The first days in Nürnberg

Wednesday - The travelday

Even with all the waiting at the airports, my flight from Helsinki to Nürnberg via Amsterdam was actually quite pleasant. I dozed off a little bit and enjoyed the tea service with pizza-roll and tiny tortilla. It was the first time for me to land on Amsterdam Schiphol airport. I was HUGE. Compared to that, Nürnberg looked small, grey and very humble. Nevertheless, there I was at the airport and was hoping to see the worker from CPH to pick me up. In stead I had the first intercultural experience here. The airport was full of people with bouqets of flowers. Later It turned out that they were waiting for pilgrims to get back from Mekka. More and more people came in and they were clapping and shouting. Unfortunately my contact person was on the other side of the room and we did not see each other before the growd went outside. Then the second obstacle: the metro, U-bahn, did not work between the airport and the city. My boss ended up driving us to the house and I got the first proper meal of the day - at 8'clock pm. 

Thursday - The day of meetings

Quite practically there is a staff meeting held in house every thursday. It gave me the opportunity to see all staff members I'd be working with. I also would have heared a bit of recent activity had I understood the language. Even when I did not catch all the conversations, it was very useful to meet everyone and hear what their responsibilities are. Afternoon meeting went on with few guests. The first was representing a project called Kopfball. Here is a video I saw about the project (link).

Later at night there was a symposium about taxes, from the viewpoint of tax avoidance. I was really tired and it was troublesome trying to understand speech of such a difficult matter in German. Yet, it sounds like Finland is not the only country that loses millions due to tax avoidance, undeclared work and other holes in the tax system

Friday - Begegnungsstube Medina e.V.    

On friday morning I participated in a get-to-know meeting at Begegnungsstube Medina. It is a place where different groups are invited to get to know Islamic culture. There was a museum, mosque and a lecture toom. The museum featured Turkish, Balkan and other oriental clothing, handcraft, currency etc. The mosque was used not only for educational purposes but also as a an actual mosque and in different events. The lecture room was orientally decorated just like the other rooms. Still, the most important part for me was the clothescorner. When school classes come to visit, children and young people are allowed put on clothing from different islamic areas. The guide said visitors usually love this part. They take a lot pictures and selfies. With this experience they are sure to remenber their visit but also get a different perspective to the culture. Women in headpieces are not anymore just something you see on the street. With smaller children the education cannot be too difficult. The guide told us an example of childrens visit. Everybody gathers in the mosque. Then the children are told imaam would come to see them. The children are taught how to greet him in Islamic words shalaam aleikum. Then a staff member comes in dressed as imaam. This is yet another example of teaching through experiences rather than boring lectures. Adults and older adults visit Medina, too. With them, topics are naturally more deep. It can be about politics or the religion. Muslim hate (or fear) seems to be hot topic in Germany, too, which does not surprise me at all.

Learn more about Begegnungsstube Medina in their facebook page (link).

The costumes corner

Me as a "convertee"

This here is an interesting piece. I did not quite get everything that was said, but the title for the piece it "You stole our dreams". And yes, the figures tell a lot.

Pictures in the info flyer in order: the museum, the mosque, more museum, more mosque

The process before exchange

Since I had decieded to apply for a student excange in Germany even before my studies in MAMK strarted, the process started early. First I learned about the possibilities in my istitute. I found out how to apply, how long excange periods are and what tasks include to an exchange program. I also checked out all the partner institutes in the country I had chosen. When the application period started, I already had clear idea of what I wanted. And what I wanted was a shorter internsip exchange in Nuremberg, Germany during autumn semester 2016.

After I sent in my application I was interviewed and since there were no problems, I was accepted to represent my country and home institute in Germany. After that I had to send some more applications: to receiving university and fund applications. I also sent my CV and open letter to an exciting organization where I wanted to do my internship. Luckily all replies were positive. The next step was once again more papers. I filled and signed Learning agreements with both the receiving university and employer. When all the documents were signed and filed it finally started sinking in: I'm going to Germany and spend there three months working and studying!

 I was, of course, very excited about my destined country and city - and I tend to plan ahead anyway. That's why I really focused on the tasks that are required before exchange. The tasks were to descibe the application process and host institutions, study the attributes of destined country and area and prepare a presentation of home country. Even though money is not an issue for me in this matter, I am prepared to use my savings and take student loan to cover the trip, I did my budget well too. I have to manage financially even if unexpected costs would occure. Additionally I have spent hours in internet and google maps getting to know my temporar home town  Nuremberg,

Now the departure is only two weeks away. I have already packed all documents that I need and bought a gift to thank my employer and contact person in Germany. I'm getting chills!