Friendship activities for international students

Through Ystävä's activity, you can get yourself an international student Step-training from the students of the Ruokolahti unit or from the students of Edusampo, which operates in connection with the Saimaa vocational college. Families, individuals or Finnish students can apply for the friendship activity.

You can indicate your interest in friend activities by leaving your information on this form. 

This time, Ystävähaku is open until January 20, 2025. The parties to the activity will be told about the friends found and the continuation in January 2025.

Friendship activities in the Imatra region

The aim of the friendship activity is to give students from abroad the opportunity to get to know Finnish culture, locality, the Finnish language and everyday life. In turn, local friends get to know the culture and customs of the student who came from abroad.

Local friends and international students are offered the opportunity to get to know each other at a friend's meeting at the beginning of the fall semester, after which meetings and communication are arranged independently.

In general, students have a need to learn the Finnish language and culture, and for some it is important to be able to visit outside the educational institution in their free time.

Families of all ages and sizes, from singles to extended families, are welcome as local friends. Local students can also act as friends. We hope that the friend's family has enough genuine interest in the foreign student and his culture. Of course, the family also needs to have some kind of language skills, but elementary school English skills and good will can go a long way.

A special program is not expected from the friendship activities, but coffee, communication or other spending time at times suitable for the family and the international student is sufficient. In order to avoid unnecessary disappointments, you should think about whether your life situation is suitable for becoming friends.

The friend activities are maintained by the city of Imatra and the Ruokolahti unit of Step education.

Who are international students?

Edusampo is studied by a group consisting mainly of Indians and Myanmarese. The group will study at Imatra at least until November 2025. After that, some will continue in Edusampo for nursing training.

Step education The Ruokolahti unit has international students in language-supported vocational education and in groups preparing for Finnish educational institutions.

Students mainly from Asia study to become care assistants in a language-supported one-and-a-half-year education program. They are between two and thirty years old. The students mostly live in Ruokolahti in the dormitory of the Step training center. Please note that Ruokolahti Education Center has few public transport connections, so using your own car makes it easier for students to meet. 

In the preparation groups for Finnish educational institutions, there are students mostly from Ukraine, but also to some extent from Russia and other countries. Their ages range from about 18 to 50. In these groups, students study from one to three years, depending on the student's readiness to enter other studies or working life. The students of these groups live in Imatra.

What to do together?

The family of friends is not obliged to organize a special program or trips, just everyday togetherness, getting to know each other and keeping in touch mean a lot.

Here are some examples of good ways of spending time:

• Asking for memberships, messaging
• Baking / Cooking
• Camping
• Playing games
• Watching TV and spending the evening together
• Visiting relatives and friends
• Fishing / ice fishing
• Skiing / skating 
• Downhill
• Berries / mushroom growing
• Bench sports / going to hockey, baseball or football games
• Touring the city / exploring the sights
• Camping
• Celebrating the holidays
• Studying Finnish, or the language of a student friend

Principles of friendship

1. Friendship activities aim to promote internationalism and knowledge of different cultures from both sides.
2. Friends activities are based on volunteering, and the number of meetings and the program can be determined by families and international students themselves.
3. International students and families are matched according to both wishes. The parties are given each other's contact information. Friend Family Activities organizes the first meeting, otherwise families and students arrange their meetings independently.
4. Educational institutions for international students help students manage their everyday practical affairs. The family is therefore not obliged to help the student in these matters, but the family can of course also help the student if they wish.
5. The family has no financial obligations towards the international student, but the student pays for his own studies, housing and leisure activities.
6. The family may not, without a separate agreement, make the student work, for example, use him as a babysitter.
7. The well-being, safety and cultural differences of both parties must be taken into account in all activities.
8. In possible problem situations, or if any questions arise, families and students are asked to contact the contact persons of the city of Imatra and Step education's friend activities.
9. Feedback is collected from families and students so that activities can be developed.