What has traditionally only been an option forthose residing at the lower end of the wage scale, the number of loans taken out in Finland in recent times suggests that times have indeed changed. People from all walks of life are in debt.

A recent article in Helsingin Sanomat shone a light on the situation. Over the last year, a third of Finns have spent more than they can afford, while one in ten have asked for a salary advance.

I sat down with Mariam Tokmazishvili to learn about her city, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Tokmazishvili is a 24-year-old a master’s degree student at the University of Helsinki, studying intercultural encounters.

There are approximately 4.5 million inhabitants in Georgia and about 1.5 million in the city of Tbilisi. Georgia’s historical old buildings and churches distinguish it from other mainstream world capitals. Georgian people and their hospitality is a salient marker of the country.

Students continue to struggle with housing costs. But will this change anytime soon?

YOUR years as a student undoubtedly represent some of the best moments of your life. Fresh out of home, away from the grasp of your parents, you are now free to do whatever you desire. Gone is the nagging, the hassling and the moral compass, and in their place is the time and space to rack up a bunch of knowledge related to life’s lessons. For the overwhelming majority, this means living on the bare minimum, heating up one-minute noodles and spending everything else on beer and entertainment.

New peer support group for eating disorders opens its doors.

Facebook, Instagram, Photoshop: we live in a society obsessed with image. How we look has become a large part of the way we present ourselves socially. Yet an obsession with image doesn’t come without its obstacles, and often impacts our relationship with our bodies. Core to this is our relationship with food – which has developed in to a “complicated relationship”. To deal with these issues, support groups in Finland are on offer.

SO, you have arrived here in Finland. You’ve also gotten over the shock that summer has already ended, just as it was beginning to cook up nicely. You’ve come to love the quiet, all unnecessary small talk now eradicated from your social portfolio. Heck, you have even swallowed hard to accept the fact that the textbook Finnish you have been studying so hard during your Finnish course actually has little relevance to the spoken parlance on the street.