SEAMK Radio: BIP - Sustainability in Construction
[Sara]
Hello and welcome to SEAMK Radio. I have some international guests here with me and we can introduce ourselves first. My name is Sara and who are you and where do you come from?
[William]
So my name is William. I come from Copenhagen, Denmark.
[Nikolai]
My name is Nikolai and I also come from Copenhagen in Denmark as well.
[Oliver]
My name is Oliver and I’m also from Copenhagen in Denmark too, so we’re all from there.
[Nikolai]
We also study the same subject in the same school.
[Sara]
Okay, so you are like classmates?
[Nikolai]
Well, kind of. Those two are in different classes, but in the same line. So like different teams, but we do the same stuff.
[Sara]
Okay, I see. And what are you doing now in Finland?
[William]
We’re here for the intensive week project, I think it’s called. Yeah, so basically we just, there’s some old buildings that aren’t used for anything right now here in Seinäjoki. And we’re supposed to come up with a plan for what we can use it for.
[Sara]
Okay, interesting.
[Nikolai]
I think it’s the mental hospital in Bjorkenheim or something. I don’t know if you know it.
[Sara]
Maybe, I’m not sure.
[Oliver]
It’s like a five minute drive from here, kind of.
[Sara]
Okay, so quite close.
[Oliver]
Yeah, pretty close, yeah.
[Sara]
How long are you going to stay here? Just for this week?
[William]
Friday, yeah.
[Sara]
And you came?
[William]
Sunday.
[Sara]
Sunday, okay. So you’ve been here for two days?
Has any one of you been to Finland before?
[Oliver]
No, I was supposed to go a couple years back, but I ended up didn’t going, so now would be the first time.
[Nikolai]
No, me neither. You would have a good excuse with the hockey.
[Oliver]
Yes, I was going with hockey because we were playing for the international youth team in Finland, but I got injured just before we had to go, unfortunately.
[Nikolai]
You could have been a celebrity here.
[Oliver]
Yes, I would have been posted on the wall.
[Sara]
But nice that you are all now here in Finland. Did you have anything… You don’t come that far away from Denmark, it’s quite close to Finland, but did you have any specific things or thoughts on your mind before you came to Finland?
Did you have any expectations like what it’s going to be like here?
[William]
A lot of saunas.
[Sara]
Have you seen any yet?
[Oliver]
Yes, we’ve also been in them. It’s very nice.
[Sara]
You’ve already been to?
[Oliver]
Yeah, of course. First night.
[Sara]
Okay.
[Nikolai]
I think, from my point of view at least, you kind of compare the whole of Scandinavia like Norway and Sweden and Denmark and Finland, but then again, Finland is a bit further away from Denmark. I mean, it’s actually a good distance compared to, let’s say, Skåne, which is in Sweden, and also Oslo. So what I was thinking was probably that Finland would remind me more of mainland Sweden, like the rural part.
So maybe a bit more spread out, not as densely populated, and since we’re not in Helsinki, I think this is a good experience because this is way more local, I would believe, than Helsinki. Helsinki is, I think, more similar to what we’re used to in Copenhagen, for instance.
[Sara]
What about you?
[William]
I’ve watched a lot of things from Lapland, so I thought some northern lights and reindeers and stuff, but I understand the reindeers are only in Lapland.
[Sara]
Yes.
[William]
So here it’s the moose or something like that?
[Nikolai]
What do you call it in Finnish?
[Sara]
Hirvi.
[William]
Hirvi.
[Sara]
Yes.
[William]
And then, of course, a lot of lakes, mosquitoes also I heard about. It’s a big problem during the summer.
[Sara]
Yes, they are annoying.
[Oliver]
We asked the ChatGPT how many lakes there were in Finland, and it said 180,000 lakes, which is just insane. Like, different lakes, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s crazy.
[Sara]
Yeah.
[Nikolai]
Some water puddles everywhere.
[Oliver]
Like, when you fly in, we flew in from Helsinki to Vaasa, and when you watch the landscape, it’s just like, it’s all lakes everywhere.
[Sara]
Yeah, that’s true. And now that you have been here, has your thoughts changed about Finland?
[Oliver]
I wouldn’t say so. I would say that I kind of expected, well, I got what I expected, like, coming to Finland. From what I’ve been told and heard and seen in movies and stuff, like, you know, it’s all very flat compared to, well, when you, like, it’s the same as it is in Denmark.
And, yeah, it’s just, I didn’t expect nothing I didn’t see, if you can say that, I guess.
[Nikolai]
I mean, I definitely got confirmed in my belief of, like, the Finnish people are a bit like the Danish. I mean, we have this dark humor and we like to have a good time, so there’s like, there’s always this, how should I say it, like, cheeky expression. I think with the Finnish people also, like, you’re here to have a good time and you’re also not afraid.
I mean, that’s for sure what I think about Finnish, is that you seem to be, like, true to yourselves. I mean, people do what they want and people express it how they want to do. Like, for instance, you show up in these suits with these, like…
[William]
Jumpsuits.
[Nikolai]
Yeah, exactly. With the, I don’t know what you call it, with these markings.
[Oliver]
Or the patches.
[Nikolai]
Yeah, patches, exactly.
[William]
Yeah, I think also, like, some of the stereotypes that I heard about Finland are true, but also, I think, in Denmark people are saying a lot, like, Finland, it’s the emo country of Scandinavia.
[Sara]
Emo country, really?
[William]
Yeah, so that’s, like, a stereotype I heard in Denmark, at least.
[Sara]
I have never heard about that.
[Nikolai]
That’s a good thing.
[William]
I don’t think it’s true, like, not that much, at least. You do like heavy metal, though.
But that’s not a bad thing.
[Oliver]
No, not at all.
[Sara]
Yeah.
[Oliver]
We don’t mind some heavy metal. No, it’s very good.
[Sara]
Yeah, that’s interesting to hear.
[William]
Yeah, but the sauna part is true.
[Oliver]
Yeah, we love, but we do also love that. We enjoy the saunas.
[Sara]
Where have you been to sauna here?
[Oliver]
Unfortunately, yet only at our hotel. And we were told that there was, like, this skyscraper, kind of, like, four or five floors, and sauna around here, like, at the campus, or at least close.
[William]
The rooftop sauna.
[Oliver]
Yeah, we’re really excited to try that.
[Nikolai]
We still have to find it.
[Sara]
Yeah, you can almost see it from here.
[Nikolai]
It is there? It does exist.
[Sara]
Yeah, it does exist.
[Nikolai]
That is good. It sounds like a local legend.
[Sara]
I have never been there.
[Nikolai]
Maybe you’ll find it. Maybe you won’t.
[Sara]
Yeah. Okay, if we think about our campus and our school, SEAMK, what do you think about that, if you compare it to your own school in Denmark?
[Oliver]
Well, it’s definitely way bigger than our, like, our separate school. But you also have many different programs here, compared to our school, where it’s very, like, closed. But I like the, you know, the architecture here and stuff.
It looks nice. You can see that somebody actually put some thought into how the buildings are structured and everything. And also on the outside, this building we’re sitting in right now is, like, this rusty building thing.
And some of the other buildings are, like, new ones with, like, glass curtain wall systems and stuff. So it’s very interesting to see, how the buildings are formed. They’re quite beautiful here at the campus.
I would say so.
[Sara]
That’s nice to hear.
[Nikolai]
You always have to, like, get accustomed to a new place or a new country. So navigating this space is a thing. Like, it can be a bit of a maze, but then you get to know the areas and you can find your way.
But yeah, nice campuses for sure. And it seems like you have a lot of resources.
[William]
Yeah. And I also think, like, yeah, you have, like, these open places and a lot of social areas. We don’t have that many of those at our campus in Copenhagen.
And yeah, I think also our campus is placed in the middle of Copenhagen. So there’s not that much place to, like, work with.
[Sara]
I see.
[William]
Ours is a bit smaller and more crowded.
[Oliver]
It’s an old building and stuff. Even though the building is beautiful, like at our campus. Well, the old one at least.
[Nikolai]
It’s densely populated compared to here, right?
[William]
But you also have, like, all these labs, which I think is quite nice. We don’t have any labs, I think, at our school.
[Oliver]
Well, I think we have a 3D printer. That’s it.
[Nikolai]
Yeah, but that’s the other campus.
[Oliver]
Yeah, that’s not even our campus.
[Nikolai]
Yeah, you have some pretty nice machinery, like robotics and stuff. And we saw the, or at least I did, I saw this repair shop, where they’re fixing cars also. And I think that’s just like a side project, which I think is very nerdy and it’s very cool.
Yeah, that’s awesome.
[Sara]
So you have been to tour here?
[Oliver]
Yeah, we’ve been the first day. The Finnish guys here showed us around, so we got a look at the whole campus. At least most of it.
[Sara]
Yeah, there is a lot going on. How many students do you have in your school?
[William]
That’s a good question.
[Oliver]
I don’t know.
[Nikolai]
I mean, I think if we take into consideration the campus that we participate in, or where we are located, I mean, maybe max a thousand.
[Oliver]
I don’t think we’re up there.
[Nikolai]
500?
[Oliver]
Yeah, close to that.
[William]
The other campus, there’s probably a couple of thousand. But our school is like divided into three campuses. Ours is like the building campus, and then there’s the design campus and stuff like that.
[Oliver]
Yeah, well, the technical ones.
[Nikolai]
If we have six classes for each semester and there’s a semester every half year, maybe I think there’s a thousand.
[Oliver]
It could be actually, I don’t know. But it’s still very tiny compared to this.
[Sara]
Okay, you still have many days left here in Finland and in Seinäjoki. What do you hope that you are going to still experience here?
[William]
We’re going to the Sliki concert tomorrow.
[Oliver]
Yes, and then we want to do some more sauna.
[Nikolai]
Definitely.
[Oliver]
And then, you know, just mingle with the rest of the group, the international group and other Finnish students if we can. Now we’re sitting here talking to you.
[Nikolai]
We have this project also, and it’s interesting to see what’s going to come out of it.
[Sara]
Now we have this part where we are going to dive into Finnish culture. So let’s begin with our beautiful Finnish language.
[Oliver]
Okay.
[Sara]
I suppose that you have heard some Finnish words. Maybe you remember some of them.
[Oliver]
Moi moi.
And then kakki.
[Sara]
What does that mean?
[Oliver]
I think it means like hi. I don’t know.
[William]
Taxi.
[Oliver]
I don’t remember. Probably. But I do remember, what is it?
Olut is beer. And then you say yksi olut, which means one beer. Or can I order one beer?
I mean, it could be something else. You could tell me whatever. I would believe it.
But then I also have, I forgot fish, but I had it in my mind, but now it just went away. I also learned, what was it? Viisi, which was five, I think.
[Sara]
Viisi, yes, very good.
[Oliver]
There you go. Then I know some Finnish hockey players, that’s all.
[Sara]
Okay, who is your favorite?
[Oliver]
Finnish hockey player? I think Sebastian Aho is probably my favorite. Or Rantanen, but I don’t know.
I can’t decide.
[Sara]
And the word for fish is kala.
[Oliver]
Yeah, kala, thank you. Nice.
[Sara]
How about you guys? What have you learned?
[Nikolai]
Well, all of the things that Oliver has learned, so I don’t have to repeat it. What have I learned? Sisuska?
Is that a word? Maybe I’m mixing it up. Sisuska, that you have like a backbone.
Like it’s a saying in Finnish.
[Sara]
Backbone?
[Nikolai]
Yeah, it’s like take it on the chin or keep going. Like it doesn’t matter if it’s going to be a sunny day. Wait, say that word again.
I’m trying to fish here.
[Oliver]
He’s trying to cut you.
[Nikolai]
Sisuska or susaski or something like that. Sisasku. Okay, maybe it’s our Finnish teacher that likes that word a lot.
Kalsarikänni. Kalsarikänni.
[Sara]
Someone has taught you…
[Nikolai]
Your Finnish students here, they’re pretty good at teaching us the basics. For me, I can’t remember any word.
[William]
It’s just moi moi.
[Sara]
Moi moi, that’s good. Do you know what’s thank you in Finnish?
[William]
I forgot. Somebody tells me every day, but I keep on forgetting.
[Sara]
It’s kiitos.
[William]
Kiitos.
[Oliver]
That’s right.
[Sara]
And your welcome is ole hyvä.
[Oliver]
Ole hyvä.
[Sara]
Very good. And if you want to get to know someone new, you can ask Mitä kuuluu?
[William]
Mitä kuuluu?
[Sara]
Yes, that means how are you?
[Oliver]
Mitä kuuluu?
[Sara]
You can say moi moi, Mitä kuuluu? Or moi, Mitä kuuluu? Okay, and I heard that you have already tried some Finnish food or treats.
Have you tried salmiakki?
[Oliver]
Like, a liquorice thing? Well, we do actually have it in Denmark as well, but it’s called Finnish liquorice.
[Nikolai]
I think salmiakki is just like salmiakki. Yeah, it’s a bit different. Salty, licorice.
Yeah, we love that stuff. Yeah, I think it’s Danish, no?
[Sara]
Have you had this in Denmark?
[Nikolai]
Fazer. Yeah, Fazer we have.
But I don’t think we have that particular one.
[Oliver]
I’ve never seen that one before.
[Nikolai]
But the distributor or the company, I think they do Dumle, right?
[Sara]
Yeah, they do.
[Oliver]
There you go.
[Sara]
Okay, you can try it while we are talking.
[Nikolai]
But we also, liquorice is quite big in Denmark also. Do you have like a puking bucket?
[Sara]
No.
[Nikolai]
No, it’s good. Yeah, it’s nice.
[Oliver]
It’s like refreshing.
[Sara]
Yeah, this is from our local Tsumppi If you have bought coffee or some sweets from there.
So you can go buy more things.
[William]
But I think you have to try it like to get, there’s also some German and Austrian people. You have to try to give them the liquorice.
[Sara]
Yeah.
[Nikolai]
This really reminds me of liquorole. I think it’s very similar.
[Sara]
What is it?
[Nikolai]
It’s basically the same. It’s just a small like tablet, like liquorice tablet as well. It has like salmiakki as well.
And it also has the menthol part. Not mental, but menthol.
[William]
Yeah, and they also do like some alcoholic beverages.
With the taste, yeah.
[Sara]
So you have tried sauna. You know liquorice very well. And you have tried some new things here in Finland.
You are tomorrow going to concert. And what else? You have learned many Finnish words.
So I think it sounds very nice. You have got a good experience here.
[William]
Another Finnish word. Another Finnish person. Teemu Pukki.
The football player. He used to play in Denmark. For quite a while.
[Oliver]
To Premier League. And then he went crazy in Premier League for Norwich. Being the highest scoring attacker for like a season.
He was very good. But then his level unfortunately fell. But that’s right, Teemu Pukki.
I forgot about him.
[William]
And I also think our national team played a lot against Finland lately. So, yeah.
[Oliver]
Like in football or soccer or whatever you want to call it.
[William]
I have a Finnish scarf with the national team. Because I traded my Danish scarf with a Finnish guy. Once they were in Copenhagen playing.
[Sara]
Okay. Do you have any last words or greetings?
[William]
Maybe that Finns are Scandinavian rockers. I think that’s a good outro. You can try to translate that.
[Sara]
You have to tell me what that means.
[Oliver]
I think it’s better if you just figure it out yourself. You’ll laugh a lot about that.
[Sara]
Is it bad?
[Oliver]
No, no. It’s not bad at all. Well, it’s a little bad, but it’s not bad like what you’re thinking.
[Sara]
Okay.
[Oliver]
Don’t worry. We’re not talking bad words on the line.
[Sara]
On national radio.
[William]
Oh national radio.
[Sara]
Almost.
[William]
I think it’s nice you have all these things and initiatives and stuff like that. The parties are here every Wednesday there’s a student event or something.
So that’s really nice.
[Oliver]
You don’t get bored. You always do something. You just go to sauna.
[William]
Or drive snowmobile.
[Oliver]
Yeah, exactly.
[Sara]
What kind of student activities do you have in your school?
[Oliver]
Student activities?
[William]
We have something called Freitas Bar.
[Oliver]
Yes, we just get together and drink alcohol, basically.
And have fun and just chill and play some beer pong and other games like dice games and stuff. It’s also very common in the summer at least to be in parks and drinking together with your friends and ordering some pizza.
[Oliver]
Yeah, it’s basically all with drinking, actually. I feel like it’s kind of the same here. That what brings everybody together is drinking.
[William]
Usually there’s a saying that Danish people can be a bit shy. But once you give them alcohol, they’ll loosen up. You go a bit crazy sometimes.
[Sara]
Yeah. But we have actually quite many non-alcohol events also. And we have also many sport activities weekly.
Every day there are things you can join and all that kind of stuff.
[Nikolai]
Physical activities maybe?
[William]
On our campus there are also non-alcoholic initiatives. So I know there’s a knitting class where people get together and knit.
And during the winter there was some indoor football. That’s right.
[Oliver]
I did hear about that.
[William]
Go to play some football with other students.
[Nikolai]
But you definitely have more here, I think. And we could also learn from that.
[Oliver]
But you say you have a lot of sports going on as well. I noticed there’s a sports rink not so far away. I was talking to the Finnish guys about what is in there.
And I was thinking there was a hockey rink. But they said no.
[Sara]
Yeah, you can’t play hockey there, but you can play hockey in… I think we have in Seinäjoki three different ice halls.
[Nikolai]
You have a big team here in Seinäjoki.
[Oliver]
Is hockey big in Seinäjoki?
[Sara]
I don’t know.
[Oliver]
That’s unfortunate.
[Nikolai]
Someone is banging on the table right now.
[Oliver]
What the hell? You have a good team. What do you mean?
I thought about maybe asking them if I could join a practice or something.
[Sara]
That would be nice. Thank you so much for coming here. And I wish you all very nice last days here in Finland.
Enjoy your time and get to know as many people as you can. And do some great things that you can’t do in Denmark. Welcome back to Finland if you want.
[Nikolai]
Thank you. Very kind of you.
[Oliver]
You’re welcome in Copenhagen as well.
[Nikolai]
Please come by.
[Sara]
Thank you. Bye!