Adventures in Finland: The first week

So I am now done with my first week of classes. I actually didn't have any classes today, so was technically done with them yesterday. Today, I walked the 3.5 or so km into the city center to find Joulupukki TV, which is run out of an apartment downtown. I met one of the guys who will be my supervisors, but won't meet my boss, the one I've been communicating with the most, until our meeting on Tuesday. They gave me 4 of their most recently produced DVD postcards to look through so I know what kind of format will be used for my work. This way I'll have more of an idea of what to talk about for the meeting. I'm gonna try and find a place to buy a bicycle, as it will make the trip much faster, because the 25-30 minutes each way is way too long of a commute each day, especially with classes added in there.

I finally found out my class schedule for the rest of the semester, and it is definitely different from the American format. Different classes begin and end at seemingly random times throughout the semester. For instance, Asian Trade, which started this past week, ends in the beginning of February. Also, I still have 2 more classes, Business Communication, and International Sales Negotiations, which have not yet begun. Business Communication class begins January 25th, and Sales Negotiations begins March 1. My last class will end around the middle of April, which will be really nice for multiple reasons. First, it will give me more time to travel some. A group of us are planning on visiting Norway and Sweden one week, and I also plan to go down to Helsinki to visit some friends that I have been chatting with online for a few years now. Secondly, it also gives me lots of time to just work without worrying about school. Finally, it allows me the flexibility to return a little early for Rachel's wedding!

So yesterday I went to the gym that is just across the street from the dorms here. It's not huge, but is really nice. Has all pretty new equipment, leg press, bench, and some other stuff, and my personal favorite, a heavy bag and boxing gloves. So, I exhausted myself there yesterday with some of the other guys, then we all went to the sauna, which felt great after a workout.
The weather's been a little colder than earlier in the week, averaging around -9 to -15, so has been pretty good for the most part, although the walk back from the city center today was pretty brutal because the wind was in my face the whole time.

Anyways, time for more pictures.

The view outside my dorm room window, the building on the left is the girls dorm, and the one on the right (single floor one) is the dorm office, laundry room, and sauna.

The rock path that lines the road I take to school every day.

Another shot of the road I take to school.

Closeup of branches of the trees lining the road to school.

Main road in town (Valtatie 4) on left side of shot, I'm on the bike/pedestrian path off to the side of it.

Harjulampi (Ridge Lake) frozen over, and those dots are people walking across it. That's the fastest way to get across town since the lake sort of divides the city.