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The JYU Local Friendship Programme

Think of the constant flow of international students from around the world meeting people in and around the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, both experiencing a new culture and making friendships, many of which last a lifetime.

The Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥'s Local Friendship Programme is a great opportunity to have a global intercultural experience locally, bringing together local friends and international students.

The aim of the Local Friendship Programme is to increase cultural encounters within the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥'s sphere of influence. For international students, the programme is a unique and concrete opportunity to gain an insight into Finnish culture, to learn the fascinating Finnish language and to experience life in Finland through an experienced local friend. In turn, local friends learn about the student's home country, culture and language.  Very often, the relationships and contacts made during the programme continue as friendships long after the studies are over.

How the Local Friendship Programme works

The programme is volunteer-driven. Each pair of local friends and students plans and participates in activities according to their own interests and resources.

The programme team will recruit local friends and students before the start of Autumn semester and match local friends and students based on the information provided in the applications. After that the pairs will be informed the contact details of each other. All applicants will be informed via email. 

Good to know: The number of participants varies from year to year, so we cannot guarantee that all the local friend-student pairs will take place. There is usually a greater shortage of local friends.

Once the information is received, the local friend and the student will contact each other independently. The LFP team in the University's Education Services will kick off the programme with a get together for all participants at the beginning of both semesters.

What is expected of those wishing to participate?

The threshold for participation in the programme is low. There is no expectation of miracles from a friend, these three things are important:

1. Language: A common language and basic conversation skills are required, usually English. Of course there are other languages, depending on the pair.  
2. Interest: You also need an interest in new cultures and an enthusiasm for sharing your own experiences, views and ideas. The willingness and courage to ask questions is also a good thing. 
3. Time: Thirdly, of course, you will need time to meet. Taking into account each other's schedules, you will arrange these together.

You are a great local friend if you have:

• a solid first-hand experience of Finland and living in Finland, local knowledge is of course a plus 
• a genuine interest in getting to know and learning about a new person and a new culture 
• an interest in answering questions, explaining and showing life in Finland 
• an interest and time to commit for six months or a year, depending on the student's programme 
• a place to live close enough to the university or public transport to make meetings easy.  
   

You're a great (international) student friend if you have

• a degree student status
• a genuine interest in meeting local people and getting to know life in Finland outside the University community 
• an interest in Finnish culture and hopefully also in the Finnish language 
• a desire to share your own culture, customs, traditions, history 
• a desire and time to spend time with your local friend at a mutually agreed pace.

Who can become a Local Friend?

Any person, couple or family who fulfills the requirements and is interested in making friends with an international student at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ can be a local friend. For example, a local friend can be

• a family of any kind
• a single parent family
• a family with young children
• a family with teenager(s) interested in a particular culture/language
• an immigrant family with a rich first-hand experience of Finland
• empty nesters, i.e. individuals or couples whose children have grown up and moved away
• a couple
• a single adult
• a pensioner or retired couple
• a single JYU student, a pair of student friends or a student couple (native or immigrant with experience of Finland)
• a member of the university staff
• a member of the university's alumni community living in the area.

Worth to notice: Native students at our university are very welcome to become local friends of international students. Many international students hope to have the opportunity to get to know Finland through local students.

Who can become a Student Friend?

From Autumn 2024, on the programme is aimed at international degree students studying at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, i.e. all Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral students are welcome. 

Worth to notice: Spouses and families of degree students and visiting doctoral students are also welcome, whether or not they are students at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥.

Worth to notice: You are welcome to participate together with your student friend or your family. This will lower the threshold to come along and make things running smoothly together. Many local friends also want to be friends with student couples or families with children. Please see the guidelines for joint applications.

Things you could do together

A good way to get to know each other is by doing things together. Many things we take for granted can seem exotic to a an international student. Here are some tips on what you can do together:

• visit a local home or the student's home
• cook or bake together
• go berry-picking in a local farm
• practice sports together, especially winter sports such as ice-skating, snow-shoeing, skiing, sledging, ice swimming, 
• make bike trips
• visit places of interest, such as museums or libraries
• visit natural attractions, such as the historic rock paintings at Sarakallio or the Hitonhauta Trench in Laukaa, or the national parks of Etelä-Konnevesi or Leivonmäki
• do other nature-related leisure activities, such as hiking on nature trails, fishing, winter fishing, berry picking, mushroom picking, rowing, canoeing, hiking
• take part in sauna culture (which we recommend you discuss in advance to avoid confusion)
• visit a summer cottage
• celebrate public holidays sharing traditions
• Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥'s Researchers' Night in autumn (free)
• Jyväskylä City of Light event in autumn (free)
• Yläkaupungin yö cultural festival in early summer (partly free)
• Jyväskylä Summer event in early July
• go to the theatre, cinema, sporting event, concert, bar or restaurant (" at your own expense" as a prerequisite)

The main point of the activity is that it allows the local friend and the student to get to know each other and learn about each other's customs and cultures. These shared activities will always be shaped by the interests and resources of the local friend and the student. 

More  links 

How to apply?

There is one application round for the Local Friendship Programme in summer, starting on July 15th for the both, local friends and students. 

• Summer Call: from July 15th to August 31st, especially for the new degree students.
• Continuous Call: The summer application round is the rush peak, and we make sure we put extra effort into that.  However, you are welcome to apply throughout the year.

Apply online

Simply fill out the Local Friendship Programme Application Form.  Before you start filling the form, please read the programme principles below.

The application asks for information about your language skills and hobbies. This information is important for matching parties as friends. The application form also allows you to make wishes for your partner. This information is used to find the best possible match. However, it is impossible to fulfill all your wishes. For example, as a local friend, you might want a student from a particular country or language area to brush up your language skills. As a student friend,  you may wish to be matched with a local friend in terms of family situation, common interests or things to do together. We will do our best to take your wishes into account.

Worth to notice: We cannot guarantee 100% that every applicant will have a friend. The numbers of applications varies from time to time, sometimes "the stars are not on a right position", you know how it goes. Therefore, please be patient.  It also vice to consider carefully whether you will have enough time to this activity before submitting your application. Applicants should be prepared to meet with their local friends on a regular basis.

JYU students applying together

Worth to notice: You can apply together with a friend or friends who are studying at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥.

If you are applying with a student friend or if your spouse is studying at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, you both submit your own application, stating the name of the other applicant. This way, we can combine the applicants together. A tip: before submitting your applications, please agree that you both have the same wishes for a local friend. 

Students applying with a spouse or a partner or with a family

Worth to notice: You can also apply together with your partner or spouse, regardless of whether they are a student at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ or not.

If your partner/spouse does not study at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, she/he just need to send the contact details through the same application form. We also need to make sure that she/he agrees with the privacy and responsibility issues and the programme guidelines. 
 

The application deadline

• Continuous application process

Online application

On the interaction of cultures

"Life is the only opportunity for curiosity."

by Nobel Prize-winning poet WisÅ‚awa Szymborska 

Friendly curiosity is a good way to approach things. Cultural exchange is a key part of the whole programme, which is probably why you are interested in this programme.

It is of course a good idea to tell the local friend about the culture and customs of the country you come from. In turn, you can ask the local friend to tell you about Finnish customs or any particular regional customs. In this way, both parties will know what to expect and the possibility of misunderstandings and cross-cultural incidents will be reduced. However, if this does happen, you can always clarify the situation by asking and discussing.

A good example is the Finnish sauna culture. This may not be obvious to many foreigners and may even be misunderstood. Or smaller things like leaving your outdoor shoes in the hallway. Or hugging a friend or acquaintance when you greet them. Or ... 
This is the essence of the Local Friendship Programme: getting to know different customs, learning and sharing, perhaps being a bit surprised at first.

Path to a language bath

The programme is an excellent way to learn languages while doing something or spending time together. Here are some tips for you.

Kielisopimus - Language pact

• Firstly, it is a good idea to share ideas with your pair so that you both are on the same page about your expectations for learning languages.
• You may also want to agree on how you would like to learn languages together.

Esimerkkejä sopiviksi toimintatavoiksi - Some examples to help you find your way

• 10 minuuttia - 10 minutes
• Whatsapp-viestit sovitulla kielellä/sovituilla kielillä - Whatsapp messages in the chosen language(s)
• Ruuanlaitto yhdessä - Cooking together
• Elokuvat - Movies

Some practical ideas

• Kieltä oppii käyttämällä - You learn languages by using them 
  asking, repeating, memorizing, but don't get stressed, confusions and misunderstandings are part of it, they can even give you a good laugh.
• Vuorovaikutustilanteet - Communication situations 
  Make the most of them; the programme is about communicating and sharing in a friendly supporting equal atmosphere.
• Selkeä ja luonteva kieli - Clear but natural language 
  It's a learning situation.
• Apukeinoja - Support tools
  elekieli, piirtäminen, näytteleminen, kännykkäsovellukset
  gestures, drawing, performing, mobile apps

EOTO-ohjelma  - Each One Teach One Programme

• Practical information and advice: (link)

Learning Finnish

•  (link)
• (link)
• As a degree student at the JYU, please feel free to contact S2-movi(at)jyu.fi 

The Principles of the Local Friendship Programme

The purpose of the principles is to clarify the roles of the parties and to avoid potential misunderstandings and misconceptions in advance.

• Participation is entirely voluntary.
• A local friend and a student have the right to withdraw from the programme at any time by informing the programme team at localfriendship(at)jyu.fi.
• If a student or a local friend wishes to withdraw from the programme in the middle of the programme for reasons unrelated to the other party, the programme team will try to find a new partner. 
• Participants in the programme are responsible for any costs incurred. The University does not contribute to the costs of the activities of the participants.
• A local friend has no financial obligation to the student. Students are responsible for their own accommodation, studies and leisure activities. 
• The programme is not part of the academic studies, but an extracurricular, voluntary activity offered by the university. Therefore, the university is obliged to ask participants for their consent to process their personal data (Personal Data Act and Regulation and GDPR) and to make clear the responsibilities associated with the activities. 
• A local friend may provide advice and support to the student if the student wishes, but the local friend is under no obligation or responsibility to do so. The Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ will manage and assist the student in matters related to their studies. 
• A local friend has no obligation or responsibility to organise the student's daily life, such as accommodation. 
• A local friend may not employ a student to do any work for them, e.g., hire a student as a babysitter, without a separate agreement with the student. 
• The welfare and safety of the student must be taken into account in all activities and the local friend must not cause harm or injury to the student.
• Student and Academic Services reserves the right to accept or reject an applicant's application for the Local Friendship Programme on the basis of the information provided in the application.
• The Local Friendship Programme should not be used as an online dating service. We reserve the right to immediately reject any applications which raise concerns. 
• Requests for personal characteristics of the other party will not be considered unless justified by the programme.

In the event of any problems, the local friend and the student are requested to contact the programme team at the Student and Academic Services immediately.

Any questions?

Please contact the LFP Team: localfriendship(at)jyu.fi

What information do we disclose to the parties?

We ask both parties for information to help us find things they have in common. Once a pair of friends has been found, we send both parties basic information about each other which acts as a kick-start.

Please see the attached privacy statement for more details about the kind of information we share. We ask for permission to share information on the application form.

The Local Friendship Programme Privacy Statement

This privacy statement is in accordance with § 10 and § 24 of the Personal Data Act (523/1999).

Local Friendship Programme Privacy Statement

After the experience - how was it?

We need your feedback.

It will help us make the programme as effective and relevant as we want it to be. Please let us know what worked, what did not, what is missing or if anything could be done better in a different way. There is an online form for you to do this.

Note: The feedback form is password protected and we will share it with all participants. You are welcome to request it from the contact persons.

Please send your response within two weeks after the end of your programme.

A sincere thank you!

See what former students say

Read what the former local friends (previously the friendship family) programme participants have to say about the programme.

"It was really nice. I really got to know much more about a real Finnish life. I enjoyed being with my Finnish family a lot. However, I also recommend those who are interested to prepare to spend some time and efforts to establish the relationship."

"I really appreciate this programme. I like my friendship family very much. They're like my family in Finland. Because of them, I understand more deeper Finnish culture. Also, I have chance to introduce my culture to them."

"My family was awesome! I would love to visit them again - and they can also visit me any time. We had great fun together, and they really helped me when I needed help! And they made my stay in Finland even more memorable! I love them dearly!"

"It was the best thing I did in Finland. it is so great to have a family you cares of you and show you the Finnish way of life. I'm really glad that I took part in this programme."

Stories to hear and tell

The Local Friendship is a renewed version of the popular  The JYU Friendship Family programme, which has been running for decades.  The Covid pandemic and temporal lack of resources forced us to put it on hold for a while. Here are some experiences from the past, which we will update as soon as new stories will be available.

More on links

• The Friendship Family Programme offers new experiences both to the student as well as to the family (3 Jan 2020)

Contact us

• For any further information, please contact Tapio Anttonen,  Elisa Pratesi or Elizaveta Arzamastseva, Student and Academic Services
• Or, localfriendship(at)jyu.fi