Q&A with Tsemppi

Starting at a new university and a new town always is slightly overwhelming, and this is even more true for starting in Helsinki as a new international student. A very foreign language, foreign traditions, and a really confusing study structure all make the whole experience overwhelming in the beginning. Trust us, we’ve all been there! And somehow, we survived!

Therefore, take this opportunity to hear some stories from international students who made it in Helsinki, and take your chance to ask everything you ever wanted to know about studying, living, and partying in Helsinki! We promise, we’ll try to answer all questions, so hit us with them!

We will provide some wine, beers, and snacks, but feel free to bring some goodies with you, too!

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Between all the parties going on during orientation week it might be hard to simply relax and find some time to talk to and get to know new people. Here is the solution: Come to our Board Games Night!

The concept of the night is easy: Bring your favourite boardgames or cardgames and we will play them together. Don’t worry if you don’t have any, there will definitely be some games on the table. We also have a poker kit, so let’s have a poker tournament! If you don’t want to play, drop by either way and simply chat with people or watch the games.

So come and stay the whole evening or simply drop in for a quick game before going to the bars and continue partying!

The event will take place at Aurora Saali, 3rd floor of the New Student House, Mannerheimintie 5 B. We will put up signs on the door, so don’t worry if you’ve never been there.

Tsemppi is looking forward to seeing you there!

Welcome back, all degree students new and old! To celebrate the beginning of another term in beautiful Finland, Tsemppi has organised a trip to Nuuksio to enjoy majestic pine trees, glittering lakes, and hopefully delicious berries! This year looks to be good for puolukka (lingonberry) and possibly mushrooms so bring a collecting bucket along! We will have a short info-session on how to identify berries and mushrooms that are safe to eat. Here´s the details:

* Sunday the 19th of September
* leaving from the central railway station on the 11:38 train; be sure to be there in good time. We will be back in Helsinki around 8.
* This event is intended for degree students, but if there are any slots left exchange students can also come.
* walking is about 8 km, terrain is not challenging but sometimes muddy. Bring proper gear!
* You can get water in the park, but not food, so bring plenty : ) We will stop at a fireplace too– tsemppi will provide smores!
* If you are interested in plants, birds, mushrooms etc. you can borrow guides from the Viikki science library.
* The trip is cancelled only if it is really raining hard.
* Please all observe proper forest etiquette! You can review this on Luontoon.fi (also in English) and I will tell you about it at the info session.

Up to ten people can come so sign up fast by sending an email to rachel.strickman@helsinki.fi.

REGISTRATION STARTS ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5 AT 10:00AM.

Mails being sent earlier to that time will not be counted!

ANCIS 2010: Annual National Conference on International Students

Tsemppi and the other organizers are pleased to announce the Annual National Conference on International Students (ANCIS) 2010 will take place in Helsinki on October 19 and 20. This year’s theme, Mobility in Higher Education in Finland: Possibilities and Barriers, will bring students, staff and others together to discuss international mobility in the current Finnish context.

More information will soon be posted to the Tsemppi web site and an official invitation will be sent out by mid-September. Until now, mark these dates in your calendars!

As the days get longer and brighter, and it starts to feel like summer
again, it’s time to think about fun outside in the beautiful Finnish
nature.

Luckily for us living in Helsinki, you don’t have to go far to get
away from it all.  A few minutes on the metro and an appetite-building
paddle away are some lovely little islands, complete with fire-pits
perfect for grilling hot-dogs, banana boats, and other camping
delicacies.

Join us on Thursday May 13 for a wonderful day on the water.  No
paddling experience is necessary – I’ll give you a quick tutorial to
get you going, and there will be some other experienced paddlers
around to help you out as well.  If this is your first time in a
little boat, you may want to rent a wet-suit, but that’s strictly
optional.

The price will likely be about 45 euros for your very own kayak, and
lots of food, but it depends slightly on how many people come.  It’s
cheaper if you want to share a tandem kayak or canoe with a friend,
but there are limited numbers available – so let me know right away if
that’s your preference.  Also, if enough people are interested,
there’s a chance to rent a really nice sauna for when we get back.

So don’t miss this chance to get away from it all right in your own
back yard.  Email me if you’re interested and also let me know if
you’d like to rent the sauna afterwards.

Looking forward to a fun day out on the water!

Email to register, and for more information: ami.ganguli@gmail.com

Vappu is here and for those of you who are less familiar with the Finnish way, this holiday is a big one for STUDENTS.So come and join Tsemppi for a traditional Vappu experience.

—FRIDAY—

17.00 on FRIDAY 30th find the Tsemppi flag at back yard of the Faculty of Social Sciences (Unioninkatu 37)

From there we will head to watch the student union place the hat onto Haavis Amanda Statue that is an annual honour which rotates around the Helsinki Region student unions, this year it is HYY’s turn!

After the show is over we will head back to the Faculty of Social sciences to hang out. Everyone is welcome regardless of Faculty. You may wanna bring some beer or cider for yourself for this event.
There will be May Day parties all around town, we will take those who wanna join to one or several on the night.

—-SATURDAY—-

After a sucessful night of May Day celebrations we all meet in Kaivopuisto for a picnic. Bring you food and drinks to the park,  find the Tsemppi flag again and join us for some fun in a summery atmosphere! You are welcome to be there anytime in the morning but Tsemppi will be there from 11 am.

Tsemppi is turning 6 years old this year and we would like to INVITE YOU to come and celebrate with us.

We will celebrate the occasion with music, food and sharing memories.

Our ANNIVERSARY COCKTAILS will be held in ALINA SALI (Mannerheimintie 5 B) on our actual birthday of the 25.04 at 18.00.

The cost of the event will be a minor 4€. For this you will great a great night out, food and one drink. Further drinks will be on sale for very student friendly prices.

Please come and celebrate our birthday with us, it would make it all the more special!

What: Tsemppi 6 year Anniversary
Where: Alina Sali
When: 25.04 @ 18.00
What to bring: 4€ or your receipt
What to wear: smart casual preferably, it is a celebration after all ☺

Hope to see many of you there!

The Finnish parties have promised to maintain free education for university students – at least for now. We should not take this for granted! What will happen after the next elections, when many committees and working groups already have insinuated and even proposed tuition fees in the future?

International degree students are very probably the first to be charged tuition fees, and in some cases they already have to pay, as there’s a trial period going on right at the moment in which some programmes and universities are allowed to charge non-EEU nationals tuition fees.

This issue concerns us directly and we can still turn the tide and do something to keep education equally free for all students, Finnish and international alike.

The national student unions SYL and SAMOK invites all students to a mass-demonstration for free education.

Come and march with us in a happy carnival parade from the Senate Square to the Parliament house and show everyone the importance of free education in shaping Finland’s future! The leading politicians from all parties have been invited to give their promises for maintaining free education also after the next elections.

We want every type of students to participate: future students, current students, graduated students, university students, college students, senior high school students and students with families – each and everyone is welcome!

Hope to see you all  there!

We are organising a meeting to bring together all those invested in the development of the International Master Degrees at the University of Helsinki located at the city campus.

The internationalization strategy of the University of Helsinki is bringing more and more international students to the university, and it is time to take a step back and look at what has been achieved so far and how the current situation in the International Master programmes is.

We want to provide a forum to share information and experiences from these programmes, especially also from a student perspective, in order to find areas which are excellent, but also those where improvements could be made.

We hope that this meeting will be the beginning of a fruitful exchange of knowledge and ideas which will benefit the students and the programmes now and in the future.

Please confirm your attendance so that we can prepare food and drinks accordingly. We meet in Aurora-saali at the New Student House (Mannerheimintie 5B, 3rd floor).

Tsemppi invites all of you to the first International Dinner Night this year!

We will prepare some delicious cheese Fondue for you, and as dessert, there is going to be chocolate Fondue.

The event will take place on Friday, the 9th of April, at 18:00 in Aurora-saali at the New Studenthouse. We will charge 6 Euros for food and one glass of white wine/non-alcoholic drink. If you want to drink more, please bring your own stuff! We will also be selling some wine at the event.

As there are only limited places at the Fondue pots, we have to restrict participation to 15 people. So be fast and enjoy a night of French music, Swiss Fondue and good company with Tsemppi! Also participating is Bouffe, the French student organization of the University of Helsinki.

Please register by writing an e-mail with your name to events@tsemppi.com