Build­ing Bonds: The Rise of Game Nights at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu 

Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu has been build­ing its pres­ence almost for a year now. One cor­ner­stone of IH Oulu’s activ­i­ties has been offer­ing a plat­form for var­i­ous events.  

The Game Night Event, which has attract­ed the inter­na­tion­al crowd in Oulu, has been orga­nized month­ly for a while now. It has tru­ly gained its spot as a place to meet new peo­ple, build your net­works and have some fun while play­ing the most pop­u­lar board games. This time it was orga­nized on Wednes­day, 13th of March.  

– The con­cept of Board Game Night was com­posed by our team at Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu. We want­ed to cre­ate an event that com­bines enjoy­able fun, net­work­ing, and infor­ma­tion about some impor­tant top­ics, the coor­di­na­tor Riku­pekka Leinonen from Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu was telling while look­ing back to last autumn, when the first gam­ing event took place. 

Usu­al­ly, this event brings togeth­er around 40 peo­ple. It is free of charge for every­one who is inter­est­ed in board games and will­ing to make new friends and net­works. Reg­is­tra­tion to par­tic­i­pate is need­ed due to cof­fee and snacks being pro­vid­ed. 

– We hope the board game nights will always reach more and more new indi­vid­u­als, mak­ing it pos­si­ble to meet new peo­ple every time. Think­ing ahead to the upcom­ing game nights, Riku­pekka high­lights about the chance to meet an expert in your field, which can be ben­e­fi­cial in the future when look­ing for work.  

The Game Nights con­nect the fun, knowl­edge and sup­port 

The Game Nights are orga­nized in coop­er­a­tion with a non-prof­it asso­ci­a­tion, Bloom ry. Their focus is to oper­ate as a bridge between inter­na­tion­al res­i­dents and locals. Since the begin­ning of this year, the events have start­ed with hav­ing small snacks and a short info. 

– Besides play­ing games and net­work­ing, par­tic­i­pants have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn some­thing that can advance their growth fur­ther, describes Ladislav Sedlák, Blooms’ Head of Oper­a­tions in Oulu. 

– For exam­ple, once we had an intro­duc­tion to the city’s immi­grant coun­cil and at the lat­est event, we gave the floor to Vuolle Ystävyyskeskus to intro­duce and talk about their ser­vices offered to inter­na­tion­al peo­ple liv­ing in Oulu, Riku­pekka is adding. 

Ladislav also gives anoth­er point of view about the Board Game Nights. He feels that the great­est val­ue at these events is pro­vid­ing a safe envi­ron­ment and friend­ship among peo­ple who under­stands the com­plex peri­ods of time an immi­grant must go through when inte­grat­ing into a new home. 

– It is com­pli­cat­ed to achieve inte­gra­tion with­out some help or advice from locals or oth­er immi­grants. Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu does an invalu­able ser­vice in these mat­ters. 

– Close your eyes and try to imag­ine that all these inter­na­tion­als have left every­thing they knew and loved, lost the social sta­tus they had been build­ing, and moved to an unknown coun­try. Some, with­out fam­i­ly and friends. Alone, chas­ing their dream. From my point of view, it is some kind of brav­ery, Ladislav shares his thoughts. 

And while these inter­na­tion­als are build­ing paths towards their dreams, Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu is offer­ing sup­port along the way.