Insider Volume 24 Issue 3

INSIDER 24.9.2021 | VOL. 24 | ISSUE 3

STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK

STAFF

EDITORIAL

Editor in Chief: HUGH CLACK

JOONATAN BERG

EVA MOROVSHCHIK

JOONA RÄTY

DOUAA CHALOUN

PHONE +358 44 702 8758 WEBSITE insider.xamk.fi EMAIL insider@xamk.fi INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587

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QUYEN HUYNH

EDITORIAL Hello fellows. This might be my first and last editorial.

So, as for now I have been writing some book reviews. But one thought has struck to me.

Maybe I am having a bit too many things going on, especially when regarding my poor time management skills. I started writing this just after midnight, it’s Thursday now. I am a person who has recently noticed the burden all these courses can give you. I have noticed it’s maybe a little bit harder to remember what things I still should do. And I know that it’s going to get even more stressful and busy. I have to leave something out.

But let’s keep this editorial a little bit more positive.

My first semester at XAMK has been quite nice so far. My first courses include “Intercultural competences” and “Intensive course on presentation skills”. Those courses have been diverse and inclusive, thus keeping one more motivated and intrigued during the classes.

And how do I like Kouvola? Well, I must say that I miss water and maybe nature and some space as well. I just moved to this 81-thousand-people city from a lovely town called Lieksa.

About I like how the services and restaurants are near. Transport connections are quite awesome compared to where I used to live. Also the population of Kouvola is like over seven times that of Lieksa.

Then to what I liked more about Lieksa. So, Lieksa is a town in Eastern Finland with population of 10 622. It’s a town full of nature which is one thing I love about it. Located on coast of 4th largest lake of Finland, it’s a town with water. The river flows right past too. In conclusion Lieksa has water and nature, Kouvola has people and connections. Lieksa is a town, Kouvola is a city. Despite of that I prefer town centre of Lieksa compared to city centre of Kouvola. It is more spacy and simpler and is actually the centre of the town. Meanwhile city centre of Kouvola is not as much of a city centre, as Veturi shopping centre has stolen people from the city centre. And to this critique I shall finish this editorial.

Happy Autumn to each of you!

Text by Joona Räty

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FRIENDSHIP Connecting the world!

I think this is a good topic for people who have just arrived or will soon arrive at XAMK campus, or you can read this article from other places. In any case, making friends is easy for some people, but difficult for others. Where are we going to find friends? How do we find new friends in a new environment? Why make foreign friends? Okay, let's delve into it, shall we?

The first question, friends can be anyone around you, they can be your neighbors, and they are everywhere in your class. I made friends along the way, but in my opinion, the classroom may be the easiest place for you to make new friends. We study and discuss together; we always have a topic to discuss.

We can have lunch together and have a party (this is very common in Finland).

Hanging out with a group of friends can strengthen the inner bond. We have a lot of fun in different activities, team games, and solve problems together. This may also be a good opportunity to get to know each other.

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This is a photo from my class in high school.

We went camping, played games, and climbed the second highest mountain in Vietnam.

"Fragments"- series of paintings

It is also a good idea to make friends at work.

I used to be a tutor, and we had a children’s summer camp. There were many interesting activities, such as making plastic clothes and comedy performances. In the two years of work, I have made many friends, most of whom are children who came to the camp.

Finally, when I came to Finland and started

ALL OVER THE WORLD studying at XAMK, I made many friends who came from different countries with different cultures, languages, and hobbies. Having such an experience is very unusual for me, and I am very happy that I have it. Starting to get close and become friends with them, this has broadened my horizons and views of the world. Finns don't chat in public, and they are very shy. Unlike Russians, they chat or even get in touch in public. Finding this information is one of the many benefits of having friends.

Last week we even held a small party where we brought our cultural food. An interesting party full of international cuisine, we can try cuisines from all over the world and share our national cuisine with the world, which is unforgettable and interesting.

In short, friendship is very important in our social life. It is not only mentally helpful, but also physically helpful. You can turn the frown upside down when you see a friend, and you can complete a tricky task together. This relationship will also affect the business, but we will talk about it later. Now, for those who are ready to be on campus, let us make new friends (maybe we can hold a student party until the Covid situation is over). For those who have not yet come to Finland, we look forward to seeing you. See you later!

Text by Quyen Huynh Pictures by Quyen Huynh 5

REMOTE UPDATE

The changing scenario of work – to be or not to be – online… are we turning into “hybrids”?

Continuing my series of articles related to the current crisis, I thought it was time to take a look at the situation for employers and employees now that things seem to be improving. In a later article, I will address the educational issues.

During the last eighteen months or so, we have seen the global pandemic affecting society in many ways. If we put the health issues to one side for now, it has obviously had an adverse effect on the economy of many countries, and many industries have come close to the brink of bankruptcy.

The tourism and entertainment industries are noticeable examples. Others have seen an increase in consumer spending especially in the DIY or home improvement industry. Many home renovation businesses have full order schedules for the year and builder’s merchants are reporting a lack of raw materials in part due to increased

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demand but also partly due to a shortage of supply.

So, what is the likely scenario now for employers and their employees? Are things slowly returning to normal? Here in Finland at least, it looks like things are starting to go back to a normal life this autumn. Restrictions are slowly being eased as the autumn goes on and we hope to be back to business as usual by the end of the year. However, for some businesses it seems remote working is here to stay, at least as an option for the employee as a part of their working week. Some employers have reported that efficiency and work satisfaction has slightly increased, but others have reported the opposite. How can both be true?

Well, on the one hand employees say they feel empowered having more control over their working day by being at home, often have a more comfortable working atmosphere, have a more

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flexible approach to the starting and finishing times, can take breaks without being monitored, can simultaneously take care of household tasks whilst “at work” and can have their family around them. This has led them to become more productive and to prioritise tasks in a more efficient manner, giving themselves small rewards for getting tasks done.

On the other hand, many feel that they have been pressured into turning their homes into working spaces, working life is intruding on family life, there is a lack of motivation to get the job done, the loss of collaboration and creativity by being among fellow colleagues, less idea sharing and generation, not being able to focus and prioritise tasks, and having to have their family around them.

As you can read, that last point has both positive and negative issues. Whilst some families have come closer together, others have seen more stressful situations arise as the demand for “home resources” becomes greater - everyone needing their own “working space”, constant connection to the Internet, a quiet background for meetings/ studies, no interruptions, bathroom/kitchen usage, etc.

There are similar polar opposites for many of the points. While some employees cherish the freedom and flexibility having been given to them, others feel overwhelmed by the responsibility or simply feel lost away from their established routines. Added to this, for some, there is the

feeling of loneliness in remote working, and they cannot wait to get back to a normal routine in their workplace, surrounded by colleagues that they have not seen in person for such a long time. For some, the work-life balance needs strict boundaries.

At the start of the pandemic and remote working, many employers were unsure how they could be certain they were getting a full day’s work from employees that they could not closely monitor. In reality, it has turned out to be of little consequence and it is probably now even easier for an employer to discover if an employee has been shirking their responsibilities.

However, while it is probably true that we will see remote working as being a part of the future of working life that is here to stay, as social animals, humans will still need the social aspect that working life brings, feeling close to others and being a productive part of something. The term “hybrid-model” has been used in the last year or so, especially when it comes to education, as some students are studying online while others are having contact lessons at the same time. I can see the same term being applied to working life, employers might start taking the “hybrid approach” to work, where things that need to be done in person will be, but meetings and seminars might become the norm in the online world.

Hugh Clack Editor in Chief 7

EVENT

Democracy Academy Last weekend there was held a political training event called Democracy academy. Let me tell you my report about the weekend.

The training session started on Saturday with some snacks and introduction to Democracy academy itself. So, let me introduce Democracy academy to all of you too. So, Democracy academy is a political training event held regularly. This time the participants came from the youth organisations of parliamentary political parties of Finland.

Only the Swedish People’s Party of Finland didn’t send any youth representatives to the training. In general, the academy taught us about the situation of democracy around the world. It also helped participants to deepen their knowledge in interparty democracy as well. Instead of stereotypical fighting seen in politics, there were peaceful dialogues held in a good spirit.

Back to the event timetable. After the introduction there was an opening speech by Gary Klaukka, an executive manager of Demo Finland, the organisation behind Democracy academy. The morning continued with

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participants getting to know each other. Then we got to the speeches.

First topic was “The state of democracy in the world”. Kevin Casas-Zamora, a general secretary at International IDEA, started the discussion with his speech. Soon followed Katalin Miklóssy from Aleksanteri institute, Auli Starck from Vikes and Anu Tuukkanen from Amnesty. As one could indicate from this, there we lots of professionals giving information about the situation of the situation of democracy around the world.

Later in the afternoon we took a glimpse on authoritarian regimes. Information was provided to us by Jussi Pakkasvirta, a professor from University of Helsinki and Lauri Paltemaa, a professor from univesity of Turku.

After all that we had Jonna Haapanen from Demo Finland to end the training session for Saturday with her speech on how to support democracy wok internationally.

All in all, I would say that Saturday was about substant and raw information. Meanwhile Sunday went quite differently. Starting

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with a session regarding democracy and constitutional state, it continued as dialogue organised by The Dialogue Academy. These dialogues were held in smaller groups, making it easier for everyone to attend the discussion.

Dialogue about interparty democracy in Finland followed the more general dialogue about democracy in Finland.

The training event could be described as busy, calm and inclusive. Political fights didn’t exist there and the conversation was quite pleasant and respectful. The event had been organised well and part of the thanks go also to Radisson Blu Royal where the event was held.

Text by Joona Räty Pictures by Joona Räty 9

RECIPE Daghmira

This week we had an opportunity to present our food and hopefully we tried many specialities the Russian cuisine Bangladesh Bulgarian Hungarian and Vietnamese as well. But how about my dishes?

I had prepared a Moroccan meal called “Daghmira” it’s grilled chicken with a special sauce that we us Moroccan we dip the bread on it and we eat it. It’s so delicious So now let me start with the main ingredients: For the sauce • 1 chicken • 2 onions • 1l of water • 1/2 tsp Cumin • 1/2 tsp ground Pepper • 1/2 tsp Salt • 1/2 tsp Paprika • 1 tsp ground Ginger • 1/2 tsp Curcuma • a generous pinch of saffron threads • 1 tbsp Coriander or parsley • Garlic • 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1. We mix all these ingredients together with a blender and then we put them in a casserole dish 2. At the main time we clean the chicken using lemon and salt and then we add it as well in the casserole 3. When the chicken is cooked, we separate it from the sauce and we glaze it with some of the oil from the sauce and brown it for 20 minutes at 400 F/200 C, turning it a couple of times to brown it evenly. A whole chicken might take up to 30 min.

4. While the chicken is in the oven leave the sauce in the stove until the liquid will mostly be reduced.

5. Finally, we put the sauce first and then the chicken in the middle of the plates and if you would add some fries in the top as decoration you can

‫ةبيط ةيهش‬ Text by Douaa Chaloun Pictures by Douaa Chaloun 10

MOVIE STUDIO 123

Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 044 375 3686 www.studio123.fi 24.9-30.9.2021 STUDIO 1 007 NO TIME TO DIE (16) | 15€ | 2h43min Thur 16:00, 19:15 RYHMÄ HAU (7) | 12€ | 1h26min Every day 16:45 STUDIO 3: Sat-Sun 15:30 DYYNI (12) | 13€ | 2h36min Fri-Mon 18:45 STUDIO 2: Tue, Thur 19:00 STUDIO 2 RESPECT (12) | 13€ Fri-Sat, Wed 19:00 ISÄ (12) | 12€ | 1h44min Every evening 17:00, Sat-Sun 15:00, 17:00 SANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (12) | 13€ | 2h12min Sun-Mon 19:00 STUDIO 3 PERUNA (7) | 12€ | 1h49min Every evening 17:30 Sat-Mon, Wed 17:15 THE GREEN KNIGHT (7) | 12€ | 1h26min Every evening 19:15

Students/armed services, pensioners 1€ discount on all full priced tickets of 10€ or more

Dune (2021) Dune is the first part of a two-part science fiction film based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. The movie was directed by Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) and stars big cast of actors such as Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Rebecca Ferguson (Reminiscence) and Jason Momoa (Aquaman).

The world of Dune is set in an interstellar imperium where you have noble house that control planetary fiefs. The story mainly focuses on Paul Atreides as their family was handed down the desert planet Arrakis to collect and sell the planets natural resource spice, which is used as fuel for most space travel and works as a drug to extend life and to boost mental prowess.

The only problem is that Spice is only found on Arrakis, so this puts a giant marker on their back. The story focuses on a lot of topics including politics, society and human interaction.

I liked all the characters and how they’re shown off, most people’s motivations are established early on, and they get their amount of screen time. The world itself is very well established to exposition provided in a natural way and doesn’t feel forced or out of character. I don’t think there was any character that I disliked to the point of hating them when they’re on screen.

The music composed by Hans Zimmer (Inception, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049) is as masterclass as always. It’s booming, it’s amazing, it tells more than 1000 words ever could.

When I went into this film, I did no previous investigating on the source material or anything relating to the trailers, so I was completely oblivious over what I was getting into and oh boy, I wish I was prepared. The movie throws so much information at you that when it ended, I was left with a confused feeling. I was left with wanting more closure, but I guess that’s what you need to do when you’re planning a two-part series.

Text by Joonatan Berg

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