{"id":198,"date":"2021-06-10T06:50:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T06:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/?p=198"},"modified":"2021-06-10T06:50:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T06:50:56","slug":"kiitos-ja-nakemiin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engage.augsburg.edu\/zobitz\/2021\/06\/10\/kiitos-ja-nakemiin\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiitos ja n\u00e4kemiin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Come<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We are wrapping up the time in Kuopio and will depart in a week.\u00a0 And so it is appropriate to say kiitos:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiitos<\/strong> to the Fulbright Finland Foundation<\/a>, and the Saastamoinen Foundation<\/a> for supporting my Fulbright project. I am especially grateful and humbled for this opportunity in the time of COVID. There were so many unknowns for the past 18 months, but to paraphrase the Foundation\u2019s motto: together we shaped the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fulbright<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kiitos to colleagues<\/strong>. Here is a picture of my host Jukka (right) with Frank (another colleague I closely worked with) on the left during a recent excursion to Koli National Park. Kiitos to answering my endless questions and for helping shepherd the project to a submitted paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Frank,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Biogeomchemistry Group at the University of Eastern Finlan<\/a>d has all been so welcoming, kind, and gracious.  I can see how you value the whole person – each lab meeting begins with everyone going around and sharing their past week – the good and the bad, the achievements and the struggles, the personal and the academic.  These practices support a humane working environment.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goal for this blog was to document ways that life in Finland are similar and also different from my life in Minnesota.  Thank you for reading along, and if I may dispense one last piece of advice: if you are looking for a place to re-invent yourself come to Finland<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me state the obvious: winters are cold and dark (and perhaps a tad too long).\u00a0 There are times when I was frustrated by how some aspects of society are unnecessarily complex (don\u2019t ask me how to open up a bank account for example).\u00a0 However there is a very different counterpoint to those two aspects.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone we met was gracious, kind, and welcoming.\u00a0 These contrasts force you lean in to the moment and to and embrace it – they can be ephemeral but they also demand that you lay attention to the moment, as it may soon pass.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We experienced a sense of safety and security (personal, societal, financial) that frankly I have been missing for a long time.\u00a0 There is an innate trust people have in each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are amazed how nature (and access to it) is valued and incorporated into the city design.\u00a0 We didn’t own a car and felt that we could navigate around well for the day to day and the long haul: we traveled the length and width of the country: from Rovaniemi to Espoo; Turku to Joensuu)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are precious gifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so my final kiitos<\/strong> is to Finland and Finns.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onward!

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are wrapping up the time in Kuopio and will depart in a week.\u00a0 And so it is appropriate to say kiitos: Kiitos to the Fulbright Finland Foundation, and the Saastamoinen Foundation for supporting my Fulbright project. I am especially grateful and humbled for this opportunity in the time of COVID. There were so many<\/p>\n