The Fulbright orientation was quite an experience to take in. With all the resources and planning that go into the preparation, the orientation program felt like a small microcosm of Finland. All of the programming was on time, all the speakers were insightful experts in their fields, and they were all quite open to emails and getting into contact with them.
Perhaps the most humorous incident for me was my initial introduction to the Fulbright director, Ms. Terhi Mölsä. Apparently there was a phone call the night before between the U.S. Embassy and the Fulbright Center and my name came up on both sides! As a result, everyone was probably quite curious to meet me.
However, the most important observation that came out of this first week was how much the support staff and the lecturers appreciated my language skills. It felt so refreshing to be able to at least communicate my interests, my background, and ask a few questions in Finnish. I think it makes such a big difference and I’m quite motivated to keep going because I set myself a high bar ( I want to be fluent in Finnish and be able to express my personality via the language and write in a way that allows me to function completely in the business / professional world).
Some of the wonderful people I met over the week included Ambassador Adams, Veera from SITRA, Ville (a former Fulbrighter), Matti (my Fulbright buddy), and just the whole Fulbright team and all the other students and scholars here in Finland (I’m sure I missed a bunch of people). I think most of the people I met have a common thread; they’re open and honest approach to any questions, as well as deeply passionate about what they do.
So I suppose, so far so good! And I suppose, kiitos kaikille!
A Californian in Finland 