My Academic Journey

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...

A lot has happened. It turned out that I wasn't eligible for the housing I wrote about in Part 1 . I have crossed fingers and hoped for the best while browsing the housing offers of the private sector. But today, just an hour or so after leaving the office, I received an email from AU Housing:  "Dear Carita Eklund     We are happy to inform you that we have reserved housing for you. This email contains important information about your housing offer, deadlines, cancellation policy --- " I am so relieved! The apartment was offered only to me and I had 48 hours to decide. After a quick check of location (12 min to uni by bike), the decision was made. I payed the rent of the first month with credit card (there aren't any other options), which costs 78,51 DKK (10,55€). The deposit (over 1300€) needs to be payed with the second rent. The rent is luckily reasonable, less than 500€ per month.  The apartment should be furnished and 36 square meters....

On Thursday, I was heading back to the central rail station, when I got an SMS from home. "You have a letter from the Niilo Helanter Foundation. Should I open it?". I quickly reply: "Opeeeeen it!". I wait for three seconds max, and phoned back to him. I was feeling excited and anxious at the same time. "Please say if it's positive or negative right away!" I begged. But why would they bother sending a 'no thanks' per mail.. Slowly, Jan started to read the letter. I wanted to scream of joy, but we don't do that in Finland. I had to be satisfied with crying out of happiness (quietly of course). The thing is, a grant makes you truly free. With a grant, you can go anywhere - if you like. I felt so free! Couple of weeks back, I learned something new about myself. Planning big and far motivate me the most. I know that some of the plans sound too ambitious but small plans make me procrastinate.  Some people roll their eyes at my goals. Th...

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 ...

Phew, I have received the second offer for a furnished room. The first one was rented before I contacted the owner and the current offer is from StudenthousinAarhus. The dorm is located farer from the uni than I was hoping but in Aarhus standards that distance is fine. By bus, it takes 40 minutes to the uni and by bike a little bit more than 20min, according to google maps. Thus, it's clear why biking is so popular. Further, my Danish contact wrote to me that there is a nice nature area near. In this aspect, I feel like typical Finn: nature is important. From time to time I need to get out of urban area.  So far, I have noticed one major difference to Finland: room is offered to many people at once. In this current offer, my number is 2. So, if number 1 accepts, I won't be notified and I don't get the room. If number 1 rejects, I get it (probably?)  - and then they email to me.  Yet, I'm still considering whether to accept or reject the offer as the contract wo...