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As I have stated before, I don't care much about the format of my blog. Anyways, I will try to make it somehow related to why I have started it — with living abroad and being on a mobility programme. So below I'm gonna think a little about the choices we make. What rules us while making them and should we probably rebuild our way of reflecting while making a decision.
With these words nearly everything that should be considered as ITMO-related should be started, so that seems like a proper beginning for my kind of diaries here. First, let me introduce myself a bit so you could get some general view of who I am and why do I see the world like this. Hope it would be representative.
I spent the last semester in Estonia — a small dynamically developing country in North Europe, with cold weather like in St. Petersburg, the biggest amount of start-ups per person in the world, some people even call it the "silicon valley of Europe". And it is so technically advanced that you can vote for the president on-line and it is covered with wi-fi almost everywhere, so theoretically you can cast your vote with your mobile phone even if you are outdoors. That’s basically why I chose Estonia.
I have experienced definitely a lot by studying in Germany. I found out many new things about culture, learning process and everyday life of a German student. Furthermore, I lived almost in the heart of the Europe. Therefore, I had an opportunity to travel a lot.
It is exams time. The most stressful time for both exchange and regular students. Everyone is studying hard and there is a good reason for this.
After spending some time in St. Petersburg, we all know what Russian cuisine consists of. Blinis, soups, pies, and pelmenis are now familiar to us, and we drink some mors, traditional Russian juice to wash them down. However, the Russian food scene is not that simple.
The semester at the foreign university is not only about studying. TU Darmstadt provides a big range of extracurricular activities. Almost everyone can find something interesting.
As amazing as St Petersburg is, sometimes it can be fun to get away from the city for a weekend. There are many interesting places not too far from the city, and the one we picked for our weekend trip was Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Karelian Republic.
Already more than half of my internship in the International Office at ITMO has passed, time really flies. One of the most interesting things during this time was the meeting with the International Student Union. In my home university in Helsinki I have also taken part in some activities of our student associations. That’s why I can compare the two systems a little bit.
In March I got to know that I will be spending almost 3 months in St. Petersburg this summer, working as an intern in ITMO. One of my first thoughts was "I will have time to see a ballet or even two!" After all, the history of ballet in Russia is very long, and St. Petersburg as the so-called cultural capital of the country would surely have a lot to offer in the sphere of ballet.