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International friendship programme

HAMK´s International Friendship Programme connects international students and locals friends.

About this programme

The HAMK International Friendship Programme aims to promote internationalisation and the knowledge of new cultures among students and Finnish locals. It is a voluntary programme for both international students and Finnish locals. Go through the following sections for more information.

Who can participate in this programme?

You can participate in the programme either as an international degree student or as a local host friend. As a local host friend, if you are interested in discussing work and career related topics, you can also join as a company mentor.

Join the programme

Who can join as a local friend?

• A family of any kind (a couple, a family with or without children)
• Empty nesters, for example couples whose children have grown up and moved away
• A single adult
• A pensioner or retired person
• An alumnus of a university community who lives in the campus municipality or its vicinity
• A local resident with immigration background
• Finnish speaking students studying at HAMK, HAMI or any local schools
• A company mentor

About joining as a company mentor
Please note that by joining as a company mentor, your relationship with the matched international student friend is also based on friendship. Talking about work and career is just one of the many friendship activities you can do together.

If you or your company is interested in organising a mentorship programme, please visit International students in cooperation – HAMK and contact Tiina Björkskog.

Who can join as a foreign student friend?

A non-Finnish native student studying for a whole degree at HAMK
• bachelor´s or master´s
• full time or part time
• the student might have lived in Finland for some time before studying at HAMK.
• the student might have just arrived in Finland and started the studies at HAMK.

How does the programme work?

The programme is organised once a year. Registration is usually open in the spring and will stay open until autumn. After the registration form is closed, the matching process will start. Once the matching process is finished, we will kickstart the programme by organising a get together meeting, which is usually held around October – November. In this get together meeting, you get to meet up with your friends. The event is family friendly, which means families, partners and spouses are also welcomed to join. After the meeting, you decide when to meet up again and where. You build the friendship in your own way.
The programme does not have an intended end date. Quite often the matched friends remain in contact after years. Therefore, it can be a lifetime friendship.
We will send follow up greeting messages and feedback survey to you.
You can share your experience and give us feedback at any time by filling in the survey link below.

Share your experience and give us feedback

What campus is the programme organised on?

The HAMK International Friendship Programme connects HAMK´s international degree students and locals, and it is organised on all our seven campuses:
Hämeenlinna
Riihimäki
Valkeakoski
Forssa
Lepaa
Mustiala
Evo

You can check out living and leisure time activities on the following websites:

Visit Häme – Heartland of Happiness
Explore Valkeakoski | City of Valkeakoski

With company mentors, besides the abovementioned activities, you can also discuss on work life and career path, or even visit the mentor´s workplace together!

Important notice about the matching

The matching is largely based on the information given in the registration form. Important criteria for the matching are for example, location of residence, pets, interests, and hobbies. If there is more than one international student friend for the local, we also consider combining students from different degree programmes and cultures.

We try our best to meet the applicants´ wishes and expectation. However, we do not guarantee that everyone can get a matched friend, or the matched friend will meet all your expectations.

Keys to successful participation

The keys to the successful participation in this programme are language, interests, mutual understandings, and time.

Most friendship pairs´ communication language is English. There might also be other languages depending on the pair.

Having genuine interests for each other´s cultures and experiences is key motivation for building a friendship. It is important that you are willing to share your experience, stories and introduce your cultures, for example by doing things together, which are related to your own culture.

Respect others. Intercultural encounters are sensitive occasions. Differences exists among all of us, and we need to acknowledge and respect them. When differences arise and they start hindering the development of friendship, it is good to have open conversations and find ways to understand each other.

The last key factor to building a healthy friendship is find time to meet. Meeting at least once a month is recommended. In between meetings, it is important to keep in touch via phone calls, messages, or via social media.

Principals

This programme is entirely voluntary.

Participants can withdraw from the programme at any time. In this case, please inform about the changes by contacting the campus contact person.

There is no guarantee that a new friend can be found if the friendship discontinues after the programme has started.

The local friend does not have any financial obligations towards the student; studies, accommodation and recreational activities are paid by the international students themselves.

The local friend may not use the student as workforce (e.g. as a babysitter) unless both parties’ consent to the arrangement and conclude a written agreement.

The well-being, safety and cultural differences of both parties must always be taken into consideration.

If some problems or questions arise, local friends and international student friends should turn to the campus´ contact person at HAMK.

More information about the programme

Simply fill in the application form. Application is usually open in the spring and will stay open until autumn. When the registration period is open, the registration link will be open and published on HAMK´s website.

The programme does not have an intended end date. Quite often the matched friends remain in contact after years. Therefore, it can be a lifetime friendship.

By joining as a company mentor, your relationship with the matched international student friend is also based on friendship. But on top of that, you can also talk more about work life and career related topics. Mentors can also invite international student friend to visit the company or the workplace.

If you or your company is interested in organising a mentorship programme, please visit International students in cooperation – HAMK and contact Tiina Björkskog.

Yes, you can. You can join the programme as a group. Write down the number of participants in your group and their names in the application form.

We are happy that you are interested in participating in the programme again, and you can apply again. We try our best to find you a matched friend.

After the application for the programme has ended, the matching process will start. We will inform you via emails when we find a matched friend for you. We will also send an invitation via emails to a get-together meeting, where you will meet your matched friend(s).

International students and locals that are matched will be invited to a get-together meeting. You will get to know each other and exchange contact information. After the first meeting, you decide when and where to meet again.