Insider Volume 22 Issue 11

INSIDER 29.11.2019 | VOL. 22 | ISSUE 11

STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK

Featuring Event International week Profile Student Profiles Student story Movie review

STAFF

EDITORIAL

LIDIIA BENKOVSKAIA

ARIAN UKAJ

JASMINE LAIMER

MUHAMMET CAKIROGLU

PRAKHAR SHARMA

ANNA RYNDINA

NIKITA MUNENKO

HENNA SUORTTI

JOONATAN BERG

CLAUDIA RIVA

QUYNH ANH VU

Editor in Chief: HUGH CLACK

PHONE +358 44 702 8758 WEBSITE insider.xamk.fi EMAIL insider@xamk.fi 2

INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587

EDITORIAL Moi ,kaikki! Hi everyone! Здравствуйте!

Outside is November, but we have prepared for Also in the issue you will find a small interview that you an informative International issue!

Claudia took from the guys who came to study at KSAMK on exchange from Germany and Italy.

The past week was remembered by many because Let's get to know them! of one of the main events of the year - International Week. For a week, our university hosted thematic In our regular column “Student stories”, Arian will lectures and familiarization with different cultures. introduce us to a student from China, he will tell If you suddenly missed this fascinating week or you a little about himself, why he chose XAMK want to refresh your memories, then my colleagues and what he dreams about in the future! will be happy to share their impressions with you and tell interesting informative stories, as well as In our section “Let's go to the cinema!” Nikita visited tasty recipes. the cinema on the eve of Christmas and New Year and is ready to tell us about his impressions of the Great excitement among students of teachers and film “The Lighthouse”. guests of our university always causes an event that takes place in the middle of the week under I hope you find something new and useful for the name Food tasting. On it you can try dishes yourself. After all, this is a good opportunity to from different cuisines of the world. My colleague travel with us to different countries and learn more Anna decided to share two delicious and easy-to- about the lives of others! cook recipes from Brazilian and Austrian cuisine.

Let's look at one lecture "Russian workshop" that Enjoy reading!

Henna visited and is ready to share with pleasure how it was!

Daisy (Quynh Anh Vu) will tell you in more detail about the interesting TEDxXamk event, which was first held at our university! The main slogan is "The future today." Do not miss the opportunity to get to know our guest at the University of Western Brittany School, France - Ms. Kim Waechtler, who was interviewed by Daisy.

Lidiia Benkovskaia 3

EVENT TEDxXAMK THE FUTURE IS TODAY! Last Wednesday, students of the International Business programme had successfully organized the first independent TEDx event with the theme "The future is today" in XAMK Kouvola Campus.

TEDxXamk took place at Meduusa Studio and attracted more than 70 participants and 4 speakers from different expertises.

TEDxXamk has brought global topics and spread great ideas to reach sustainable development in the future. Participants had paid attention and interacted enthusiastically during the event. There was also a small break, which treated people well with coffee, tea, snacks, fruits, etc and especially chances to communicate directly with speakers.

TEDxXamk was not only a place for connecting and sharing but also nurturing good ideas to bring value to the community. A student who joined the event also shared: “TEDxXamk appealed to the young, with globally concerned interest and knowledge, will find answers and solutions to a better future life.” And in case you missed it, check the highlights of speaker’s sharing in TEDxXamk 2019 below: Mari Pantsar - Director, carbon-neutral circular economy at Sitrafund Mari believed that Circular Economy is not only a solution for global sustainabilities but it’s actually much more – new important sources of opportunities, growths, and competitiveness. Mari clarified that the Circular Economy model is able to help companies both gain value and maximize the well-being of using natural resources. She also did mention that Finland is a pioneer country in the Circular Economy and showing its activities to influence this economy model as solution to the world.

Quote of the talk: “Who knows when waste disappeared from the world?”

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"Fragments"- series of paintings

Ville Virta, lead developer at SATO With his positive energy, Villa inspired all guests who attended the event with the idea of “riskmanaging” - Moving fast and breaking things. Ville brought a different perspective on failures by telling real stories and examples. Besides mentioning the Triangulation of Business, the scale of fail, he proved that being not afraid of failures is important for both startups and personal growth. Individuals, who are the future, always move fast and learn from their mistakes.

Quote of the talk: “It’s very important to forgive yourself for any possible failures, even before they happen. You will never perfect anything, you will just feel that it’s good enough.”

Heta Heiskanen, Secretary-General in the Finnish Climate Change Panel, Ministry of the Environment Climate change is an alarming situation that seriously affects the ecosystem. Wishing to inspire the world future generation of leaders, Heta spread to everyone 4 different angles that can influence and solve the Climate change crisis: Sciences, Cooperation, Culture, and Laws.

Nevertheless, every single solution is not enough.

Heta convinced that together we all can make the change in our limit time. Her sharing has actually

TEDxXAMK motivated each person to embrace their own ideas, change their actions and bring value to the global community.

Quote of the talk: “I am welcoming you all on board to take action.”

Antti Merilehto, Author and CEO of AI Strategy The TEDxXamk event also attracted attendants by the sharing of Mr. Antti, an author and CEO of AI Strategy Company, on the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Speaking in a logic, inspiring and attractive way, Antti emphasized that we have to understand how machines work now and then. By showing detailed examples and new perspectives, Antti agreed with the opinion that entrepreneurs should find ways to bring and utilize technology, AI

and machine learning into its field to understand customers and behaviors better.

Quote of the talk: “Machine are with us.”

After the event, speaker Antti had spent his priceless time to share his thought about the event with me. Just a few minutes but I did actually admire his energy, humor, enthusiasm, and knowledge. Antti absolutely enjoyed TEDxXamk and he highly appreciated the event organization from IB Students. From preparation, marketing to the stage, etc, all those things are well-arranged together. He was also impressed by the important themes shared by other speakers. Before leaving, Antti hoped that his sharing could awake students to think further and seriously take action. “Dear readers, you have to understand how Artificial Intelligence is shaping what you’re graduating for and impacting what you are doing. We are all good at being humans, but at the same time, machines are with us. I really want you all now to figure out how machine learning is advanced and how AI would help you in the future.” - said Antti Merilehto.

TEDxXamk 2019 has come to an end but we believe that the event would be an unforgettable memory for both participants and the organizers.

Time flies but the message from TEDxXamk will remain till the cows come home: The power of intergenerational and international connection will help spread ideas and initiatives in building a better life. The future depends on what we do in present!

Quynh Anh Vu (Daisy) Photos by Huong Mai (Tra) 5

INTERNATIONALWEEK International Week Russian Workshop It was the international week and we had, amongst all the other cool workshops, the Russian workshop on the 3rd floor of Xamk Kouvola campus. The workshop started with a presentation by a very entrepreneurial student who told about his experiences in St Petersburg. He told about the atmosphere and amazing architecture. Anyone who has visited St Petersburg knows how beautiful the city is, the Venice of the north. He told he had also made many friends from St.Petersburg which tells something about the places hospitability and of its welcoming feeling. After experiencing this inspiring city he told us he was about to go exchange to St Petersburg already next year.

He also had made an Instagram account where people can easily learn Russian language which was very cool.

We also had our schools staff members giving presentations of various international projects where students have been able to participate in.

For example, designers of our school have had fashion shows and workshops in St Petersburg that have been a huge success. Just to give a hint, there will also be new projects in the future. Not only is it important to study hard, write essays and do obligatory tasks but also to collect experiences whenever possible, because they teach the most and might open new doors for anyone. If you are ambitious and want to challenge yourself, go and participate too!

I was also invited to give a presentation of my 6

experiences in St Petersburg. I was visiting the startup ship festival last summer where I happened to meet a mentor from a previous startup camp I had participated in. This reunion gave me a chance to go on a new adventure and this time to St Petersburg. ITMO University was organizing a 2-week startup camp called Sumit. It was quite exiting traveling from such a small city like Kouvola to a totally different world of culture. As an artist I fell in love immediately with this inspiring old city.

Students on this camp were mainly creating mobile apps and I was assisting everyone with their product designs. These two weeks were full of teamwork, teambuilding, lectures, learning and of course getting to know the culture. Days were long but fun thanks to all the wonderful people.

After studying we often gathered a group and went to the city centre to eat something good. My friends introduced me to amazing Georgian food for example and we also visited beautiful sights of St Petersburg like the church on blood.

When these two weeks were closing in and we had the final pitching day, it was an amazing feeling when a businessman from the audience came to me after the performances and offered some illustration work for me. These situations are always the best and give you the motivational boost to keep on going on your path towards your future career. Also, after seeing the happy faces of my fellow students and the feeling of accomplishment after the camp had finished, it gave me a bit of ambition too, to perhaps become a sort of an entrepreneur of my own life.

Henna Suortti

PROFILE Kim Waechtler During International Week, we had the honor to welcome foreign lecturers to our university. Then on Friday afternoon, while it was getting dark outside, I had time to sit down and had a great talk with Ms.Kim Waechtler - a guest lecturer from the University of Western Brittany School, France. She gave me a chance to learn about life, career, success, and passion in the eyes of an original British-German lady.

Can you tell us about your personal background?

I moved to Brest, which is in North-Western France on Erasmus 10 years ago, fell in love and decided to move there permanently after finishing my studies in the UK. Then I am a teacher at the University of Western Brittany until now.

Which major are you teaching?

I teach Professional English for Business, including English for HR, Finance, Accounting, etc. I am also an International relations Coordinator at the IAE institute How many languages do you speak?

I can speak fluently German, English and France. I’d love and always try to learn a few languages of places I go to. For example, I know a little bit of Spanish, Italian, and Thai, etc.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I think I just couldn’t do another job. I really like talking to people, interacting with students, seeing people grow and be creative then I’d love to inspire and motivate them. I do only find myself when I create lessons, projects or things for people to do.

What is your most favorite aspect of teaching?

I like setting up projects instead of normal lessons.

For example, I have a project in 12 weeks and I give students these problems such as getting to know the company, looking at the data records, indicating what strategies should they apply, etc.. Sometimes I might even don’t know the answers. After that, I can spend time with each group, discuss with them, ask them what they need, show them if they follow the right direction, etc and of course correct their English.

How do you keep up to date on your subject?

I’m lucky in terms of Accounting because I have an Accounting teacher in the UK. Thus, I can contact and ask her about the on-going problems and interesting questions about Accounting. I also try to read articles and listen to the Podcasts about Business all the time.

And of course, I learn from students a lot as well.

It’s International Week in XAMK, Kouvola Campus.

How do you feel? Do you enjoy the activities during this week?

Absolutely! I would say it was a very nice and amazing experience! The International Food Tasting was so great. I didn’t have much time to go around because of another schedule, but I tried some cuisines already and they were excellent! I also had some workshops to introduce and discuss some topics with students in XAMK. I was a little bit surprised at first and then happily motivated because all the students were really engaging, giving opinions, active listening and asking questions.

Even though it was only several days, I experienced some Finnish culture and I really love it, for example, sauna. Tonight we are having a small Christmas party with the international teachers in XAMK and it must be lots of fun. *laugh* Do you have a favorite quote which is your life philosophy?

One comes to my mind right now is a saying in German, which basically means “Home is where the heart is.”

Thank you so much for your time and I hope you enjoy your time in Finland! *Read the full interview on our website Quynh Anh Vu

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STUDENTPROFILES

For this international week issue I decided to interview two people from two different countries. Here are their short stories!

Introduce yourself!

Hi! My name is Carolin and I come from Germany.

Where are you from?

I live in Soest, where I’m studying. But I come from a small and nice village in the countryside, where I lived my childhood spending time in the nature with my friends.

What are you studying?

I’m studying Design and Project Management.

Why did you choose Finland for your Erasmus?

I chose Finland and Xamk because I was looking for a small city with a lot of nature and Kouvola seemed to have all the prerequisites to fulfil my expectations.

Introduce yourself!

Hi! I’m Filippo and I come from Italy.

Where are you from?

I come from Genova a city in the north-east cost of Italy.

It’s quite touristic and it’s really nice because there are both the mountains and the sea.

What are you studying?

I’m studying Business Administration in my city, Genova.

Why did you choose Finland for your Erasmus?

I chose Finland because I wanted to improve my English and it’s known that Nordic countries speak a good level of English. Also because I wanted to experience how it is to live in a country that is very different from Italy, with a very different culture and with the best school system!

How many countries have you visited?

Oh, that’s a long list! Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Italy, Spain, England, Scotland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Morocco and others.

How many countries have you visited?

I visited quite many countries: Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Poland, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

How many languages do you speak?

I speak English and German (obviously) and I speak some Spanish too.

How many languages do you speak?

I speak Italian and English. I also studied French back in school, but I haven’t used it for a long time now.

What are your plans after Erasmus?

I will continue my studies in Germany. From January I will start an internship for around 3 months.

What are your plans after Erasmus?

I will go back to Italy for my graduation. Then I will continue my studies with a Master degree in Marketing or Business Administration, but I still don’t know where.. not in Genova this time!

Claudia Riva

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STORIESSTORY Meet Yifei!

Hi, I am Yifei. I am 20 years old. I study International Business in XAMK. I am from China. I was born in a small city which is located in northeast China named Panjin in the Liaoning province. I grew up there until I went to university. I think it’s really nice for me to grow up in Panjin. I adapted to a small city’s life, I could meet my friends everywhere, like in shopping plazas or restaurants. Everyone knows their peers and all our parents wereclassmates when they were young. I feel it’s very comfortable for living.

sights, thus I choose to study here. I think studying in Finland is much more different from China. In Finland, teachers always ask us to do teamwork or study in a group. I think it can improve many abilities. And we don’t have many exams, the tasks are always easy. But in China, we usually have many exams. We all study under enormous pressure for many years. Some foreigners always say Chinese students are exam-machines, they just know how to get high grades but don’t know how to operate it. I think it’s the biggest disadvantage, but we don’t have any solutions, because there We lived near the airport, which was very are so many people in China. We just can use this convenient for us to go everywhere all around the way to distinguish the differences. world. When we were free, we would usually go to Beijing, the capital of China, which is a very big I want to study for a master's degree when I city. There are many people in Asia, especially in graduate. But I haven’t decided if I study business China. You can feel the busy pace in Beijing. further. I also like International Communication.

When I was young, I had many interest classes, Maybe I will study International Communication such as electronic organ and dance. But for master. I want to study and work abroad in the unfortunately, I didn’t stick to them. At weekends, future, my dream job is working in the Ministry of for people our age, we liked to go to the cinemas, Foreign Affairs. hang out in the shopping mall or have some snacks.

The reason that I chose XAMK was that I knew Finland is one of the highly-developed countries in the world. And there are many beautiful natural

Arian Ukaj.

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RECIPE Food Tasting Day

One of the best highlights of International Week was Food Tasting Day. Undoubtedly, everyone found something delicious there according their taste. There were different dishes represented from all around the world! Most likely, everyone fell in love with the Vietnamese spring rolls, Russian Caviarpancakes and French desserts. Of course, Plov from Uzbekistan and Biryani from Bangladesh were among the rice specialities on the day. Among all the different delicacies, there were a couple of very easy but super yummy recipes, and now you have an unique opportunity to cook it at home: Brigadeiro Recipe (Brazil) Ingredients: • 1 can of condensed milk • 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter • 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder • Chocolate sprinkles Directions: 1. Put the condensed milk, butter and chocolate in a pot.

2. Stir it constantly over medium heat until the mixture loosens from the bottom of the pan.

3. Shape and roll the chilled mixture into the balls.

4. Add chocolate sprinkles on the top of the sweets according your taste.

5. Yum-yum ApfeIradIn (Austria) Ingredients: • 4 apples • 1/4 of 1L pack of milk • 1-2 eggs • ~100 g of flour • Pinch of salt • Butter Directions: 1. Peel the apples. Then slice them into the circle shape (~0,3 cm).

2. Put egg, flour and milk together in the bowl, and mix ingredients until it is right consistency for the dough. After that, heat the pan (not too hot, not too warm). Do not forget to put enough butter on the pan!

3. Dip the apple slices in the dough both sides and put them into the pan. After 2-3 min turn around, bake the other side.

4. Make topping: put cinnamon and powdered or normal sugar together and sprinkles on top!

5. Enjoy!

Written by Anna Ryndina Photos by Quynh Anh Vu (Daisy) 10

STUDIO 123 Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 044 375 3686 www.studio123.fi 29.11-5.12.2019

MOVIEREVIEW The Lighthouse

STUDIO 1 CORGI (7) | 11€ | 1h28min Fri-Sun, Thur 17:20 LAST CHRISTMAS (7) | 11€ | 1h42min Sat-Sun 15:20 THIS TRAIN I RIDE (7) | 11€ | 1h17min Mon-Wed 17:40 VEITSET ESIIN (12) | 12€ | 2h10min Every evening 19:15 STUDIO 2 MIDWAY (12) | 12€ | 2h18min Fri, Sun, Tue, Thur 19:00 MESTARI CHENG (7) | 12€ | 1h54min Sat-Sun 14:45, Tue-Wed 16:45 TARHAPÄIVÄ (12) | 11€ | 1h38min Fri-Mon, Thur 17:00 LIGHTHOUSE (16) | 12€ | 1h49min Sat, Mon, Wed 19:00 STUDIO 3 TÄYDELLINEN JOULU (12) | 12€ | 1h35min Fri-Sun, Thur 17:00 DOWNTOWN ABBEY (7) | 12€ | 2h2min Sat-Sun 14:30 Tue-Wed 16:45 SYSTEM CRASHER (16) | 12€ | 1h59min Fri, Sun, Tue, Thur 19:00 JOKER (16) | 12€ | 2h2min Sat, Mon, Wed 19:00 Students/armed services, pensioners 1€ discount on all full priced tickets of 10€ or more

Festival films are not for everybody. Each time you are going to see something that “earned an hour of ovations in Cannes” or “left viewers speechless in Berlin”, it doesn’t live up to expectations. It least, it used to. Now, people have learned that movies from festivals are not for everybody.

That’s arthouse.

The Lighthouse also hails from this genre. It stars Willem Dafoe who is the arthouse maestro (although his most famous role must be Green Goblin from the Sam Raimi Spider Man trilogy) and Robert Pattinson, who you might remember from Harry Potter or, god forbid, Twilight.

These two are amazing. 99% of the duration of the movie you watch at them and somehow, these guys just nail their roles. They are Thomas Wake and Ephraim Winslow respectively.

This is not the usual happy-couple type of chemistry, nor this is a besties-forever one. They hate each other’s guts. Revealing what happens next might be a spoiler, but we will just remind you that the movie is psychological horror. You won’t see any screamers here. Liters of blood will not be spilled, and no monsters will be crawling on the screen. Why? Because it’s arthouse. And because the budget is… Are you ready for it? $4 million.

This is huge money to probably any student in the world. In the world of filmmaking, however, where Robert Downey-Jr receives $75 million for just one movie, while that movie’s overall cost is close to $1 billion… Maybe that’s why The Lighthouse was filmed in black-and-white. It does support the atmosphere, though.

This movie is definitely NOT for everybody. But if you do like the genre and enjoy acting skills, you have to watch it, you will be glad that you did. Somewhere in the middle you might even get an Edgar Allan Poe vibe, and that is a huge praise

Nikita Munenko

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