A Gonzaga is Nigerian-born, Nordic-educated, and has been widely published globally. His poem, Kultaseni, is about to appear in one of America’s oldest literary magazines, Painted Bride Quarterly.

For someone from outside Finland who is seriously contemplating taking up studies at one of Finland's universities or applied sciences facilities, the impression is often that major cities such as Helsinki, Tampere and Turku are "the bomb" – which, of course is a natural notion considering the numerous options that a large city has on offer in just about everything. This may as well be compared to an old saying about some newly arrived immigrants who hoped that the skyscrapers of the big city represented their soon-to-come riches.

While the big-city perception may pay off as expected, the Finnish countryside is also unmatched when it comes to goodies for new arrivals. The Finnish countryside, or smaller towns if you like, in comparison with its European counterparts isn't the one that welcomes the newcomer with an "I don't speak English" response at the bus stops and public places

If personal experience is the most trustworthy teacher, then I would comfortably recommend the smaller city option over the big one, having studied and graduated in one of these myself, and especially in an era of heavy competition across Finland's higher institutions – with more qualified foreign applicants vying for study places than ever before. A well-informed applicant should quietly sneak into one of Finland's smaller towns to get a better idea of the surprises that await them, and let the multitude tussle over options in the big cities.

As a new arrival – and having left your folks back in your homeland – the essentials are the need for friends, accommodation and general directives on how to go about your daily business. The advantage of the smaller-town schools is that the people there tend to become your new family – except that they won't come home to share your often oversized, neat and fairly used apartment. But your general wellbeing will be checked more or less on a daily basis, and help will be tendered so that you will integrate quicker and find friends.

In a nutshell, the fact that these smaller-town schools more often than not even go the extra mile to ensure that their foreign students secure part-time jobs during study months and offer more frequent positions during holiday periods makes you wonder whether settlement and integration elsewhere could in fact be better introduced. That, in turn, leaves one pondering whether or not the student in the big city ever ends up discovering what he or she is missing…

The jara (ultimate sweetener) of the entire package is that the small-town student is sure to understand a Finn better, plus speak the Finnish language ­– quicker.