LIVING IN WINCHESTER

In Turku I live alone, in my own flat, in a block of flats.

In Finland it is really common that everybody has their own place.

My small kitchen! I miss you!

Here in Winchester I live with four British roommates - three girls and one boy. We have a two-storey house, everybody has their own bedrooms and we have one bathroom (was a bit weird at first to have to actually wait to get to the bathroom in the morning), kitchen and a living room.

The price of a room in a house is pretty much the same as a studio flat in Finland, so Winchester is really expensive!!

I pay around 360 € for this accommodation and it is the cheapest you can get here.

There was the opportunity to move to the Erasmus Park and live in the halls with other exchange students - but it would have been more expensive - and frankly it didn't sound so good... :D

The students have told me that it is quite common for them to move every year. First year you might just move to a place that is available, second year you already know the people who you study with and might want to live with them and so on... And the big furnitures usually come with the room.

Usually in Finland when you find a nice place you stay there the whole time of your studies and you have your own furniture - which makes moving so so much more difficult and challenging.

From our street.

It has been a bit weird living with other people, especially because I didn't know them at all when I moved in here. But they are all so nice and everything has gone really well!

I still prefer to live alone - of course I understand that here it is not really and option because it would be so expensive.

It is quite difficult to rent a room in here, since most of the agencies require you to have a guarantor who lives and works in UK. I was really lucky with this appartment, since I am basically renting this room from a girl who is now on exchange in Paris - she is still the main renter and I am just a "subtenant".