Studying in Helsinki University

Some people have been asking me about my average schoolday, so here it goes.

About two hours before my school starts, I try to get up. Too often I hit the snooze button so many times that I end up running around the apartment, trying to sip my coffee while I'm making my bed, feeding the cat and eating breakfast myself.

8-10 minutes before my train leaves, I rush out of the door. I walk 0,7 km to the closest train station in Malminkartano, and take the train to Huopalahti (this takes 6 minutes).




(c) Vartti.fi

  In Huopalahti I switch to the bus (normally I have to wait for 5 minutes at the bus stop right below the train station). Bus number 550 takes me to the campus area in 20 minutes.




(c) Pääkaupunkiseudun bussisivut

 

When all goes well, it takes about 45 minutes for me to get to school. When the traffic is jammed or I have to wait for a train or bus longer periods of time (which is the case in the afternoons), it might easily take over an hour for me to get home. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm used to travelling to Viikki and back and the time that you can freely use just to relax on the bus is often needed just before and after school.

And now we have got to my school. From the bus stop I walk a half a kilometer to this building (picture below) where we have most of our lectures etc. It's called the EE-building.

Other than lectures we dissect animals (mainly cats and dogs but other domestic animals as well), do laboratory tests and use microscopes.



Doing my independent studying with the microscope. We've gotta draw what we see (plus a lot of stuff we don't see but are supposed to...)




Lung tissue. See all the alveolar ducts, alveolar sacs and the alveoli? Me neither.


When the actual school day ends, the actual studying begins.

After a snack and an episode of Bondi Rescue I open one or a few of the books and study ... until I get hungry, or sleepy, or I really need to get on facebook. Or I realize that I haven't organized my drawer in a while and it aboslutely has to be done at this moment, otherwise studying would be impossible. I'm sure you know what I mean.

So, that's it. Occasionally I try to have a normal life and socialize with people. Just kidding, I do lots of other stuff too besides study - sometimes so much that I find myself freaking out a few days before an exam, wondering if I'll ever manage to pass the test. But I guess that just makes me an average university student. :)

New Year's Resolutions

The days just before and after Christmas always pass by quickly. I was blessed to have my Austrian friend Clemens over for a week and spend the New Year's eve with me and my other friends. I had a great time. On Wednesday I will be going to Helsinki for two days, and then come back to Turku to spend the last weekend here before school starts again.

The change of the year always brings potential changes in people's lifes. New year's resolutions often have something to do with a change of lifestyle. There is something in everyone's life that needs to be changed. By that we admit that none of us is living a perfect life, that all of us struggle and fail at times. Imagining someone entirely perfect is difficult for us, let alone someone who knows everything and always does justice to everyone. But that's exactly who God is - and much more. God has no need for New year's resolutions - He has always been perfect and will always be. He will never change. That's what makes it so marvellous to read of all of His promises in the Bible.

God's love for us is so huge that I don't think any human being could ever understand it entirely. Because of His love He took our sin to the cross, and thus provided us a way to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and repented of your sins, God sees you as if you had never sinned. As a person who would have no need for new year's resolutions of better lifestyle. It's all His work and a free gift for you, out of grace and love.

"I - yes, I alone - will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again".

- Isaiah 43:25

"I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no other Savior. First I predicted your rescue, then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world. No foreign god has ever done this. You are witnesses that I am the only God," says the LORD. "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done."

- Isaiah 43:11-13

Let us all keep the gospel message as our focus this year. May it be our resolution for 2012 ;)

Summary of the Fall 2011

It's been long since my last post, I just haven't felt like writing - until now. Don't get me wrong, I still don't have anything exciting to say :D But since I tend to be slow to answer any emails this way you can faster find out what is going on in my life. Please keep the emails coming anyways, I still want to hear how you are doing and want to stay in touch with everyone personally! But until I get the time to write back to you, here's something little.

This fall was pretty busy and quite difficult emotionally. I moved to Helsinki in the end of August, just before I began my studies in Helsinki University. I live in a 65m2 apartment with my roommate Elsa. It takes 40-50 minutes for me to go to school by train and bus, which isn't actually that bad.

Living away from home hasn't been as hard for me as it has been to some other people, because during these last three to four years I've lived away from home more than at home already. This time I'm just not gonna go back living in there anymore.

Even though I didn't really know anyone in Helsinki when I moved there, I wasn't all alone. It's been an incredible blessing to have a roommate, and in September I also bought a kitten that I named Victoria. She is such a wonderful princess and always makes me smile. I don't know what I would've done without them!

And still, it wasn't easy to have such a radical change in life. Worse still, there were several places in Helsinki that I had to go by daily, that reminded me of things I didn't want to be reminded of. The first two months it was incredibly painful, but it forced me to work on those memories and rethink of my life. God's been working in my life, and before He builds up the new stuff, He breaks down the old. Even though it hurts, we have to put to death those things in life that don't glorify Him. Flesh dies hard, but it is always worth the momentary pain and you will be blessed as a result.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:13

Right now I'm spending my winter holiday at my parents'. It's been wonderful to spend time with family and friends and not worry about school. I've also enjoyed the time I've had to listen to some Bible studies on my own. What could be better :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

The God of Hope

Wow. Have you ever come to the point where you think, "if anyone had told me a year/a month/a week ago where I would be now, I wouldn't have believed"? Yup, I'm right there with you. Life is so unpredictable sometimes. Or, as you look back you might see that it was all only a matter of time, but you still couldn't see it coming.

What's comforting is that God knew it all the way from the beginning. As He created you, He saw everything you would do and go through. Still He chose to create you and give you a breath of life. He saw that it was good. Like C.S. Lewis has worded it, God "has specially armed you to go through [tribulations], not without pain but without stain".

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as yet there were] none of them. (Psalm 139:16)

Another thing that is crucial to remember, is that God Himself has allowed everything to happen that has happened. Not that He would've enjoyed it, but He sees so much further than we do. He knows He can use your present situation, no matter difficult it might be right now, to bring Himself and His kingdom glory in the future. He knows He can use anything to transform you more into the image of Jesus, if you only let Him. He never forces Himself on you.

What the enemy has meant for evil, God can use for good.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Reality check

Now it's finally sinking in: the fact that I am in Finland now to stay. These past four years I've been as much abroad as at home, and it feels weird to know that (most likely) I will be studying in Helsinki University for the next six years. 2007-2008 I was in the States, 2009 in France, and 2010-2011 in Hungary (+ traveling all around Eastern Europe). To be honest, if someone had told me all that four years ago I would have laughed with disbelief. It is exciting to see where we will all be four years from now, in 2015!

I was ready and excited to come back to Finland after studying in Hungary for a year. Everything at home seemed almost new yet old, and I had began to appreciate and value everyday things such as cooking for myself. I was surprised at how easy and smooth the adjustment was, the first two weeks everything seemed to be nothing less than amazing.

Now the reality is raising its head. The excitement of being back has worn off and I'm beginning to miss Bible College more and more. I got so used to being among my peers 24/7 that I am now finding myself feeling quite lonely when all of my friends live at least 10 km away. I'm extremely thankful of my job and I like being there, but obviously the fact that I'm working half of the day - mostly evenings - makes me unable to go out with my friends that much or participate in our prayer group. And even when I'm with people I can feel like an outsider because I've been gone for a year and of course haven't been, or am not, included in certain things people talk about.

Please don't get me wrong, I have been warmly welcomed back home! I am blessed to know some of the most amazing people in the world. Before I had even landed on my arrival day, I had gotten a text message from Rachel and we had an ice cream as soon as we could. Tuulia and Aleksi invited me over to their apartment after church on Sunday for lunch, and they even had a little gift for me. Other people also sent me text messages welcoming me home, and you don't know how happy they all made me!

Another fun event took place last weekend, that I mentioned in my previous post. My sister graduated from junior college with very good grades, and we had family members join us to celebrate this. My mom's family and some other people came on Saturday, and my dad's family came on Sunday. I got to meet my new baby cousins that had been born while I was gone! It was an exhausting weekend after an exhausting week, but it was all worth it and at least I enjoyed it a lot.

Meow

My sister is graduating from junior college on Saturday, and my mom has obviously been cleaning and cooking for a couple of weeks already. All this confuses our little cat Nikke. He doesn't seem to understand what all the fuss is about again, the same thing as last year! At least his secret plan of killing our vacuum cleaner was successful (no evidence left at the crime scene, but given that it was his number one enemy of all times makes me suspect his innocence), and now the cleaning has to be done without it.

I'm happy to say that he absolutely loved the toy I got for him from Budapest. It is a mouse that has something jingly inside so it makes a fun noise when Nikke plays around with it. It also has two feathers sticking out of it's bottom, I guess it is the missing link evolutionists are still looking for... ;D

Nikke says meow. He is one of the most talkative cats I know, and I love him for that!

Bye bye Vajta

 It was incredibly sad to leave from Bible College and say goodbye to everyone. After having lived with them for a semester or two they were very dear to me and knowing that it might take years and years after I would see some of them again, felt overwhelming. This post is a brief description of my first 37 hours after leaving Vajta.

I left two days earlier, because WizzAir only flies twice a week to Turku. Luckily three of the pastors were leaving for Germany the same day so I was able to get a ride to the airport. We left at 8.30am and first headed to Ikea to buy a couple of big umbrellas for the school. (By the way, Ikeas all look the same around the world!) The we (Tibi who was driving, Jeremy and Arpi) went to pick up Phil, who then drove us all to McDonald's.

The pastors' flight left four hours (or so) earlier than mine, so I ended up spending some long hours at the airport by myself. Luckily there was a nice café where I had also waited for my family for six hours a half a year ago when they visited me in Hungary.

Finally the time came to check in and go through the customs. My flight was 15 minutes late, which isn't too bad. After the take-off I tried to sleep for two and a half hours before landing in foggy and rainy Turku.

My family knows my "homecoming rituals" pretty well already since I've been travelling more than been at home during these past four years. Karjalanpiirakat and munavoi were ready, and my mom had baked princess cake for me. On my desk was a basket full of chocolate and other nice stuff. Our cat Nikke wanted to play with his new toy mouse that I had got for him from Budapest, and I had long meow-conversations with him.

The next day I had a dentist appointment at 10.30am. Straight from there I went grocery shopping with my mom, visited my sister at her workplace, and went to see my workplace to ask when I could start there this summer. I was surprised when they asked me to start in two hours, and I said yes. I rushed back home to eat some lunch, called Helsinki University and paid for my next year's tuition, finished unpacking which I had started in the morning, and headed back to my workplace.



Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God (Ps 92:13)

 
When I got off at 9.15pm, I was exhausted. I hadn't even been in Finland for 24 hours, and had already completed one full day of work. Well, this is what Pam Markey taught us in re-entry class; to get into the routine right away. I just didn't plan it to be this extreme :D It's been good, however, and today I got to sleep in for the first time in a few weeks.

Tomorrow I'm working again, and Saturday is my dad's birthday. I'm especially looking forward to Sunday and church in the morning! I can't wait to see everyone again. :)