Life's an adventure not a worry....

A friend gave me a t-shirt with that slogan and it's been my motto for the year so far. So true it is, if you reflect on the little (or big) challenges that life throws at you. They say that hindsight is a wonderful thing. I'm not sure if it is really wonderful, in fact, in some cases I'd say that it is a bad thing, as it allows you the possibility to look back at some decisions and curse yourself for making mistakes. But, if you use it purely to give you perspective then it may be considered beneficial.

So, as I sit here in my student apartment, alone, with darkness falling outside in the middle of the afternoon, the day after Christmas, I try to remain positive and repeat that slogan over in my head... "life's an adventure, not a worry". As I reflect on the year that was, I can't really believe that I'm in this little apartment, in Jyväskylä, Finland, at Christmas. It is almost difficult to imagine the places that I have been this year, if it wasn't for the memories and the hundreds, or thousands of photos that I have collected. To think that I was at work in March in Melbourne, then in the Caribbean in April sailing a catamaran with my mates as we cruised from island to island in search of some spectacular one day cricket. To think then that in July I was in Las Vegas and LA at the end of a 3 month road trip around America and Canada, shortly after followed by a couple of weeks in both Ireland and England. I landed here in September and now, 4 months on, with most of the students having returned home for Christmas, I have the chance to think a lot about the year and it seems kind of bizarre.

Bizarre is definitely a word I have run through my head many times over the last few months. Usually it is followed by what the "%$@ am I doing in Finland? A question which is asked regularly by those Finns who I have met at various times since arriving. They're curious to know why I came to Jyväskylä and sometimes I ask myself the same question - Dave, why did you come to Finland? It is then that I reflect on the various challenges that I have faced over the last year or so and I think about when I was sitting at my desk in Melbourne feeling bored one day and searching for answers as to what the future should hold. Study is one option I thought and after some internet searching for various subject fields, I came across Sports Management at the University of Jyväskylä Finland. Finland! Reflecting now, I think I decided to apply because it was a radical manoeuvre. I thought maybe my life needs a drastic change. Maybe I was drawn to the mysteriousness of Finland, of reindeer, Santa and Saunas and beautiful women. The reality though was a desire to try something new, to take a risk and explore a different path. I thought the course material looked interesting and the free tuition was a drawcard.

I remember finding out that I was accepted when I was in St Vincent and going for some ice and beer supplies to the nearest dockside facilities. I thought, shit, now I have to decide whether I go or not. "Life's an adventure, not a worry" again popped into my head and I thought stuff it, why not? Some part of thinks in hindsight, was that the best decision... what if I had have turned down the offer and gone home instead, and believe me there were certainly times throughout the USA roadtrip that I could have jumped straight on a plane and headed back to see my family and friends. Again, I thought, I've taken the risk so far and If I never go, then I'll never know.

I remember arriving here at my apartment and feeling like I was going back in time, I thought what's a 30 year old doing here in this student village, starting uni again. The first weeks were exciting though and I was sure I'd settle in okay once I got going and I was determined to work hard to make my studies worthwhile. In my last entry I was writing that I was still quite enthusiastic having had a few weeks of classes. The material was quite different from my first degree in Engineering, and certainly the environment was different from my first foray into university. So what happened next?

I questioned my motives, I thought about the culture and lifestyle of Melbourne, of my friends and family back in Australia. I thought about where I wanted my life to be headed in the next few years and again I thought what the $%#^ am I doing here? I was partying with exchange students, having a good time with the others from my course but I've always been feeling like my time here is holding me back. I've constantly thought "I don't feel like myself, I don't feel that I'm living life with the energy and enthusiasm that my friends have come to recognise in me when I'm in the zone. I didn't feel "Dave". I almost felt like Jim Carrey in the Truman Show, like I was living life but almost artificially.

I have laid awake at night many times this past Autumn here and wrestled with my decision. Do I stay here for two years and finish the course or do I go home and go back to work and try something else. So many times I would change my mind. It's not so bad here, the people are nice, student life is kind of fun... then... what are you doing, you're already qualified professional, you have things you want to do, activities you want to engage in, people you want to enjoy life with... So hard it has been to fight the challenges... not to worry... to look at this as an adventure.. and hindsight comes again. I think, I wouldn't have known what this was like if I never gave it a go. Someone once said to me, "the hardest thing is always to leave... the easiest option is to stay wherever you are". This was true when I was first interested to come here... it was hard to accept the offer, and now it has been hard to make a decision about leaving, but I was sick of indecision, of worrying about what was the right decision. I knew that whatever decision I made it would be the right one. And so I bit the bullet and booked a return.

There are positives for staying here and there are positives for going home. I haven't felt one hundred percent enthusiastic since the first few weeks of the course. I haven't felt challenged or that I am learning much at all that I haven't learned through life experience and working. Sure I've gained some more direct insights into a field of study that I haven't touched before but I've weighed up the physical, emotional and financial demands of staying here and tried to put them into perspective in terms of my future and I am determined to make a new start in Melbourne again.

I know that I will cop some criticism from some for not sticking it out and I'll take that with a grain of salt because I know how tough it has been to come to this decision. Often I think that my life is tough, that for some it appears so straight forward and easy and then I wear that t-shirt proudly, that whilst maybe I haven't got it all worked out, at least I'm having an adventure while trying. I'm off to Poland tomorrow and then Germany and Switzerland. I figure I might as well have a good time before I head off! Check out my travel blog for some updates on that later on. didjidave.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... and remember

Life's an adventure, not a worry.

Dave.

A Student Again

When I thought about the possibility of studying again, I considered many options. Study full time in Melbourne (my home town); study part time whilst working; study in Australia; study overseas; Study in Finland! What the....??

Having left Melbourne in March for a whirlwind sailing tour of the Caribbean and the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and a subsequent road trip through the USA, I was continually contemplating my options. What would I do if I discovered that my study application was successful? Did I really want to go to another country for 2 years? Shouldn't I go back to work and be responsible, save for a house, pay off the debts, blah blah...

When the application result came back positive I was tempted to say "thanks but I've changed my mind". After all, travel can take a lot out of you, physically and mentally and at times in the States I'd felt that I'd reached the limit. But it takes a lot of strength and courage to make life changing decisions and I didn't want to look back and say 'I wasn't courageous enough to follow my ideas'. So here I am. In Jyväskylä, Central Finland, all the way from Australia!.

Having arrived in late August via train from Tampere and plane from the UK , where I'd taken the opportunity to catch up with some old friends, I'm now settled into the well established student accommodation that is provided for international students. A small but large enough 2 bedroom flat with kitchen, bathroom and study facilities (desk, chair, bookshelves and high speed internet access).

My wonderful abode is only a short ride from the University of Jyväskylä,
maybe 5 minutes on my old rather stylish one speed bike,
a mode of transport as common here as the tram in Melbourne.

I have begun the first of four semesters of a Master's Degree in Sport Science and Management with a focus on Sports Sociology and Sports Planning. Having slogged my way through hour upon hour of calculus, differential equations, environmental chemistry and other numerous technical focussed lectures during my engineering degree some years ago, I envisaged the subject material in this programme to be more to my taste. Having conquered 4 weeks already, my enthusiasm remains which I think is a testament to my initial interest and of course my reason to apply.

Jyväskylä is a nice town, predominantly a student town with a population of about 80,000. Of course in a student town you need to live a student lifestyle and I am managing at the moment after the transition from work to travel to study. On the odd occasion I do imagine being able to walk into a nice restaurant in Melbourne with a bottle of McLarenvale Shiraz and order a classy meal and not worry about the size of the bill. Those moments usually come when I'm filling up my glass with milk and contemplating the fish or the sausage casserole in the University Cafeteria. Still, at least the meals are subsidised for students and a more than adequate main meal for lunch will only set me back 2 and a half Euro (about 4 Aussie dollars). Sometimes I feel like Hawkeye or Pearce from M*A*S*H* chowing down at the mess tent!

So life for the most part so far has been dominated by introductory sessions into living in Jyväskylä, meet and greet sessions with university staff, public representatives and others wishing to welcome all the students to their town and of course the first few weeks of subject material.

The first introductory lecture was quite something to behold with around 400 students from all over the world all being introduced to each other. In my programme alone, which consists of 20 students, there are 11 nationalities represented. The challenge for me as a native English speaker, will be to express myself clearly so that I am able to be understood by people from China, Africa and Europe. Already I have been translating my expressions into text book English!

Of course I am missing the delights of home and my friends, particularly since I haven't set foot on Australian soil now for over 6 months, but I'm making new friends and participating in activities like Finnish Baseball which make this experience exciting. I'm certainly more motivated to study than I was the first time around and I will continue to maintain that attitude as long as I can. Hopefully until the completion of a Master's Degree. For those interested, I am considering the following topic: "That the development of elite sports is detrimental to the concept of "sport for all". I'll keep you posted.

As the sun sets 5-10 minutes earlier every night, I think of the upcoming summer in Australia and long for the sand and the surf, the Eucalyptus trees, Vegemite and the odd Tim-Tam, but my thoughts soon fade and an element of excitement appears as I imagine a December with snow, with Reindeers and with outdoor ice skating!

Nahdaan! (see you!)