Another Week in Helsinki

Helsinki Stockmann's department store all dressed up for the holidays.

Once again my research has brought me down South to Helsinki for one week. This will be the third research trip where I actually stay overnight in Helsinki. It is much easier (and less expensive) to schedule a block of interviews over a few days and stay overnight, then to travel back and forth from Helsinki to Jyväskylä (remember a round-trip ticket is €100). Helsinki itself does not offer many low-cost lodging options...believe me, I have looked. In fact, the most economical accommodation is either a hostel (which I  now exceed the age limit for most hostels) or Omena hotel. This hotel is the most affordable because there is no check-in desk and no personnel overhead except for the cleaning crew and customer service representatives (available only by phone or email). You book on-line (at a reasonable price of €49-€69/night...yes, that is "reasonable" in Helsinki) and receive a door code to access your room. The bad news...Omena is allegedly becoming a haven for prostitutes which is not too surprising since it is the cheapest option in Helsinki and clients can easily access the rooms without having to walk past a check-in desk, etc. When we returned from Oslo, it was late and no trains were going north, so we booked a room at Omena. The room was nice, not 5-star nice, but nice enough (big flat screen TV, comfy bed, coffee maker, free wifi, private bathroom, etc.). I gotta confess...whenever I heard a door close I ran to the little peep-hole to see if the people resembled anything like my stereotypical vision of a prostitute and her client--no luck, just normal looking travelers. So, I cannot confirm or deny these allegations.

Roasted chestnuts and Gloggi wine for sale...'tis the season!

Anyway, no Omena this time! Somehow I have a way of surrounding myself with amazing and giving individuals. A few people who I met through Fulbright (ah, the joys of the Fulbright network), out of the kindness of their heart, offered me to stay at their place while they are traveling. It has been a true life-saver, not to mention a money saver, and I have so much gratitude for these individuals. All I have to say is (GOOD) karma will come back to them in one way or another and I will pay their kindness forward to some poor student in the future (guaranteed!) 

To Helsinki for Interviews...

Senate Square in Helsinki.

The alarm at 5 a.m. came too early this morning, but it was for a good reason. In the darkness of 6:22 a.m. I boarded a train for Helsinki. I will spend the next week in Helsinki and conduct interviews. Woohoo, my research is moving along...more later.

Weekend Bicycle Adventure with Coupons!

The humble manor house.

Having a bike in a bike-friendly country--with bike trails everywhere--makes life so much fun. (Not sure I will be saying that in the dead of a snowy winter, but let's wait and see.) This weekend we took another day-long adventure with our down coats, a backpack, two bikes, and a map. Our first destination, five kilometers from our house, was the Kuokkalan Kartono a manor house built in 1904 and later transformed to a coffee house (cafe Wivissä) and event venue. The house has been renovated into

One of the window views from the manor house.

separate coffee rooms, each room sporting its own character with different color schemes, furniture pieces, and amazing paintings embodying the national spirit and culture of Finland. We toured the house and then relaxed and enjoyed coffee/tea and the delicious home-baked cakes. We would have never found this place if it was not for GROUPON! Yes, Finland has groupon coupons (which they call CityDeal) and I bought two coupons for a tour of the house and tea/coffee and a cake for 5€/each (value of 11€/each). More on the groupon coupons in a later post.

One of the many dining rooms in the Kuokkalan manor house.

Our second destination: City Market! Yes, it is a market and so much more. It is one of the superstores or hypermarts where you can find almost anything (food, clothes, housewares, etc.) We had never been to this particular City Market before and discovered it was actually closer to our house than the other one we had been frequenting. A good find! We exchanged a faulty bike light that we had bought there (which, by the way, bike lights are becoming increasingly important with the darkness settling in). I bought some wool socks for the impending cold winter days ahead of us and we picked up a few other food items (Finnish style "faux" tortilla chips). Then, we biked home around 4 p.m., as the sun was setting.

A Weekend in Oslo

Charlie and I took a long weekend trip to Oslo, Norway to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of the hedda consortium (the consortium that developed the Euro Masters program that I participated in). It was a reunion with good friends still living in Oslo, colleagues in the higher education world, and my Norwegian professor who sits on my PhD dissertation committee. We arrived Thursday to a delicious home-cooked vegan meal prepared by my dear friend Kristi (and also our host for the next three days). She still lives in Oslo and is now working as the program coordinator for the Masters program I mentioned earlier. Kristi is from the U.S., California and Arizona, and now speaks fluent Norwegian after living in Oslo for five years. We crashed on her mack-daddy blow-up mattress. There are so many things that I love about Oslo and so, it was fun to play tour guide for Charlie. We walked through the famous Vigelands Park (naked statues) that I used to walk through everyday on my way to the campus. We took the t-bane (tram) up to the highest point in Oslo, and we walked, walked, walked the city. Such a walkable city! This will be my third trip back to Oslo after living there for almost a year. Despite the 7 euro beers, I love this city and look forward to the next trip back to Oslo.

On the Road with my Recorder in Hand...

When traveling by train in Finland you often see train cars full of timber sitting on the tracks. Wood has a strong cultural base in Finland, as the saunas are made of birch wood, many buildings are made of wood, and Finland has a history of timber trade.

For my dissertation I am collecting data on the introduction of tuition fees in Finland. Which means I have to interview many people in different parts of the country, thus I must travel. "Oh, darn!" she says facetiously. So, this week I am heading to Turku and then to Helsinki, before Charlie and I fly to Oslo for the weekend. Train travel is becoming my main mode of transportation, second only to my bicycle. The only problem with train travel in Finland is that it is expensive! Since I am no longer a young whipper-snapper of 28 years old, I have to pay the FULL fare. For example, a round-trip ticket to Helsinki from Jyväskylä is 100€ ($137). OUCH! But, that is why I have two research grants...to pay for food, rent, and travel. Not a bad gig. Okay, off to go research!

I am Dating an Expert!

Yep, it's true...Charlie is an expert. After all, he has been working and continually honing his knowledge and skills for nearly 20 years, so why do we find so much humor in this title and business card? I suppose we think it is comical because 1.) you don't really know what he is an expert in  (maybe basket-weaving, hand painting, beer tasting--Charlie would love this!-- or university planning and development?) and 2.) in our culture it is rather vainglorious to call oneself an expert, but when someone else gives you the title you take it and find levity in it and 3.) what does it really mean to be an expert and when do you receive that badge of honor...it is all very vague? All joking aside, I am very proud of my (humble) expert!

Through our American Eyes...a Finnish Classroom

The school is in temporary buildings (complete with a circus tent) during a renovation.

Anne, our Finnish mama, invited us to attend the Telakkakadun Koulu comprehensive school (equivalent to a U.S. middle school) where she teaches English, Swedish, and German. (Yes, our Finnish mama is good at languages!) The night before the early morning pick-up, we put together a short power-point presentation with some photos and maps highlighting our life in the U.S.--holidays (Christmas and Halloween), our houses, hobbies, family, and life in Colorado and Ohio and Georgia, and food! Of course you can never completely cover American life in a short 45 minute presentation,

Sweet Anne!

especially considering the many regional and ethnic cultures in the U.S., but we did our best to show them what life was like for us with photos of American football and downhill skiing. At 7 a.m. Anne picked us up just as the sun began to rise and we drove about 45 minutes up north to a small little town called Suolahti. When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by the other teachers and our day quickly began with both of us presenting to one class. The demeanor of the first class was a glimpse into life in a Finnish classroom. Through our American eyes, we would describe the students as shy and reserved...most of the students did not make eye contact (yet they were intently listening) and when we asked for questions only a few brave students took the challenge. (It was very different from your stereotypical American classroom.) Our first question of the day was from a young man who was well spoken in the English language (and a smart cookie), he asked a question about the U.S. debt. After Charlie answered the question, I asked him, "Are you worried about the U.S. debt?"

They even have an arts & crafts class.

He said, very matter-of-fact, "No, that is your problem."  We laughed. Yes, it is but, Charlie explained that in this global society Finnish teenagers may even feel the impact (video games and movies will increase in price.)

Everyone takes off their shoes before eating lunch.

After our second classroom presentation, we split up and each of us presented in four other classes, separately. We even ate lunch in the cafeteria with the students (after taking off our shoes...yes, everyone takes off their shoes before entering the cafeteria.) Imagine a freshly cooked lunch (no processed foods) for all students, free of charge. Yep, this is life in a social welfare country. When we got home we both fell asleep...being a teacher is hard work (we owe hardy props to both of our parents and Anne!) Reflecting on this experience, both of us agree that this was one of the best cultural experiences yet. We really got to see, feel, and experience what happens in the classroom where students score the highest on the international OECD PISA exam.

A 7-Hour Dinner Party with our Surrogate (Finnish) Family

We signed up for a family friendship program through the University where international students (that's us) are matched with local families. I do not want to be biased, but I really think we were matched with the BEST family.

Meet "Mama" Anne: a lovely and high-energy Finnish mother and middle school teacher who teaches English, Swedish, and German. In her spare time she enjoys Nordic walking and Zumba dancing.

Meet "Daddy" Timo: a history buff who loves the sauna and everything Russian. He is the father to three adult children and works as a building technician. Timo has spent a few years working in Russia.

Meet "Daughter" Julia: a sweetheart of a teenager who speaks and enjoys six languages: English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, French, and Spanish (yes, Americans eat your heart out...I said SIX languages). In her spare time she dances hip-hop style and keeps herself current on U.S. politics and pop culture by watching Conan O'Brian and Jersey Shore. She will graduate from high school in the spring.

Meet "Son" Juhani: he recently moved to a small town to begin his studies at a polytechnic (similar to a U.S. community college). Juhani was in Eagle Scouts and loves to share stories of fishing, camping, etc. (him and Charlie bonded over this).

They invited us to their apartment for dinner and we did not realize it would be a 7-hour eating, drinking, smoking (GOOD cigars), cultural-sharing marathon. Wow, a Russian/Finnish food extravaganza! The food was amazing and Anne said that Timo  had been in the kitchen since the day before preparing the meal. Wow, is all I have to say...we arrived to a table full of food: the capital salad (from the capital of Russia), deviled eggs with caviar, smoked salmon on toast, and a big beautiful piece of salmon with fruits and veggies. I do not think either of us realized there was a second course and maybe we should have paced ourselves accordingly, but instead when the second course came out, a beautiful tomato based chicken casserole, of course we found room for more food. In the meantime, our glasses were continuously topped off. In fact, at one point I counted four glasses in front of Charlie's dinner plate: red wine, white wine, beer, and champagne with cloud-berry liquor. And, finally the amazing dessert that had been sitting on the table calling my name met my palette. Ah, yeah! Our whole grains, plants-based diet took a rapid detour this evening, but all for a worthy cause. Throughout the evening we shared different aspects of the American, Russian, and Finnish culture and got to know each other rather well.
Two things happened that are worth sharing...

1.) Timo invited Charlie for a "smoke"--which means Timo really liked him and it also meant that Charlie would wake up with icky smelly cotton cigar mouth in the a.m.

2.) Anne was so excited to share the U.S. map with Charlie that some limbs got in the way and the glass of white wine spilled all over Charlie's jeans. Hil-ar-ious! Seriously, the funniest part of the evening. At this point in the evening, Charlie was feeling so good I do not even think he felt the coldness of the liquid on his thigh. This was a good time to be a bystander.

The Medieval City of Turku, Finland

My superboyfriend accompanied me to Turku, which always makes traveling so much more fun and entertaining. (Insert image of Charlie doing the robot dance in the center square on the Occupy Movement stage...ha, ha...that did not really happen, but it is funny to imagine.) We attended the seminar for two days, hung out with fellow Fulbrighters, and stayed an extra day to check out the oldest city in Finland.  Founded in the late 13th century, Turku served as the capital until 1812 when Helsinki became the new capital under the Russian Empire. Turku is home to an amazing castle, gorgeous river-walk,  delicious Brazilian restaurant (where we ate Saturday night), and a funky-cool cafe that serves a vegan Sunday brunch (we tried it out and yum!) For all of my higher education readers, the first university in Finland was established in Turku in 1640, when the Academy of Åbo (Academia Aboensis) opened its doors to elite intellects and students. On this trip, I fell in love with the old world charm of Turku, a charm that you cannot find in most Finnish cities. 

American Voices



Dr. Earl Fry, FB Bicentennial

Chair in American Studies

speaking on the "Challenges

& Opportunities for U.S.".



Hanging with fellow FBer: Joan!



A beautiful fall day in Turku, Finland.



Every year the Finnish Fulbright Center and the University of Turku North American Studies Program hosts a seminar, "American Voices". All Fulbright grantees are invited to make a 20 minute presentation on some aspect of the American culture. It took me about one month to decide on a topic to present; my brainstorm list included: back-country Colorado adventures, eat your heart out--American Sunday brunch, Colorado vs. Georgia culture, American political pundits, the U.S. commercialized food industry and the extreme political polarization of U.S. (these last two topics I quickly threw out). I ended up with a topic near and dear to me: Shopping for an American Higher Education. You see the Finns have such a different paradigm on higher education, they truly believe in the depths of their consciousness that higher education should be free for all (okay, not every Finn believes this way, but most do). There view on this stems from a strong belief in the social welfare system, ya know equality for all and universalism of rights and benefits. It is a beautiful thing and counter to many ideals in the U.S.: independence, market-orientation, private control and rights. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting for Finnish college kids to get an inside look of the *complex* American college-choice process (including the financial decision--how to pay for tuition?) In the end, the audience left the seminar a little more knowledgeable about U.S. higher education, the culture in California, Louisiana, and Boston, American food, American brass bands, and many other topics.

The American Fulbrighters in Finland.

Quite a Motley Crew!

 

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Third Time is a Charm in Haarlem!

Since June 2011, I will have visited Haarlem, Netherlands three different times (June, July, and now October). This time a stopover via KLM airlines gave us a 21 hour layover in Amsterdam. Instead of going to the big city of sin, we chose to go to the sweet village of Haarlem of which both of us were familiar with (Charlie visited Haarlem during his teenage European soccer tour). A 35 minute bus ride from Schiphol airport and we found ourselves in this magical little town.

Despite the rainy day and the shops being closed because it was Sunday, we managed to explore the narrow cobblestone streets and we even got in (a little) trouble. Yes, we were those Ugly Americans (not proud of this) who saw an open door and an "open" sign and simply made our way up the stairs that took us to the top of the windmill until a man greeted us with a questioning look and asked, "Did you just walk in?" Yes, we said and explained that the door was open and the door to the cashier had a "closed" sign on it (an honest mistake). He said, "go on up", with a sour look on his face. Oops, not one of our proudest traveling moments, but the view was nice. The next stop was the supermarket where we loaded up on Dutch treats: sprinkles for Charlie's bread, more chocolate, and the delicious stroopwafel cookies. After an amazing Indian dinner, we snuggled into our dreams. Back to Jyväskylä!

A Long Weekend in Brussels

Here is a sweet little video highlighting the "extended" portion of our trip to Brussels. Even though it was rainy, Charlie managed to drink some beer and the Nikon snapped some fun "jumping" photos in Grand Place.

As much as I do NOT enjoy beer (yes, you did read that correctly), I do enjoy drinking beer in Brussels. Perhaps it is the beer culture that seeps into my palette or maybe Belgium beer simply tastes good. Whatever it is...the Kwak beer is one of my favorites and the most fun to drink. But, beer is hard to pack in your suitcase, so you must find something else as a souvenir to bring back to expensive Finland...chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

Workin' (and Playin') in Brussels...

A two-day meeting with fellow Erasmus Mundus students and alumni took me to the fabulous European city of Brussels. Yeah, I am still involved with the Erasmus Mundus Association (the association representing the students and alumni of the EU scholarship program that I participated in for my European Masters degree). This time the travel was much easier as I did not have a big ocean to cross and my super partner-in-crime, Charlie, accompanied me. While I was in meetings I have a sneaking suspicion that he was out enjoying the gluttonous nature of Brussels: good beer, great chocolate, and melt-in-your-mouth waffles. Oh well, the meetings were fun and highly productive, so no time wasted there. Plus, we did extend the trip by a few days to enjoy all that Brussels has to offer.

The Colors are Changing: Fall has Arrived in Jyväskylä

Fall has arrived, officially. The temperatures are dropping and so are the leaves. Here are a few photos capturing the changing of colors on campus. I do love the Fall season: the smell in the air, the brisk cool breeze, and the feeling of something special to come...S-N-O-W!