwork.eu

Ms. Aleksandra Jama (in the middle) is discussing with the International Coordinators, Mr. Janne Hopeela and Ms. Ulla-Maija Takkunen and the CUAS students Felix Wiesinger and Magdalena Hamm.

TAMK was privileged to have a guest from our Austrian partner university, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS). The Head of International Office, Ms. Aleksandra Jama, was here to discuss about the future cooperation in student and staff mobility.

TAMK and CUAS have many common study fields and interests in higher education so the partnership will be fruitful in the following years, too. At the moment, CUAS is a possible exchange destination for TAMK students in Business, Hotel and Restaurant Management and Social Services.

Ms. Aleksandra Jama met also the CUAS students currently in exchange at TAMK so they could share their first impressions of the Erasmus period in Tampere.

Text and photo: Kaisa Merilahti, TAMK International Services

Mateus Engels Henke from Brazil and Fabio El Khoury from Lebanon have the honor to be the first TAMK exchange students presenting their home countries. Mateus is studying Paper Technology and Fabio is studying Film & Television at TAMK.

Mateus Engels Henke and Fabio El Khoury in TAMK main campus during the orientation week

The students are from very different parts of the world but the reasons why they chose TAMK in Finland as their first option were the same: they searched information and they noticed that the level of studies is high in Finland and the education system works well thanks to the investments of the government. Fabio also got recommendations about TAMK from his Head of Degree Programme in Saint-Joseph University who had been a visiting lecturer at TAMK earlier. In addition, Fabio was tempted by the peaceful lifestyle in Finland so the desicion was easy to make.

The first impression of Finland was also similar for both: lot of trees and lakes, lot of space and a language which is really different from the other languages they know. Mateus was suprised to see how the cities are planned and Fabio noticed how everything is so well organized.

Mateus is a scholarship student of Science without Borders programme which is a large-scale mobility programme primarily funded by the Brazilian federal government. Thanks to this new way of cooperation, next spring there will be more Brazilian students joining TAMK for the exchange studies.

Altogether, around 170 exchange students from 30 countries will do the exchange studies or training at TAMK this semester.

A bunch of exchange students and international tutors getting to know each other on Viikinsaari island

Text: Kaisa Merilahti, TAMK International Services
Photos: Kaisa Merilahti and Annika Dillenburger

TAMK Social Counselor Mirja Onduso and Kamilla Trubicki picking up new international degree students from the airport.

Hei!

My name is Kamilla and I’m from Austria. I work in the international area of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Wels Campus. Our university has approx. 5000 students in total, 1500 of them at Wels Campus, so it’s fairly small.

I had been thinking of going on an Erasmus Staff Training for some months, but somehow the timing of the proposed staff training weeks never seemed right. When I discovered that TAMK holds its Orientation Weeks for both Incomings exchange and international degree-seeking students in August, I knew it would be a great opportunity for me. Usually staff trainings are held during organized staff training weeks, but as TAMK was very flexibly with hosting me, in my case this was a spontaneous and individual week.

Exchange students getting to know each other

I stayed at TAMK from August 19-23 with the goal to attend both mentioned Orientation Weeks and also to meet the whole International Team at TAMK. As my tasks at my university contain taking care of international students of our English taught Master’s degree programme “Innovation and Product Management”, but also Incoming exchange students, I knew I would learn a lot during my time at TAMK.

My week started, as it did for more than 100 exchange students (amazing!), with welcoming words by Kaisa and Marika and interesting introduction sessions on Monday and Tuesday. And some korvapuusti of course. It took me three days to remember that word, but I still know it! :) On Tuesday there also was a trip to Viikinsaari Island which was organized by the international coordinators for all the exchange students, with various games, team building activities and grilling sausages. It was a great opportunity for the exchange students to get to know each other and also the finish sauna culture – which I enjoyed a lot, too. :)

Get-together activities for new exchange students during the orientation week

The rest of the week I followed the Orientation Weeks for international degree-seeking students. It was really amazing to see the excitement to welcome international degree-seeking students! All the department heads and staff members welcomed those students and made them feel really comfortable. Another great part of the week was meeting the social counselor of TAMK, Mirja Onduso. She takes care of mainly international degree-seeking, but also regular and exchange students’ social issues on a full-time basis. We got to pick up some students, show them their apartments and also organize furniture for some students together. It was really inspiring to see Mirja’s – and of course also TAMK’s – commitment towards international students.

Finally I also had the chance to meet many of the international coordinators that I only knew from exchanging e-mails. It’s always great to meet people you usually only deal with by e-mail in person!

Kamilla took part in the trip to Viikinsaari Island together with the new exchange students

What I brought back home from my week at TAMK? First of all a great intercultural experience and a lot of inspiration by the great work of the International Services at TAMK. A head full of new ideas to improve my own processes in working with international students, some of which I’m currently trying to implement. And a great recipe for korvapuusti (thanks Mirja! :), but that’s still on my to do list.

Kiitos to Mirja, Kaisa, Marika, Matti, Piri and Noora for a great week at TAMK!

Herzliche Grüße aus Österreich,

Kamilla

http://www-en.fh-ooe.at/


Tampere by night

Our delegation of ten students and two lecturers has returned from the second two week Media Culture 2020 workshop held in Liepaja, Latvia. The first workshop was in Tampere in April.

Media Culture 2020 is an Erasmus Intensive Programme. The project demonstrates what 21th century converged and interactive European Media Culture could be. MC2020 breaks classroom and campus walls by creating open virtual learning environments where students from different countries and fields can explore and learn together.

You can find all projects done by the students, presentations by the lecturers and daily reports from both Tampere and Liepaja workshops on the project blog http://mediaculture2020.blogspot.fi/

The 50 participants in Liepaja and 40 in Tampere were art, film, media and business students from Liepaja University, Utrecht School of Arts, University of Vic, University of Lincoln and TAMK.

The project was started on-line by preparing the projects in teams and participa-
ting in on-line lectures. On the big picture the Dutch team at the Ubiquitous
Media lecture given by Björn Stockleben (third small pic fron left) in one of the
five Google Hangout plenaries.

The main form of activity was team work, but ...

...there was also lectures and votes...

...and intensive debates.

Each team hosted their national cultural evening. Here team Latvia
members introduce traditional Latvian masks

Every day the teams presented the assignments and progress of their
projects to receive feedback

Freetime at last at the weekend. Exploring the old Russian fort in Karosta

On the second but last evening all seven teams presented their
projects to the international audience of the iWeek Festival in Liepaja
(Photo: Graham Cooper)

The last day was about finalising all the work and a long feedback plenary.
René Lansink (Utrech School of the Arts) assessing students projects
with Graham Cooper (Lincoln University)

Incredible how fast two weeks can pass. TAMK students saying
thanks and bye at Riga airport.

Erasmus IP: See me! - Creative methods with youngsters at TAMK.

International week for Nursing 2013!

New Factory Open finalized the Demola season

Coming soon! International Week for Non-Teaching Staff 2013.

Goodbye Tampere!

Advertising campaigns for companies by European Advertising Teams

Behind the scenes: Club International Tampere

International Week for Non-teaching staff 2013

"The future prepares itself for us." - Interview with fresh TAMK graduate Oana Syrjäläinen

DIGISOMEMAR IP 2013 - an EXCELLENT experience!

Spring visit to Denmark

Happy TAMK graduates in the United Arab Emirates

Intensive programme has started at TAMK...

"A trip to paradise..."

“No real culture shock, only interesting situations” - TAMK exchange students' experiences

A Nice Nice Network Meeting 2013 in León

Visitor from Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria

The first exchange students from Brazil and Lebanon

Kamilla got inspiration from Erasmus Staff Training at TAMK

Media students created future media culture in Liepaja