Fulbright Orientation in Helsinki

The Finland Fulbright 2011-2011 Crew.

A nice welcome message on my hotel TV screen.

 Woohoo...I have been looking forward to the Fulbright orientation for quite some time now. This has been a long time coming...

The view from my hotel room.

Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church).

Bright and early Tuesday a.m. I boarded the train to Helsinki, with a short stopover in Tampere (where I lived in 2007) to visit my colleagues and sponsors. I arrived in Helsinki at the Cumulus Hakaniemi hotel to discover I had my own room...nice! Our first meeting was in the hotel lobby, where we were to convene and walk together to our dinner location. The craziest thing happened! When I walked out of the elevator I immediately spotted a colleague from my past; we worked together at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His wife was awarded a Fulbright scholar award in Finland. Whoa...small world. So, we caught up quickly and then we were off to meet everyone at dinner.

All in all, the four-day orientation was incredibly planned out and orchestrated to the tee. The Finns know how to manage time and stick to a concise schedule or at least the Finnish Fulbright Center staff does. Here are some of the orientation sessions (just to give you an idea of what orientation included):

Incredible blue sky day in the capital of Finland, Senate Square.

-Working with the Media
-Greetings from the American Embassy
-Finnish Culture & History
-Local Regulations and Practical Advice
-Banking, Grant Payments, Grantee Financial Responsibilities
-Insurance
-Higher Education in Finland
-Finnish Economy
-Finnish & American Cultures in Communication

Boarding the bus for the Helsinki city tour.

The location of our last day.

And, of course there were special speakers, excursions, and Finnish lunches. We went on a bus tour of Helsinki, visited the Ateneum museum (the Finnish National Gallery), and had meetings at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. On the second night we attended "a reception in honor of the 2011-2012 American Fulbright Grantees hosted by Ambassador Bruce J. Oreck & Ms. Cody Douglas Oreck" at the swanky U.S. Embassy in Helsinki. Bruce is an interesting and striking dude (with his bald head, big muscles, and earring); he was appointed by his buddy Obama. He used to live in Boulder, CO--small world-- and his family used to own the Oreck vacuum company.

Office Space

FIER, the building where I work.

Inside the building...that is copper!

Trying out my office chair.

I even have a nameplate! This is official.

My host institution for the Fulbright grant is the Finnish Institute of Educational Research (FIER) located in the University of Jyväskylä. I work specifically with the Change in Networks, Higher Education and Knowledge Societies (CINHEKS) project team. Monday I met with Jussi Välimaa (a.k.a. the "gentle giant") who will serve as my adviser during my time in Finland. The meeting went very well, we spoke about the specifics of my research and how I plan to operationalize it. He gave me some suggestions of literature, contact names, and he even picked up the phone to call Aalto University. You see in the U.S. we have a human subjects (IRB) approval process that we must go through when conducting qualitative research. So, before I even begin interviewing I need a letter from each Finnish university granting me permission to conduct research in their university. This is especially difficult because the Finnish research system does not have such protocol and they simply do not understand why I need a letter. I am confident I will eventually get the letters I need, especially because I have a few big higher education researchers on my side (such as Jussi). It is all bureaucracy, but I must adhere to the U.S. research policies....so here I sit waiting, waiting, waiting for letters before beginning my research.

The good news is that I have an office! Woohoo, this came as a surprise to me because I just assumed I would get typical PhD digs--an office share. Nope! They gave me me an entire office.

Discovering Jyväskylä: 62nd Parallel North

Jump!

The last few days we have been settling into our apartment (finally!) and exploring the city. We took a big walk around the lake Saturday and discovered a little more about the city that we now call home.

The train station.

Where we live (Jyväskylä) in a nutshell:

Enjoying a sassy drink on a boat turned into a bar.

1.) The city was founded in 1837 (by a Russian Czar), thus Jyväskylä will be celebrating 175 years in 2012. Fun for us! By the way, can you believe how young this city is...when compared to other European cities?
2.) There are over 129,998 other people (including 15,000 university students) living in the Jyväskylä area, besides us.

This bridge connects campus buildings that are on both sides of the lake.

3.) We live in the 7th largest city in Finland.
4.)  The city is 270 kilometers (170 miles) north of Helsinki, which means it takes about 3:30-4 hours on the train...depending on the train you take (the Pendulum is the fastest).
5.) Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland. Whatever that means?
6.) There are over 36 lakes in the city limits and the city nestles up to the beautiful lake Jyväsjärv. Get excited people (because I certainly am...), this lake will turn into an ice skating rink with a 3 kilometer track.

Lake Jyväsjärv.

7.) Here are our coordinates: 62° 14' 0" N / 25° 44' 0" E. Do you know yours? For us, this is crazy close to the arctic circle (66° 33′ 44″), so it is worth mentioning. We are 560 kilometers (348 miles) from the arctic circle--crazy cool or shall I say crazy COLD?!

Harald's with Horns

Dinner with Horns!

We were invited to a dinner for vikings Thursday evening. Finns were never considered to be vikings, but according to any Finn you ask...Finns have always been tougher than vikings. Our Finnish friend, Ilkka (who was a Fulbrighter in Georgia in the Fall of 2010), coordinated this dinner with a few of his academic colleagues and the Americans (that's us!) We ate at the kitschy restaurant, Harald's,  famous for its viking fare: bear meat, reindeer, lingonberry sauce, and yes, some incredible veggie dishes too. I had this beautiful veggie skewer on a sword (yes, a sword, how cool is that?) Charlie ate up a veggie pie, while the other carnivores at the table tasted Rudolph the reindeer.

Veggie Pie From Sawolax

Ylva's Vegetable Skewer

It was a fun evening getting to know other academic Finns. At one point in the evening the young PhD student studying Sociology spoke very candidly about American stereotypes. She agreed that some Americans can be "fake" and rather "superficial". Neither Charlie or I got defensive, as we know this is a common perspective about Americans because our communication culture breeds the niceties, small talk, and otherwise indirect communication. It is understandable to hear this sort of opinion coming from a Finn, as Finns tend to be direct, shy and reserved, and small talk is considered to be rude. But, then again all of this is based on generalizations and what purpose do generalizations serve?

People, Nature & Buildings

Ah, Sunday brought back our health and wellness. Woohoo, time to unpack and explore!

Short-cut to campus...through the forest.

The good thing about higher education research is that it is a small field leading to quick connections with others working in the field. By attending academic conferences, we have both come to know an American living and conducting research in Jyväskylä, Finland. He was nice enough to take us on a walking tour of campus. Woohoo, time to get out of the illin' apartment and breathe in some of that fresh and cool Finnish air. Campus is located about 4 blocks away. (Have I told you how close we are to everything...city center, the lake, train station, and campus?) During the tour, we were both pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty of campus and the prevalent architecture of the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Aalto lived in Jyväskylä for a good portion of his life and much of his Nordic Modernistic style can be seen on campus, either designed by him or modeled after his style. He had a way of expressing the relationship between people, nature, and buildings in his architectural design. Part of campus is located on prime real estate, right on the lake! Lucky Charlie has an office in the building that is lakefront and he has amazing views from his office...photos will be posted later.  My office is located in the Finnish Institute of Educational Research (FIER), home of the famous Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) joint project with OECD. From our initial assessment of the campus, our offices, and the people we have met...we are loving the University of Jyväskylä.

Karoke with the Finns: singing "Jammin'" by Bob Marley.

Monday and Tuesday we attended a seminar with all of the Finnish higher education researchers. Although most of the sessions were in Finnish, we made some great contacts, practiced our Finnish, and were honored with the opportunity to listen to the keynote speakers: Rajani Naidoo from the UK and Simon Marginson from Australia (who both presented in English). (For those not in the higher education field...those two are kinda a big deal!) The seminar dinner on Monday night led to some crazy karaoke. What do you get when 3 Finns and 2 Americans walk into an empty bar on a Monday night? A wildly entertaining night of karaoke.

Uh-oh, Our First Day in Finland: Illin' Like Villians!

Our first day in Finland and we are as sick as dogs. We are pretty sure that the food we ate on the Iceland Air flight was filled with nasty bugs ready to rip apart our colon. Ick. When you move to a new home, let alone a different country, there is this overwhelming desire to "move in", settle in, unpack, and explore the city center. But, NO...all we feel like doing right now is laying in bed in order to muster up enough energy to run to the toilet (okay, maybe more information than you really want to know). And, as you can see by the photo of our living room our bags did not unpack themselves either, rather we rummaged through them looking for pajamas, toiletries, and left them to be. We did, however, rally for a quick walk to the nearest supermarket (about three blocks away) for some food and were happy to find some healthy alternatives (see photo).

Despite feeling ill, we are enjoying the FULLY furnished apartment (including all kitchen appliances, pots/pans, and plates, towels, sheets, and even candles). No need to shop for household items...

Welcome to our NEW home...in Finland!

Our nice Finnish landlady, Anne, picked us up from the train station in Jyväskylä in a red Volvo. I wish I would have taken a photo of her poor car loaded down with over 320 pounds of luggage. I also wish I would have had a video camera for the serious workout that we experienced at the train station in Helsinki. We could not find the elevator, so instead we carried four 50 pound bags plus our carry on bags down the train station stairs (two flights of stairs) and then back up two flights of stairs to arrive at our train platform. Comical (and sweaty)! Then, we had to find space for all of this luggage in the train. No sense in attempting to blend in...we stood out like traveling Americans with all of our luggage (see photo).

Anyway, we have arrived! Ah, sweet...look at our front door (see photo). Oh, "Ei Mainoksia, Kittos!"= No advertising, thank you!

Iceland from the Air!

I have never been to Iceland until this trip. And, I am not sure a one-hour layover in the Reykjavik airport is enough time to say I have really visited Iceland (but I did receive an Iceland stamp in my passport...that is kinda cool!) Nonetheless, I snapped a few great photos of Iceland from the air.

Finland or BUST...31 Hours of Travel!

Yep, another long travel day: five airplanes, 1 bus, 1 train, and 1 red Volvo! But, we did it up in true Leasa and Charlie style...parsimoniously with a few special luxuries. As we shopped for flights in July, we soon realized that we were going to have to get creative with our routing, otherwise we would likely spend up to $2,500. Yikes! So, we spent a few days researching all of the possible alternatives. Iceland Air was definitely the most affordable way to get from the U.S. to Helsinki, but the problem was that Iceland Air only flew from four hubs in the U.S., none of them being Colorado. So, we had to price out domestic flights from Colorado to the four hubs. We continued checking prices for about a week when all of a sudden Delta's domestic flight from Denver to Boston hit a low $138. SCORE! We bought our domestic tickets and then bought the $538 ticket from Iceland Air.

In 31 hours, we managed to rack up a total of 6,230 miles in the friendly skies and over train tracks:
Denver to Minneapolis: 693 miles
Minneapolis to DC: 935 miles
DC to Boston: 500 miles
Boston to Reykjavik, Iceland: 2429 miles
Iceland to Helsinki, Finland: 1505 miles
Helsinki to Jyväskylä: 168 miles
Our travels were pretty much smooth sailing with the exception of Delta airlines (insert visual of me shaking my fist) adding an extra leg into our travel day. (We needed another flight like we needed a hole in the head.) We bought a direct flight (according to Delta.com and our itinerary) to Washington DC, but we got an extra stopover in Minneapolis. Fun times and more hate emails to Delta. But, as I have mentioned before in this blog I have a love/hate relationship with Delta and the more I travel with Delta the more complex my relationship becomes with Delta. On this trip, the love for Delta came when we were bumped up to first class for our leg from DC to Boston, a short flight, but a lovely ride. Then, we splurged (just a little) for our five hour layover in Boston...Delta Sky Lounge, baby! To our surprise we walked into the lounge just in time for tequila happy hour (see photo). Hell Yes! Finland or BUST...

Colorado Lovefest!

I admit it...I am in love with Colorado. Every time I arrive in Colorado my heart sings, "Rocky Mountain High" and every time I leave Colorado my heart stings with sadness. In just a few days I will, once again, experience the latter emotions of leaving the place that I will always call home. This trip home has been sweet in so many ways, especially the time spent with family, friends, and dogs (see photo of my sister Julie and her hubby Dan with Stewie and the new addition Riley). It was also a very important trip because I may not come home for 10 months. While in Colorado, Charlie was doing the same, visiting family and friends, in Ohio. Now we reconvene in Colorado for a serious packing frenzy: two 50-pound bags for 10 months in a very cold place on this earth. Hmmmmmmm, should be interesting!

Quick Trip to Toronto

Yep, sometimes I am rather crazy for travel and adventure. So crazy that I agreed to go on a 29-hour trip to Toronto. Over the past few years, I have become more involved with my European Masters program alumni association, the Erasmus Mundus Student (EMA) & Alumni Association. As one of the leaders representing the EMA North American regional chapter I went to Toronto for a networking event of fellow EMA alumni. After two flights, I arrived just in time for a dinner at the delicious Waterfalls Indian restaurant in the funky Kensington area and the following day I had until 3 p.m. to tour the city of Toronto. From what I experienced in Toronto, I really liked the city. It has a good feel to it and I especially liked the Kensington area where musicians were strumming guitars on the sidewalks and a car was transformed into a garden (see photos). All in all, it was a great event and a good trip despite the fact that I squeezed it into a narrow window of time. But, I do love wild adventures like this and now I am ready to go back to Colorado and pack up for Finland.

High School Reunion

Yep, time for another high school reunion. Has it really been 20 years since we had the BIGGEST bangs in the west? Yes, it has and I have the white hairs to show for it! The last reunion, 10 years ago, I played a large role in planning the logistics, but this year I handed the baton to a few of my classmates because living in Georgia and doing a PhD does not facilitate reunion planning. While I was a little reluctant to hand it over, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Friday night became a drunken debauchery at Fado's Irish Bar, right across the street from Coors Field in downtown Denver. I stayed with my dear friends, Deb and Owen who now live in New York, in a hotel downtown. Thus, no need to stay sober and plenty of reason to do some "planking" on Denver's pedestrian mall (see photo). It was nice catching up with the group of women that I mostly hung out with during the four wild and crazy years at Rangeview high school; we called ourselves the Party Brat Pack (PBP's). The group of guys, the "Bushmen", that we hung out had not really changed either. Like the PBP's they all still hang out together and live close by each other in Denver. Most of my dear friends from high school have children, a bachelor's degree, have never traveled out of the country, and some are married while others are divorced. I am the over-educated, child-less, wayfaring outlier in the group and the questions asked were rather comical, "How do you fund your travels and your life?" "What is it like to still be a student in your 30's?" "What does a typical day look like for you?" "I hear you have a boyfriend, what does he look like?" And, then there were some individuals that did not even ask questions--I think it is because my life has taken such a different path I am not sure they knew what to ask. So, instead we rehashed high school memories (driving backwards, building the homecoming float, and epic house parties). The second night was hosted at the fancy Mountain Ranch Bar & Grille, overlooking Coors Field. This night was a little more mellow with dinner and dancing. We got back to the hotel at 1 a.m., which allowed for 2 hours of sleep before I had to catch the Super Shuttle to the airport...onto the next adventure in Canada!