With much excitement and rather nervous smiles ten brave Finnish veterinary students arrived in England to spend a week in our h
omes as the first part of an IVSA (International Veterinary Student Association) Exchange between Helsinki and Bristol vet schools. Luckily the president of IVSA for Great Britain and Ireland, Jen Sinclair (3rd year- Bristol), had organised an action-packed week for us all which kicked off with a traditional roast dinner at Wetherspoons. After a few lunchtime pints this was followed by a tour of Bristol including a view of the suspension bridge and a walk through a long stone tunnel to the observatory.
Having the students over for a week was a great excuse to visit all of the nearby tourist attractions that even after spending years of living in the city you never quite get round to doing. In one week we visited Longleat House and Safari park, went for a boat ride up the 
river Avon, went to Bristol zoo, the Corrie Tap, Crufts and on shopping excursions to Cardiff and Bath. The weather was typically English at Longleat but fortunately the lions and wolves still came out to play. The highlight for me though was a special ‘Blue and White’ themed night (colours of the Finnish flag) to raise money for the return trip to Helsinki in September. Over 200 Bristol students packed out the club and prizes were awarded for the best dressed: a wizard, four sheep and a sailor.
All of this merriment was interspersed importantly with tours of the preclinical and clinical vet schools (good opportunities to sober up). The Finns attended some small animal behaviour and evolution lectures and a chicken dissection in which they were put to good use as extra demonstrators as they do all their anatomy in the first year and speak better English than any of us do!
On our last night together we went to a local Indian restaurant, exchanged gifts (we gained an album of their Eurovision Song Contest winning band) and proceeded onto some house parties. Our goodbyes were said very early on Sunday morning (having only been in bed for an hour or so) and then the Finnish group set off to London to take in the main sights before flying home that evening. At some point they assured us they would fit in their revision for a pharmacology exam they had the next morning- a definite similarity in cultures!
The week flew by with so many activities and evenings out on top of all of the normal lectures and deadlines but we all made some great friends and as everyone always tells you, get involved!
In September fourteen of us will complete part 2, travelling to Helsinki for a week – coincidently their Freshers’ week. The flights are booked and Adam has been busy practicing the Finnish phrases he was taught on one of the nights that he can’t really remember – ‘I can fly’ and ‘I think I might be pregnant’!
By Ellie Ross (2nd year - Bristol)