The Exciting and busy life of a student...again

Joensuun yliopisto (University of Joensuu)
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Last week during exam break,  I returned to my host sister's little student res in Joensuu for a new wave of things to do.  I was not disappointed.  I left on Monday and there ahd just been a blizzard and alot of cold weather.  Therefore the roads were duper icy.  It was really fun though and the sun was shining for the first time since I can remember.  People talk alot about the northern lights in Finland but they're most common in December and the months of November December are the cloudiest.

Archives building - University of Joensuu
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The few days that I spent at Marjanna's were especially busy because she had to take both the dogs with her to Joensuu.  Since they are both quite big and are both puppies and need to spend lot of energy - it was even busier than the life of the avergae student. On Monday we basically only had time to get groceries,  walk the dogs twice,  and watch TV - we were both really tired because our weekends had been quite full - I had moved and Marjanna had ben working in Mikkeli.

The next day we went to our class at ten - it was a psychology class and they were talking about the brain and the neuro sciences of emotion.  I'm sure it would have been fascinating had I understood more than the odd latin word.  But I understood alot more than in October which is a good sign.  Of course University vocabulary is slightly more elaborate than what I learn in my Finnish lessons.  This seminar was given by a professor at the UNiveristy of Jyväskylä.  If you remember,  last time our psychology lesson in Joensuu was being transmitted to five other universities so that they could have the same lesson.  It really is amazing how they do that because then,  wherever you are in Finland,  you are guaranteed to learn from the prof with the most expertise in the subject.  No wonder Finnish University students show the highest rate of academic success in the world.  AND its free!

Marjanna
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The University was only a short way from the appartment but we had lunch in the cafeteria nonetheless.  They had the best bread there.  ALso it was quite cold outside.  After that we headed downtown (only a 10min. walk from he University) for some Christmas shopping.  There was so much snow and it was quite cold.  Everything was starting to give off a Christmas feel.  WHat I also found interesting is how the city of Joensuu heats up some of their major roads to prevent traffic and to keep them less icy and dirty - ingenious!  but expensive and its true that the Finnish people already have pretty high taxes due to their leftist government.  However - its very green - less traffic and holdups means less greenhouse gases!  Anyway,  that evening was spent taking a long walk with the dogs by the shores of Lake Saimaa (the same lake as in Ristiina).  There,  we came upon the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my life!  The sky was dark but the city gave off an orangeish pinkish hue which refelcted off the clouds.  The lake which had been frozen a day earlier was now starting to melt again creating ice slabs floating on the water.  Since the water was not completely covered in white ice,  it revealed freezing water black as ink with the ice slabs creating contrast and also reflecting light from the city.  On the other side of the lake it was just forest.  I only wish I'd brought my camera.  I satyed there at least five minutes just staring until Marjanna and especially the dogs grew impatient with me.  Walking in the afternoon in Finland in winter time is hard because you can't see anything.  ONly big cities really have enough light for you to go walking around.  Furthermore,  every city has parks and forest within them - sort of like fishcreek park but not so regulated - a little wilder.  So you can go walking in the forest whenever you want to its just you might need to bring a flashlight or something.  For some reason,  we were both very tired again that evening so we watched Finding Nemo and went to bed.  The next day was the Russian history lesson where I learned a little about the trading posts of medieval Russia.  The professor seemed very enthusiastic about the subject and Marjanna told me that he kept changing the subject and straying into territories that were interesting to him but totally unecessary - for example - Yvan the Terrible's nephew's cousin twice removed bought a cabbage on such and such a day from a merchant who just happened to be ...blahblahblah... He also apparently used really elaborate and unecessarily deviating vocabulary - "It was not unecessary".

On our walk
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Anyhow,  it was another one of those moments where I felt I would have been really interested had I understood more.  After that we again went to the mall because that's just what girls do when they have nothing to do and no money to spend.  Of course I still had some Christmas shopping to do - I hadn't realized how many Christmas presents I would have to get.  By going on exchange I just tripled my family,  friends and aquaintances.

I noticed that the further up north you go,  the tighter your schedule seems to be because it gets dark so much earlier.  In Joensuu,  the cun came up at around 8.00 and came down agaion at about 15 or 15.30.  So if we wanted to go for walk when it was light out - we had to hurry.  A lot of Finns take extra vitamin D especially in winter time but I've resigned myself not to.  I always feel like my immune system is getting more and more fragile when I take any kind of medication - its the truth of course.  Most people even on exchange here have felt depressed by the lack of sunlight.  Strangely,  I haven't felt any difference.  Or actually - I only seem to feel a little more tired all the time because my internal clock responds to the amount of sunlight by putting me to sleep or making me wide awake.

wow
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I left snowy Joensuu on Wednesday evening by train.  The train system in Finland is very good and usually on time.  However,  because there had been a blizzard,  it took me a little longer to get to Mikkeli.  IN fact,  twice the train stopped without warning and no one on the intercom said anything.  So I changed trains in Pieksämäki again(I'm going to know that station like the back of my hand by the time the year is over).  In Pieksämäi I was really proud to practice my Finnish and ask from which gate the train was leaving.  On the way to Mikkeli there was another Canadian on the train (imagine the odds!) he was in Finland with some sports team - I don't know which sport.  Also on the train were many members of the Finnish army.  It is mandatory in Finland to spend at least one year on the army so you often see men in uniform (some women too but they are not under any obligation) especially in Mikkeli because it used to be a major military center.  In fact the military college is right next to where I take my Finnish lessons.

Sara
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In Mikkeli,  my host mom - Minna came to pick me up and that was the end of my trip but it was nothing compared to what came next - the Lapland tour...  stay tuned!