My Academic Journey

Here are some photos that I have taken during the walking breaks, which have become my new habit. Aarhus (and Denmark in general) is a fantastic place to live and work. The nature is just couple of steps away. I present some of them here in two parts. Let's start with campus and the lake near to the department of political science and CFA (Dansk Center for Forskningsanalyse)  where I am located. Part one: campus This is where I work! This is where I walk. Part two: other beauties outside city center. There are lots of different berries.. berries. more berries. Wonder if you can eat these? Countryside is very close by. Way to Aarhus! Way to work. (photos are from last month, couple of days back we got the first snow)

So, I am in this cool little country, called Denmark. It has an own currency, unlike Finland. Now, 1 DKK =  0.1345 € meaning that 10 DKK is approximately 1.35 €. Well, this is a hard calculation to do when you're tired after work. Thus, the prices in stores don't tell me much. But let's this time check: Is Denmark really that expensive? I went to this local store calle Fotex: I needed stuff. And I mostly followed the funny discounts. Like: Buy 2 get the second one practically for free! Buy this product for -30% and these for -50%... Yep, it's a deal. Noteworthy: There are many discounts in the store, simply too many. But what does it mean in €uros? First of all, the total cost was 182.85 DKK. According to Google, I just spend 24.58 € (27.32 US Dollars). Additionally, the tights that I bought made almost 40 % of this. Wow, they were relatively expensive.. Balsam : 10 DKK = 1.34 € = $1.49  --> Cheap! Tights: 69 DKK = 9.28 € = $ 10.30 --> affo...

New students are moving in with the help of their parents. Starting next week, my colleagues get back to work and tomorrow I move to Denmark. The semester starts officially in September. Did you know that our campus is a great place to haunt some Pokemons? They are the reason why I have been spending many hours on campus - even though I'm on holiday! Domus Botnica in the sun light. "Auringon lapsi", the Child of the Sun The sea is a great neighbor.  Fabriikki in the spot light.  Place that I found after spending couple of years on campus. Inner yard between Teknobotnia and Fabriikki. Here will soon be lots and lots of bikes. Building in the front is Konttori. A part of Puuvilla -houses.  Sunbaths on campus. How about studying outside..?  Ready for the semester? 

"The world always needs to be saved right before the holiday", said my mom. She had made an effort to get me start the holiday early. Sadly, she failed in that. In June, I had a work trip once a week. I went twice to Helsinki for a meeting, once to a conference in Jyväskylä (where I presented the draft of the first draft for the first time) and once in Copenhagen to a DRUID conference (where I was a session chair). The other meeting in Helsinki was between our research team and the other was more formal steering group meeting. In a steering group meeting, we were suppose to present the current stage and plans for autumn to TEKES, which is financing the research project. Additionally, I wanted to clean my desk and get my research in a good stage - in order to leave with peace. Well, this year, I didn't reach the peace for the summer holiday. Maybe for Christmas then :) Soon I'll pack my luggage and head to Italy. I plan to leave all work home (excluding one inter...

The spring is turning into summer and my calendar is happily filled with work trips. Today, I went to Otaniemi that is in Espoo (a city by the side of Helsinki). We had our project group meeting at the office building of VTT that is also coordinating our project. Additionally, Carter was present through Skype. It was good to have many members of the research team sitting by "the same table". Even though, I woke a 2.5 hours earlier than I'm used to, I manage to do a lot of work during the travel from Vaasa to Helsinki. Which is crucial for the next week's conference. From Helsinki, I then took a bus to Otaniemi.  After the meeting, I got a ride to Ruoholahti, Helsinki, from where I walked to the station. It is always a pleasure to visit Helsinki, my old home city. It has developed so much during the time I have lived in Vaasa (soon 6 years). Helsinki is more international than it used to be. The city is also more and more like Stockholm and other notable ...

Ehdottomasti yksi ihanimmista päivistä oli retkipäivä Muir Woodsiin kämppiksieni ja ystäväni kanssa. Eniten odotin suuria puita. Oletin, että ne olisivat niin isoja, ettei mielikuvitukseni riittäisi niiden ympärysmitan kuvittelemiseen. Niiin isoja puita ei sentään löytynyt, mutta kokoa ja näköä oli edustettuna. Annan kuvien puhua puolestaan. Vaellusreittimme erottuu osittain vaalean vihreällä. Sitä ennen kävimme tsekkaamassa Cathedral Groven ja Pinchot Groven. Yksi niitä isoimpia puita. Muutkin tykkäsivät tästä yksilöstä! Maisemaa vaelluksemme Muir Woodsin ulkoiselta osalta. Karttatyttö!

Janet Fishin tuntomerkki: kultakala. Usein hän maalaa myös lasia. Tänään, USAn kansallispäivänä 7/4/2013, kuten täkäläiset päivämäärät kirjoittavat, oli koko kampuksen vapaa päivä. Aamusta tämän huomasi jo pihalla pelattavan bierpongin muodossa - ja kämppiksen kokkailusta! Hän leipoi mansikkapiiraan ja verhosi sen Yhdysvaltain lipun väreillä. Itse vietin rennon ja hitaan aamun, söin lounasta toisen kämppiksen kanssa ja suuntasin iltapäivästä Cantor Arts Centeriin . Voisin päivitellä, kuinka laaja ja monipuolinen kampus on verrattuna kahteen muuhun kokemaani kampukseen, mutta olen omistanut aiheen jo kokonaan omalle tekstilleen, joka tulee myöhemmin - kun tunnen kampuksen ja yliopiston vielä paremmin. Tällä kertaa vuorossa on kuvakas kertomus, koska - tänään oli taidepäivä!  Untitled, 1991. Deborah Butterfield, 1949  --> Ensimmäisenä aulassa tervehtii tämä mahtava puuhevonen, joka on oikeasti tehty bronssista. Sen luonnosversio oli sen sijaan puuta. Tämä oli ...