Welcome Guide Åbo Akademi University in Vasa

Welcome Guide Åbo Akademi University in Vasa

Welcome to Åbo Akademi University in Vasa Åbo Akademi University is defined by constitution as an university for higher education and research for the Swedish speaking population of Finland. The language of tuition at Åbo Akademi University is Swedish. Finland has two constitutional national languages and is a bilingual country. As a first language Finnish is spoken by 92 % of the population and Swedish by 6 %. The university has two main campuses, one in Åbo (Turku) and one in Vasa (Vaasa). At the Vasa campus the main fields of study are Education, Social Sciences, Developmental Psychology, Politcal Science and Caring Studies. Åbo Akademi dates back to 1640 when it was founded in Åbo (Turku). The university operated there untill the fire of Åbo in 1827, after which it moved to Helsinki. In 1918 the University re-opened in Åbo, to serve the academic needs of the Swedish-language minority in Finland. Today the university has around 8,000 students studying at the 12 institutions and faculties. The Vasa Campus is situated in the building Academill which is an old mill renovated for the university s purpouse in 2004. The campus building is common for all subjects, which creates a nice environment for students from the different subjects to get to know eachother. Vasa (Vaasa) is a city on the western coast of Finland with 57 000 inhabitants, 420 km north of the capital Helsingfors (Helsinki). The majority (75 %) speaks Finnish, and a large minority (25 %) speaks Swedish. Vasa is a living bilingual city where most inhabitants speak both languages well, and use two languages in their everyday life. Vasa is an university city, with many institutions of higher education. Vaasan Yliopisto (Vasa University) operates in Finnish, as well as Vaasa University of Applied Sciences (VAMK). Together with the Swedish School of Economics (Hanken) and Novia University of Applied Sciences they bring over 10 000 students to Vasa, creating the living atmosphere of a university City. We wish you a warm welcome to Vasa

Rector s Welcome warm welcome you will here On behalf of Åbo Akademi University I wish you a warm welcome to our campus and to Vasa. I hope you will experience a pleasant and rewarding stay here at our University. Picture: ÅAU imagebank Professor Christina Nygren-Landgärds Vice-rector, Åbo Akademi University Travelling to Finland: By plane: Vasa has good flight connections with several flights to Helsinki-Vantaa (FIN), Stockholm- Arlanda (S) and Riga (LAT) on a daily basis. The companies that operate the routes to Vasa are: Finnair, BlueOne, FinnComm, SAS (Scandinvian Airlines) and Air Baltic. Finnair and SAS are the most expensive, but have very good connections from Stockholm or Helsinki to the rest of Europe, for example Berlin, Zürich, London or Barcelona. If you book early enough (some months before departure) the prices can be quite reasonable when flying tourist class. Air Baltic has very cheap flights via Riga (LAT) to many destinations in Europe. It might be the cheapest alternative to fly directly to Vasa. Other cheap flights to Finland include Ryanair, which flies to Tampere (Tammerfors) from many European cities, for example direct flights from Frankfurt-Hahn (D) or Malaga in (E). Tampere airport is 240 km from Vasa. From Tampere there are buses and trains regularly to Vasa. Wizzair has a very cheap route from Gdańsk (PL) to Turku (Åbo) 330 km south from Vasa. From Turku there are trains and buses to Vasa.

By ship: The largest cruising ships in Europe operate the routes from Stockholm (S) to Turku or Helsinki. The trip lasts around 11h and will bring you through the wonderful landscapes of Europes largest archipelago. The two big companies on the route are Viking Line and Tallink Silja. From Rostock or Travemünde in Germany to Helsinki there are ships mainly for persons travelling by car, but they also take deck passengers. The route is operated by Finnlines. By rail: Vasa is connected to all the bigger cities, to Helsinki-Vantaa airport and to Turku Harbor by rail. The journey from Vasa to Helsinki lasts between 3h 45min to 5h depending on the connection, to Turku 4h 30 min and to Tampere 2h 30 min. The price of the Vasa-Helsinki ticket is around 50, but later with your Finnish student cards you will get a 50 % discount. Timetables and information on: www.vr.fi By car: The possibilities to reach Finland by car are limited to the ferry routes from Sweden or Germany. The road network consists mainly of country-roads with a speed limit of 80 km/h. Some main routes have a limit of 100 km/h and higways 120 km/h. Keeping the speed-limit is important since the speeding fines are high and the traffic is controlled frequently. The law requires drivers to use headlights, even in the middle of the day and using your mobile phone while driving is prohibited. For international visistors important to remember is that we are obliged to use winter-tires (preferably with spikes ) from December to the middle of April. Driving in winter conditions can be dangerous, especially for drivers not used to icy roads. Important information Visas and residence permits: Citizens of the Nordic countries, the European Union (EU), Switzerland or Liechtenstein do not need visas for the stay in Finland. Students from the Nordic countries can reside in Finland without limitations. Citizens of the the rest of EU, Switzerland or Liechtenstein have to register their right to stay in Finland more then three months at the local police station within the first three months. The following will be required for a residence permit: - A completed application form (can be collected from the local police) - A valid passport - The acceptance letter issued by the university - An account of the financial situation - 2 passport sized photographs

Healthcare: Please remember to bring your European Health-Insurance Card with you. All university-students who are members in the Students Union are entiteld to use the Students Healthcare in Vasa, which covers health-, mental- and dental-care. Membership in the Students Union is compulsory for all Finnish students studying at the university, and optional for exchange-students. The price is around 50 per term. Besides of the Students Health care, membership also gives you many discounts on public transport etc. The Students Healtcare is open daily on office hours 08:00-16:00 and is situated in the city centre at Hovrättsesplanaden 15 C. For medical service nighttime and on weekends the main Communal Healthcare Center is at Smedsbyvägen 14-16. For urgent matters and emergencies the Vasa Central Hospital has a 24 h practice at Sandviksgatan 2-4. In emergencies call 112 (Ambulance, police, fire-station etc. on this number) Accomodation: The International office will organize accommodation in students apartments for all students participating in exchange programs (such as ERASMUS, Nordplus). The students apartments will be in a house called Lärkan 1,2 km from the University, close to the railway station and the city centre. Remember to fill in your Housing application! It is also possbile to rent an apartment on the open market, private, or shared with other students. It will require that you yourself are active, follow ads in local newspapes and on the internet. This will in many cases be more expensive than the students accomodation. If you want to plan your accomodation yourself, please see www.voas.fi or www.vuokraovi.fi (select English and Vaasa ). The Starting Package: The Student union runs a starting package storage where exchange students can borrow a package with houshold-items which the then return again before they leave Finland. The starting package includes one pillow, a blanket, two curtains, a cooking pot, a sharp cutting knife, a dinner plate, a soup plate, a glass, a mug, cooking items (spatula/ladle), a knife, a fork, a spoon, a teaspoon and a can opener. To borrow the package, you have to be a member of the Studient Union. The storage has specific opening hours and might not be open when you arrive. In this case you might have to spend the first night without the items of the package (a sleeping bag might come in handy in such a case). Note that the starting package does not include bed linen. After having paid your Student Union membership fee, pay the 65 EUR for the package (50 EUR deposit and 15 EUR fee for borrowing) on a separate invoice. Bring the receipt of the payment with you to the starting package storage, sing your borrowing contract and take the package home.

Transport: The majority of students in Vasa use bicycles for transport, even in the winter. It is the cheapest way to get around, and since the city is quite small, a perfect alternative. There are many places you can buy used bikes to a price around 100 and sell them to other students when you leave. Vaasa has a public transport network operated by buses. A students bus-card covers 40 trips and costs 39,00. The buses are mainly on routes from the city center to the suburban areas, so most exchange students rarely need to use buses as most student accomodations are in, or close to, the city center, as well as the Universities. You can order a taxi by phone, tel: +358 6 100 411, or take one from the City Hall. Taxis are quite expensive, though. Bank and Post Office: It is easy to open a Finnish bank account. Bring your passport with you when you are visiting the bank. You can get a Finnish card to draw money from the ATM and to pay your bills, since paying at the service desk is expensive. You can draw money from any ATM 24 hours a day with a credit card, Visa Electron or any Finnish bank cards. Check with your bank in your country that your cards will work in Finland, and what they charge for lifting money abroad. The main post office is in the city centre at Hovrättsesplanaden 23. A normal letter costs 0,80 to send anywhere in the world. Stamps can usually also be bought in regular supermarkets. Libraries: There are two main libraries in Vasa. The Public Library is at Biblioteksgatan 13 and offers a wide collection of litterature in many languages. Thre is a music department with CD:s, a scientific department, childrens department and a newspaper room. The service is public and free of charge. You need to get a library-card to registrate for the service. The university library Tritonia is the scientific library which serves all the universities in Vasa. They have large collections. As a student you can apply for a card to the Tritonia Library. Both libraries are in rather nice buildings and have cafeterias and reading-rooms.

Advice from former exchange students at Åbo Akademi University in Vasa: - Don t take too much luggage with you - Have fun, enjoy your stay. Make a lot of trips. - Go to Lapland, Helsinki and Tallinn. - Learn Swedish! Especially if you are staying for a whole year. Allthough everybody can speak English it feels good to understand something when going out, it just helps in everyday life. - Do not feel worried because the stay in Vasa is a brilliant adventure. - Always be on time; check the building before! And enjoy your time in this great country! - Have contact with the Finnish students, join the choir or sports groups. - Stay for one year. Search for something outside the Erasmus group (Choir, KAV, Spex, Rockföreningen) - Just do it! It is a great experience! Contact information: The International Office Strandgatan 2 PB 311 FIN-65101 VASA International Coordinator: Camilla Westermark Tel: +358 6 3247 203 Mobile:+358 50548 9518 Fax: +358 6 3247 123 Email: cwesterm@abo.fi

FINLAND Population: 5,360,000 Area: 338,000 km² Capital city: Helsinki (Helsingfors) 580,000 Independence: 6.12. 1917 (from Russia) EU accession: 1995 Languages: Finnish (92 %) (official) Swedish (6 %) (official) Other recognised minority languages include Sami and Romani (< 1 %) Currency: Euro Vasa (Vaasa) Åbo (Turku) Helsingfors (Helsinki)