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.maybe 5 minutes on my old rather stylish one speed bike,
a mode of transport as common here as the tram in Melbourne.
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!
