Erika's year in Finland

6.6.2023 4.26

Hi everyone, I’m Erika, I’m 17 years old and I’m from Italy. Today, I’m here to share with all of you my thoughts from my experience as an exchange student in Finland. This new country has changed my mindset, because it is more inclined to improve itself every day, with small things, compared to my country, where things progress more slowly. I would like to bring your school habits to my country, such as the breaks between lessons, the box that is soundproofed and you can have more space for yourself, ping pong and table football. All little things that, added together, have the purpose of making school a place where everyone can feel welcomed and everyone can relax without having to think only about things to study for the exams. Personally, I think that Etis is a really valid school, because it gives everyone, from every part of the world, the possibility of studying, with all the comforts and in a free way: it is important that everyone is educated in a proper way. Etis makes us feel like home in a country that is not that originally, thanks to the variety of students in it. Here I have been focusing on myself and, even though it could seem a normal thing, for me it was not and I’ll explain why… Finland is a great country and people are too, but I have to say that they are completely different from Italian people: they are more interested in their own things and may enjoy being with others, but also a lot on their own. They are more relaxed and have a lot of patience compared to Italians that are always in a hurry and they never stop and take time to deal with themselves. As you can imagine, I have grown in a hectic and lively country, with the consequence that I have never been alone dealing with my thoughts. Now, instead, I feel more conscious of what I do and how I act. Thanks to Finland I have dealt with little and big problems that helped me to grow up and made me more sure of what I want to be in the future. Thanks to this country and its rules, thanks to my host-family and thanks to my closest friend, I understood that most probably this country is different and the opposite from Italy, but now I feel that I belong here too, because home is not just the building, home is the people who support you and truly love you.

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