20.3.2021

Spring is… wait for it… coming!

Winter is almost over and our friends from MSc EF in Joensuu, Finland are doing some activities in preparation for Spring. Some went for bird watching, barbeque and ice fishing in last week and it was amazing. Making the most out of their time here through these kinds of activity, in a small group, is the best way they cope up with the current situation.

In past week, some students like Sara and Luigui joined with some Finn researcher on some bird watching and catching at Kuhasalo. This is where you feel that spring is almost here as you see birds gradually flying around. We even see it in our window flats randomly and it’s a nice thing to see!

Some of us decided to go on some barbeque (Karuna, Fellice, Johanna, Darius, and Pablo) last Sunday at Utraansari which is just a few kilometers away from their flats. I must say it is very convenient and cute. On another day this week, Pablo and Darius did some ice fishing in the same area. I bet you wouldn’t want to guess how much they caught but they sure did have a good time. They did it the Finnish way of fishing and it couldn’t get nicer!

With all the ice melting and the sun shining in most days, students are living the new normal of hanging out in small groups and thinking of different activities to ease the boredom this situation brought in Joensuu. It is a nice way also for bonding and getting to know each other now that they are also preparing for their applied period in the summer.

As for the online classes, visiting the university helped also in the situation. The students do their meetings in the university and do some schoolwork. But as international students, it is still better to have in-person classes and interact socially with classmates and other students. Though, we think this semester is slightly better than the Autumn because of the sun and people are getting used to it.