Welcome to Lappeenranta! As a new student arriving for your first semester here, you probably have a few questions! So, what do you do first?
1. Buy a mattress (with or without a bed!).
If you’re a student living in LOAS apartment, your bed size is 80 x 200. You can buy a new mattress from JYSK for 30-60 EUR, the shop is open until 19:00 on weekdays.
If you want to save some money, you can a used-but-in-good-shape mattress or bed from the recycling store Kontti in the city center. The shopping guide has more info about second-hand stores.
2. Fill up your kitchen – find cutlery, plates, pots and pans, and foooood!
New students get furnished apartments from LOAS, but the kitchen is pretty empty – no pans or forks! My advice – if possible, get essentials from home in your bags: a pan, a wooden spoon, a favorite mug, a spork or fork, a good knife – and if you’re Indian, a pressure cooker 🙂 Of course you can buy new stuff, or you can go eco-friendly (and cheapo!) and buy used but useful stuff from Kontti or the Facebook group Buy&Sell in Lappeenranta.
For food, I like to stock up on things like milk, meat, rice etc. from Prisma or Lidl (close to each other), which are a bit less expensive than S-market and K-Supermarket. Students get a 10% discount from K-Supermarket at Sammonlahti. Lappeenranta also has Turkish and Thai food shops.
3. Buy a bus card. And a bicycle. And a strong bicycle lock.
For local transport within Lappeenranta, getting a Waltti bus card (€5) is a very good idea. A normal paper ticket costs €3.20, while a ticket on the Waltti card costs €2.45, and a ticket on the Waltti-student-card costs €1.60. Not all buses can accept card payment, so it is a good idea to have cash for the bus ticket/card! Bus routes can be found here (no, Google Maps won’t help).
If you want a bicycle, remember 3 important things: buy a bicycle with gears, don’t buy anything very expensive (if it gets stolen!), and buy a really good lock! Why? Because bicycles are pretty much the only things that get stolen in Lappeenranta. Thin cable lock = bike gone!
Buy a strong chain lock or U-lock — for example from Clas Ohlson — it might cost half as much as your bike, but trust me, you will regret buying a cheap flimsy one! Buying a helmet is of course a good idea.
4. Go register at the Maistraatti. In the first week after moving. Super important!
The Maistraatti is the Local Register, and you have to inform them that you’ve moved to Lappeenranta, with your documents (passport, residence card etc.). If you have a tutor, of course they’ll take you there, but don’t forget to do this!
You won’t be able to receive any post, open a bank account, or do other official things without registering. This is super super important. The Maistraatti office is in the ugliest building in the city center, but it is close to everything, so you can get other stuff done on the same day, like shopping at Kontti!
5. Get a Sim card. Find free Wifi, its easy in Finland!
DNA and Elisa are the most popular for Prepaid sim cards – you can buy it from their shops in the city’s mall IsoKristiina or from any R-kioski anywhere, including at the airport when you arrive.
All public spaces Рlibrary, city hall, swimming pool, museums, airport Рin Lappeenranta (and Finland) have free WiFi. Plus the Eduroam network for students is available at university and schools, and most caf̩s and restaurants also have free Wifi.
6. Buy a really warm jacket and gloves and hat and scarf and socks and boots. Winter is coming.
No, seriously. It is coming, and soon! (Unless you’ve arrived here in the middle of winter, in which case I can only say, you poor thing!) Normal store options with “normal” Finnish prices are H&M, Luhta, Top Sport and so on. Luhta Outlet store, Halonen Pop-up outlet, and of course Kontti are great for shopping for winter jackets on a tight budget.
For winter boots, look for Goretex / waterproof, so that your feet stay dry and warm. Look in the Newcomers Guide and Shopping Guide for more info!
7. Get a library card from the city library. Borrow books, audiobooks, movies, music, gym weights, bicycles – for free.
Finland has a wonderful system of public libraries, and Lappeenranta is no exception. Take your passport and residence card and get your free library card in moments!
Apart from the stuff you can borrow, the library is a really nice place to study or work with free Wifi and plugpoints everywhere. There are also public, free events happening every week (including Learn Finnish ones) in both the main library and the one in Sammonlahti. In case it’s not clear, I 💕 the library!
I hope this helps. If you have any urgent questions about Lappeenranta that the Internet won’t answer, you can always ask me 🙂 Also, if LOAS hasn’t found you an apartment yet, DON’T PANIC. You will get emergency housing from the Student Union until you get your own place (you will!). Lappeenranta is a friendly place, things will be okay!
Disclaimer: I don’t earn anything from any of the links or brands I’ve listed above. This is just stuff I wish I knew when I first came here!