CONTACT INFORMATION AND OPENING HOURS
mon-thu 08:00-16:00
and fri 08:00-12:00
Leirikatu 2 F
53600 Lappeenranta
Telephone: +358 5 668 2800
Fax: +358 5 668 2850
asuntotoimisto@loas.fi
forename.surname@loas.fi
Multicultural student housing |
MULTICULTURAL STUDENT HOUSING TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Welcome to the world of multicultural student housing! 2. Who comes to Finland to study? 3. Culture, culture of living and the process of adaptation 4. Rules and guidelines 5. HINTS- For Finnish students- For foreign students 1. Welcome to the world of multicultural student housing! Multicultural student housing means that students representing different cultures share the same dormitory flat or building. This guide tells about matters which has to do with multicultural student housing and also gives practical hints to people living under such circumstances. This guide does not give complete answers to all questions, but may ease understanding of the characteristics of multicultural living. The basic starting-point for organising student housing is that the students can get a roof over their heads and living conditions of quality. This foundation has been well established in Finland. Foreign exchange students and postgradual students are helped with flat hunting, since arranging for student housing from abroad is difficult. Finding apartments is often quite a jigsaw-puzzle, since exchange students in particular come to Finland for a short time and their residence may start and end at times differing from the normal rhythm based on the academic terms. Since student life is a powerful uniting factor, living together might not necessarily mean a problem, although the flat would have tenants from several countries. This kind of living might in fact turn out to be a great enjoyment. The students get to know people from various parts of the world and their interesting customs. International friendships are formed, language profiencies are improved and multiculturality becomes an everyday thing. 1.2. Student housing in Finland There are student housing communities in 19 different localities. They are of a various distance from the city centres and the teaching establishments. The student flat is usually a so-called cell apartment, a flat shared between 2-3 students. Each has a room of his/her own with a lockable door and a shared kitchen and toilet/washing facilities. Some cities also have apartments where each tenant has a room of his/her own with personal toilet/washing facilities, but where the kitchen is shared among the tenants in an entire corridor or floor. Especially during the beginning of the autumn term there is a shortage of student housing in Finland. At some localities exchange students have specific quotas for alotted housing rented by the teaching establishments from the student housing communities. In other localities exchange students take precedence over free apartments. The neighbours in a dormitory can be either Finnish or foreign students. The majority of exchange students wish to live with Finnish students. Unfortunately this does not always happen, since exchange students may fill nearly all free furnished cell apartments in some localities. In these cases there is naturally no matter of choice if one truly is in the need of housing. The neighbours in a cell can also be of rather different ages, as anyone studying at a teaching establishment following the ninth school year can live in student dormitories. 1.2.2. Lease contract, deposit, the equipment of the flat The Act on Residental Leases governs flat renting in Finland. It binds both the landlord and the tenant. The lease contracts, deposits and regulations are based on the Act on Residental Leases, which can be viewed at http://www.finlex.fi/pdf/saadkaan/E9950481.PDF. Tenancy begins on the first weekday of the month (although never on a Saturday) at 12:00. It would be good to notice this already upon arrival, as well as the opening hours of the student housing community. If you arrive outside business hours, during the evening or night-time, or before the first weekday of the month, you have to provide for the housing of that time yourself. The lease contract is drafted for a calendar month; it is not possible to begin or to terminate in the middle of a month. It is worthwhile to draft the lease contract for a fixed-period if the termination date of the studies is known. Otherwise the lease has to be terminated in writing one calendar month prior to the last day of tenancy; in other words if you move out at the end of May, the lease has to be terminated during April. The deposit is not intended as a payment for the last month’s rent, but is returned after the tenancy has ended, provided that the tenant has met with all his/her obligations towards the student housing community. The apartment has to be left well cleaned at the end of the lease. If it is unclean, the student housing community cleans it and the cleaning will be paid for from the deposit. Apartments intended for foreign students generally have furniture and also often a mattress. The student has to get the linen and other textiles him/herself, as well as cooking and eating utensils. One cannot just loan the other tenants’ dishes either, at least not without their permission. In many localities, for instance the student unions deal out so-called starting packages for foreign exchange students in return to a slight compensation. It contains linen, drapes, cooking and eating utensils which already have often been recycled through a few exchange students. It is worthwhile to be active and find out beforehand how the apartment is furnished and to think about how to get the missing equipment. Many student housing communities have direct internet connections installed in their apartments. You can bring your own computer, but it pays off to beforehand ask from the student housing community if it is possible to rent an apartment with internet access, as well as what it would cost. Many student housing communities do not allow a move to another aparment if you only live for one term in a student apartment. The queues, especially during autumns, are usually fairly long for internal moves generally in all student housing communities, thus the move is unlikely to happen if the expected tenancy is shorter than one year. 2. Who comes to Finland to study? The Finnish higher education is no longer monocultural. People come to Finland both to study for shorter terms and for a whole degree. Foreign students come from every part of the world. Thus also student housing has become rather multicultural. Exchange studentsThere were nearly 5,500 foreign exchange students in Finland in 2001, who stayed between three and twelve months. About 2,000 of them studied at polytechnic schools and 3,500 at universities. Nearly all the exchange students were Europeans: Germans (806), French (547), Italians (356), British (299), Russians (287) and Dutch (262). The average stay in Finland was less than five months, so usually one term only. Added to these compiled stays of 3-12 months hundreds of students visited Finnish colleges for shorter periods. (Source: Aalto, Pirjo. 2002. Kansainvälinen liikkuvuus yliopistoissa ja ammattikorkeakouluissa 2001. CIMO Publications 3/02.) Students studying for a degreeIn addition to the exchange students colleges receive foreign students studying for a degree. There were nearly 6,400 of them in Finland in 2000. The majority of the foreign students studying for a degree were Chinese (1,029), Russians (800) and Swedes (248). (Source: KOTA and Statistics Finland.) Finland gets most foreign students from China, Russia and Germany when both exchange students and the students studying for a degree are added together. All in all, at least 12,000 foreign students enrich Finnish college life annually. 2.2. Customs and manners of living vary Customs and manners of student housing vary in different countries. The foreign students who come to Finland have varying experiences with student housing; some have already lived in a student dormitory, for others it is the first time living outside the family home. Also the expectations on Finnish student housing depend on where the student comes from, what he/she is used to, and what has been promised to him/her. There are many customs and practices related to interaction and living together which are not the same in different cultures and communities. What are our opinions on guests? Do we dine together or alone? Are the personal cooking and eating utensils in the shared kitchens to be used by all tenants and can they be borrowed? How do we settle common issues? Customs vary both culturally and personally; not all Finns live and lead their lives in the same way! The varying personal and communal habits of people from different cultures result in an interesting mixture. 3. Culture, culture of living and the process of adaptation The change in living and studying environments means an adaptation to the new and different. The more different and unknown the new living environment is, the greater the change. A youth leaving home goes through a considerable change when the living environment, friends, the daily rhythm and many other things turn out to be different. The language and modes of communication are often strange in a new culture, the culture of studying differs from what one is used to, and not even the basics of living and existence work as they did at home. The adaptation to a strange culture and place is not only a physical transition from one place to another, it is also a mental process. Modes of action to which one is used to no longer apply, and it takes time to learn new customs. One has to know how to correctly understand and how to make oneself understood. One has to see new meanings behind the activities of people. One has to re-evaluate earlier interpretation mechanisms as well as the actions following these interpretations. A fully functional adult college student may regress into a little child, lost from his/her mother, mothertongue and culture, yet he/she is expected to act as a mature adult student. Both the environment and the student him/herself has these expectations: the student came to Finland to succeed, not to fumble around and to be homesick. 3.2. Adaptation to a culture is a process It is obvious that the radical change in environment also affects moods. Tolerance of stress and uncertainty is put to the test when one has to question personal experiences and familiar ways of doing things on a daily basis. A fatigue does strike many people; the mind just does not have the energy to learn new things. That is when you have reached rock bottom of culture shock. You start to wonder if it indeed was such a good idea to come to Finland. You remember the homeland and the familiar patterns as being perfect and homesickness burns the mind. Finland and Finns start to annoy you and you also has to get to say it, which in turn makes the adaptation process more difficult. The best way of learning the local customs is after all getting to know the local people. Yet an ongoing comparison and amazement of the Finnish customs and manners makes the formation of friendships more difficult. Sometimes the symptoms come in the form of ailing, withdrawal or fatigue, depending on the case. Everyone obviously reacts in a personal way. The flatmates are usually the first to notice if things are not going well in the neighbouring room. It is good to offer help before the situation gets worse. When the possible rock bottom is reached and how hard it strikes is always a personal thing. It is impossible to prevent or remove cultural shock, but this is good to know if it happens to you: you are not alone with your moods and that it is a fairly natural process which nearly all cultural transients have to go through. 3.3. The process of adaptation to living and to the culture It is also good for people living in multicultural student communities to know about the process of adaptation to a culture. It also affects the community and its atmosphere. The flatmates of people in the midst of the ups and downs of cultural adaptation can at times be confused with their moods and reactions. Sometimes they can arise from a completely natural process of adaptation. Everyone brings along their own ways of living and how to relate to flatmates. There are a lot of variables in these combinations: languages, cultures, personal characteristics, expectations, receptiveness, the reasons of coming to Finland etc. It is indeed certain, that it is different to live in a multicultural cell apartment than in a flat with just Finnish students. 4. Rules and guidelines Student housing has own rules and guidelines to which people often appeal. The rules are the same for both Finnish and foreign students, and one is not exempt from them by not knowing them. It is impossible to house thousands of students in student flats unless there are rules and they are followed. It is very important to follow agreed rules and times in Finland. This is actually a cultural characteristic, especially compared to cultures where rules and times are suggestive. It pays off if the international student is him/herself active. It is possible that nobody has thought of how the international student understands or finds the rules connected to student housing or in which way they are taught to him/her. Moreover, each culture has unwritten rules which are difficult to explain, since these come naturally to people within that culture. Each student housing community has its own modes of operation and practices, but many things are also shared. There are a few guidelines to student housing below, which generally apply for housing and living within the whole of the country. 4.1. Rules to dormitory living – agreed upon together Living in a cell apartment is about learning how to live together. One can learn from others as well as also teach. The keys of success lie in the respect and appreciation of the fellow tenant. It is difficult but possible, as well as necessary, to agree on common rules concerning living together. One should strive not to only go through rules, but also to discuss personal habits regarding life, living and communication. Ways of discussing in a conflict situation may vary. Some cultures are more head-on, in other cultures people try to avoid direct conflict to the last. Remember that it is difficult to guess what you are thinking if you don’t say it out aloud. Tenants in a cell apartment may have different views on the border between personal and common space. Problems may arise from, for instance, if everyone fits in the kitchen at the same time or how much time and space may be used in the common areas. It is also good to settle on these issues. Although the kitchen and bathroom are in shared use, each tenant takes care of his/her own things and uses his/her own things. This rule can be forgotten if the flatmates agree differently. 4.2. Cooking Students representing different foodcultures often cook in different ways according to what they are used to. Byproducts of cooking, such as sounds and smells, should be discussed and agreed upon, so that nobody has to suffer smells they find unpleasant. It is also good to reflect on if eating should be done together or at different times. Remember also that constant entertaining of dinner guests or noisy cooking can drive some tenants away from the common areas. 4.3. Cleaning and hygiene In Finland the student housing community does not see to the cleaning of the common areas, but all the cell tenants are responsible for the cleanliness together. Everyone washes his/her own dishes – with personal dishbrushes and immediately after eating. Also the stove, oven and countertops must be cleaned if they have been used in the cooking. Naturally everyone only eats his/her own foods from the refrigerator. The tenants also take care of the removal own their own garbage from the flat. The tenants also, for instance, might use their own toilet paper. The cleaning shifts of the common areas are well to be agreed upon with the other tenants immediately after the tenancy has begun. If the common areas of the cell apartment do not stay clean, the student housing community sees to the cleaning of the areas and bills all the tenants. Further information on cleaning in student housing can be found at www.tys.fi/cleaning, instructions. 4.4. Smoking, alcohol and drugs Smoking in the common areas is allowed only if all tenants in the cell apartment agree, so discuss the matter with your flatmates before lighting your first cigarette in your common kitchen. Finland has one of the strictest cigarette laws in Europe and it is also followed. Smoking indoors in private flats is rather unusual. In Finland people smoke in the streets, yards and on balconies – even in the winter. Alcoholic beverages are sold in Finland to people above 18 years of age. Finnish drinking customs have become more like that of Central Europe during the recent years, but especially on the weekends drinking for drunkedness is usual. Possession and use of drugs are crimes according to Finnish law. In addition to the stipulated penalty the crime can lead to instant returning to the homeland. 4.5. Greetings The Finnish communication customs may feel strange. Many Finns don’t necessarily greet in staircases or in the elevator. This does not mean that the other one isn’t liked, rather, people who don’t greet their foreign neighbours in all probability don’t greet anybody else either. In Finland it is customary to be silent if there isn’t anything special to say. Silence is viewed rather as a positive than a negative thing. 4.6. Rules for visiting and partying One should take into consideration the other tenants’ need for peace while studying and comfortableness. The flats usually have a silence stipulated by rule between 23:00 and 06:00 (11 p.m. and 6 a.m.). The student housing community has clubrooms and common areas for bigger parties and regular gatherings which can be rented at a low price. These spaces must also be carefully cleaned after use and the rules of conduct have to be followed here too. You can enquire about these facilities at the student housing community. 4.7. Position of women It may come as a surprise for some foreign students that many people deciding of housing and student issues are women. This cultural difference is emphasised when unpleasant decisions are made concerning the tenant. A female employee has the authority to act and make decisions and these decisions have to be followed. 5. HINTS For Finnish students: For foreing students: |