Finland, From August to December

Hey
I'm going to to Finland from August to December. I'll be studying in Tampere, at TAMK University of Applied Sciences in Business. I would like to know what I should visit being around there, in Tampere or anywhere else in Finland, Norway, Sweden or other countries !! Of course I want to visit as many places I can because I maybe won't have the chance to get back there soon !!!

Thx for your request
NortheRGurL

Wow, nice one! (envy envy envy)

Weirdly, I am off to Tampere too, and my flight is in a few hours! Not really enough time to give super details, but there are so many great places to go! Not just in Tampere

And you definitely can't forget Moomin Valley!

Will post more here when I get back, congrats on the studying move!

I won't forget Moomin Valley ! Kride from NortheR has a super moomin shirt, which I want too ! It was my favorite TV show as a child !!
Can't wait for your advice !!

...i'm actually in the university!

Haha! Weird...

And hello again!

I am now back in the delightful UK (pfft...)

I was at Tampere University for a bit as a friend of mine is currently studying there. It is pretty awesome, very modern, with loads of computer rooms. Bit of advice, watch out for the doors. Upon enrolling you are given a student key card...it occasionally takes a good few minutes to gain access due to stubborn swipe locks! amusing, but not very practical when late for class!

Tampere is fairly quiet (ha!) in comparison to other areas. I decided to drift off to Helsinki for a few days, just because, and this only took 2 hours or so on the train. The station is very easy to get to. Also, being a student, you can get a lot off the price! Beware though, they don't ask to see your student card upon purchase, but they WILL ask for it when ticket collecting on the actual train. And many of the ticket vendors don't speak English in my experience. Chaos has ensued more than once!

Eating is bloody expensive, though it varies at different times of the year, and WHAT you chose to eat is usually the deciding factor. I would advise not quaffing the reindeer too often, unless you are made of euros! the vegetarian option is often the cheapest, (and most boring) choice. Good places to feast in Tampere are "Harald" (a viking restaurant with authentic dishes!) and "O'Connells" (Irish Pub! Serves the best chips this side of the universe.) There is also a McDonald's slap bang in the centre if you ever feel so inclined.

As for general entertainment, there isn't as much to do in Tampere as can be found elsewhere. However, the city is blessed with an INCREDIBLE metal club called "Hellä" (ravintola,) which is on "Hämeenkatu," the main shopping street. I has the privilege of seeing Moonsorrow and Axegressor their during the week. Great stuff

www.ravintolahella.fi/ <-- there are some good pictures of the club itself on the website. Lots of fire and devils involved. Great music, a good night out. There are obviously a lot more clubs elsewhere, but I always seem to gravitate towards Hellä in Tampere, or Tavastia in Helsinki. These clubs are 18+ and these are scarce. Watch out for security!

And there is always the Moomins! the museum is always worth a look in for the sake of nostalgia! Personally, it never fails to bring back my fears of Stinky and Little My! I was a strange child.

Finally, if you haven't got one already, I would recommend getting the Lonely Planet "Finland" book. It has saved my life more than once, and contains detailed information on everything you need to know to survive.

I hope I have helped, and I really hope that I haven't used up all the bandwith in a single post!

Thanks a lot for this, it'll help me a lot !!
I hope you enjoyed your time in Tampere !!

Hey I have another question...!!

Do you know how much is a bus pass for a month ? Or how is the company called so I can search it on the net ?

My trip is getting closer and there are so much things to think about.....it's gonna drive me crazy !!!

Thx

NortheRGurL

Ahh, I can't remember exactly.
There is some info at this website, which is what I used when I first went out there:

www.tampere.fi/english/publictransport

In the meantime I will rack what brains I have!

So jealous of both of you. I would love to visit Finland, and I intend to once things in my life have calmed themselves a bit more and I have the money to do so.

Have an awesome time!
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Edit..
Wow.. The date on those posts was so long ago.
Ignore my ridiculous post.

But I hope you had fun anyhow!

Sel wrote:So jealous of both of you. I would love to visit Finland, and I intend to once things in my life have calmed themselves a bit more and I have the money to do so.

Have an awesome time!
____________________________________________________

Edit..
Wow.. The date on those posts was so long ago.
Ignore my ridiculous post.

But I hope you had fun anyhow!

Yes both those girls are MFF staff and they were talking on this forum long time ago before we even released it

Nice! Man, I need to go to Finland someday (If I had enough money.. )! That country ROCKS!

You are all so eager to go there and you know what's great? That you WON'T be disappointed!
I told myself that I should try Finland in winter also (like some friends did), not only in summer, but I have the same problem: money.... I wouldn't like to waste more of them until I can actually try to move there. Yeah, it's pretty much the way it goes: you visit Finland and you just need to move there. So beware!

Storm wrote:Yeah, it's pretty much the way it goes: you visit Finland and you just need to move there. So beware!

You know it's so nice to read about these things here I guess when you live here long enough you kinda don't pay attention to things anymore. That's why it's important to read how foreigners feel about Finland. It reminds me just how good this country really is.

I used to complain (well I still do at times) about some of our seasons here, mainly about autumn until my girlfriend who is from Brazil and lives in Finland with me, told me how blessed we really are to have those 4 seasons...spring, summer, autumn and winter. And in here those seasons are so different from each other.

Well I think it's like "You can leave Finland but Finland doesn't leave you".

TeroTolkki wrote:

I used to complain (well I still do at times) about some of our seasons here, mainly about autumn until my girlfriend who is from Brazil and lives in Finland with me

Of course we always find something to complain about But indeed, hearing opinions from foreigners and making comparisons draws a better picture. About seasons, I love each of them. So much variety, so many moods!
And yes... that's right about Finland... it always stays with me!

I actually live in Tampere.
it is quite nice over here all year round.

city quiet?
Not to me.
You just visit some small finnish countryside village and come tell me Tampere is quiet.

if you want a decent Metallic Introduction of Tampere check this Tour Diary of Stratovarius made by Lauri Porra where they visit Tampere for Sauna Open Air: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XXpc6VvBvQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Estratovarius%2Ecom%2Fframe%2Ephp%3Fblog%3D9304&feature=player_embedded

Here is the video embedded.

i would do anything to have the chance to live in finland for good..and maybe someday i will.i just started to learn suomi..but is really hard 'cause i don't have a real teacher.anyway the thing that helps me a little bit is that i know hungarian and both languages are Finno-Ugric languages so the pronunciation it's not that hard..but the grammar kills me

centurychild wrote:i would do anything to have the chance to live in finland for good..and maybe someday i will.i just started to learn suomi..but is really hard 'cause i don't have a real teacher.anyway the thing that helps me a little bit is that i know hungarian and both languages are Finno-Ugric languages so the pronunciation it's not that hard..but the grammar kills me

I can feel your pain...you are right about the hungarian and finnish language being kinda siblings but the grammar is simply terrifying. I mean I am a Finn and I have realized that the grammar is difficult for me too. I can use the grammar of course but if I need to explain why something goes like this or like that...well...

And it has been a subject for me lately with my daughter and recently with my girlfriend who is studying finnish. I think the only way to go properly is with a teacher really.

yeah..well the funny part is..if i should move to finland and i don't understand a word.. i can always say ''perkele'' and that's enough

centurychild wrote:yeah..well the funny part is..if i should move to finland and i don't understand a word.. i can always say ''perkele'' and that's enough

Yes there are always words that can get you attention here. Below is a small list of those words:

Perkele
Saatana
Yksi kalja tai mikä tahansa alkoholipitoinen
Koskenkorva
Tänään on kyrvänpesupäivä
En puhu suomea
Voi helvetti!
Painu helvettiin

ok..i will try to remember them..but i truly hope that i won't get into a fight with someone just because i said something and i offended him/her

Hahaha, you don't want to hear the Finnish I'm speaking

I have the same big issue with the language, it's impossible without a teacher. But, if I move there, I hope I can start learning somewhere as soon as possible! there are so many foreigners there from such exotic countries and cultures, who managed to learn and speak Finnish!

Maybe there would be a little help now too... There are some big grammar books available in internet, on sites like Amazon. Finnish is explained there quite well, I will buy myself one of those.

Teach yourself finnish

This is the book + audio I got for my girlfriend and the book is really good. That link is for Amazon.

I was in Helsinki this July and if I was in love with Finland before being there you can only imagine what it's like for me now !

I've always wanted to live abroad even for a while, just for the experience of something new and different. I think I can safely say that I would LOVE to do that in Finland. I've already ordered the 'teach yourself finnish' book+audio just to get started on the language (I guess it's hard but I speak Greek so I'm up for hard languages) and hopefully I'll be able to do it one day.
Until then I plan to visit again in the winter, well if everything goes as planed with my money!

Oh I'm a bit of an alcohol fan so of course I'm in love with koskenkorva and of course the bottles I got from the airport are now empty and I can't find it anywhere on the internet

TeroTolkki wrote:Teach yourself finnish

This is the book + audio I got for my girlfriend and the book is really good. That link is for Amazon.

I have that book, and it's quite useful. Like everything else learning a language takes time, practice and patience. (Which I generally lack.)

i just bought myself a book to learn finnish...but i still need a teacher..or maybe i just have to come to finland to learn it properly

i just saw today a documentary on tv about Finland..mostly Rovaniemi( i hope i wrote that one correctly)...everything was so beautiful..i will come there even if i'll have to walk

It's been ages since I haven't seen such documentary on tv! ... but hey, it's been ages since I haven't watched tv I know how you feel... I couldn't help crying when I was seeing Finland on tv...
What book did you buy for learning Finnish? The one that Tero recommended?

not quite...it's more like a conversation guide bought from Polirom.It is written by a romanian person who lives in finland now(lucky him )..and two student graduaters from Tampere.It's quite interesting and it really helps..but I still need a real teacher

centurychild wrote:i just bought myself a book to learn finnish...but i still need a teacher..or maybe i just have to come to finland to learn it properly

When I was in Finland, I found everyone generally wanted to speak english to me once they found out I wasn't American.