Greetings from Ireland

I was on an international holiday – a trip to, and a bit around, Ireland. It was nostalgic: I visited places I’ve lived in, or been to before, and spent time with old friends - and made a few new ones too (a big semi-public thanks a million to Mirva, Ciaran, Emma, Brian, Mindy, Fidelma, Garret, Alex and Snark!). It was a grand trip. Ireland is a very international country, with so many foreigners living and working there. Anywhere we went, there were foreigners (apart of ourselves). Shops had foreign food – and I don’t mean just exported food or a few specialities, but even small shops had products important to certain nationalities that had no content description in English. Everyone had a foreign friend, lover or colleague. Internationality seemed so natural. And easy.. But I suppose no wonder since the Irish are pretty easygoing people ;)

While in Ireland, I talked about cultural differences with a friend. For example, why are we Finns so fond of buying our own, especially when it's in relation to our home? We want to have our own kitchen ware (preferably Finnish), bed linen (preferably Marimekko design), coffee maker (definitely Finnish!), furniture.. Obviously it makes us feel at home, but is it also to do with our societal norms, upbringing, culture? Finland has a high rate of homeowners and our flats and houses are primarily rented completely unfurnished (not going as far out as the Germans though, kitchens are included in the package). Therefore we teach ourselves to start collecting our own stuff already at young age. On the contrary, in UK and Ireland accommodation is primarily rented furnished, and with full appliances, kitchen ware, tv, the whole works. There’s no need to buy one’s own, since it’s all there. Quite handy, and totally encouraging towards the non-materialisation (good for the environment!) – but no wonder there’s so much shopping for clothes etc. going on.. and from my completely biased Finnish point of view, I really would like my own.

But when you are on a student exchange for a certain period of time and with possibly a low budget, it's quite useful to have a flat that is ready furnished (and despite of this, our car was full of our stuff when we headed to Scotland to study..). Foreign students arriving to Finland might find it quite complicated with the flat rental market. Where to get furniture, how much to invest on all necessary items? Luckily there are furnished options as well, and great services such as Laurea's student union LAUREAMKO's Home in a Box service where the student can rent kitchen ware, bed linen etc. for the time of the exchange. Saves money - and the environment :)