ESN Finland Overalls
Have you seen Finnish students walking around the city in their overalls, (“haalarit”) filled with patches and colors? What’s going on, what are these weird partypants?!
Wearing overalls is a very big tradition among students in Finland. They represent you and your fellow students as a collective, especially since every study field has its own overall color and/or design. Overalls come in all colours. Blue, black, white, yellow, green, red, pink… You can tell who belongs to your group just by checking out his /her overalls colour. And if you have an overall, you are most likely to have badges (“haalarimerkki”) on it too. Plain overall just happens to looks weird, and besides that also badges have meanings. They tell where you have been, who your friends are, what you like, which team you support… Also other party gear – like handcuffs, whistles and bottle openers – can be attached to your overall. It is also quite common thing to exchange parts of your overall (usually sleeve) with other students. That is to show love, friendship, side subjects or even having two main subjects.You can see people wearing them in every major student happening, like parties, meetings, excursions to other cities, Wappu, etc.
Finland is not the only country in the world having such a strange party wear. The overalls tradition is around 30 years old. And just like so many other student traditions of ours, our Swedish student cousins are behind this tradition as well.
Just remember – your overalls should never be washed 😉
To read more about the overalls: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_overall and http://www.niksula.hut.fi/~mmm/haalari/kulttuuri/joensuu.html
Now it will possible for you to get ESN Finland overalls which will identify you and hundreds of other exchange students in Finland!
ESNcard
The ESNcard is the membership card of the Erasmus Student Network. It is a proof of membership in an ESN section and so indirectly of the ESN Network. To learn more visit our website http://esncard.org/
The ESNcard is also used as a discount card in many cities and countries around Europe. Please visit the partner page of the website of your ESN local section or your ESN country to find more information.
The ESNcard is valid for 12 months and only valid with a photo and correct personal data. The card is strictly personal and cannot be used by somebody else than the card holder.
Who can get the ESNcard?
You can get the ESNcard, if you belong to one of the following groups :
- Erasmus+ students;
- Erasmus+ trainees;
- Erasmus+ International incoming students;
- International incoming students or trainees on a mobility programme, outside of Erasmus+;
- International undergraduate or postgraduate full degree students;
- EVS volunteers;
- Volunteers:
- ESNers: either active on Local, National or International level. They are all members of a section;
- Alumni: contact your ESN section and see if you are entitled to receive an ESNcard (this depends on the statutes of each ESN section);
- Buddies: if there is an ESN section in your city, and you are part of a buddy programme, contact the local ESN section and see if you are entitled to receive an ESNcard (this depends on the statutes of each ESN section). If you are not entitled, you can always become an ESNer.
How can you get the ESNcard?
The ESNcard can be obtained exclusively from your local ESN section in your destination city. If you are an ESNer, an Alumnus, or a Buddy and you are not in mobility, you can obtain your ESNcard from the local ESN section as long as you are volunteering for the organisation.
If there is no ESN section in your destination city, you can get your ESNcard from the closest ESN section.
Sections are kindly asked to contact their National Representative to get more information about how to order ESNcards.
What fields does ESNcard contain?
It consists of several fields; all must be filled in in the process of issuing the card:
- BAR CODE AND MAGNETIC BAR
- PHOTO FIELD (for a photograph of the card holder; with a photo size of 2.7 cm x 3.7 cm )
- NAME (for name and surname of the card holder)
- NATIONALITY
- DATE OF BIRTH
- HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION NAME
- ESN SECTION (either the issuing section or home section of the card holder)
- COUNTRY (home country of the card holder)
- VALIDITY (it’s valid for 12 months since the date on the card)
- CARD NUMBER (unique number of each card)
DNA Sim Card
DNA distributes free SIM cards to exchange students as soon as they arrive to Finland.
Starting in the spring semester of 2011, ESN Finland and DNA started a campaign to distribute free SIM cards to exchange students as soon as they arrive to Finland. DNA proves to be an attractive mobile telephone operator for exchange students thanks to their low rates and the possibility of using the phones abroad.
