Decentralize

"Back to school." I remember these words fondly while growing up. It seemed as if every retailer at the time used those three words in advertisements and sales promotions to target kids and their parents prior to the start of the school season. "Back to school" has a different meaning for me this time around. It not only marks a transition from working life in the United States to international student life in Finland. I think I have a slightly different perspective of school than what I had growing up, as I saw school more so as a means to an end. Do well in school, you will get a career and do well in life. Didn't understand why that was the case. Now, when I think about doing well in school, I am not thinking about maximizing myself in an arbitrary grading system that may have various degrees of objectivity here and there. I am thinking about what am I learning by acknowledging facts and challenging accepted points of view. ---- My post today will be separate...

Wow! - what an eventful week courtesy of the Finland Fulbright Center. They organized a wonderful orientation program that was filled with valuable information for our Fulbright projects and exciting cultural events. I must commend their professionalism and their attention to detail as everything ran quite smoothly. Further more, I was impressed with the caliber of scholars, researchers, and students in this year's crop of Fulbrighters. It seemed everyday after the orientation programming we enjoyed each other's company, whether it was grabbing dinner, singing karaoke, or discussing the state of world affairs. It was quite inspiring to be around them. Couple Highlights: Fulbright Orientation started off with a bang on Monday with a reception at the US Embassy in Helsinki. There we were able to network with members of Finland's Fulbright and University community. We heard words from the Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Donna Welton, as well as from Pres...

[Written last week] This past week, while full of new experiences, was marred by a knife attack that occurred in Turku Market Square last Friday afternoon. My thoughts go out to those personally affected by this tragic occurrence.  I was at Turku's adventure park at the time, which was quite a bit away from the city center. Still, it was devastating to hear that the same square which I was present at the night prior for Turku's annual Night of the Arts was the setting of a violent attack the following afternoon. While I continued to go through the different physical obstacles of the adventure park course, I had an additional mental obstacle which I had to overcome. One cannot fully enjoy an obstacle course knowing such an event occurred just a few kilometers away. Till next week. -Adi p.s. August 22nd marks 1 month in Finland

Hyvää Päivää (Good Day), I am writing this post from the city of Turku, which is the Swedish-influenced former capital of Finland. It is here where I began a course this past Tuesday on Finnish in Working Life. It consists of 6 hours of daily classroom study on the Finnish language, Finnish working life, and Finnish culture. Should I find the right opportunity to work in Finland, the skills I develop from this course will be a good foundation to build on. I will most likely continue my study of the Finnish language at LUT. The video below is part of a class assignment in which we were supposed to go to a store and ask how much something costs. I completed this assignment at Hesburger, which is a Finnish fast food chain. See the video below. After the days' classes and on the weekends, there is an organized social program with events such as a dinner, a picnic and a city walking tour. Post Dinner Photo at Koulu Restaurant & Brewery. Pictured are students from the 3 different Tur...

Welcome back. Earlier this week, I was trying to figure out what I should label my third blog post. The first word that came to my mind was "Despacito." This song, to my surprise, has caught on like wildfire among Espoo locals Jukka and Piiuska, who hosted me in their homes this past week. A Dim Sum Dinner with Jukka and Piiuska It is good to know that crazes in America make their way here in Finland too, as it reminds me a bit of home. I looked up what the English translation was for "Despacito", and I found it means "Slowly". That word describes well my integration into Finnish culture this past week. The first part of my slow integration involved food . I have started incorporating Karelian pies, a Finnish staple item, into my breakfasts. What a Karelian Pie looks like (credits: food.com) They are these interesting looking rice-based pies that are normally eaten with egg butter. Personally, I find them to be pretty tasty even when eaten plain. Another ...

"Tervetuloa Suomeen! Welcome to Finland!" While the folks in Helsinki-Vantaa airport did not explicitly shower these phrases into my ears as I exited the jetway, I felt the welcoming vibes in my head. Hearing what was almost dead silence at the airport on a Saturday morning was quite meditative for me as I was unsure what I should be expecting.  So marked my beginning in Finland. I will break this post into two parts; the first part is about my brief time spent with local Finn Jukka, and the second part is about my exploration of Finland with my friend Magnus. Jukka welcomes me at the airport. Shows me around his local neighborhood. Helps me set-up my cell phone. I am lucky to have a connection to Finland through my friend in California, Hanna. Through her, I was able to connect with Jukka of Espoo. Jukka was there to promptly greet me as I exited baggage claim with my luggage.  We had some time to kill before the cell phone store opened up, so Jukka drove me around his town ...

Hello all, Welcome to the first post on my new blog, "Into the Land of the Curious". If you google "land of the curious", the first couple of links that come up direct to Finland's Lappeenranta University of Technology, whose motto is the "Land of the Curious." This university in Lappeenranta, Finland will be my home for the next two years, which is why I named the blog "Into the Land of the Curious." I chose to attend LUT for a few different reasons. One reason was the awesome opportunity to participate in the Fulbright student exchange program, which not only provides funding for my LUT graduate studies, but also provides networking opportunities and language training. This may open new doors for me in the future. Another driver was to study environmental engineering in a country and university which values the economic and environmental needs for sustainability, which I think is an area that our entire planet needs to consider as we deal w...