I started my studies completely blind, in the sense that I didn't know anything about RSU. I hadn't really looked up the program, or the university. Therefore, I didn't expect many things. In this post I will go over some of them. Some are lighthearted, some more serious :)
Milk products
Okay, I'll start with something less serious. When I first came here and went to the store, I genuinely couldn't find milk! The milk products here are very differently labeled than in Finland. First time I bought milk... it wasn't milk. I took a sip and it was sour!!!
They also have only 2 types of cream: sour and sweet. Sweet cream is what is used for cooking. It's not actually sweet, it's just not sour. I know baking here is more difficult because the stores usually lack some specific products the recipes might need.
Finland has milk that goes down to around 0,3% fat. Here, lowest is generally 2,5%. Many even drink 3,5% milk! This is definitely like a Nordics-specific problem because I know at least Swedish and Finnish people drink a lot of milk. Here I feel bad drinking so much because I'm getting so much extra fat in my diet...
I know there is one 0,5% milk, but it wasn't my favourite and it's quite expensive. Though I might have to give it a second chance since I've gotten used to the taste of milk here. Oh yeah, milk here definitely has an aftertaste. I haven't experienced that before...
These are the milks I generally drink:
Get the Rimi/Maxima app!
Latvia is very big on discounts. Almost every store has its own membership card that you can use to get discounts. If your go-to store is Rimi, GET THE APP!!! I swear, you save like 3€ on each time you shop for groceries.
Other stores have them too: Stockmann, Jysk, Drogas, etc.
You can get really good discounts in each store by just downloading their app / getting their membership.
In Drogas, for example, there's almost always two prices you see on the price tag. One is regular price, and one is with the card. And usually it's like 10-20% cheaper.
Loneliness
Moving to another country to study is a bold move. You leave your friends and support system back home and start a completely new life abroad. Before I moved to Riga, I was going through a rough period in my life. I had ended a two-year-relationship six months prior, and was working a minimum wage job. I hadn't seen my friends in a long time. (more about that in this post)
I had expected to make friends in university quickly. But things aren't that simple. I did make some friends, but I never felt like I found those friends that I can always call and text. It's really lonely sometimes. There's often a culture-gap between you and other people. Even the Finnish people I know, are many from different places in Finland, which means we are different in some ways. I had lost my people so to say. You know how when you talk to a life-long member, or a sibling, you have moments where you go "Remember when... OMG YES"? Those are the moments I miss.
In the dead of winter, when it's cold and dark outside, it's hard to ask people you half-know to hang out.
Some days I do feel lonely. I wish that I was someone else, someone super extroverted who can easily make a lot of friends. But with time I've grown to accept who I am. I am introverted, but I still should see friends from time to time :)
Something I miss is people who know who I am. Not just who I am now, but who I was all my life. It feels like when I'm in Riga, that part of me is lost.
I have made friends, and I love my life here. But sometimes I do end up missing who I was back home.
Things get better, though. Just yesterday I went to study with a friend at a cafe and it was super fun! I also went on a walk with another friend a few days prior. It's super easy to lose sight of things and stop seeing people. But whenever I do go and see people, I feel so much better.
Bureaucracy
I had kind of expected teachers here to be old-fashioned because that's what I had been warned about. But I hadn't expected the blind respect you're supposed to give professors and departments. In my first semester, my group mate was treated unfairly by a professor during an assignment. She called him out (fairly so), and from then on, that professor graded her works unfairly. She got accused of using AI for a presentation she didn't use it for, and therefore got an 8 instead of a 10. Luckily, we only had that professor for one semester. But that's not an isolated incident.
In biochemistry last semester, we would have a certain professor as a substitute a few times. This professor loved choosing people in the class to target for questions, and wasn't subtle about it. Once, a student yawned, and she said: "Oh you're tired? Well then I'll give questions to you". This isn't the worst of it. But it's definitely these small things that I didn't expect.
Our semester has been treated unfairly in many different situations by different departments, and now our semester has a bad reputation amongst the departments. Why? Because people complained.
It's kind of an open secret here, that you're not supposed to say what you think to professors / departments. You're supposed to sugar-coat things to make them palatable.
Maybe this is the case in many other places in the world, but personally I'm not used to it. In Finland, teachers and academic staff are very understanding. They always try to make things work. There's this way of thinking: The students expect quality from the professors. Not the other way around.
Here in RSU, if a problem arises and someone brings it up, they will be rebuked for "not acting professionally".
Obviously, this all sounds dramatic. That's because I'm explicitly listing out the times this has been an issue. There are departments and teachers that are super lovely. I still miss my Latvian teacher from the first year because she was the sweetest ever. Many departments have improved from the past when there was issues.
And I know I have it 10x better than people from a few years ago. That's why I hope the direction of development will continue to be positive :) I know RSU has great potential to be a great university. I think that will happen when students are really taken into consideration.
Burnout
I've never been one to experience burnout before. I used to study quite little for exams and still do well. But here, that's not the case. It's currently the end of my third semester, and I feel exhausted. I still have two colloquiums and one exam to go.
It's super important to focus on mental health here.
I went to therapy for three years, and stopped this January. Since then, all the problems that I used to be able to vent about have started building up. Even though I try to write things down, when the pressure from colloquiums gets too much, mental health stops being a priority. Some days I feel exhausted. Some days I cry for no reason. Or maybe there is a reason, I just haven't had time to think about it.
Burnout is something that will happen to everyone here at least once. It's just important to know what to do when that happens. Personally, I take at least one day off and really focus on self-care. I will take a long shower or bath and listen to Reddit stories :D This gets my mind off things and usually helps.
I try not to put too much effort at the start of the semester. I know I'm always going to be super motivated at the start, but each semester is a marathon, not a race. If I study too much for everything in the beginning, I will neglect all the other important things in my life, such as good nutrition, working out, self-care, and socialising. This semester I took things more relaxed. I didn't aim for 10's in colloquiums. And now, at the end of the semester, I'm significantly less burnt out than the last two semesters.
Missing Family
I lived alone for two years before I moved to Riga. I thought I was gonna be fine in terms of missing my Family. I'd anyway see them a few times a year, right?
The first semester was great. I was so busy thinking of everything else, that I didn't even have time to miss my family too much. I visited them three times during that semester. I know people from further away can't visit their families that often, so the case might be different.
On my second semester, I didn't visit them at all before Christmas. So for the first time in my life, I didn't see my family for three months. That seems like a short amount of time, but it really isn't. Some days it would hit harder. When I came back to Riga after Christmas, I cried about missing them and decided to fly back in a few days.
Some days it feels like forever
Studying for six years abroad is a long time. And sometimes it feels like that. Some days I really just look ahead and think: "God, can I take this for another x years?". But what makes it worth it is the days you look back and think: "Wow that feels like just yesterday. How has it been so long?"
I don't regret starting my studies here. Time passes anyways. I'd rather the time pass and become a doctor.
There are really tough times. But there are really good times as well.
If anyone wants to talk to me about their studies, or just connect, feel free to message me on instagram :) I try to answer my DM's periodically.
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