Vol 21 Issue 02

INSIDER 21.09.2018 | VOL. 21 | ISSUE 02

STUDENT MAGAZINE OF XAMK

BENEATH THE OVERALLS, I WILL RISE

LDR ADVICES RECIPE SURVIVING FINNISH SUMMER MOVIE REVIEW PROFILE FALLING FOR FALL

EDITORIAL STAFF

Stela Demaj Kouvola Current Affairs

Leif Heflin Kouvola Current Affairs

Marija Marash Kouvola Current Affairs

Van-Trang Le Kouvola Current Affairs

Polina Vishnya Kouvola Current Affairs

Hugh Clack Editor in Chief

Minh-Trang Le Kouvola Current Affairs

Long Nguyen Layout Editor

Trung Dao Kouvola Current Affairs

Nikita Munenko Kouvola Current Affairs

INSIDER STUDENT MAGAZINE South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences Paraatikenttä 7 45100 Kouvola Editor in Chief: Hugh Clack INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587  /INSIDERSTUDENTMAGAZINE 2

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

EDITORIAL

Slick Infatuation This issue of Insider has some sweet surprises. A triangulated review of a Finnish student tradition makes its way to Kouvola for the first time, but it is not the only review. Nikita returns for a frogtastic analysis of the latest Predator movie – prepare to be shocked! Marija gathers up experiences from past and present longdistance relationships involving moon struck couples.

Keep turning the pages to reveal a divine recollection of Finnish summer by Trung. But wait! There’s more! Stela writes a delicious profile on one of our fellow exchange students. If you want to make your stomach jealous of your eyes, then dig the tasty recipe for Poutine written

by Minh-Trang. You’ve likely developed a sugar crush on the Finnish summer, but unfortunately it is going through some changes. What changes you ask? Read Van-Trang’s article for the full scoop. Thank you for attention – instead of playing Candy Crush when you are weighed down by boredom, pick up another issue of Insider. It is just as addictive.

Leif Heflin 3

BENEATH THE OVERALLS, I WILL RISE

Let’s set the record straight – Finns are extremely punctual. My task was to attend the “Overall Baptism” in the Central Park of Kouvola at 8pm. Naturally as an American, I expected that showing up to this party about 15-20 minutes late would put my arrival at the perfect time slot (I was wrong). When a Finn says a party starts at eight, it starts at eight. I was toting my camera, dead center in a sea of overalls when the man in the middle held up a megaphone and blurted out “That was a great baptism, now the party continues! We move to Bar Q to drink!” My jaw dropped… Not only did I miss the event, but my assignment would surely fail with nothing to report on. Scrambling to save my ass, I spoke to the man in the middle: “I am Antti Huuki and I am the head of events in the student organization Kupla. So, I'm responsible for all the events that we're organizing. Luckily, I have a lot of great friends helping me out with them.

In this event, I took on a role of the evangelist (Reverend Huuki), who was just yelling to the megaphone all stereotypical evangelist-stuff.”

“So, what is the history of the baptism and what does it entail?”

“Overall baptism has been a tradition in a lot of schools in Finland. It's a kind of a welcoming ceremony for new students, and their overalls of course. Usually it's only about getting your overalls wet, with a hose or maybe even diving some lake or something. But we wanted to take this kind of "holy" approach to the whole thing.”

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“But this is my third year studying in Kouvola and the first time I’ve heard of such an event.

Can you explain why?”

“Kouvola has always been the kind of place for students where things work differently than in other schools. Kind of an "ugly duck" or "black sheep" if you will, but only in a good way, I think.

This tradition has never raised any interest for me or other people arranging parties and events, but now we saw that there was a great possibility for us to put our little twist on it.”

“Then it was it a success?”

“Yes, it was! We were actually expecting like 1020 people in the baptism ceremony itself. Finnish pessimism, of course. We counted that over 90 students got baptised, so we were terribly wrong.

We got great new freshmen it seems! Also, there

were some older students too, which was nice. The after party had like a couple hundred people, so yeah, I'd call it a success.”

“That’s wonderful! How many people did you offend in the process?”

“I was actually talking to one Christian after the ceremony, and she didn't get offended and said it was just funny. I wasn't making fun of her religion, just the way some people do it. That's why I chose the southern voice.”

“Oh, a win-win situation then. Do you see yourself as a future evangelist?”

“My mother wanted me to be a priest and thought that I could be great at it. But no. Absolutely not. My mother got it wrong. If there's something you could learn from today, it is that I could be a far better cult leader than an evangelist.”

But why bother with the overalls? It is because they offer belonging to a group, and an avenue for creativity. The group identity comes in the form of color: business students are given maroon overalls, design students are given black ones, and nurses are given pink. Note that when I say “given”, I do not mean for free. Paradoxically, while the color helps one to blend in, the badges on the overalls offer the chance to stand out. The badges can be collected at student parties or ordered online but once sewn to your overalls, they become a part of you. The badges often sport dark humor, because they represent how the Finns get through the long dark winter - by laughing at it. I’ve collected some of the favorite badges of some Finns and some from my own collection.

Anna Pihlainen 1. On tämä saatana työmaa – a meme featuring a Moomin episode with an angry worker dubbed atop. Search for it on Youtube.

2. Sanoiko joku viinaa? – Did someone say booze?

3. Vittu mikä operaatio – something you say when work is unbearable.

William Nyman 1. Veli, auta – “Brother, help.” – that dramatic moment from the Lion King.

2. Tonnin seteli (1000 bill) - from a Finnish sketch show that has become a meme

3. Tortured artists club - picture of Van Gogh, just funny because it is relatable as an art student.

Pipsa Harju 1. “That blue diamond: Hupellus – best ski trip ever. Made a lot of new friends.”

2. “International party: Memorable party last autumn.

Made new friends (again)! Met almost all exchange students there.”

3. “And last one is joke :). Me and my friends all ordered this same badge. “Towards and beyond psychosis.””

Leif Heflin 1. Drunken Spongebob – Needs no explanation.

2. Halloween 2017 and The Amazing Race Freshman Party 2018 – Souvenirs from costume parties.

3. Titanic swim team 1912 – Not politically correct.

Text: Leif Heflin/ Photo: Janne Uotinen 5

PROFILE

Oliver Feusi On this issue of Profile we interviewed Oliver Feusi, who is an exchange student from Switzerland.

He’s been here for about three weeks and below you will find how he feels about this big change in his life until now.

1. What are you studying in Xamk?

It’s a mix between culture and business. In Switzerland it`s called “Business Engineer”.

2. What are your thoughts on Xamk and Kouvola?

I really like the school, especially the restaurant because it`s only 2.60Euro per meal. I`m also really excited about the Workshops I`m doing this semester. I don`t really like the city, because it`s not very pretty and I feel like there`s not a lot going on in the city.

3. What are your thoughts on the people here?

Since, I’m an exchange student, I met a lot of other exchange students and we’re having an awesome time together. The Finnish people I met were in the beginning a bit shy (typical Finnish) but after a couple beers, they were all nice.

4. Are you having a hard time getting used to the new lifestyle?

I don’t think I will need a lot of time to get used to the new lifestyle, because I already like ice hockey, sauna and beer, so I think I will be fine.

5. What’s one thing that you miss the most back in your hometown?

I miss the mountains in Switzerland, since everything is really flat here in Finland.

Stela Demaj/ Vector: Freepik 6

POUTINE

Welcome back to the usual recipe segment with your mediocre INSIDER staff – me! This week I decided to tackle one of the recipes that I have been longing to do for quite some time but never got around to make it work. It is no other than Poutine – a Canadian classic which contains every allegedly unhealthy thing you could think of. But hey, it tastes amazing and that is all matters. A little disclaimer: this is NOT the traditional recipe since I have made certain alterations (e.g the cuts of the fries, the broth, the fat in the gravy, etc) so anyone who is of Canadian descent, please don’t come for me. I once had an Italian writing “An Italian grandma just died for that x_x” on my Macaroni salad recipe which is not even from Italy. But anyhow, let’s get started.

Instructions: 1. Mix cornstarch with water, set aside. In the meantime, melt the butter and lard in a large saucepan then add the flour, stirring continuously to prevent burning for ~5 minutes.

2. Pour in the broth and bring it up to high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture while still stirring. Once bubbles form, turn it down to

Ingredients: - 4 tablespoons cornstarch - 2 tablespoons water - 3 tablespoons butter - 3 tablespoons lard - ¼ cup all purpose flour - 600 ml chicken broth - black pepper - 500g potatoes (I used frozen, but feel free to make fresh) - 1 cup cheese curds (or leipäjuusto in my case since I couldn’t seem to find cheese curds)

medium-low heat and keep stirring till the gravy begins to thicken. Season with black pepper.

3. Fry the potatoes until golden brown (preferably in a deep fryer). Place them on a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess oil.

4. Put the fries into a large bowl, add a few pieces of cheese curds; then pour in a generous ladle of gravy and comes another layer of cheese curds. Serve while hot.

There you go, my take on an infamous Canadian delicacy. Poutine can be both enjoyed as a snack and a main dish. How about giving this a try the next time you have a gathering?

Minh-Trang Le 7

HOW TO SURVIVE A SUMMER IN FINLAND?

How to survive a summer in Finland? Just get drunk every day. The sun shines basically from 2am to 11pm so unless you’re stoned for a certain amount of time during the day, you’d be surprise how zombie apocalypse starts. Probably five shots of tequila are enough to get some quality sleeping time.

The question is whether you would be embracing your soft pillow or hugging the toilet with dripping saliva after. There are other ways, of course, to outlive the tedium rather than necking booze for people who are fed up with hitting the bar every day like me.

A summer in Kouvola can be quite boring in a euphemized way if you can’t find anything to kill time. I’d suggest you go to big cities such as Helsinki or Tampere where part-time jobs are like trees in a forest and people would just naturally speak English to you as if they know how dumb you’re in Finnish. Only 8

after when I started to go dancing and hanging out with friends in Helsinki every weekend in July did I got the idea and begin to wonder why I dim-wittedly stayed in Kouvola and grinded myself to find a part-time job. Still, I managed to go through a whole summer in Kouvola without any sign of insanity…I think. Every Saturdays or Sundays, I’d go to Myyrmäki near Vantaa in Helsinki to stretch my body and do some hip-hop and popping. It was the highlight of my summer in Finland after not having the right people and the right atmosphere to dance for so long. After around 2-3 hours of dancing, my friends and I would hang around, go to the beach, catch a bite or chill in a bar. Pretty awesome I would say.

Too bad I was so indulged in the fun that I did not take any picture besides the one with a boy while sitting on the beach.

Another way of riding out the summer here is to bask yourself under a 22-hour per day sun and bring a camera with you. Apart from days when the heat tries to roast you as crispy as a pecking duck then the weather bears no condemnation. The sights are amazing under the bright sky and everything just blooms naturally in the most beautiful way. If you’re already tanned enough and just want to laze around then just find some movie series to binge-watch in your room. Keep in mind that constantly switching between the different activities is the key to survival here fellas. I also got myself plenty of e-books and online articles relating to various gibberish and craps, so it was…eh, kind of entertaining to me.

One last thing, you should also get yourself a part-time job or something to keep your bank account alive and save it for a vacation somewhere far away for just a few days. I went to Spain in the end of my summer and it was worth it, although the humidity and the heat there made me feel like a walking popsicle. I did take a few shots while I was conscious enough to hold the camera sturdily though.

Trung Dao 9

LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS OF OUR STUDENTS. ADVICES, REAL LIFE STORIES Hi there again!

The topic for this issue is very social and i guess a lot of students can relate to it. We all know that it is hard being in a relationship, but can you imagine how hard it might be to be in a long distance relationship? Our students are a living example of the struggle that someone goes through while living this kind of relationship. I am not going to mention names because for some of them is hard enough to only talk about it.

Let’s start this article with a positive ldr that is still going strong. This boy states that he started his relationship while he was on vacation after his first year of studies and that the girl knew perfectly from the beginning that this relationship would be difficult because of the distance. They talk with each other on Whatsapp all the time and they also visit each other occasionally. They skype each other and at the same time they watch movies while skyping. Whenever one of them stops the movie the other does that as well. They also get to comment the movie together. According to me this is a perfect idea, too bad that my boyfriend is not into movies that much.LOL. Anyway this boys advice: be creative, stay for what you believe in and most importantly: have trust in your future, because without it whatever you do nothing will work in a long shot.

One girl explains: We had been in a relationship for a year and a half and we both used to visit each other at least once a month. She says that she had been feeling very distant from her boyfriend at least four months before they broke up. They used to chat with each other through social media 24/7 and also talking in video calls sometimes up to 10 hours nonstop. The last period of time they were together they spent five months without seeing each other. She claims that after she came back to her country the boy was used to living his life without her in it so she kind of did not have a place in his life anymore. Her advice: try to talk on the phone at least once a day even if it is only for a few minutes and also sometimes sending post cards so your partner knows that you are thinking of her/him.

While according to this girl that has successful LDR some things are different. She states: My personal experience on LDR is kind of medium, not that good but not that bad either. We constantly facetime and share every moment of the day with each other. The most important thing is that we try not to hold each other back and trust each other, but if you think that trust is everything then you’re wrong. When you’re away for 8 months and see the other person twice a year it gets tiring.

Even though I am continuing it myself, I would not recommend it to anyone because it’s harder than it seems.

And while all these people have their different opinions I would say that my LDR keeps going strong and yes TRUST is one of the main things you need to have if. Anyway I wish all of you student’s good luck with LDR because I know how much sacrifices it takes to make it work. Bye until next time!

Marija Marash

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THE PREDATOR OR STOP SCREWING UP CLASSICS

STUDIO 123 Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 044 375 3686 www.studio123.fi 21.09 - 27.09.2018 STUDIO 1 INCREDIBLES 2 (7) | 11€ | 2h06mins Every Evening 17:00 Sat - Sun 14:30 THE NUN (16) | 11€ | 1h37mins Every evening 17:30

DIRECTOR: SHANE BLACK WRITTEN BY FRED DEKKER, SHANE BLACK STARRING: BOYD HOLBROOK, TREVANTE RHODES, OLIVIA MUNN BUDGET: $88 MLN

If you consider yourself a horror movie fan, then you’ve definitely seen The Predator. The old one. You have also seen The Alien and their crossover. Leaving dwelling on the past aside, let’s just say that horror movies were much better back then. As Russians say, “grass was greener, and birds sang louder”.

Nevertheless, we have another film about The Predator, one of the iconic characters of the genre, alongside with Freddy Krueger and the aforementioned Alien. Long story short, this movie sucks. The plot and its stupidity is over the roof, the camera is not as good as we would like it to be, and dialogs… Your forehead will probably be red because of the amount of facepalms you will have over the course of the movie.

Boyd Holbrook played a bad guy in Logan, and Olivia Munn played a bad-turned-good girl in X-Men Apocalypse. Insider crew loves X-Men universe and it was interesting to see how these two actors perform in a horror movie. Well, the film itself is so bad that you can’t really see the way these guys act. It’s like they don’t.

A few words about the positive sides of the movie: there are none.

Congratulations, The Predator, you are the 2nd nomination for Insider’s “Worst movie of the year” after The Red Sparrow (Jennifer Lawrence, also known as Mystique from X-Men, has a leading role there, hmm).

STUDIO 2 ILOSIA AIKOJA, MIELENSÄPAHOITTAJA (12) | 12€ | 1h58mins Every Evening 19:00 Sat - Sun 15:00, 19:00

NUORI ASTRID (12) | 12€ | 2h03mins Every Evening 16:45

CRAZY RICH ASIANS (7) | 12€ | 2h01mins Fri - Sun, Wed - Thu 16:45

STUDIO 3 THE PREDATOR (16) | 12€ | 1h48mins Fri - Mon, Wed - Thu 19:40

A SIMPLE FAVOR (12) | 11€ | 1h57mins Every Evening 17:20

DEEP RED – VERENPUNAINEN KAUHU (16) | 12€ | 2h02mins Fri, Mon, Wed 19:40

If you really want to see this movie, just don’t. It’s disgusting.  Nikita Munenko

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

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FALLING FOR FALL

8 p.m. and the sky is already pitch black, I guess eventually it is time to go along with the fact that summer is over. But hey don’t be that hasty to be sad. Have a look at and into the autumn. If summer is for fun and energy then autumn should definitely be well spent on restoring and self-reflection. What’s more, you don’t have to worry about being either sweaty or frozen as an ice cream. Slow down and let the season transitions flow into your mind. Red is taking place of where it was green and sunglasses start to make room for beanies. It is amazing to see that day by day Mother Nature shows us how magnificent every little thing can be. Try to observe a branch and you will see how transcendent all the leaves change their “autumn up-to-date outfits”.

Isn’t that the meeting point of summer and winter so beautiful? Or maybe you can choose to be a little moony to realize in a moment, that:

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall” - Oscar Wild Van-Trang Le 12