Our 2013 workshop was all about assembly. From May 5th-12th, we had some awesome EESTECers over in Tampere to code and of course enjoy Finnish student life. With a team of 8 local people, we tried to press all that student life in Tampere has to offer into one way too short week. The mornings were spent in our university's labs, where our participants learned to use assembly. The evening program consisted of nightclub parties, a sitsit and of course a lot of sauna. We also used the good weather to spend time outside every now and then.
But enough from us, here's what our participants had to say:
Among many interesting workshops that were organized in May, mostly in southern Europe (Madrid, Cosenza, Famagusta), there was also one which I have waited for a long time - a workshop in Finland, in Tampere, the northernmost LC of EESTEC. Furthermore, a topic of the workshop was programming in an assembly language, one of my favorite subjects, this was probably "once in a lifetime" opportunity (and the best one) to visit Finland, and I knew that I should not miss it.
I decided to visit Helsinki as well, with Izabela from LC Zagreb, and we spent a day in the capital of Finland. A city tour and accommodation was provided for us by Jyrki, member of LC Helsinki. There we had a chance to experience some of many Finland-specific things, and most difficult part was to get used to the fact that the sunset was at 22:30, and sunrise was at about 4 AM in the morning, which really affected our sleeping habits.
The main characteristic of Finland is saunas. They say that they have approximately one sauna per two people, and I don't doubt that - in a student dormitory for 40 people there are five saunas - 4 on the ground floor and one on the roof. In addition to this, it is possible to find them literally everywhere - at the University, at homes, in clubs... In addition, each sauna has, except showers and locker rooms, a rest room for chilling out, with kitchen, dining space, sofas for relaxing, etc. There we had a great opportunity to spend evenings there to socialize, drink, rest and have some fun.
A couple of words for the academic part of the workshop - although organizers had a problem with drawbacks of some teachers, they managed to compensate them. We had some tasks to program in assembly language, and we had no major problems in completing in couple of days. Conditions at the University were superb - it was fully equipped and students could use everything they want or need (and not only for academic purposes, but also to organize parties, meetings, etc.). Since this is a technical university, all faculty buildings (electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, architecture etc.) are grouped together and connected, so entering the buildings is possible 24/7. So we had "night tours" of University several times, in pursuit of (after)parties of various student clubs.
During this workshop, organizers managed to show us everyday lives of students in Tampere - including "City Rally", where we had a chance to explore the city, do some interesting sport games in the park nearby the faculty, join a couple of student parties, taste specific Finnish food and beverages during the International Evening. Moreover there was a traditional party of their University called "Sitsit"', where everybody eats, drinks and sings in a very special manner, and Monopoly party, but with a little modification of the rules - for every purchased field you have to drink (a lot!).
Visiting Finland was certainly a very valuable experience for me. I would recommend everyone to attend the next workshop that will be organized there, and experience everything that cannot be described in words such few words.
Igor Levaja
LC Belgrade
No comments:
Post a Comment