Impressions, Expectations and How It’s Really Like

There are certain things you can do only once in your life. For me going to semester exchange to Russia is one of those events. I was sure that, if I don’t come here now — I never will. So, I registered for the exchange program at my home university in Finland. I didn’t know what to expect and what I even could hope for. For some years I have been wondering how it really is on this side of the border. I wanted to feel the Russian culture as it is. St. Petersburg was my first choice, because I had heard it’s a beautiful city with great culture. Which, indeed, is a modest description of the city.

After I chose the second largest city of Russia, I needed to make a decision about the university. Between ITMO university and a couple of others. ITMO was suggested for me, because of my degree program. I wasn’t sure about any of the options, but a university with such high-tech expertise couldn’t be the worst choice. I communicated a lot with the ITMO international office, in those couple of months before the exchange. My predictions about the Russian bureaucracy turned out to be wrong. Everything went extremely well, and I really want to give the merit of that to the international office staff — they deserve it.

After arriving to the city and while doing the obligatory official tasks, student tutors have been helping us to get started with our lives here in St. Petersburg. Registration and daily difficulties with a foreign language could be huge obstacles without the tutors. Tutors are not only assigned helpers, they are committed people with great sense of fun and humor. Tutors organize events, where exchange students can meet and get to know each other. These events are numerous and can vary from culture night to hang-outs and from trips to picnics.

For now, I have been in Russia three weeks. In these past weeks I have already met great people and learned a lot. Not least about the cultural differences. My lectures started with intercultural communication course which includes multiple tasks and presentations. Lecture atmosphere is inspiring and non-traditional. Most of the tasks are about interacting with other students or learning from dialog. The course has a scientific background, but the implementation of the course gives more perspective than reading about the subject. The discussions of the course are open-minded and internationally focused, which gives a lot for international students. Hearing about other cultures views about marriage, death, cultural behavior, habits and virtues will be great fun but also valuable knowledge for the future. You will understand other cultures, but also your own culture better than before.

Understanding the cultural differences at the beginning of the semester will help us all to adapt to our new environment, but it also gives us solutions for problems we didn’t even realize to exist before. I think that one of the greatest things about the mobility program is to meet people from totally different backgrounds. Our group has people from North and South America, Asia and Europe. All having their own habits and views. For one this mobility is a great chance to broaden the horizon and get first-hand experiences about the worlds cultures.

Semester exchange’s great advantage is that you don’t only visit the country and it’s famous sight-seeing locations, but you will get experiences beyond the reach of a common tourist. While the university has got your back, there is a possibility to live and experience more. And as you have read, university studies aren’t only mandatory work, but could be a pleasant time with a learning curve.

I hope this post will give you some idea what it’s been like to study at Russia for a short period of time. There is still a lot of things to discuss in the future, but for now I will continue gathering the experiences to share them with you. До свидания!