For our last meeting we decided to meet at Moro sky bar and drink some hot chocolate/tea. The views were great as usually, as you can see from the pic. At first we talked about the Finnish phrases that you can hear when you go to a cafe, such as “Haluatko ison vai pienen kahvin?” (=Would you like to have a small or a big cup of coffee?) We then moved on to discuss bachelor’s thesis and master’s thesis in Germany and in Finland. The girls told me that the way you do these depends of the study field and also of the professor but I got a feeling that bachelor’s thesis and master’s thesis can at be pretty similar “level” in Germany. In Finland bachelor’s thesis is usually easier to write, because you don’t have to make surveys or do interviews – you just read other people’s studies. While talking about studies, we also compared our ways of writing (e.g essays) and it was interesting to note that Meike and I like to write long sentences and rephrase things, whereas Chiara writes short and pithy texts. We came to a conclusion that pithy texts with pictures and equations are common in the field of engineering.
We also discussed the role of a social worker (Sozialarbeiter/-in) in Finland and in Germany since social work is my field of study. It was really interesting (and surprising!) to hear that social work studies seem to be quite easy in Germany, and also something that people do when they don’t know what they want to do in the future. We discussed that it might not be so good if people start working as social workers just because they don’t have anything else to do because then they don’t really have the motivation to help other people. Meike and Chiara told me that the social workers can work at schools (just like in Finland) but some of them have teaching qualifications. They can, for example, work with students who have special needs. In addition to that, they can also work at social office or in child protection (Jugendamt) where they help families who are struggling. On the same topic Meike told us about the child protection situation in the USA where the amount of private services is quite big. The problem is that their profit is based on the amount of kids and families they are connecting and that’s why they might not calculate properly the risks of bringing the child back to their family. I heard that the amount of private welfare agencies is getting bigger in Germany as well but luckily the situation isn’t as alarming.
While walking back from the bar we discussed the many holidays that Germany has, like Heilige Drei Könige (Loppiainen in Finnish) on the 6th of March and Tag der Arbeit (May Day) on 1st of May. Some holidays are only free in some parts of Germany, mostly in Bavaria region, because it is one of the most catholic regions of Germany. I find it interesting that some of the holidays the girls mentioned also exist in Finnish culture but the true meaning of the holiday might be different (or forgotten) here. For example loppiainen has always meant the end of Christmas for me, although it actually seems to have a religious background.
At the very end of our meeting Meike and Chiara also gave me some tips for my possible exchange semester in Germany next year. They suggested doing the exchange in the spring time (if possible) because it’s usually when the country is at its best. In the winter it might be wet and cold, which doesn’t sound very appealing. We also decided to keep each other updated every once in a while since it would be really nice to know what’s going on in our lives. I think I’m going to miss our regular meetings and interesting discussions and the time we spent together in general. It was such a nice experience and I really hope to see you soon girls <3
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