The Ministry for Foreign Affairs´ thisisFINLAND Foreign Correspondents' Programme (FCP) brought 21 young foreign journalists on 19 August to Turku around the world.

Turku represented itself as a city of the sea and culture. The journalists visited the center for culture, the arts and creative economy Logomo, maritime centre Forum Marinum, and Aboa Mare Training Centre where they had a possibility to try training simulators of the maritime ships. At the Castle of Turku they met the director Aki Kaurismäki who filmed his new film The Girl King in the castle.

− I love Turku. It is a small city with relaxing atmosphere, says Sabina Serikova, 27, from Kazakhstan.

Sabina Serikova is visiting Finland first time. According to Serikova Finland is not yet a popular travel destination in Kazakhstan, but she already feels that she is falling fo it. Serikova finds especially educational questions interesting.

− The Finnish education system was familiar to me in advance and I knew its benefits. I'm going to write several blog posts about Finland: educational system, travelling and so on. I want to share my expressions with the readers.

− Finland in general is a beautiful country. Quite and comfortable. I would be glad to visit Turku again. I want to highlight the Castle, riverbanks, and our evening on the ferry, Serikova emphasizes.

The participants are 21–29 years old and they represent the following countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States.

During the three-week programme, a group of young international journalists will have an opportunity to learn more about Finland, Finnish society and the Finnish way of life.

 Sabina Serikova on the board of Jakke River Ferry

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