The shock of cultures

Vol 28, Issue 21, 3rd of April 2026

Living in Kouvola, Finland, for almost eight months now, I’ve had the opportunity to discover Finnish culture, but not only that. Before arriving here and embarking on this new experience, I expected to learn more about Finnish culture (which I have), but I didn’t expect to learn so much about other cultures.

My university, XAMK, was the first place where this openness began. As an institution offering an international curriculum, it brings together many different cultures. I’ve been able to learn more, particularly about South Asian culture, especially in class, through discussions and group projects. Furthermore, during the first semester, an International Week was organized. During this week, numerous activities were offered to provide us with a complete immersion in each other’s countries of origin. For example, we attended dance workshops, quizzes, music sessions, traditional meals, and more. More than twenty countries were represented, which broadened our knowledge of each culture. It was a very enriching week, filled with good vibe and everyone’s pride in sharing a little more about their heritage.

Then there were all the encounters made during this Erasmus exchange, which played a major role. It allowed us to learn more about both neighboring countries and those further afield. Indeed, I didn’t expect to have so many people on this Erasmus program. There were more than thirty of us each semester. And secondly, I didn’t expect to encounter so many different nationalities, not just from Europe. All these elements allowed us to discover a wide spectrum of traditions, customs and perspectives, which was very enriching for everyone. Furthermore, we were fortunate enough to all live in the same building, which allowed us to discover each other’s habits even more, especially through meals. Indeed, everything is different depending on the culture: dinner time, cooking methods, eating habits, the contents of meals, and even cutlery vary from one country to another.

There’s also the shared living experience, which takes this discovery even further and broadens our understanding of others. Living together every day makes us more quickly aware of differences and similarities. For example, regarding lifestyles. Some cultures are more reserved, others more extroverted, some are noisy while others are quiet, some do everything in groups while others are more individual, and so on. Each of these traits is identifiable with a particular culture.

All these discoveries constitute the very richness of the experience, and that’s also why I love this Erasmus exchange. We discover others, we broaden our horizons, we question ourselves, and we learn from others. Ultimately, by discovering others, we also learn to know ourselves better. A profoundly enriching experience, which leaves behind plenty of fun anecdotes and memories for the future.