I'm now starting to fill in the Learning Agreement, which is the most important piece of paper in the whole exchange process. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any clear instructions on how to do it. Our orientation materials just say "fill in parts 1, 2 and 3" etc, but not what to write. Who is the contact person in the first section? A faculty member? An exchange representative? What about the receiving organization? What's their Erasmus code? Can't find any information online and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
There really should be a page explaining exactly what to write and where. We have a page on Tuubi that talks about the form, but nothing about how to fill it. It's possible I couldn't find the right page, but there probably isn't more than the one. It's a good thing we have really good exchange people at Metropolia and we get quick responses via email when problems arise. So now I know that the first page is for exchange people and third page is faculty people and the receiving institution fields can be left blank if one can't find them easily. There, onwards!
I did also get my passport application in, so I should be receiving a new and shiny one in about a week. Not a day too soon, since I need it for the application. Also decided to get a ID card, it's much easier to carry around than a passport and if I happen to lose it or get it stolen, it's less of a hassle than to get a new passport.
Next I'll try to match the courses there to our courses here. It'll be hard work since the credits and courses are so different.