{"id":14,"date":"2020-12-21T12:58:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T12:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/?p=14"},"modified":"2020-12-21T12:58:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T12:58:54","slug":"preparing-to-go-december-2019-march-2020-the-before-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/2020\/12\/21\/preparing-to-go-december-2019-march-2020-the-before-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing to go: December 2019 – March 2020 (The “before” times)."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was coming back from a class in December 2019 when I received the email\nthat my Fulbright application to research at the University\nof Eastern Finland in Kuopio<\/a> was accepted!  I had always wanted this\ntype of experience for me professionally, also for my children so they can have\nthe opportunity to see the world bigger than their own backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on the grant we would be leaving for an entire year, so\nthere was a lot of logistical details to work out, notwithstanding (1)\nresidence permits, securing housing in Finland, finding schools for our kids,\nwhat to do with our house here, school for our kids, and, and, and \u2026 Thank\ngoodness we had time to work through this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Some other tailwinds was that the Fulbright Finland Foundation<\/a> is a great\nteam to work with \u2013 they have a lot of information on their website about what\nyou should do (and in what order).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As a first step were encouraged to get the process for the residence permits<\/a>. \nThis was a new experience for me – I have never having traveled to long-term to\nanother country.  I had to assemble a lot of documentation: letters from\nFinland, a copy of my graduate degree, and other things.  We also realized\nthat we needed to renew our passports for our family first (they would have\nexpired late 2020).  Because time was of the essence we decided to\nexpedite our passports so we would be sure to have them in hand for the\nresidence permit application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applying for a residence permit is something that the entire family needs to\nbe present for in person – the\nclosest location was the VFS Global Offices in Chicago (rather than traveling\nto New York or Los Angeles)<\/a>.  So on March 11 we packed the family in\nour SUV and made the 7 hour trip to Chicago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At a rest stop in Eau Claire, WI for the obligatory “on the road” photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We were excited for the adventure, and even booked the hotel at the Great\nWolf Lodge Waterpark in Gurnee for the kids (it was a little outside of\nChicago, but we would take the train in).  By and large the visit to VFS\nwas uneventful \u2013 it took a long time to get everything processed (all the\npaperwork was in order, but it wasn\u2019t an in and out event).  The weather\nin Chicago wasn\u2019t amenable to siteseeing the downtown \u2013 it was cold and windy\neven for us Minnesotans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did have some good Chicago style pizza before going to VFS.\u00a0 The t-shirt on my son says it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That is some great Chicago style pizza!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Against all this backdrop was COVID.  We had been following it on the\nnews in the month leading up to things, but it wasn\u2019t anything more above the\nnoise of the daily news.  But the news reports on my phone kept talking\nabout closures \u2013 of hotels, shops, and whole cities.  Especially on the\nway back from Wisconsin (which included an overnight in Madison, Wisconsin) the\nnews kept getting more grim.  Our world was changing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was coming back from a class in December 2019 when I received the email that my Fulbright application to research at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio was accepted!  I had always wanted this type of experience for me professionally, also for my children so they can have the opportunity to see the<\/p>\n