Last adventure on our ERASMUS trip, Welcome in Russia, come with us :
Archives d’Auteur: Francois
ERASMUS in Finland, University and Accomodation !
Erasmus in Finland is over but, for our happiness we need a little souvenir !
From Russia With Love | St.Petersburg Trip !
Today we back to Finland after a visit to Russia , which was … A.M.A.Z.I.N.G ? We were 16 ERASMUS Students of Seinajoki to go to St.Petersburg. French, Spanish, German, Czech and Croatian. Nice People, Nice Trip in Amazing Country, I love Russia and Russian love us ! and now ! Идти (Idti : Go !)
After 15h of Boat and 1h to immigration… Welcome to St.Petersburg the former Russian Impérial Capital ! 
The first picture is Russian limousine and the second is an panorama of St.Petersburg taken from the roof of the St. Isaac’s Cathedral.
Let’s go eat now !
In Russia, the money is the « Rubles » 1€ = 54R, so everyting is so cheap in Russian for us, european people. For example, the food in MacDonalds, Burger King or KFC is 3/4€ less expensive than in France… So, The tipical meal in Russia for foreigners is the Borscht and Russian pancakes.
The Borscht is a kind of soup with meat and vegetables , she’s very widespread since the Second World War.
Now, « Story Time ! » So, St. Petersburg is a city with a strong history inherited from the days when the Tsar reigned over Russia , now all the Tsar had constructed have become the world-famous monuments !
This monument is called » The Hermitage » and » The Winter Palace « , he was the palace of Tsar in St.Petersburg, built in 1754 at the request of the Empress Elisabeth 
Statue and architecture representative of the epoch of Tsarism.
Let’s go to the Catherine Palace, the Palace of Tsar
. 
The Palace was the favorite residence of the last Russian Tsar , Nicolas II , this is where the Tsarevich, The hemophiliac son of Nicolas II spent most of his time, it is also here that Rasputin has spent most of his time when he worked for the Empress.
Now look up the atmosphere in St.Petersburg : го́пник ? What is that ? Gopnik ! The Gopnik Party are kind of improvised evening passing in the street has St.Petersburg is very friendly and very popular with young people in Russia (and us, the foreign students! :D) I will show in the second video, an example of Gopnik at 3.00am….:)
Next, in Russia, since the economic crisis of the European sanctions, the ruble fell, which allowed us to buy a lot of things with little money. For example, a pack of cigarettes worth Russian 68R (€ 1.20 …), before the workers’ paradise, now the consumer’s paradise!
Finally, I would thank Bigland never enough – Open Your Russia for organizing this trip, and all my Spanish friends, French, German, Czech, Slovak for all the good times in Russia, my dream came true and with all happiness possible! 
Nice trip, Nice People and My Dream is Over. ERASMUS Adventure is Over.
sources :
[Lapland Trip] Puppies & Reindeers
Come On ! On the way to our last trip to Finland !
Lapland, the land of Santa Claus and Husky.
This trip was organized by the Students Office of our University (SAMO)
Program: Zoo, Saune, Party, Sled Dog, ride with reindeers and appointment with Santa Claus !
First, we visited the Ranua Zoo, with its Nordic Bear and Finnish reindeer.
After a long ….. Evening…We went Playing sled dog !
We were drawn by 5 dogs, the first 2 are the strong, that of the middle is the guide and the two fronts are smart, it can control the sled !
After we saw puppies Husky * _ * They were so cute that we all wanted to bring back one !
Finally we made a trip to the village of father Christmas !
First, we met Santa Claus (I missed my Selfie with Santa Claus …)
We then went to the Santa Claus of the shop ! ( Postcards From 5 €, I hope it will bring a car to the next Christmas… ! )
So we did a ride reindeer, it was nice and have a good laugh
Selfie Consolation with a reindeer …:)
Then we wandered in an Inuit tent
Finally, it was fun and we had a good day ! And Friday: Let’s go Russia !
90 Days after !
90 ! There are more than 90 days, we were still in France, today we are still in our Seinajoki ERASMUS experience !
Since we arrived, we make beautiful meeting we went to Tallinn, we go to Lapland and finally we will finish in style with a trip to Russia, the mother country !
We can say that for now, we have not been disappointed !
Although the pace of the course is relatively lower than in our school in France, we learn and we are still happy to take interesting courses and cultivating in English!
Yet we do not forget our country and our city, live in ERASMUS is incredible, whether socially or professionnaly, being away from home is possible to put things in question, and especially to live otherwise, to stand out from his life.
In addition, the fact of meeting people of different origin and culture is enriching and lets you know what is happening and how bright the other students in other countries.
For example, I was talking with a student Slovak about the difference between Finland, France and Slovakia.
For example, the minimum wage in Slovakia is € 600, € 1,300 in France and Finland, the average salary is 3000 €.
It’s quite impressive to see how other people live students in Finland is already a country where the cost of living is quite high, add to this the fact of coming from a country where the minimum wage is low, it is a shock …
But despite these differences, ERASMUS is a way out of his country to live a real experience!
My advice: Take your chance and ERASMUS Go!
Travel in Estonia ! |Part 1|
This week it was the holiday in Finland !
With foreign students with whom we hit , we decided to organize ourselves a little trip to Tallinn Capital of Estonia !
First, where is Estonia ? Estonia is one of three countries that the Baltic countries are called with Lithuania and Latvia , these countries are independent only since the fall of the Soviet Union, which explains the very old architecture of the Capita.
( Architecture makes this charm )
This country is very close to Finland ( 2h30 Ferry) and temperature that is much appreciable than in Finland !
In Estonia, the culture is the legacy of the era to which the country was still under Russian domination, we can see, for example, a beautiful Orthodox Cathedral is the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, built during the reign of Alexander III Tsar of Russia.
Half the residents of Tallinn are Russians, which explains the enormous diversity of the city.
There is the Estonian food, which is special but delicious!
For example, the Estonian specialty, the « Salty pancakes » it is a pancake in the interior with a savory product, eg smoked salmon or so of meat
This food is due to the body and is relatively inexpensive (4€ for a pancake)
This is a superb Estonian Pastry , whose name is impossible to understand.
it is sold in Tallinn tea rooms which are very numerous and mostly relatively beautiful,
with a Russian style.
To finish this first part of our trip to Tallinn, we can say :
ERASMUS is Amazing !
Finnish Food & Drink !
We are in Finland for three weeks and culinary change is still hard !
Goodbye breads, butter and french food !
In addition , the food being « differente » and especially relatively expensive compared to France , Meat and imported products are much more expensive, but the Finns steaks and fish are very strange, and the difficulty of vegetables !
For exemple, we are go the « Finnish Restaurant » and i asked a « Kebab » and this is my « »meal » »…
Goodbye Bread & Sandwich, welcome the crazy sauce…
But, the was very delicious !
Finland when you buy a bottle ( water, soda or other …), we pay a » deposit » on the bottles that are worth 15 cents and 1euros.
Everything depends on the bottle.
This makes it easier to recycle , which is important in Finland, given the exorbitant cost of the import or manufacture of plastic !
For this, there are recycling machines available in food stores , which will then give a ticket that can be spend in the store ( it pays a portion of the races! «
We are Come in Seinajoki !
Hi Everybody !
We arrived a few days in Seinajoki and we have started our studies, and one word is always in my head it’s :
A M A Z I N G ! Life, Finnish People, Foreign People, School and Activities are Amazing !
Well, back to our sheep !
We arrived Friday Morning at 3am .
No key problem of train that derailed, late flight in Finland, we were even ahead !
(Except the train Angers>CDG , thank you SNCF )
After two hours in train, three hours in Plane, five hours in train, we were arrived in Seinajoki !
Despite the cold weather (-18°) which in Finland is bearable even for us French.
We do not come frozen in our house !
And this is our Student Residence :
In this residence there are 2 types of apartments either 2 or 3 people per appartemment personally.
i’m with one roomate. and this name is : » Petteri Rahkola » (Not like a Candy).
It is Finnish but do not talk too much but hey, he told me that while the Finns was like him when !
Try to talk to him anyway ! But it is very nice !
Francois.
