Saturday, February 9, 2013

A Few Firsts and Renewed Independence

This week was my first week at my internship in Finland.  I work in the International Affairs Office at one of the university's campuses.  So far I really like it.  It's very similar to my scholarship duties in the Admissions Office at Tech. Glad I had 3 years of experience.  All the people there are very welcoming. Most speak English and are excited to speak English with me. Below is the view from the backdoor of my apartment building and yes that is where I work.  I lucked up with the location of my apartment. 


Friday, I took my first train ride. I was traveling from the city where I live for my internship to where my boyfriend (and eventually my permanent residence) lives. The entire journey took around 3.5 hours and I had to change trains twice. Overall, it was a pretty smooth journey. Below is a picture of the train station from the car where I was sitting. 


The new picture is what one of the platforms look like. There were about 5-6 different tracks. Trains definitely make traveling convenient. I sure wish we had some in the U.S.


Although, I wish I could be in Kerava with my boyfriend still. Moving to Pori has been a good experience. When there, I rely on him way too much. I had kind of lost my independence, relying on him to speak Finnish for me and handle everything.  In Pori, I have to handle everything myself, either in English, broken Finnish, or body language.  Since living there, I've discovered a renewed independence. Silver lining, right? 


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