Partner Country of the Month: Finland
Finland, land of a thousand lakes and home country of sauna, has ranked in first place for years when it comes to global surveys about life satisfaction. But why is that? A high level of trust in society and a strong sense of community certainly play their part. So do a healthy dose of likeable eccentricity and a deep connection to nature, which is never far. Finland is 75% covered in forest. Add to that the proverbial lakes, countless islands and snowy winter landscapes, and you get a paradise for nature lovers.
With the "Partner Country of the Month" campaign, we want to shine a spotlight on the countries, regions and partner universities of TU Dresden that aren’t necessarily the first to come to our students' minds when thinking about a semester abroad.
Table of contents
General facts and figures about Finland
Capital: Helsinki
Population: 5.5 million (2022)
Official language: Finnish and Swedish
National holiday: 6th December (Independence from Russia)
Currency: Euro
You can find further facts, figures and information on Wikipedia, on finland.fi, infofinland.fi, or e.g. on wikivoyage and visitfinland.com.
Small language excursion:
- Hello – Hei
- Excuse me – Anteeksi
- Can you help me? – Voisitko auttaa minua?
- I don’t understand – En ymmärra
- Yes / no – Kyllä / ei
- Please / thank you – Kiitos
- See you – Hei hei
Sauna is probably the most widely known Finnish word worldwide, closely followed by kalsarikännit – a Finnish relaxation method that consists of getting drunk alone at home while in your underpants. Both have made it into Finland’s official emoji set.
Not being an Indo-European language, Finnish is exceptional in Europe. It’s part of the Uralic language family, like the indigenous Sámi languages or Estonian. This makes its structure unusual to us. Relations that require prepositions (e.g. “in”) or even subordinate clauses in Indo-European can be packed into a single word in Finnish.
While Finnish is the native language of 90% of Finns, Swedish also has special relevance. This is grounded in history: From the Middle Ages until the 19th century, Finland was ruled by Sweden. As a result, there are still Swedish or bilingual areas in Finland today, including our partner city of Turku.
For studying at one of our partner universities, English language skills are usually sufficient. However, please check the language proficiency requirements and the available courses before applying.
Finns usually speak English well, so you are unlikely to have problems with the language barrier. However, speaking the local language will certainly help you in making friends and getting to know Finnish culture. Starting from German, you can study Finnish in Dresden at TUDIAS or at VHS. Swedish courses are also offered by both TUDIAS and VHS.
Did you know that ....?
- some Finns were born in a sauna? As a clean room with a supply of hot water, it used to be the best place available. The statement is also true in a metaphorical sense. Many Finns take a sauna at least once a week - with friends, family or even business contacts. Fittingly, the Finnish approach to nudity is quite relaxed. Wherever there are Finns, they have probably built a sauna. What do all Finnish embassies, the parliament, Finland's deepest mine, the Ferris wheel in Helsinki, and Finnish military on deployment abroad have in common? That's right, they have a sauna.
- Finland is the land of eccentric sports? In wife-carrying, a man carries a woman (not necessarily his wife) over an obstacle course. Naturally, world championships take place in Finland, with the woman's weight in beer as the winners' prize. Hobbyhorsing is another Finnish sport. It's all about show jumping and dressage riding - but without a real horse. Or how about swamp soccer? Players have to struggle through thick mud (often drunk, as an added difficulty) and try to avoid getting stuck.
- Finland has the world's highest density of metal bands per capita, with 42 bands per 100,000 inhabitants? The genre is generally popular in Northern Europe, and other Nordic countries follow in the next places. Well-known Finnish bands include Apocalyptica, Nightwish, Insomnium and Lordi.
- Finns love free buckets? Ilmainen ämpäri (free buckets) for everyone are used to attract people to shop openings or events, and very successfully, leading to ämpärijonot (bucket queues). Buckets were also effective incentives for getting vaccinated against Covid. But why? The whole thing started with a shop opening in 1974, where hundreds of people queued up for free buckets, and has become a running gag ever since. Also, buckets are useful, for example for picking berries in summer.
- in Finland, speeding is fined according to income? The starting point for speeding tickets is half of the person's net daily salary, which can then be multiplied depending on the severity of the offence. The aim is to prevent people from ignoring speed limits who could otherwise easily afford the fines, leading to a fairer system.
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Valentine's Day is Friendship Day in Finland? Unlike elsewhere, romance is not the focus. Instead, people spend the day with good friends and give small gifts and cards to all who are close to their heart. For the Finnish postal services, the many postcards sent across the country make Ystävänpäivää the busiest day of the year.
Cooperation with TU Dresden
You can find an overview of all cooperations of TU Dresden that you can use for your exchange in our database. It is also often worth your time to ask professors in your own faculty who might have direct contacts to your partner university of choice.
Our Finnish partner universities via Erasmus+
- Aalto-yliopisto in Helsinki and Espoo
- Psychology
- Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
- Tampere University
- Mechanical Engineering (faculty)
- Computer Science
- Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology
- University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu and Kuopio
- Forestry
- Geosciences
- Lappeenranta University of Technology
- Business Administration and Economics
- University of Lapland in Rovaniemi
- Business Administration and Economics
- University of Turku
- Physics
- Åbo Akademi University in Turku - Swedish-speaking
- German Language and Literature
- Process and Environmental Engineering
- University of Vaasa
- Business Administration and Economics
Don't miss...
Northern Lights in Lapland. In northern Finland, you have a good chance of seeing these moving curtains of light from September to March. In places like Inari or Utsjoki, you can even stay the night in a glass igloo and look for the Northern Lights while staying warm. No worries if you’re unlucky – from going on a husky safari and visiting a reindeer farm to skiing, snowshoeing and ice fishing, there is still plenty to do in Lapland.
The Turku Archipelago consists of tens of thousands of islands dotting the Archipelago Sea at Finland's south-west coast. Together they form one of the largest archipelagos in the world. This tangle of islands and the nature here are of course best explored by boat. But you can also easily get from island to island by a bike tour on the Archipelago Trail - the ferry connections are free.
Koli National Park has inspired many famous Finnish artists with its beauty. It’s considered to be the quintessential Finnish landscape, with dense forests and mountain views of the vast and island-rich Lake Pielinen. Koli National Park can be explored on numerous hiking trails and in winter also on cross-country skis. There is a bus connection to Koli from our partner city of Joensuu.
Participating in a world championship (or at least, getting to watch one) is less difficult in Finland than elsewhere. How about the Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship in Joensuu, where knitting enthusiasts share the stage with metal bands, knitting and headbanging along to the beat? The world championships in air guitar, cell phone throwing, water bucket sneaking, tree hugging and sauna heating are also among those on offer.
Let's get cooking...
Smoked fish, potatoes, rye bread, dairy products and meat (including reindeer in Lapland) are typical of Finnish cuisine. Also, picking wild berries and mushrooms is a popular pastime, and berries are often used in desserts or side dishes, e.g. as a jam that goes with baked cheese.
However, kahvi or coffee might be the most important foodstuff for Finns. At 12 kg per year, Finland has the highest per capita consumption of coffee in the world. This is equivalent to an average of five cups of coffee per day. Finns drink coffee on all sorts of occasions - and it’s certainly helpful on dark Nordic winter days.
Karelian pasties (Karjalanpiirakka)
Karjalanpiiraka are a Finnish national dish stemming from Karelia, a region in eastern Finland and western Russia. Karelia has a special significance for Finnish culture – it’s the homeland of the Kalevala, the epic of Finnish mythology, often referred to in proverbs and names. Karelian pasties are nowadays eaten all over Finland and usually have a filling of rice, potatoes or carrots. They taste best when taken hot from the oven and topped with a spread of butter or munavoi (egg butter).
Ingredients for 20 pasties:
Dough / crust:
- 200 g rye flour (available at supermarkts like Edeka or Rewe)
- 60 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 200 ml water
- 1 tsp. salt
Filling:
- 160 g short-grain rice
- 200 ml water
- 1 l milk
- 1 tsp. salt
- optional: 2 tbsp. butter
Munavoi topping:
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 50 g soft butter
- ½ tsp. salt
Preparation:
1. Filling: Bring the water to boil. Add the rice and cook until the water is absorbed. Then add the milk (and the butter, if using low-fat milk) and bring to a boil whilst stirring frequently. Let simmer at low heat for about an hour while stirring from time to time. Season with salt and let the filling cool down.
2. Crust: Stir everything together and knead into a solid dough. Heat your oven to 275°C.
3. Assemble: Take small portions of the dough and flatten them into thin ovals with a rolling pin. Put rice filling on top, leaving the edges free. Fold the edges over and crinkle them with your fingers (see photo). Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the rice filling is golden brown.
4. Topping: Shell the hard-boiled eggs. Use a fork to mash them finely together with the soft butter. Add some salt. Spread the egg butter on top of the pasties right when they come out of the oven. Hyvää ruokahalua!
(Many thanks to saimaalife.com!)
Contact and further contact persons
Have you had great experiences in Finland? Do you have tips for places and things that should not be missed? We would be happy to share your experiences either here, on Facebook or, if you want, in an online information event for other TUD students. Get in touch with us:
© Sven Ellger/TUD
Advice on studying abroad
NameMs Federica Serra
Infocenter/ Study abroad; TUDworldwide: America
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
Visiting address:
Fritz Foerster Bau, Office 161 Mommsenstraße 6
01069 Dresden
Postal address:
TUD Dresden University of Technology International Office
01062 Dresden
Office hours:
- Tuesday:
- 09:30 - 11:30
- 12:30 - 14:30
- Thursday:
- 09:30 - 11:30
Please register at the SCS (FOE, floor 0).
Office hours by phone:
Keine Sprechzeit am 12. Dezember 2024: wir sind beim EUTOPIA International Day. Kommen Sie uns gern besuchen! (Foyer FOE, Eingang Mommsenstraße)
Do you want to get first-hand information?
Would you like to know more about Finland? Ask our regional ambassadors - TUD alumni who are active in many countries around the world and can give you information and advice for your stay.
Getting in touch is very easy: On this interactive world map, markers indicate the cities where our regional ambassadors live. There is a short profile with contact information for each one.
Partner Countries Archive
Have you missed a partner country? No worries! Here are all the pages of our previous months for you to read up on:
Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Chile China Colombia Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Greece Hungary India Indonesia Iceland Israel Italy
Japan
Kenya Latvia
Mexico Netherlands
Poland Portugal Romania Sweden Slovakia Slovenia
South Africa South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
Ukraine Vietnam