Homesickness is something that most of us have experienced at one time or another. We usually feel homesick when we have been away from our home environment for prolonged periods. Perhaps the first homesickness we experience is when we are children and have to be away from our parental figures for the first time.
Homesickness can be similar to depression (only similar as it is not classified as a depression disorder) and it exhibits some of the same patterns and feelings. These include feeling anxious, being sad for no discernible reason, yearning for your home and your home friends, and reclusing yourself from activities. It can also affect your concentration and academic performance.
Homesickness can be very mild and just be an annoyance, but it can also present itself as a combination of severe feelings which can affect your mood, your relationships, and your studies. Thus, learning to cope with these feelings is of utmost importance.
There are various ways to cope with homesickness, and you have to find which way is more suited to your personality. One thing you can try is doing fun activities; things that will make you feel good and will take some of the stress off from being away from home. Try doing activities which are common in your new place. Take in the new culture and try to integrate into it as far as you feel comfortable. This will allow you to feel at “home” despite being in a foreign country.
Another thing you can try is making new connections and new friends in the new place you find yourself. That will also allow you to have conversations with people who are also homesick and by expressing your feelings you will get a therapeutic effect to your mind. Knowing that others are also missing home will help you feel less alone and more integrated to your new community. Additionally, by establishing new relations with other foreigners, you will learn more about their cultures and enrich your mind.
Being homesick is completely normal and you shouldn’t feel inadequate for feeling that way. If you feel your homesickness is extremely severe and you cannot cope with the feelings, you can try going to the student clinic Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and making an appointment to talk to somebody.
Remember: there is no shame in getting help. Your mental health is as important as your physical health, if not more!
Whether your homesickness is severe or mild, the thing you need to remember is that it ends, and knowing this will hopefully allow you to enjoy your exchange even more.
When your exchange comes at an end, you might end up feeling homesick about your exchange place after you have returned home. There is a silver lining though: when you do return home, you will appreciate it so much more than before. Rekindling relations with your friends and family at home will definitely help you overcome this new homesickness.
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Marcelo Goldmann
A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor."
Instagram: @marcelogman
As a new student, you might be wondering if you made the right choice by studying in Oulu. You did! Not only is the University ranked in the 300 highest ranking universities in the world, but here are at least five good reasons why Oulu is your best choice to study.
For the past couple of years, the University of Oulu has been undergoing renovations. This will continue until 2020. However, already you can see the progress with the creation of the TellUs Innovation Arena, where rooms can be booked for small conferences and speeches, as well as student group work. So, welcome to a brand (re)NEW(ed) University!
Perfect-sized city
Oulu is not as big as Helsinki and it’s not as small as Rovaniemi. With about 200 thousand inhabitants, Oulu is the perfect mix of a town and a city. The Linnanmaa campus area gives you a more town-like feeling, but you can always hop in the bus and go to the city center for a more cosmopolite experience.
Student life
In Oulu, you will find no shortage of student activities. Every Student Guild organizes cultural and recreational events. There are also student groups and events for sports, arts, parties, and language. In September, there is a major festival called Vulcanalia, where renowned artists play live music for the audience during the evening. During the day, there is a student fair at the University of Oulu. You don’t want to miss it!
Beautiful seasons
Oulu has some of the most beautiful sceneries during Summer and Winter. During Summer, daylight is present nearly all the time and the night is extremely short. The weather is perfect for outdoor activities and going to the beach. Additionally, nature is in full bloom, with birch trees full of green leaves everywhere. During winter it is the complete opposite. Snow covers everything and Oulu becomes a paradise of sparkling white. The days are short and the nights long. However, darkness can lead to aurora borealis (Northern lights) which are a truly magnificent sight. Admittedly, the times between these seasons might be a bit rainy. However, the wait is worth it.
Nonexpensive housing for students
The Student Housing Foundation of Northern Finland PSOAS offers about 5500 living places for students in Oulu with affordable rents. You can apply to a studio-, shared-, or even a family-sized-apartment. The water and electricity may be included in the rent in some of the apartments, and the basic internet package is free of charge. Find more information at their website.
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Marcelo Goldmann
A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor."
Instagram: @marcelogman
By the end of the year the faculties of Humanities and Education in the University of Oulu are no longer using the northern end of the Linnanmaa campus. The Faculty of Humanities is moving in August, and the Faculty of Education in December.
In August, a great number of moving boxes will move on the Linnanmaa campus. The Faculty of Humanities is moving from the northern end of the campus to new renovated premises on the old side of the campus.
The Faculty started their move on the 1st of August, and the old premises must be emptied by mid-August.
The relocation affects both the students and the staff of the faculty. Together with the faculty, subject societies and the Humanities Guild, cafeteria Humus included, move to new premises.
New premises mean shared rooms
The new guild spaces will include three shared guild rooms and one common storage room.
One room will be shared by Gieku and Verba, one by Suma, Communica, and Index, and one by Tiima, Kultu, Timppa and Meteli. The new guild spaces will be accessible between 6 am and 10 pm without the 24/7 Campus Card, and also around the clock with the 24/7 Campus Card. The guild corridor will also include one locked exterior door.
The premises are bright: everything is clean and dazzling white. The change has been extensive – everything apart from the load-bearing structures and the exterior walls has been redone, says Jarmo Klytseroff, the account manager of Temotek.
“New surfaces on the floors, new windows, new ceilings, new roof, new doors. The metal doors are old.”
New guild rooms are built to be shared. One room will serve two or more student organizations.
The new premises of the faculty staff are located a few floors above, on the third floor.
The staff premises are divided into two lamellas, or in other words, corridors. The eastern lamella is now renovated on behalf of Temotek, and the other one was already renovated about two years ago. The faculty’s new workrooms are mainly shared between several individuals, and their sizes vary from twelve square feet to about forty square feet.
Like in the case of the guild spaces, the general impression consists of dazzling whiteness and brightness. According to Jarmo Klytseroff, the rooms will look very different after furnishing.
The premises in the third floor will host the teaching staff, management and the administration of the Faculty of Humanities. The study affair services of the Faculty of Humanities has moved to Opintokatu, to the premises of the former Student Center (KE1020).
Now the local services of the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Education and the Oulu Business School (HuTK-KTK-OyKKK-local service team) and the local services of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Technology (LuTK-TKK-service team) can be found there. Matters such as study certificates, transcripts, extension of study rights and academic year enrollment are taken care of in these service points.
Although chairs and tables will be placed on the corridor as well, the new Humus cafe will have less seats for customers than previously. Humus was open for the last time in its previous location on June 15th.
No sounds, no odors permitted
Jarmo Klytseroff states that the worksite has been very challenging. When the renovations are conducted next to spaces that are continuously in use, disruptive sounds or odors should be avoided.
“Additionally, a lot of communication is required: weekly announcements have had to be constructed very carefully.”
But everything has gone well, and in schedule, even slightly ahead of schedule.
The renovated premises were handed over to the University Properties of Finland (SYK) on Wednesday, the 20th of June. Before the premises were handed over, final cleanings, electricity measurements and automation adjustments were conducted.
The representatives of humanist subject societies visited new premises on the 11th of June. Pictured: the Chair of the Board of the Student Union Kalle Parviainen, Outi Niemi, Heli Paaso-Rantala, Miriam Putula and Emilia Käsmä visiting the Humus cafe’s new kitchen.
The Faculty of Education will move in December
While the new premises of Faculty of Humanities are complete, the situation is different in the future premises of the Faculty of Education.
In June the renovations were three weeks behind schedule. The project will be completed on time, promises Timo Haverinen, the facilities engineer of the University of Oulu.
“The renovations are complete by the end of October.”
What has made staying in schedule difficult is the fact that the time between the planning of the renovations and starting the renovations has been very short.
“The time between the planning period and starting the renovations has been incredibly tight. When you are planning at the same time, the chance of any surprises increases”.
The students and staff of the Faculty of Education will be able to move to the new premises in the beginning of December. The old premises must be handed over to the University Properties of Finland (SYK) by mid-December. When the premises have been emptied, SYK will start the arrangements for the University of Applied Science’s move to the northern end of the campus.
Changes in restaurants ahead
The future move of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oulu UAS) will have an effect on restaurants on the Linnanmaa campus. As the number of customers grows by thousands in the future, more restaurant spaces are required. This means that Foodoo and Mara, restaurants located in the northern end of the campus, will be renovated.
Foodoo will be renovated this year and Mara and the first floor of the zoological museum will be renovated during the Oulu UAS’ moving renovations between 2019 and 2020. The renovations will add over 600 customer seats to Foodoo and around 300 customer seats to Mara.
Foodoo and Mara will close their doors due to the renovations in two phases. The restaurant Foodoo, located opposite the zoological museum, closed its doors around Wappu, and the renovation of its kitchen is currently ongoing. The basic renovation of the restaurant will be completed in spring 2019. Before that, the customers on the campus are served by a temporary kitchen on the first floor of the zoological museum. The museum’s exhibition area will also be furnished as a temporary restaurant hall.
The temporary kitchen in the zoological museum will open its doors in the beginning of the autumn semester, on the 3rd of September.
Mara will close its doors as Foodoo is opened. The renovations for the new premises of the Oulu UAS will begin in phases around the northern end of the campus, starting this September.
Oulu University of Applied Science will move to Linnanmaa in autumn 2020. After the move, over 20 000 people will study and work on the shared campus.
Translation: Joonas Pelttari.
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Anni Hyypiö
Oulun ylioppilaslehden entinen päätoimittaja. Twitter: @AnniHyypio
Few things are as characteristic of Finland as the sauna. For thousands of years, sauna has been of great importance to the Finnish folk. It is said that the first thing to build when Finns were moving was the sauna. Thus, it is no secret that sauna holds a special place in their hearts. Whether you are a Finn or a foreigner, here are five interesting facts that will make you appreciate Finnish sauna.
There is one sauna per household or half-a-sauna per person
A home without a sauna is not a home, or so they say. In Finland, there were more than 2 million saunas by the end of 2017. Finland has about 5.5 million inhabitants, which translated to a bit less than half-a-sauna per person. This number is just an approximation, so the actual number of saunas could be much larger. This also means that it’s closer to one sauna per household, given that there were about 2.6 million households by the end of 2017.
It is believed that the modern word ‘sauna’ comes from the proto-Finnic ‘sakna’ which itself was derived from the proto-Germanic ‘stakna’, a forefather of the English word ‘stack’. Additionally, there is a proto-Sami word ‘suovńē‘ which means pit in the snow. It is believed that the first saunas were what we today call smoke saunas (Fin. savusauna), originally used for protection from winter. These saunas were actually pits dug into a slope where a fireplace equipped with stones would heat them up to increase the temperature of the dwelling.
After the industrial revolution, the saunas developed to include a metal stove and a chimney. The first electric sauna stove was introduced in 1938 in Vaasa. Nowadays, there are several types of saunas commonly used in Finland: the aforementioned savusauna, the wood-stove sauna, the electric sauna, and even the mobile sauna. Mobile saunas are equipped with wheels for transportation, and some of them are floating saunas instead.
As the old Finnish saying (roughly translated) goes: if booze, tar, and sauna do not help, you are probably going to die. Anything from the flu to arthritis and back pain was believed to be curable by the panacea which is the sauna. This is not completely false, as the warm steam could actually relief joint pain and have positive effects on your flu and sinuses.
Nevertheless, this is not a cure, but more of a short-term treatment. Naturally, we have modern medicine which can help us with our ailments. Fortunately, you don’t have to choose one over the other, you can combine sauna and medicine to your best benefit. Just remember to stay hydrated and consult your doctor if you have a heart condition before you go to sauna.
In the past, mothers gave birth in sauna to make sure the baby and the mother made it out alive. This was due to sauna being practically the cleanest place in the house, and thus the most sterile environment. To this day, there are apparently still people alive who were born in saunas. However, nowadays it’s just better to give birth in a hospital where proper care measures can be taken for both the mom and the baby.
If you’re a foreigner and have not been in Finnish sauna before, you might be confounded at the idea of being in an enclosed space, sweating with strangers in the nude. That’s perfectly normal, it takes some getting used to depending on your personality and upbringing. In the meantime, you can opt to use a bathing suit if it makes you feel more comfortable.
And fear not: Finns are very accommodating when it comes to sauna and they understand that people from different countries might be uncomfortable undressing in front of strangers. The worst thing that could happen is that you give yourself away as non-Finn, which might actually pique the interest of your peers and cause them to ask you about your background. You might be surprised by how open and talkative Finns can be in sauna.
Naturally, when you find yourself in a mixed sauna, where both men and women are allowed, it is possible that even some Finns will prefer to wear some cover. That is why there are normally turns for women and men in sauna. In families, the whole family might go together, or they might also take turns, especially if the sauna is not very large.
The Sauna Elf
In ancient times, the sauna elf (Fin. saunatonttu) was believed to live in the sauna. This elf was not an invader, but a friendly helper who took care of the family and warned them of impending danger. This, however, came at a cost, as the elf would have to be treated with respect and you even had to ask permission from the elf to enter the sauna. This also meant warming up the sauna sometimes just for the elf and occasionally leaving food outside for the elf to eat.
The sauna elf could also be angered by misbehavior, such as drinking too much, mistreating your animals, or just being a bad person. The elf would then show you its anger by making noises, throwing things, and jinxing you so your hunt went wrong. In worst case scenario, the elf could kill the person. Fortunately, as there have not been any murders by sauna elf, we must be doing something right.
A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor."
Instagram: @marcelogman
Summer is right around the corner. Not only have we survived the wet autumn, but also the long and harsh winter. Finally, it is time to be outside and enjoy the sun. But the sun is just the beginning. In Finland, summer is a truly magical season and it needs to be experienced to the max. There are few better ways to accomplish this than to visit some of the amazing festivals that Finland has to offer.
Perhaps one of the best rock festivals in Europe, Ruisrock takes places at the Ruissalo island in Turku. Big Finnish names like Cheek and Sanni will be present, as well as internationally renowned group N.E.R.D. Ruisrock offers popular music for all tastes, as well as art exhibits and performances.
Nummirock (June 20-23)
If you’re into metal music, Nummirock is the place for you. Taking place at the Nummijärvi lake in Kauhajoki (near Seinäjoki), this legendary festival is not only a pleasant music experience, but also a great chance to camp and chill with your friends. Finnish and international bands play at several stages, so there is enough variety for all types of metal enjoyment. At the place, there is space to park your car and place your tents. There are day tickets, as well as 2- and 4-day tickets.
Pori Jazz (July 14-22)
If jazz is more your thing, you can enjoy the tunes of the great Pori Jazz festival, which will not only include talented jazz artists, but also popular artists like Alanis Morissette and James Blunt. This festival has been taking please since 1966, and its audience has grown considerably over the years. Check out the program and artist line-up at porijazz.fi.
Midnight Sun Film Festival (June 13-17)
Music is not the only thing you can enjoy in Finnish festivals. If you’re a fan of cinematography, the Midnight Sun Film Festival is for you. Founded in 1986 by the Finnish Kaurismäki brothers, the festival takes place about 120 kilometers above the Arctic Circle in Sodankylä. There will be films being shown in 4 venues all day and all night. You will find all information at the Midnight Sun Film Festival website.
Tampere Theatre Festival (August 6–12)
Many people don’t think of theatre when it comes to festivals. However, this festival promises to blow your mind with all types of theatrical performances, ranging from classical to contemporary, from drama to circus. Taking place in the beautiful city of Tampere, the Tampere Theatre Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary, so you can expect a particularly enticing programme.
If none of these festivals tickle your fancy, you can always check festivals.fi for a large list of all types of festivals in Finland.
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Marcelo Goldmann
A Doctor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Oulu. "Life is like a rubber duckie, you gotta keep it afloat to see its splendor."
Instagram: @marcelogman
Vulcanalia, organized by the Student Union of the University of Oulu (OYY), marks the beginning of a new academic year.
This year’s event will be held on Wednesday the 12th of September at the Areena Oulu in Limingantulli. It’s yet another new venue for Vulcanalia: last year, the party took place in 2T parking lot in Linnanmaa campus, year before that in Ouluhalli.
While the location of the Vulcanalia’s evening party may be changing, the traditional Student Fair will remain on the Linnanmaa campus and will be open from 10 am to 2 pm on the same day.
Asta Salomaa, Event producer and Community Specialist of OYY, says that the transition to the Areena was the decision of the OYY’s Student Council.
“Organizing Vulcanalia indoors also facilitates the use of human resources, as there has been a lot of work on the construction of the venue and licensing issues. Now there is less bureaucracy and construction work.”
According to Salomaa, Areena also offers a better user experience: “It is a huge space with good light and sound technology.”
AREENA ONLY HAS THE CAPACITY TO HOST 2000
Moving the event indoors means that the number of visitors will be lower than last year. Areena only holds up to 2,000 people, whereas last year about 2,500 tickets were sold for the event.
Salomaa can’t say for sure how much Vulcanalia’s entrance tickets will cost. “I’d say that the ticket will cost roughly the same as last year.” In previous years, the presale ticket cost three euros, while those who bought their ticket at the door paid five euros.
Last year, Vulcanalia was held in Linnanmaa for the first time. According to Salomaa, the 2T parking lot received good feedback from guests. Even though lighting the space caused problems, the parking lot was felt to be at the heart of everything, close to the students.
“The parking lot was a surprisingly functional venue,” Salomaa explains.
Last year, the event was co-organized by the University of Oulu.
Salomaa says she would like this partnership to continue. “We haven’t reached a cooperation agreement for this year yet, but we would certainly like to continue the cooperation that has just begun last year.”
This year, Vulcanalia will be held a week later than the previous year. Salomaa gives two reasons for this. Firstly, a five-day UArctic 2018 conference will be held at the University of Oulu during the first week of September.
Another reason is to give students more time to buy tickets.
“Last year, classes began on Monday and Vulcanalia was on Wednesday of the same week.”
WHO WILL STAND ON THE AREENA STAGE?
Last year, Vulcanalia’s main performers were Musta Barbaari (James Nikander) and Prinssi Jusuf (Iyouseyas Belayneh). This year’s performers will be announced in August.
“September is a really difficult time to get artists, because everyone is on holiday after the summer festivals”, Salomaa says.
Last year, there was a persistent rumor on Jodel that the main performer of the evening would be Tommi Läntinen, Finnish singer known for hits Kevät ja minä and Via Dolorosa.
So I have to ask: Asta Salomaa, will Tommi Läntinen be performing at Vulcanalia this year?
“If it were up to me, yes! [laughs] but no, the board of OYY decides.”
The first Vulcanalia was held in front of the restaurant Rauhala in 1995. The venue remained the same until 2003, when Vulcanalia moved to Kuusisaari. In 2012, the celebration moved from Kuusisaari to Toppila.
Finnish version originally published in 27th of March. Translation: Mariah O’Mara.
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Anni Hyypiö
Oulun ylioppilaslehden entinen päätoimittaja. Twitter: @AnniHyypio
