Dear Exchange Student,
Welcome to Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS)! Enclosed you will find some practical information concerning your arrival and stay in Salo. Please read through the instructions carefully.
To make your arrival to Salo as smooth as possible, please do the following steps:
If you haven't already sent your study application form by post to TUAS (with the required attachments), do it now! Inform the International Relations Assistant Ms Reetta Partala the exact date and time of your arrival in Salo at least two weeks before your arrival. o The best way to do this is to fill out the arrival form at our website (www.tuas.fi/exchangestudents – Before arrival – SALO Electronic Arrival Form) Student Health Care Center requires all the students coming from high-burden tuberculosis countries to return the following health documents. o If the student’s home university is located in one of these countries: Botswana, Brazil, China, Ghana, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Swaziland, Republic of Korea, Russia, Thailand or Vietnam. o If the student’s nationality can be found in the list of countries at www.tuas.fi/informationpackage o The documents have to be provided by the home country. The documents must be in English. . Doctor’s Statement of Health . Health Statement by Physician: the Result of Thorax X-ray
Student tutor and arrival
You will have a personal student tutor who will contact you by email will help you settle down in Salo and guide you in practical matters during your stay will meet you when you arrive in Salo and take you to your flat o If you inform the International Relations Assistant and the tutor of your arrival at least two weeks before your arrival o Please notice, that your student tutor will meet you on your arrival only if you arrive in Salo on a working day (Mon-Fri) between 8:00 – 22:00 o Otherwise you will have to stay in a hotel for the first night(s) and you will meet your tutor on the next working day o Also notice, that your student tutor will probably take you to your flat by bus, as only few of our students have their own cars. You can also take a taxi to your flat, but in that case you have to pay it yourself.
will pick up the starting package for you if you want will keep you informed about any free time activities with other Finnish and international students
Residence permits
EU citizens and citizens of Switzerland You don't need a visa or residence permit, but you must register your right to reside in Finland at a police department, if your stay lasts for longer than three months.
Non EU citizens You must apply for a residence permit if you plan to study in Finland for longer than three months. Apply for a visa if your studies will take less than three months. You can study for three months without a visa or residence permit if you are a citizen of a visa-free country. If you need a residence permit, I suggest that you apply for the permit AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Please use the electronic system for applying the permit. Then you don’t need to wait for the original letter of acceptance to arrive to make the application. More information at: http://www.migri.fi/services/e_services Note, apply for the residence permit from the day when you are planning to arrive to Finland (it’s suggested to arrive to Finland a few days before the semester begins) till the day you are planning to leave Finland (you can stay in Finland for a short period after your studies end). More information about visas. About the health insurance: o To achieve the residence permit to Finland, your insurance must cover medical expenses in the amount of 100,000 euros. You must have insurance for your entire stay in Finland (not only for the dates mentioned in the letter of acceptance). Your insurance must be valid at the time of your arrival in Finland. If you fall ill the expenses can easily be thousands of euros. o More information about the insurance: http://www.migri.fi/studying_in_finland/filling_in_the_application/insurance
General information
Enclosed you will find more information about TUAS, Salo and Turku in general. Please study it carefully, it may help you to settle down easier than you expect. It is worthwhile visiting our internet pages (www.tuas.fi/exchangestudents) before your arrival in Finland. There you will find more information about TUAS. More information about Salo, Turku and Finland in general you will find at the following addresses: www.studyinturku.fi, www.salo.fi, www.turku.fi, www.finland.fi, www.cimo.fi
Through our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/tuas.int.students, you will hear what is going on in Turku and TUAS. You can also read what our international students have been up to in Turku and Salo from our blog Finternational Stories http://turkublogs.fi/finstories
Summary
On the whole, you don’t need to be alone. You will always have someone to talk to either the contact persons of your field of study, your student tutor, the personnel of the International Office, or other friends. We are here to make your stay at TUAS as pleasant and memorable as possible.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the International Office if you have any questions either before your arrival or later on in. We hope to hear from you soon!
WELCOME TO FINLAND - TERVETULOA SUOMEEN!
With kind regards
Mr Joonas Niemi [email protected] International Relations Officer Tel. +358 2 2633 5628 International Office Tel. +358 50 5985 628 Turku University of Applied Sciences Joukahaisenkatu 3 A 20520 Turku FINLAND
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR EXCHANGE IN TUAS?
TUAS offers you many opportunities to get acquainted with Turku, Finland and the Finnish culture. Here are some examples of the activities you can choose from:
Finnish Language Course
TUAS will offer you an intensive language course, Finnish for Exchange Students (3 ECTS), starting in September or in January. You will receive a more detailed course programme after your arrival. If you are interested in Finnish language, you can practise before coming to Turku at www.uuno.tamk.fi or Easy Finnish at www.oneness.vu.lt/fi/ It’s a fun way of learning Finnish!
Get Finternational Course
The students take part in different kinds of events, which increase their knowledge in intercultural issues and the Finnish society. There will be several events during the course for the students to choose from. In this course, we have workshops, lectures about Finnish culture and society, study trips, Finnish student activities, language café evening and a movie night to mention some of the events. You will meet Finnish students, international degree students and other exchange students.
Student Tutors
The student tutors are usually Finnish degree students who are interested in foreign cultures. In addition to helping you on your arrival, they will also be happy to introduce you to the Finnish way of life! So, reply to your tutor when she/he contacts you!
Sport activities
Want to stay fit during your exchange in Turku/Salo? Take your sports gear (fitness/running shoes, swimsuit, clothes etc) with you! There are sport activities available also for exchange students. You can find gyms, swimming pools, great tracks for jogging and hiking. In the winter time you can try skating, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowboarding.
Student Union’s sports club Tuli also organises sport try-outs, tournaments and sport hours for futsal, floorball and volleyball. More info http://opiskelijakunta.net/tuli/english.html
International Action Club – ESN-IAC
ESN-IAC is a group of Finnish students who organise free time activities to international students, like parties, the famous Lapland Trip in March, boat cruises, sauna evenings, survival weekend, Hang Aroung Mondays etc… ESN-IAC is a section of European wide Erasmus Student Network www.esn.org Check their web pages www.esn-iac.fi or join their mailing list by sending email to [email protected]. IAC web page has a forum where you can contact other exchange students of TUAS already before you arrive!
Student Union TUO
Student Union (TUO ry.) organises activities to all the students at TUAS! You can find more information at www.opiskelijakunta.net and from the enclosed Tuokio Xtra Magazine.
Friendship Programme
This programme is aimed for all the students who wish to learn more about Finnish culture and society. We will introduce you to a Finnish family or person who is interested in meeting exchange students. The first meeting with the family will be organised by the International Office, but after that you and the family can decide when and where you are going to meet. They can for example invite you to their home or summer cottage, to cook Finnish food or watch ice hockey, depending on your and your family’s hobbies. The main thing is you get a better picture of normal Finnish Family life! More information at www.turkuamk.fi/friendshipprogramme
INTERNATIONAL ACTION CLUB – ESN-IAC Take part in our events and activities to have fun, to make new friends from around the world and to get to know Finland! To give you an idea what we arrange:
WELCOME PARTY RUISSALO HIKING IAC CRUISE SEA BATTLE SURVIVAL WEEKEND HANG AROUND MONDAYS LAPLAND TRIP
We, the IAC, are also students at TUAS and are excited to arrange and take part in whatever crazy things we come up with. Most of us have also done student exchange and want to make the time in Finland unforgettable for each exchange student that comes our way!
Join ESN-IAC mailing list to get info on upcoming events and activities by sending an email to [email protected].
You can also find us on as ESN-IAC (group) or check our website at www.esn-iac.fi