Before jumping into the next sections, I’ll remind you of two things. One, contact your tutor(s) before your departure about your travel details (date, time and place). Two, get the key to your apartment from your housing company (via your tutor, if they agree to collect it on behalf of you). In the following sections, I’m recalling my own experiences as an international degree student arriving from outside Europe, so bear in mind that the instructions may differ in your case!
After reaching Finland; From Helsinki to Tampere
Let’s start from the Helsinki airport. Once the immigration process is done, I think the first thing you need is a charged phone to let the family know that you have reached safely 😊. You should have some cash in euros for immediate expenses like purchasing bus/train ticket, snacks, SIM card etc. It is better (in terms of price and availability) to buy a train/bus ticket beforehand. In the time of moving from place to place, I found Google Maps very helpful.
Usually, international degree students come to Finland in August, and exchange students come both in August and in January. So, about the outfit, it is better to wear a windbreaker in August because the weather is really windy sometimes at that time. No need to mention, but still, you have to wear a winter jacket in January 😁.
Things to do after reaching Tampere
Let’s talk about the things a student needs to do after reaching Tampere. The first thing I would recommend is doing the student registration in the university (if the registration period has already started). This process requires 114 € and your undergrad certificate. Good to mention, anyone can pay this sum on behalf of you. Against the registration, the university will give you a confirmation letter. With that confirmation letter and your passport, you can do 3 things on the same day:
1) You can go to the office of the city bus service to get a bus card that you can buy as monthly charge or pay per ride.
2) You can go to the local register office/Maistraatti office to perform the population registration process.
3) And the last thing you can do is open a bank account. There are different banks you can go to. In my opinion, the two most popular banks among students are OP and Nordea. OP offers services in Finnish and Nordea offers in English; you can take a look at other banks’ websites. So far I know that Nordea offers students bank account for free which means there is no monthly charge till you are a student. In the beginning, full access to online banking is not open for you if you are from outside Europe but will be resumed if you get an identity card from the police. This card will help you in many ways later on.
Last but not least, different offices have different opening hours. So, it is better to check the opening hours early on and plan accordingly!
Things to know about shopping
After doing all the above-mentioned things, many students go to IKEA or some other store to purchase all the necessary utensils, sheets and blankets, and other household things. Once again, you can plan your route (timing of buses, location of stoppages) using Google Maps. You can also get your household things second-hand, or you can buy a “Starting kit” from the student organisations ESN INTO and ESN FINT!
For groceries, there are shops like Lidl, S-Market, K-Market, Tokmanni, Sale, Prisma, etc. you can go to. Nice to know, different shops maintain different opening hours, so keep it in mind. There is a shopping centre called Duo in Hervanta that many students from Hervanta campus use. There you can find most of the shops mentioned earlier. Besides, there are many second-hand shops around (just make use of Google 😉) where you can find goods in a very affordable price.
Eventually, you will start doing the rest of the things like course registration, applying for student ID card, applying for access to the library, etc. I wish you a safe journey and a fantastic time in Finland!
Thanks for reading this blog!
– Emad
