My name is Wenchien Hsu and I am from Taiwan. I am studying a Bachelor Degree of Hospitality Management at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. I started my studies in Rovaniemi 2018.

I studied sports economics and management at Beijing Sport University. The programme I am studying at Lapland University of Applied Sciences is the Degree Programme in Tourism.

Since the Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing 2022, Beijing Sport University and Lapland University of Applied Sciences cooperate in a special programme which is Ski Resort Management. There is an opportunity for us to study winter sports and resort management in Finland. Before I came to Finland, I hardly knew about winter sports. I came from Taiwan and there are no ski resorts at all. To be honest, I haven’t seen the snow season like in Finland before. I think this is a great chance for me to experience a totally different life here. I was super excited when I signed up for this programme.

Before I moved to Rovaniemi, I lived in Beijing. Since we have to study in Finland for two years, we definitely need to live here. In my opinion, Rovaniemi is quite a small but lovely town. People are kind and warmhearted including my tutors and classmates. I have met a lot of new friends here. Actually, I haven’t been to a such cold place before but now I am used to it. And I really like the natural setting around Rovaniemi. The best thing here for me is fresh air, for sure. I strongly recommend you guys to come and experience the Nordic life in Lapland!

I have been doing the thesis process recently which means this is the last step before I graduate. Within these two years, I have learned a lot from many different courses. My favourite one is a skiing lesson. Although it took few weeks only, I still benefitted a lot from it. Before this course started, I had no idea about skiing. During the lesson, we learned how to ski in a proper way. More importantly, skiing eventually became one of my hobbies because of this course. Our skiing instructor was very patient and she gave us a lot of useful advice after class. In addition, our tutors brought us to watch the Levi World Cup which was an opening competition for downhill skiing last year. That was my first time to see the slalom skiing competition. Lapland provided such great conditions for us to experience and learn winter sports.

I have really enjoyed the time when staying in Finland. I have experienced a totally different life here including a different language, culture and people. The education system of Finland is so much different as well. For instance: you will have more than one time to take the exam if you happen to fail or you are not satisfied with the grades. The teachers care more about your learning instead of your grades. The atmosphere always makes you relax in the class. So, if you want to experience the Nordic life and everything here, please do not hesitate to join us!

- Wenchien Hsu -