Imatran Lämpö Oy tarjosi harjoittelupaikan 16-vuotiaalle hollantilaisopiskelijalle Stijn Lievaartille. Kaksikielistä IB-tutkintoa suorittava Stijn tutustui harjoitteluviikon aikana monipuolisesti biolämpölaitosten toimintaan ja henkilökunnan erilaisiin toimenkuviin. Työelämään tutustumisen lisäksi Stijn sai hyvän käsityksen myös suomalaisesta elämäntavasta ja kertoi yllättyneensä mm. siitä, että Suomessa jokaisessa kodissa on sauna!
Näin Stijn kertoo harjoitteluviikostaan Imatran Lämpö Oy:ssä:
I am Stijn Lievaart from Holland. I am 16 years of age and I live in a small city called Culemborg, which has about 22k inhabitants. It is located south of the city Utrecht and southeast of Amsterdam.
I follow bilingual education with IB English in the Netherlands, which includes an internship abroad. I figured I could possibly find an internship through my international gaming contacts, which included (at least) one Finnish woman. She found it interesting and we started arranging the internship. She put up a message on the Imatra Facebook forum/ group, which was answered by Turo, the Production Manager of Imatran Lämpö Oy. He gave her an email address and shortly after we had arranged an internship. I flew to Helsinki airport with KLM on the 18th of August and took the train to Imatra and got to see the dam opening in Imatra city the same evening.
During the internship I was shown around the heating plants and introduced to the staff of the plants. I got to follow the mechanics maintaining the plant, the electrician doing his daily checks and the people in the main office doing administration. The staff explained how the plants work and showed how the water gets warmed and transported to the houses all over Imatra.
Even though I was only visiting Finland for one week, I got to taste the Finnish way of life, which included me being surprised over Sauna’s being in every house. Furthermore, I got to know the team of Imatran Lämpö Oy, who work together closely as a united team to heat Imatra in its entirety.
Altogether it is an unforgettable experience, which has shown me a new culture and one of the best workplaces I know. I got to see the true way Finnish people live instead of the somewhat fake impression you get when you visit a capital.
Even though it was mostly up to chance to get an internship at Imatran Lämpö Oy, I think that there would not have been a better place to have an internship at.
Kiitos everyone at the Imatran Lämpö Oy!