before the trip: how, what and why for the love of god?

I know going abroad for even a few months can seem like an extreme thing to do. For some people, it is the new culture and the feelings of being an outsider that make them shy away from opportunities to get to know other cultures in other countries, but for students, one reason for sure is the amount of paperwork. Being on student aid, you need to flip a few papers and run around to get grants, a higher amount of student aid, and so forth. In addition to arranging your financials to meet your exchange program period needs, you also need to set up a learning agreement plan, get your visa, book your flights, exchange money, get insurance, get vaccinations...

If all this sounds daunting enough to make you toss your dreams of any exchange program out the window, don't worry. I will try to list here everything I have done so far and I will try to remember the order I did it in, so you can get an idea on scheduling. Note that procedures vary between schools - this exchange program "protocol" is valid for Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). Also, the school will help you out a lot, but you need to be the active participant - they are very good at answering your questions, but you need to know what to ask.

Spring 2012

- exchange program application - three choices listed (mine were Shanghai, Sendai, Brussels - in that order)
- orientation at University of Tampere by West Finland HEInet (http://www.uta.fi/verkostot/wf-heinet/index.html)
-  enrolling in an orientation course at TAMK (I can't remember if we had the only orientation course contact day in the Spring or the next Fall - in any case, the course is mostly an online course)

Fall 2012

- waiting for some information on whether we were accepted in the Shanghai school (Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences) or not (aka not much to do...just work on the online course assignments such as a 15-slide PowerPoint presentation on Finland...euchhh)
- signed up for the group flight and paid deposit (100 euros)
- in December, I went to see the doctor to set up a vaccination program and to get the first vaccinations. My program came down to getting Hepatitis shots, a Polio booster and an Influenza shot. You will do good, if you make the appointment early enough for them to space the shots out over a couple of months. Polio boosters are free. Influenza shots are free for health care students. Hepatitis B vaccine does not cost anything IF you are studying some form of health sciences (f.ex. nursing, physical therapy, midwifery) AND are going to do some clinical training abroad. Hepatitis A costs around 35 euros per shot and you don't have to take the second one until six months later. I also had the option of buying Cholera and Typhoid fever, but decided not to take them, since they can be avoided by taking care of hand hygiene. So I am packing a lot of hand disinfectant gels!  

Spring 2013

- got a travel insurance (you will need this for TAMK grant!). You will be insured by the school as well, but it covers study-related things and clinical training.
- paid for the flights (580 euros)
- applied for TAMK grant
- notified student aid (KELA) to get appropriate funding (ie. more student loan, a higher amount of housing supplement) - I did this online, so I printed them in PDF format and sent them to the International Services via e-mail. The school then sent the papers to KELA and this way, we saved about 5 weeks of waiting for their decision.
- after KELA decision, applied for more student loan from my bank
- got the acceptance letter from China, took passport photos, filled out the visa application and sent it to a friend who took the application to the Embassy in Helsinki and got the visa. Remember to fill out the application carefully, make sure you have all attachments, and allow for 4-5 days of waiting time while they process your application - apparently they do reject quite a bit of the applications, so don't mess it up. A single-entry visa cost 60 euros.
- finished rest of the orientation course assignments due before departure (ie. target culture essay, some cultural awareness and adaptation strategy essays, a learning plan)
- met up with our PT program exchange coordinator and my co-leavers and formed a learning agreement plan that would meet KELA standards in terms of credit hours, and left it at the department for appropriate signatures (you will need to pick the learning agreement up later or have it mailed to you). The learning agreement plan is important and you will take it with you. If any changes are made at your exchange school you will need to copy it and fax/e-mail/snailmail it to your home institution. 
- few days before departure called Forex and reserved enough yuans to exchange enough money to cover tuition and housing fees (don't know if this is necessary, but will know in about a week :DD)

Les monies. Munny, munny, munny.

And that was it. As you can see, there is a whole year to work on everything. The only time when you will be really busy working on stuff is the semester when you will leave. Not much happens before that. I had, of course, plans to study Chinese in advance and what not, but the truth is, with our schedules at school (university of applied sciences) you don't really have the time.

So, get the exchange program catalog, and start planning! :) You will be glad you did.

back in 2010, she took her man's dog to helsinki and turku, while he was away in south america. now, it is 2013, and things have changed...

Back in 2010, I created this blog for my boyfriend's dog. The purpose of it was to give him something to read about while he was touring South America for a month to alleviate his separation anxiety.

Now, I am a third-year physical therapy student heading out for three months in Shanghai, China. Since it can be hard for a keyboard-oriented person to pick up a pen and write, I decided to try and blog about my experiences.

I think it was back in Spring 2012, when they uttered the words "exchange" and "program" at school. Having spent a few years in the States and not being a total newbie to this exchange program business I began to give it a thought.

At first, my first option was Brussels - pros: wanted to brush up on my French, and I had friends there; cons: had been there before. But as I was browsing through the exchange options, my eyes (and my brain!) got caught up with two interesting choices: Sendai, Japan, and Shanghai, China.

The school in Sendai was an internationally high-rated top school with serious study possibilities, but the very recent earthquake damage made the situation uncertain. Would the infrastructure have recovered by 2013? Would they even accept exchange students?

As for Shanghai, I could immediately picture about a zillion movies (Indiana Jones, anyone???) and a whole bunch of historically significant events that had played out in Shanghai, and at that moment, that was it for me. History and mystery with rich cultural heritage laced with British and other Western influences. An international melting pot. And as a huge bonus, being in China would give me the chance to possibly experience the Yellow Mountain (黄山). Yes. THAT Yellow Mountain.

So, Shanghai it was.

Now, it is Feb. 27th, and I am leaving on March 1st for Shanghai. Our studies will include acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (f.ex. tuina, herb remedies), Tai Chi, and Chinese language. Our clinical practicals will take place in some hospitals and possibly some TCM clinics. I am looking forward to everything, especially TCM.

So, stay tuned for some fantastically physical therapistish moments, delightful culinaristic experiences and cheap student-friendly travels!

Funnily enough, I have packed less than ever. 'Cause you can buy just about everything real cheap there! Hurrah!