Our experiencestay in Lybecke, Raahe in Finland

Our experiencestay in Lybecke, Raahe in Finland.

Hi! We are Alex, Kristófer and Lovísa and we recently came home after a month’s stay in Finland. We are students at Borgarholtsskóli and had the exciting opportunity to travel to Raahe and take part in a study period. Kristín  María, a teacher from Borgarholtsskóli, stayed with us for the first week, which was very helpful. While in Finland we studied at the Lybecker

institute, a school focused on teaching Media Production and Visual Arts. Being in Raahe was surprisingly similar to being in Reykjavík, but the city had a much calmer atmosphere. Everyone that we encountered was polite and helpful. Pekka, the international coordinator was exceptionally welcoming, lending us bikes which made commuting to school  and exploring Raahe on our own easy and fun. The locals were also eager to introduce us to Finland and thanks to them we got to visit Oulu, Rovaniemi (The home of Santa Claus) and even went on a impromptu trip to Sweden. Those trips were quite fun and memorable. We Any questions we had Pekka answered quickly and thoroughly. On the day of our departure from Finland we were invited to lunch with Pekka and his family. We had the chance to taste homemade, Finnish food and discuss Finnish culture.  We got to compare Icelandic and Finnish culture which was quite fun and interesting. The lunch was very nice and the food was good. Studying at Lybecker was quite different from Borgarholtsskóli, the classes being differently organized and the teachers seeming to have a different approach to teaching.

At Lybecker, students have the same class through the whole day, and the same projects for a week. From the classes I had the chance to observe and take part in, the teachers seem to introduce the objectives and then step back to let the students work, remaining within reach if help is needed. This independent, hands-off approach to teaching seems very beneficial for students, regarding both creativity and productivity.  The facilities at Lybecker were top notch and a privilege to use. One thing that was admirable was that the teachers put special focus on preparing the students for the job market. They do not only teach them to use the great programs offered by the school, like the Adobe packet, but also free programs. This makes sure that students will not be limited by the financial or employment difficulties they might face following graduation and guarantees their ability to create their content under any circumstances. We are very grateful for the time we got to spend at Lybecker. Two of us, Lovísa and Kristófer, were offered the chance to intern for a week at the Raahe Museum. We produced two videos for them to use for advertising, and filming them let us see the museum quite differently and closer than we would  through a mere visit. We also produced a music video of the museum’s exhibition of baroque statues  with music from the same era. That was challenging but very interesting and informative. Alex got the chance to work at a advertising agency located within the school. At the ad agency Alex was putting together exercise videos for a client and a thumbnail with the videos, because the videos were going on YouTube.. The guys at the agency were really nice and always willing to help or give advice when it came to work. Lunch was from 10 to 11 and the workday was from 9 to 15. On Thursday Alex had finished making all the videos and thumbnails he was supposed to make.  On the last day Alex got the job to make a documentary about Raahe and his experience there. Alex sadly never had the time to finish that film. After the time Alex spent at the agency his editing workflow was much faster than it used to be. The work at Lybecker and the places we got to intern enhanced our team working, organizing and problem solving skills. For that we are very grateful as those skills are useful under in many circumstances. The experience of having the chance to  take part in a study period abroad is very precious to us as it helped us become more independent individuals, and enhanced  our confidence in the field of creative work.  We thank Erasmus+ and Borgarholtsskóli sincerely and look forward to whatever lies in our futures.