SeAMK Talk: Experiences living in Seinäjoki
[Anders]
Welcome to a new episode of SeAMK Podcast. My name is Andres Mendez. I work here at SeAMK as international facilitator, and I have with me today two very special guests that I would like them to introduce themselves, please guys, can you go ahead?
[Kimmo]
So I’m Kimmo Pollari, I’m a Finn, studying here at the International Business Program. Also doing a few other things here at SeAMK. But yeah, so originally from this area, lived abroad for about 20 years, and then moved back and started studying.
[Dong]
And I am Do Nguyen, and I’m originally from Vietnam, so I have been work in Vietnam, Dubai, Sri Lanka, and also half of my family is from Sri Lanka as well. And I’m second years of International Business at SeAMK, and now I start my new position as a trainee in International Business at SeAMK.
[Anders]
It’s very nice to hear that you guys are international business students, and here at SeAMK we’ve been increasing the number of international degree programs. And for example, in the bachelor level, we have International Business Program, Automation Engineering, Agri-Food Engineering, Registered Nursing, and Hospitality Management. And then at the master’s level, we have International Business Management, and Master of Social Services and Healthcare Development, and Management, which are, a couple of them are new programs that will be integrated to our curricula in the autumn semester in 2025.
And yeah, today we would like to talk about the experiences of living in Seinäjoki and Finland. First of all, can one of you tell me where Seinäjoki is located, or where Finland is located?
[Kimmo]
Well, Finland is located straight up north from the African continent. If you can find Africa on the map, then just go as far north as you can. And yeah, so Finland is in the region of Northern Europe, and we’re pretty high up here in the north, and of course we have Arctic Circle going through our country, even further north.
But Seinäjoki is in the western part of Finland, and it looks like it’s isolated on the map, but my experience is that Seinäjoki is actually pretty well connected to the rest of the world. We have good transportation options, and a train station in Seinäjoki is very central, so you can pretty much get anywhere in the country by train from Seinäjoki. And so, yeah, as a city, I can see Seinäjoki a little bigger than its size.
We have about 50,000, 60,000 people living here. But really in the region, we have, I’ve heard the number that up to 200,000 people uses the services of this little town here. And I really like living here.
It’s a fairly small town, but it has all the services that you would find in a bigger city as well. And so there’s a lot to do, lots of nature, of course, and space for you to do whatever you want to do, especially in the exercise and sports world and many, many other things. Mm-hmm.
Nice.
[Dong]
And because I’m a foreigner, so as per my perspective, this is the first place that I arrived in Finland, and the time that I arrived was last year, January, and it was full of snow. It was really, really amazed me because, of course, I come from the country, there was no snow at all, but only a few days because it’s getting so cold for me. And we actually, we didn’t prepare enough clothes, and we didn’t think that it’s so cold.
But anyhow, we get more information from all the people around, and we figure out some shops that we can buy the clothes, and it’s getting better. And for me, the most interesting thing here from Seinäjoki City is everyone is so friendly. And they helping people was very welcome, and sometimes even they, how to say, when we are newcomer, we still cannot purchase so much things, so they just, okay, if you need something, let me know, I will give you, I will help you like that.
That is so friendly, so helpful from the Finnish people that I’m really appreciate.
[Anders]
Okay, that’s very nice to hear. Just for the record, I myself also originally from Mexico, and I also moved to Finland, and I have, well, I have some information about what Finland was like, what Seinäjoki was like, but I have to, yeah, recognize and agree with Windy in this case that it is, people are helpful, people are nice. But also at the same time, when you look at the culture, you get to experience sometimes a little bit different because people are also a little bit distant, a little bit quiet, and Finns in nature tend to be a little bit more shy, so they are not the first ones that will start a conversation when they see you on the street, they are not the first ones that will come and look for you, you know, like they’re more quiet, let’s say they mind their own business, and it’s very nice to just experience a totally different culture because then we as individuals get to learn, get to grow, get to see, and it’s a process to adapt, but yeah, Windy, I would like to pick on something that you said, you say that also part of your family is from abroad, have you encountered some other foreigners or international students or an international community here in Seinäjoki?
[Dong]
Yes, mostly I have more, how to say, connection with Sri Lanka, so I met, because when they see me, they don’t know, okay, these people have, her husband is from Sri Lanka, but when I saw, I see them, I say, are you from Sri Lanka? They say yes, okay, my husband is also from Sri Lanka, then we start to do the conversation, because myself, I have been live in Sri Lanka for six years, so I think I know some about Sri Lanka, so it’s easy to start a conversation with them, and also whatever I know, whatever the information that I know, I’m also sharing with them, and also they share with us from very first time when we arrive here, because actually, that’s very useful for us, because I came from Finland, it was late than others, because of the visa process, so we came here around January, and some of my friends, they already arrived here from August, 2023, so we got most of information about them, what should we do when we arrive here first, where should we complete our document, that is very useful and helpful for us.
[Anders]
Okay, thank you. Kimmo, you were mentioning that, well, Seinäjoki, living in Finland, and please tell us where you’re from, and what is your connection with Seinäjoki?
[Kimmo]
So, I grew up not too far from here, about 40 kilometers from Seinäjoki, and many of my friends lived here in this town, and so I was practically here every weekend, you know, hanging out with my friends when I was growing up as a teenager, and then after that, but I did live abroad for a long time in the U.S. and Brazil, and when I moved back in 2023, I noticed that Seinäjoki had changed a lot, because they had added this whole other people group in the population, which was international people, because 20 years ago, we didn’t have that many internationals here, so I realized that many of these foreigners that I saw in the streets are actually students here, and, you know, many students are here with their families or their kids, and so, yeah, so many people are here with their families, and I realized that this city is changing into more international type of city, and, you know, like at Seinäjoki, University of Applied Sciences, we have 600, 700 international students, which is quite a lot for a town like this, in a good way, because we start seeing more of the international community in just the day-to-day life.
[Anders]
Yeah, especially if you consider that the university as a whole, we have 6,000 students, and then the 10% are international students, and it makes a big difference, and then the size of Seinäjoki City is about 65,000 inhabitants, so, you know, it’s a big percentage of students, student life in the city, you can see almost pretty much every week, even twice a week, when there is student activities, you see them walking around the city and bringing life to the city.
Okay, this is nice. Now, just for information to our listeners, you know, possible applicants and people who are interested maybe in joining SeAMK in the future, what is the situation with housing? You know, was it easy for you guys to find an apartment?
Do you live, like, in a big house, in a small house? What is the situation? And also, you mentioned a little bit about rent, maybe not necessarily how much you are paying for rent, but you know, somehow, what is the average of rent, for example, for a single student, for those who are interested in coming with family?
Windy, you mentioned that you’re here with your family. Is it a big family? What is the size of family that you have?
[Dong]
It’s just myself, my husband, and my son. So first, actually, I was heard from my friend from 2023, it was so hard to find an apartment, because suddenly the increase of the number of the international students in Seinäjoki, so it’s so hard for everyone to find for the accommodation, but I don’t know how I lucky myself. I got one from Sevas, because I also was thankful for one of my friends.
She said, you email to Sevas, and keep email, keep email them, and just ask, okay, I really need, because I have a son, and we cannot stay, because if we arrive in Finland, we don’t know where to stay. Then I got one from Sevas, actually, and I was, that’s what was screwed by my agent, because we couldn’t pay the deposit on time. I said, okay, that’s it, I finish, we don’t have accommodation, but then again, I email Sevas and say, okay, I have right now this accommodation at this area, please pay right away the deposit, otherwise we cannot give you anymore, and we managed to do it, and I managed to have the accommodation, and then it was quite small, but we happy that at least I have accommodation here at Seinäjoki, and I managed to go to the school every day, and then now this year, also I will move to little bit bigger apartment, at the same building, same floor.
[Anders]
Okay, thank you. Kimmo, would you like to share a little bit about what is Sevas?
[Kimmo]
Yeah, so Sevas is the company that’s the student housing authority here in Seinäjoki, and they are offering student apartments, and usually the application process for student apartments goes through them, and I know that they are at the maximum capacity, because of the sudden increase of foreign students, and also domestic students as well, but I know the city, and Sevas, and other parties, even SeAMK are working hard to alleviate the situation, but really the goal is to offer all the first-year students guaranteed apartments, so that’s the goal that we are working towards with all the stakeholders that are in this process, and so I would also say that Seinäjoki as a city is much more affordable than some of the other big bigger cities here in Finland, where you pay rent around 500, 600 for one bedroom, where it could be 800, 900 in another big city, so in that sense, you know, that’s our competitive advantage, in that sense that, you know, life in Seinäjoki is much cheaper than some of the other cities.
[Anders]
Yeah, I think that’s very important, going back to what you mentioned about guaranteeing first-year students housing, that would be, yeah, that would be amazing, you know, so students wouldn’t have to worry on looking for apartments, so hopefully this idea might come through, where we can guarantee the first-year students, and then maybe in the second year, they already have time to meet people, to make connections, to increase the network, and then maybe move forward to maybe rent a bigger apartment together with friends, or, you know, looking for other options. Yeah, there is, unfortunately here, well, probably everywhere, not only in Seinäjoki or in Finland, but everywhere, you know, like the bigger the house, the more, you know, the more expensive it is, also the services are more expensive, insurances are more expensive, so it just makes sense that if you want a big apartment, probably you have to pay more, and it’s true, when talking about living in capital area or in bigger cities, one of the advantages that we have in this case is that people who arrive, who fly to the Helsinki airport, then they can just take a train, and usually from two and a half to three hours, you know, is the train distance to Seinäjoki, and Seinäjoki is a very good hot spot, can we say that, you know, where people from there can also move to different places within the country, we have a great connections by train, and yeah, it’s one of the advantages that we see. So you also mentioned something about housing costs, you know, so for example, once again, for a single student, how much the average of rent will be as per today?
[Kimmo]
It sort of depends on the type of apartment you have, and I’m not exactly sure about the exact price of the cheapest solutions, which would be the sort of like a community, yeah, like a shared apartment, it could be down to about 250 to 300 euros, if somebody wants to live in a one-bedroom or one-room apartment, it might be about 450, 550, around that range.
[Anders]
We’re talking about the SEVAS apartments at this time, right?
[Kimmo]
Right, so there are also some private apartments available, but then that would be a good option for the second year, but I think everyone would recommend going through Sevas to get their first apartment, whether it’s a shared apartment or an actual apartment, if they’re families, you know, the convenient thing about Sevas is that they offer services for international students even before they are here, so once they get the study certificate or the information about their study place that they’re accepted in the university, they can start the application process and they will get the, they are, they have a chance to get the apartment even before they get here, so.
[Anders]
And for what I heard, the sharing of the apartments is not that they share like the bedroom, but like they have their own bedroom individually, but then they might be sharing common areas, such as the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, etc., right?
[Kimmo]
Exactly, they have their own bedroom, but then they have some common areas.
[Anders]
And also, if I understood correctly, families cannot be on a shared apartment with the students, right?
Okay, yeah, that’s good to confirm and to let everyone know that, because I have heard the cases that there is families that are like, oh, we don’t care just because they want to pay less, and say, oh, we don’t care, we can be in a shared apartment, but I think it’s not allowed in this case, right? Okay, good. Could you maybe mention a little bit about what is the minimum cost for a single student to live in Seinäjoki, like in total, like what is the estimation, including rent, food, maybe one or two activities, you know, like a free time, but in general, how is, you know, the cost of living?
[Kimmo]
Well, we’ve estimated, according to our larger study, that it could be about as low as $600. If somebody wants to save a little bit more, they might get below that, but from $600, and if you want to spend a little bit more money, maybe $900. And I think the advantage of Seinäjoki being a small town, you don’t have to spend money to pay for public transportation, because you can walk anywhere.
And so, depending on what you want to do, you know, there’s no ceiling in how much you spend, but as far as it’s, it could be very economical for one person. And then for families, maybe…
[Dong]
For family, as per my own experience, it should be from around $700 to $1,000 or $1,200. It depends on how you want to spend your money. If you want to save, maybe it will be less than $1,000.
If you want to have a little bit more enjoyable, it will be to $1,200. As per Kimmo said, the good thing here is the city is quite small, and everything affordable here, so you can save much more than when you live here.
[Anders]
It is worth the mention, I think, that the prices anywhere, compared to anywhere in the world, they are actually much more expensive, right? Like if we talk about food or some free time activities, or yeah, even rent, et cetera, like things are much more expensive than in other countries, but it’s also because of the system, taxation, et cetera. But we have, I think Finland is well known by having good quality things, but also good quality of life.
And so, you know, it compensates one thing and the other. Continuing with this topic, I would like to share that there might be some people who are listening to us right now, and they might be wondering, that’s a lot of money. Yes, yes, it might be a lot of money.
It might be not so much to some of you. Nonetheless, we know that a lot of people have to be prepared for paying tuition fees, to travel, to get an apartment, to, you know, there is a lot of expenses. But also it’s important to mention that we want to advise students to be financially prepared for at least two, the first two years of their studies, because unfortunately, it’s not that we have a lot of vacancies, a lot of jobs for people waiting for them.
You know, Seinäjoki being a small town, but also Finland is a small country. So we don’t have like that many opportunities for all of the students to come and work right away and then be able to save money to pay rent and etc. So we want students to actually be aware that we advise them to be financially prepared for at least the first two years.
And in those two years, they will have the opportunity to focus on their studies, to increase the network, to get to know companies, to get to know different people. And here at the university, we are trying to, to promote, you know, that students will increase the network. And one of the ways we support students as well is by, we have people in our team that are looking, that are helping students to find practical training.
Now, practical training or internships are part of their studies. Everybody has to do an internship. So we are not focusing on helping students to find a job, but we are helping them in trying to find an opportunity to complete their studies, to do the internship.
And who knows, probably in the future, that same company would like to keep the student if they are able to, well, there’s many things, many factors. But yeah, that’s one of the things that I would like to leave with us today. Any last words before we end with a talk about living in Seinäjoki?
[Dong]
I think one more thing, you should be prepared about the language. So if you think that you’re going to move here and you want to settle down here in Finland, you better prepare, study the Finnish language beforehand before you move here. So at least to learn some basics that you can start as just a small communication.
And then, of course, when you study here in SeAMK, you also have the Finnish courses as well here, but better be prepared beforehand before you arrive here.
[Kimmo]
My last words probably be that anybody who’s thinking about going to another country to study, I would encourage them to look at it as an investment for your future. And I would totally recommend coming to Finland and studying at SeAMK because that could open so many doors for you. And like we talked about earlier, there are several good perspectives about living in Seinäjoki, not only the lower cost of living, but other things.
It’s very safe here. We don’t have problems with violence and things like that, like in some other cities. I mean, of course, you have to look around anywhere, but yeah, it’s very safe here.
And so, yeah, it’s an investment and it’s a challenge, but, you know, many people enjoy taking on challenges. So I just encourage anybody who has a little bit of a sense of adventure in them just to come out.
[Anders]
Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for your words. Thank you for sharing.
Windy, Kimmo, I think it’s important to remember also that, well, none of us were originally from Seinäjoki. We all moved here. We are trying to do our best.
We’re trying to do life, working, studying, you know, trying to apply the self-development and enjoying the process. But at the same time, I would like to say these last words about Seinäjoki. I found a place to be very family friendly.
I think it’s very easy to be here, to raise a family, to, you know, that the kids are enjoying to go to the library. To me, that’s one of the new things in life, that kids actually enjoying going to the library. Library is such a nice playground place, you know, for kids to learn and to have fun.
And also they go by walk to, you know, to school or using the bicycle. And so everything is kind of bicycle distance within Seinäjoki. So we have found that it’s a very nice city that is keeping developing all the time, you know, it keeps developing.
And that is, that is, that makes SeAMK and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences a great place to study, knowing that you can live in peace and possibly do life in Seinäjoki with us. But thank you so much. And until next time.
[Dong]
Thank you.