I'd love to describe what Whitewater or the campus looks like. I really would. Too bad it was already dark when we sat in the yellow school bus (yes, exactly like in the movies) on our way from Janesville to Whitewater. I was munching on a sub I got from Walmart along with bedlinen and other pretty damn interesting stuff. I was pretty hungry. The last time I had properly ate was around nine in the morning on Portland airport. With the power of a burger and some snacks I made my way from Corvallis, OR (don't even ask) to Whitewater via Portland, Chicago and Janesville. I still had it easier than most of the other exchange students who had been flying for hours and hours to get to the States.
At the Janesville bus station we, the exchange students, were joking about us being forgotten there. But of course we weren't, and I have to say that the welcome was warm. Along with warm handshakes and hearty smiles we also received an envelope with the keys to our dorms and some snacks. Still haven't read what the papers say though. Maybe I should.
Done. There were some papers about my roommate who is bound to arrive tomorrow. Info about the first day on campus. A campus map. Some info on the dorms. Pretty basic stuff.
Better get some sleep. I can probably describe the campus better if I'm not sleepwalking around it tomorrow.
"The story of a Finnish exchange student spending a semester in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, middle of nowhere, WI, United States of America."
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Wednesday 24 August 2011
Seattle Sun
I heard Seattle is the rainiest city in the States. Still haven't seen any rain though. Quite the opposite, for the last couple of days it has been extremely warm and there is no sight of fall approaching. The weather hasn't been the only pleasant thing about Seattle. Even without planning our days too much we have managed to see a lot of interesting places. Really stress-free and gratifying.
One of these interesting places is definitely, and perhaps non-surprisingly, the Seattle Center, marked by the Space Needle. The Needle is surrounded by interesting places to see such as the EMP, Experience Music Project, which was a place made for me. There was a Nirvana exhibition, room full of old guitars, plenty of brand new instruments to play and some fun sci-fi stuff. I could probably live there, really.
Another place that I enjoyed was the historic Pike Place Market, which is filled with hundreds of vendors selling anything from fish and flowers to wooden 3D puzzles. However, the market place also brought up a curious thing about the US. A couple of fresh (and tasty!) peaches cost more than a meal at McDonalds or dozens of cans of soda. Not only are the fresh fruit expensive but they're also scarce. It's really difficult to find proper grocery stores around here. Starbucks - not. Why on earth does there have to be a Starbucks at every corner? I don't even like coffee!
Even if I don't like coffee, there are still plenty of things I like about Seattle and the US.
PS. I have a million tourist-y photos on my camera. I'll try to transfer them sometime later. This blog is slowly becoming one dull wall of text and needs an intervention.
EDIT: Here's a couple photos!
Space Needle looming over the suburbs.
Seattle skyline
Me on top of the Space Needle
Fountain in Seattle Center
Monorail over a German motor repair shop
Fountain of instruments in Experience Music Project
Pike Place Market
University of Washington
One of these interesting places is definitely, and perhaps non-surprisingly, the Seattle Center, marked by the Space Needle. The Needle is surrounded by interesting places to see such as the EMP, Experience Music Project, which was a place made for me. There was a Nirvana exhibition, room full of old guitars, plenty of brand new instruments to play and some fun sci-fi stuff. I could probably live there, really.
Another place that I enjoyed was the historic Pike Place Market, which is filled with hundreds of vendors selling anything from fish and flowers to wooden 3D puzzles. However, the market place also brought up a curious thing about the US. A couple of fresh (and tasty!) peaches cost more than a meal at McDonalds or dozens of cans of soda. Not only are the fresh fruit expensive but they're also scarce. It's really difficult to find proper grocery stores around here. Starbucks - not. Why on earth does there have to be a Starbucks at every corner? I don't even like coffee!
Even if I don't like coffee, there are still plenty of things I like about Seattle and the US.
PS. I have a million tourist-y photos on my camera. I'll try to transfer them sometime later. This blog is slowly becoming one dull wall of text and needs an intervention.
EDIT: Here's a couple photos!
Tuesday 23 August 2011
Sleepless in Seattle
After 27 hours of being awake, most of which I either sat on planes or ran around airports Amazing Race style, I finally made it to Seattle. After such sleep deprivation it's almost impossible for me to recall how many different security and passport control check points me and Camilla (who is travelling with me) had to pass through. Or queue through extremely slowly. Luckily, we made it on our flights despite surprisingly tight schedules and the flights themselves went well and the travel weather was beautiful.
We took the light train from the airport to downtown for the fraction of the price of a taxi. After asking advice for a couple of times, we made it to our hostel which has a very central location - we can even see the Space Needle from here. (I might get back on this topic later on).
After having a huge meal from the McDonald's right next door, I guess I should head to bed. There's a lot to do tomorrow!
We took the light train from the airport to downtown for the fraction of the price of a taxi. After asking advice for a couple of times, we made it to our hostel which has a very central location - we can even see the Space Needle from here. (I might get back on this topic later on).
After having a huge meal from the McDonald's right next door, I guess I should head to bed. There's a lot to do tomorrow!
Sunday 21 August 2011
See You Later Finland
This is it. Last night in Finland. My home. Less than 24 hours til my flight.
At the moment I feel surprisingly calm. I had brilliant tactics. Leave a lot of stuff for the very last day. Today I've been hanging out with a couple friends, buying souvenirs for the States (how can they live without salt liquirice, I wonder), and idling in front of my computer. Oh, and in between all this I've been trying to fill my suitcase. Minor detail. Too busy to think about anything really.
The last weekend here hasn't been calm all the way through. Saying goodbye to my girlfriend and my friends has been far from easy. I'll be honest with you. Yesterday I cried for the first time in, uh, roughly a decade. Beforehand, I couldn't even imagine how hard goodbyes can be. Well, now I know. I guess this is what they call learning about life and experiencing stuff. Wild. Still, my current feelings are entirely positive. Tomorrow I'll be headed for an adventure. And everyone loves adventures.
Well, I better get back to my packing if I want to get any sleep before my adventure. After all, I want to be the hero - not some jetlagged zombie.
It's unbelievable that I'll be in Seattle in 24 hours. Wait, except I won't be. Man, it's a long way to the other side of the world.
At the moment I feel surprisingly calm. I had brilliant tactics. Leave a lot of stuff for the very last day. Today I've been hanging out with a couple friends, buying souvenirs for the States (how can they live without salt liquirice, I wonder), and idling in front of my computer. Oh, and in between all this I've been trying to fill my suitcase. Minor detail. Too busy to think about anything really.
The last weekend here hasn't been calm all the way through. Saying goodbye to my girlfriend and my friends has been far from easy. I'll be honest with you. Yesterday I cried for the first time in, uh, roughly a decade. Beforehand, I couldn't even imagine how hard goodbyes can be. Well, now I know. I guess this is what they call learning about life and experiencing stuff. Wild. Still, my current feelings are entirely positive. Tomorrow I'll be headed for an adventure. And everyone loves adventures.
Well, I better get back to my packing if I want to get any sleep before my adventure. After all, I want to be the hero - not some jetlagged zombie.
It's unbelievable that I'll be in Seattle in 24 hours. Wait, except I won't be. Man, it's a long way to the other side of the world.
Thursday 18 August 2011
Looooong Introductions
So, this is me, Mika. I’m a third year English major in the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Within a week I’ll be flying to the US for the first time in my life. After a quick tour on the West Coast I’m supposed to settle down in Whitewater, a small university town between Madison, the Wisconsin state capital, and Milwaukee, the largest city in the state, which is sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan. Still no idea? Well, this should help. This place, Whitewater, WI, is the home of the not-so-surprisingly-named University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where I’ll be studying for the fall semester 2011.
Simple enough. Except that the process that has taken me to this point hasn’t always been so straightforward. If we cut all the “I’ve always wanted to travel to US and blablabla” stuff, we end up in fall 2010, the time when I started to write my application. First of all, I decided to take the easier way and apply to a bilateral program instead of one operated by a larger organization such as ISEP (more bureaucracy, more paperwork!). I read the info considering all the alternative universities, there was about four, and decided that I am not really fond of going to a Christian university in Texas or one situated in the middle Kansas, a.k.a. middle of nowhere. Thus, middle of nowhere, WI was the place to be.
After pouring my heart into the application, where I listed all the relevant and irrelevant reasons for why I should be selected, I just had to wait. When the e-mail including the names of those who were selected suddenly hit my inbox, I was excited to say the least.
If I was over the top excited then, the feeling sure fled when I received the letter of acceptance all the way from the States. Why? Even though the letter itself was great it came with quite a few forms to fill. For example, I had to go through the course listings and create my schedule for the semester and fill out some medical and insurance forms and prove that I will receive financial aid during the exchange as well. If this was not enough, I still had to fill housing applications and some sort authorization forms later on. The good thing is that most of this stuff is done electronically, either scanning and e-mailing the documents or filling the forms online in the first place. Convenient.
Alright, enough of this whining. No wait. There’s still the worst part. Ugh. After I had managed to get most things in order with the university, I had to fill out the VISA application form. This is done online, but is far from convenient, since the page kicked me out on a regular basis forcing me to log in a dozen times (felt like a million). I also had to have my passport constantly at hand (which I didn’t) and answer questions requiring specific dates (e.g. end of high school) or even more ludicrous questions asking whether I was a prostitute or a spy. Or involved in the Holocaust. Or, well, you get the point.
After clicking the no -button for a hundred times I eventually got as far as scheduling the time for the VISA interview, which took place in US Consulate in Helsinki. I really appreciate the reservation system, since this way I got to select a date on which I would be in Helsinki anyway. It was a day after Caribou played at Tavastia and while I was nervous in the morning the feeling immediately subsided as soon as I entered the consulate building. I actually enjoyed my fairly casual you-have-a-nice-shirt type of interview. A week after the interview I got my passport with the VISA attached. (By the way, the quality of the print was so lousy that I felt stupid for being doubtful whether my self-taken photo would meet the standards.)
Around the time when I applied for the VISA I also went to a travel agency to book my flights. I know, it sounds like a lame thing to do, but I haven’t regretted my decision, since the itinerary of my trip was so complicated. Although I don’t advice against ordering online, I decided to leave that for pros. One more thing. The travel agency called me the other day and said that my return flights have “disappeared”, they simply don’t exist anymore. Glad I have an agency dealing with this situation now.
As you might be able to figure out just by looking at the sheer amount of text I’ve produced you might guess that going to the States as an exchange student is not all that simple. Glad I’m not that lazy. Nevertheless, I’m still in the middle of buying adapters, souvenirs, suitcases and getting some dollars, but it should all be cool by next Monday. At least I hope so.
Great if you managed to read or skim (acedemic style!) through this essay of my preparations. Next one won’t be this long, I hope. Otherwise I’ll be spending my whole exchange on writing these.
I’ll try to post something right before I leave unless I’ll be unable to describe the rollercoaster of feelings I am going through then. Later.
Simple enough. Except that the process that has taken me to this point hasn’t always been so straightforward. If we cut all the “I’ve always wanted to travel to US and blablabla” stuff, we end up in fall 2010, the time when I started to write my application. First of all, I decided to take the easier way and apply to a bilateral program instead of one operated by a larger organization such as ISEP (more bureaucracy, more paperwork!). I read the info considering all the alternative universities, there was about four, and decided that I am not really fond of going to a Christian university in Texas or one situated in the middle Kansas, a.k.a. middle of nowhere. Thus, middle of nowhere, WI was the place to be.
After pouring my heart into the application, where I listed all the relevant and irrelevant reasons for why I should be selected, I just had to wait. When the e-mail including the names of those who were selected suddenly hit my inbox, I was excited to say the least.
If I was over the top excited then, the feeling sure fled when I received the letter of acceptance all the way from the States. Why? Even though the letter itself was great it came with quite a few forms to fill. For example, I had to go through the course listings and create my schedule for the semester and fill out some medical and insurance forms and prove that I will receive financial aid during the exchange as well. If this was not enough, I still had to fill housing applications and some sort authorization forms later on. The good thing is that most of this stuff is done electronically, either scanning and e-mailing the documents or filling the forms online in the first place. Convenient.
Alright, enough of this whining. No wait. There’s still the worst part. Ugh. After I had managed to get most things in order with the university, I had to fill out the VISA application form. This is done online, but is far from convenient, since the page kicked me out on a regular basis forcing me to log in a dozen times (felt like a million). I also had to have my passport constantly at hand (which I didn’t) and answer questions requiring specific dates (e.g. end of high school) or even more ludicrous questions asking whether I was a prostitute or a spy. Or involved in the Holocaust. Or, well, you get the point.
After clicking the no -button for a hundred times I eventually got as far as scheduling the time for the VISA interview, which took place in US Consulate in Helsinki. I really appreciate the reservation system, since this way I got to select a date on which I would be in Helsinki anyway. It was a day after Caribou played at Tavastia and while I was nervous in the morning the feeling immediately subsided as soon as I entered the consulate building. I actually enjoyed my fairly casual you-have-a-nice-shirt type of interview. A week after the interview I got my passport with the VISA attached. (By the way, the quality of the print was so lousy that I felt stupid for being doubtful whether my self-taken photo would meet the standards.)
Around the time when I applied for the VISA I also went to a travel agency to book my flights. I know, it sounds like a lame thing to do, but I haven’t regretted my decision, since the itinerary of my trip was so complicated. Although I don’t advice against ordering online, I decided to leave that for pros. One more thing. The travel agency called me the other day and said that my return flights have “disappeared”, they simply don’t exist anymore. Glad I have an agency dealing with this situation now.
As you might be able to figure out just by looking at the sheer amount of text I’ve produced you might guess that going to the States as an exchange student is not all that simple. Glad I’m not that lazy. Nevertheless, I’m still in the middle of buying adapters, souvenirs, suitcases and getting some dollars, but it should all be cool by next Monday. At least I hope so.
Great if you managed to read or skim (acedemic style!) through this essay of my preparations. Next one won’t be this long, I hope. Otherwise I’ll be spending my whole exchange on writing these.
I’ll try to post something right before I leave unless I’ll be unable to describe the rollercoaster of feelings I am going through then. Later.
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