How I Settled into my Year Abroad in Helsinki

By Ria Mair, University of Helsinki, Finland

Initial thoughts…

Before I arrived in Helsinki, I did not know what to expect.  After scouring social media to gain insight into student life in Helsinki, it seemed student life would be fairly tame and somewhat dull, as there was not much content online.  However, after speaking to a former University of Helsinki student who was on exchange from Manchester, it was the opposite for her, so I felt unsure.  As well as this, Finland, and most Nordics for that matter, are not depicted much in media, so I had a limited schema, one I would build from diving into the deep end and discovering through living in Finland…

Moomin Coffee at Helsinki Airport and my room pictured above.

Moving into my accommodation

A piece of advice I would give to anyone moving to a new place is to invest in your room because it is the place you’ll more than likely be when you feel lonely, sad or missing home.  In my room, I hung up pictures, bought cosy blankets and small organisation furniture, which all helped to make my room a comforting place to be.  It is inevitable that doing a year abroad means you’ll have alone time, so by making my home a place where I could feel at peace, as best I could, contributed to settling any anxiety.

Making friends

Having a community of people was key to enjoying my year abroad, and certainly enriched my experience.  I didn’t expect to learn so much about cultures aside from Finnish culture, but after spending so much time with other exchange students, it was often that we would discuss and draw comparisons on the norms of our own culture.  My group of friends made the year what it was, and I advise anyone doing a year abroad to speak to as many people as they can, especially at the start, to find your people and have a year of laughter and happy memories ahead.

Establishing a routine

By creating a regular pattern, I felt at ease and settled my homesickness.  I created a routine of heading to the university in the morning, having lunch with my friends in the cafeteria, studying in the ‘Think Corner’, going to the gym and sauna, and then having the evening free on most weekdays.  This meant that every day I would have social interaction, exercise, eat healthily and have time to complete any tasks, all contributing to better sleep.  It is essential to have a routine to come back to when living away from home can feel anxiety-provoking.

Hobbies

As someone who goes to the gym several times a week, it was imperative that I got a gym membership straight away.  During my year abroad, going to the gym and sauna was the perfect way for me to stress-relieve and come back to myself.

Planning

Finally, keeping busy helped me to settle in, as while I was preoccupied with socialising or exploring, subconsciously, Helsinki became my new home, and through having things to look forward to, any nerves were channelled into excitement.