Who are you and where do you come from?

My name is Deike Wengatz, I am 22 years old and I am from Germany. My friends say that I am a honest, helpful and friendly person. I love reading a good book, hang out with friends and to travel.

My name is Julian Wolters. I’m twenty-four years old and from Germany, too. I am known as a faithful, attentive and nice person. I love cars, like the nature and enjoy to travel.

What are you studying?

We are both in our second year of a school for business administration with the subject tourism in Wittmund, Germany. We learn a lot about marketing, accounting and the management from companies, especially tourism companies like tourist informations, bus companies or hotels.

We made our internships in a hotel on the German island Juist (Deike) and in a bus company in the tourism area Bad Zwischenahn, Germany (Julian).

What have you been doing in Jyväskylä?

Our task was to collect experiences about the practical parts of tourism. We wanted to see the differences to the German summer tourism and see the other cultures and possibilities of the country.

We organized with Finish students a nature trail for studens from Italy, was kayaking and canoeing, doing outdoor activities like beach football, slackline, volleyball and tennis and learned how to guide a group in the kayaking and canoeing.

We also suggest a presentation about our German home and the waddensea for the students from your Finish class. Some of them will come to Germany in the December and it was nice to tell them something about our country and the cities they will visit.

How long have you stayed in Jyväskylä?

We were in Finland for four weeks. We arrived in Jyväskylä at the 15^th of August and we will be leaving at the 12^th of September.

We also stayed two days in Helsinki from the 25^th – 26^th of August.

Do you think the time has been too short (why?), too long (why?)

The time of four weeks was for us a perfect time to stay in Finland/Jyväskylä. It was not too long or too short. We think we have seen everything that we wanted to see and learned a lot. If the time was shorter it wouldn’t be so instructive. We used the whole time to see so many things of Jyväskylä and the Finish nature.

What have you learned during your stay?

We learned so much of the different cultures here. The people was so much nicer than in Germany. We also learned to speak a better English than before and some words in Finish.

It was fun and interesting for us to learn the canoeing and kayaking and how to fall in the water, swim with the canoe back to the beach and keep the water out of the canoe. The water was very cold!

In Germany we go rarely to the forests. So it was nice to go to a forest, plan a nature trail and learn a lot of the trees, berries and how to make a campfire.

What have been the best moments during your stay?  

One of the best moments was definitely to see the northern lights! It was a cold and clear night and such a beautiful moment. Our short trip to Helsinki was also a highlight. In the time we stayed there was the “night of arts”. In the whole city of Helsinki was artists who played something on instruments or demonstrate their art. At the second day we were sightseeing in suomenlinna, an old seacastle a few kilometers in front of Helsinki. it’s a very nice place to see.

Our absolutely highlight of the trip was the people here. We have found many new friends and they made our stay unforgettable. They spent much time in the afternoons after school or in the evenings with us and was always helpful. We had a very good time with them!

Give three tops and tips (based on your own experience) to someone who is planning to come to Jyväskylä. How should they prepare? What should they do/see/visit/experience?

1. Visit the tower of Jyväskylä. You will have a great view of Jyväskylä and the lakes around the city.
2. Go to a forest, make campfire and grill some sausages.
3. If you have the chance enjoy a finish sauna and go after it into a lake to cool down
4. On a nice clearly evening in the right time you have to see the northern lights

Take sports clothes with you. Most of the people in Jyväskylä are sporty and active. When you walk around you will see people playing volleyball, beachfootball or playing other games.

More information about mobility in tourism education: Timo Lehtonen and Mira Ahtila (at)jao.fi

More information about outgoing and incoming mobility in general: Milka Niskanen (at)jao.fi

Who are you and where are you from?

” I am Chayennah Morgenland. Also known as “Poca” or “Altered Poca”. I am 19 years old and I’m from The Netherlands. I am known as a calm, caring & colorful person. I am a dancer, makeup junkie & writer with a love for travelling, singing and taking pictures.”

“My name is Sequoia “Sokka” Kainama, I am Twenty years old and I am from The Netherlands. I am a dancer, Make Up addict, animal friend and I love to travel and take photos and videos for Instagram and Youtube.”

What are you studying?

We are both in our third year of the Urban Dance Academy of ROC Rijn IJssel in Arnhem, the Netherlands. We get classes in urban styles such as locking, popping, house, waacking, vogue etc. But also contemporary & ballet. Besides dance classes we have classes about health, preventing injury’s, writing cv’s  and dance history. As internships we teach at high schools & perform our own showcases at events and more.

What have you been doing in Jyväskylä?

We have been teaching urban dance classes at ao. We taught the hip hop 3 class together on tuesdays and Sequoia taught them on thursday as well after Chayennah taught the Hip hop 2 class.

Besides the regular classes we held an audition for a showcase group in the first week and chose 6 unique girls where we would work with to make a showcase that we called “Individuality”. We wanted the showcase to be about them, where they could show themselves and their unique aspects.

A part of that showcase was our own performance as well. We both prepared our solo’s and a duet which was in the same theme as the rest of the showcase.

How long have you stayed in Jyväskylä?

We’ve been in Finland for a month! We arrived in Helsinki on the 1st of april, spent a weekend there and then arrived in Jyväskylä on april 4th. We will be leaving on the 1st of may.

Do you think the time has been too short (why?), too long (why?)

Definitely not too long! The amount of time we had here is just right, especially for the showcase & to discover Jyväskylä but of course we would’ve liked to stay longer. We both always feel more at home in other countries and would’ve loved to see more of Finland because it is so different compared to other countries. We loved our time here and would do it all over again if we could.

 What have you learned during your stay?

Chayennah: ” I gained a lot of experience & confidence here. I wanted to teach  the girls how to be confident and be proud of who they are. I have struggled with that in the past and I still do, I am teaching them at the same time as I am reminding & teaching myself.  Other than that I have never really taught any classes on my own because I found it pretty scary to stand & speak in front of a class on my own. I am also more a person of action and the visual instead of words, that is also the way I learn best. So finding words and explaining moves are very hard for me. I needed to confront myself with my fear, challenge myself and just do it. Stop thinking and doubting myself & enjoy, which I really did. The whole experience inspired me to the fullest.”

Sequoia: “To be more independent (cooking, cleaning, groceries etc.), have more experience in teaching, get more comfortable in speaking in another language but the thing I wanted to teach the girls was to be more confident because that’s been an issue for me for years so while I was teaching I was learning too. I also had a lot of freedom here, so I had a lot of time to think about some stuff and it helped a lot. ”

What have been the best moments during your stay?

It wasn’t a particular moment. It was the response &  appreciation we got from the students and the other teachers here during our entire stay. The students gave so much energy every single class. We loved seeing them smile & grow during our classes! We also had a great exchange with the other students at our dormitory. There were exchange students from Latvia, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. It was fun living with other people from all over Europe.  Everyone made  us feel so appreciated and welcome. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Give three tops and tips (based on your own experience) to someone who is planning to come to Jyväskylä. How should they prepare? What should they do/ see/ visit/ experience?

Tops:  1. If you can, check if you have any chance seeing the northern lights! We’ve had the honor to see it twice, so that is checked off of our bucketlistt. 2. Visit the observation tower at the highest point of Jyväskylä. The view is amazing.

Tips:  Be prepared to work out. If you are travelling by foot or bike, there’s not a chance you won’t go uphill or downhill.  Just saying.. We did some extra exercising everyday just by going from point A to point B.

Lisätietoja: Elina Wuetrich, tanssin perusopetus

Rea Tuominen, kv-koordinaattori, Jyväskylän ammattiopisto