Back in School!

      I suppose it is only natural to post about school, as I am here to study abroad. On Monday we began our day with an orientation with all the students participating in the summer study abroad program at JAMK University of Applied Sciences. There was around 70 or so students gathered, a rather large group! The director of the University shared with us the vision of the school and the fortunate opportunity we are experiencing as we are not only going to be meeting Finnish student, but students from all over the world who have come to study at the University. This University in particular prides itself as being an international university as it has many relations with different countries and other universities through out the world.
      We have found this to be true indeed! Yesterday as my group was on the bus traveling home we realized that we knew more people from different countries than we knew from Finland. We've met people from Argentina, Mexico, Vietnam, France, Japan, South Africa, Tennessee, Russia, Spain, Canada, Ecuador and Finland! Some of these people have come for the couple week summer program, others for 1 to 4 years of study and others came to study and after 8+ years others have discovered Finland to be their new home. Almost everyone we have talked to regardless of origin have spoken very highly of Finland as a country and a culture.
     Aside from the experience of meeting so many people, we are also experiencing Finnish classes. I am taking two classes which will reduce my workload for next semester by two classes. (YEAY! - No more crazy semesters!) My first class in Russian language and culture which is taught by a Russian teacher who has lived in Finland for many years. The emphasis of the class is actually learning Russian and understanding the culture of the country. The language is definitely difficult as there are many different characters and sounds which seem unfamiliar to a native English speaker. Our teacher understands that we are only in her class for 12 days, so there is a slightly reduced expectation as she wants us to understand what we can, instead of trying to understand everything. It has actually been fun sounding out letters and words with the other non-American students in the classroom. The emphasis on culture has also been enjoyable as she has shown us youtube clips of popular music groups and she will be talking about religion, food, clothing, education, politics and other aspects of the culture. I'm sure this class will make me want to go to Russia to explore the culture even more, guess I'll just have to add it to my very-long-short-list of places to go.
     My other class is Business Culture in Spain and Latin America which is also taught by a woman who moved to Finland from Mexico and over the years has married Fin and practically become Fin. The class is comparing Mexico, Spain and other Latin American business cultures to each other and the rest of the world. Today we talked about Mexico and the general practices they have in their business environment. The best part of the class so far is not only learning about the particular country, but asking for similarities and differences found in the other students countries. That type of experience is something we will only have in a school like this!
     These courses seem to be very fascinating so far and enjoyable. Unfortunately, all good things seem to have a price. Neither of these classes are without work, one is wanting a six page culture comparison paper and the other is wanting two five page individual papers and a twenty page group paper. Yikes! As I will be traveling each weekend to different places and these assignments are all due in two weeks at the end of the program, I will not have time for procrastination and should start writing real soon. It would seem summer break is over and we're back in school!!

Quick check-in -- I'm ok!

Written Sunday Morning, first day in Finland.

       I am in Finland all checked into my room. Once I got onto the bus it was fine. I watched the sun set around midnight and it was back up around 2/3am. It was very difficult to convince my body that it WAS night-time and I am supposed to be sleeping. I was up for about an hour around 5 then slept in till 10 when one of the other girls came and knocked on our door. Last night we stopped at a little mini mart so I could pick up a little food for today, because all the stores are closed due to today being a national holiday. (not sure what for). Unfortunately we probably won't have internet in the rooms until Monday or Tuesday because its a process to set it up or something. We (8 of us) decided we could take the day to explore and find the university that we have to check into tomorrow morning at 9am. Lets just say we took the long way! We just got onto what ever bus and then got off when one of the other students thought we were close by. We've probably walked in the upwards of 3 miles, stopped for pizza along the way and now we are sitting outside the university, which is closed, but we have access to their wifi. Some of the girls found phones yesterday for 9 euros with a 20-30 euro sim/minutes card. I will try to pick one up tomorrow. 

       It is soo beautiful here! The weather today is  bright and quite warm. The night didn't seem to get too cold because there was hardly anytime when the sun was down. Next we're planning on getting ice cream on our way back to our rooms. I think after that we'll probably nap for a bit - or at least spend some time apart. I think the rest of the group is planning on going out and finding more night clubs or something. I'm pretty tired so I'm not sure what my plan is yet. 

I'll probably have access to internet tomorrow at the school again.

Picture - Finland, 3am

Practice for the Amazing Race!

Written and posted on bus en route to Jyvaskulya. - 22:00

            I have recently decided that one of my friends and I are going to apply to be on The Amazing Race, but I did not know this leg of the race would be such good preparation for racing around the world! I should have known something was off last night when I checked into my hotel and they said my reservations had been made for the night before. I needed a place to stay, so I had no choice but to pay for another room, which the concierge generously charged me the same discounted rate and gave me breakfast the next morning out of sympathy. I skyped home then had about 13 hours of sleep, the time change didn’t affect me that night!

            The next morning I took the shuttle into the airport feeling good about my two flights until the passengers behind me mentioned that it was Saturday morning. I was surprised by that, but not overly concerned. It wasn’t until I had waited in the check-in line at the airport and gotten to the counter that my heart sank. The lady told me my name was not found and after examining my confirmation receipt said the flight was scheduled for Friday. Oops – it seems Saturday had a bit of an identity crisis as it had been confused with Friday during the booking. With a deep breath I collected myself saying I could break down later if I needed too, but now was certainly not the time! I was helped by a Turkish Airline passenger care center to get onto the same flight to Helsinki airport. I handed her my visa and said I have no choice – I’ve got to get to Jyvaskyla and I need to be on that flight. This, my friends, is why they tell you to arrive so early at airports – I had about 3.5 hours before my flight and that at least gave me security.

            After searching the airport for either a way to connect to the internet or make a phone call I found nothing. I was completely MIA. I knew that the other students who I was supposed to be meeting in Helsinki were probably concerned as well as the University leaders who were expecting me in Jyvaskulya. I had no way of contacting anyone, so I reasoned I was on my own and contented myself with knowing in a few hours I would at least be in the country.

            Once I arrived I was able to get a hold of my folks and alert them of my current predicament and asked for their help to get to Jyvaskulya. I was also able to send an email off to some of the Finland contacts and coordinators so that I was no longer off the grid and worried about. There were no planes scheduled to go there on the weekends, so I was reduced to either a train or a bus. I frantically asked bus drivers if they were driving to the rail station, thinking that would be my best bet. Once there I almost gave up hope as the next train left in the morning.

            The folks found me a bus that would leave in about an hour if I could make it to the station. With not too much difficulty I found the station and I am currently writing from the bus relieved to have a plan in place to get to my destination. I will arrive around 12am, but I will be so glad to be there!!

            Honestly, if I wasn’t an avid fan of the Amazing Race and if I hadn’t had previous travel experience I would have not made it through the day. Next time I travel I will have a cell phone – that would have been a huge comfort for the day! Next time I post I’ll be in my apartment in Jyvaskulya, hopefully after a glass of wine and perhaps a good cry! I’m very much ready to see some familiar faces!!

Istanbul - First Impressions

Written in Holiday Inn Hotel, at 10a on Sat, May 25th, posted from Finland, en route to Jyvaskulya..

           

            It is a rare opportunity to have an extended layover in a city that you’ll be coming back to later. Since I was planning on going to Turkey and had my airline ticket booked long before I had even heard about the Finland trip we decided it would be most practical if I just changed the date of my current ticket and then book a round trip flight out of Istanbul to Turkey. I have enjoyed getting a small taste of what Turkey is like, as I am now very excited to comeback and explore in 3 weeks.

            I have had less than 24 hours in the country so far, but I have been able to make some observations that I will be interested to see if they remain true once I come back. First of all the Turkish people seem very connected with one another. When I’ve watched people having conversations everyone one leans in close to one another, close enough to make an American feel a little bit uncomfortable. I also noticed that over half of the people on the road were either talking on cell phones or texting as they were driving. See California – it can be done. My taxi driver had two phones out, one in each hand and he switched them on and off the chargers and to his ears as he was driving. I still do not know how he was able to operate the steering wheel.

            That leads me into Turkish driving. Yikes!! After spending time in India last summer and learning to simply relax instead of being nervous through that driving, it wasn’t as scary, but it was pretty close. Rules seem to be more of suggestions when it comes to the road. We were driving on a two lane freeway and I counted 3 cars across the whole way. It seemed like the road was a challenge. The drivers were not traveling at any sort of consistent speed, but rather rapidly speeding up and slowing down as they saw available spots in other lanes. I just sate back and decided that he knew what he was doing and there was nothing to be concerned about.

            As I was sitting in the taxi I focused on my surroundings instead of the driving. That appeared to be safer. All I saw was the city, which someone on the bus to the airport claimed was extremely different than the country of Turkey. The houses had red brackish roofs and had a small amount of space between them. We passed buildings that looked brand new as well as buildings that looked like they were about ready to fall over. I noticed that there were security officers, usually 2-3 at many of the buildings not permitting vehicles to enter without being cleared. Even when I walked into my hotel I had to go through a metal detector. It seems like security is something Istanbul is aware of.

            I’m excited be able to explore the city more in a couple weeks to figure out if my first impressions hold up!

Starting the adventure and the blog

            When I write I always find that the beginning is always the most difficult part – even for a blog such as this. Since beginnings can be demotivating I have committed to simply jumping right in and catching you up to my journey as I go along. Feel free to be a part of my travel log over the next few weeks as I write down my experiences.

            Today my adventure has begun with two of the four flights leading up to my final destination – Jyvaskyla, Finland. For the first three weeks of my trip I will be doing a study abroad program in a Finnish University with a couple other San Jose State students and other international students. I will be taking two classes, both largely focused on business and culture in European countries. One class claims we will be learning a little bit of Russian, so I tried to give my self a head start and checked out a ‘learn-Russian-while-you-drive’ cd and quickly realized that leaning Russian was going to be humorous, if nothing else! While I’m in Jyvaskyla I’ll be staying in some nice looking apartments only a short bus ride away from the University. Our group will have tutors who we have already been introduced to on facebook, who will be responsible for planning activities for us during the day and helping us transition into the Finnish lifestyle. During this part of my trip I will also have the opportunity to go on a couple of weekend trips to nearby countries. I am certainly looking forward to Finland and the study abroad experience!!

           

            The next part of my adventure will start midway through June where I will fly into Istanbul, Turkey to meet up with my parents and some other friends from my church. The majority of this trip will be educational and spiritual. We will be spending time with some missionaries we support (I’ll refer to them as Jack and Jill to protect their identity), while learning how they use prayer as a major component in their ministry. Throughout this trip we will also be traveling all over the country of Turkey to spend as much time as possible learning about the culture and the history of the country.

After about 14 hours of flying, I reached Istanbul where I took a cab to my hotel and spent the night. I figured that I would be fine with the time change because I had not had a whole lot of sleep over the last couple of weeks. I was right, I pretty much slept for 13 hours straight. I had a very nice breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel and I will be heading off in about an hour to check into the airport. Once I reach my next destination I will meet up with several of my classmates and we’ll be on the last flight together. I am very much looking forward to seeing familiar faces!!