EMCL - A new adventure

Meanwhile, I've been immersed in a new adventure of my life for a few days. I have been accepted to the European Master Clinical Linguistics. This means that I will be living in Finland for the next 6 months. Finland is also called 'the land of the thousands of lakes'. Let me first tell you about the place where the university is. Joensuu is located in eastern Finland and more northen of Helsinki. Joensuu means 'mouth of the river' and was founded by a Russian Tsar (Nicolaas I) in 1848. Joensuu has about 75,000 inhabitants and there is even a small airport! In Finland it can be very cold during winter. January is the coldest month with up to -5 degrees and at least -18 (ap) degrees in Joensuu. It is also dark for a long time of the day in winter. On the shortest day (December 22) the sun shines less than 5 hours. In addition, in Finland is it one hour later than in the Netherlands.

<The University of Joensuu

During EMCL (abbreviation of the name of the master) in Finland, I will at least learn the foundation of Finnish. In addition, I will get courses in which I learn about language disorders and research into language disorders. It is a research master after all. We also get lessons in general linguistic research (what is language, how does it work in our brain etc.) and what research questions you can ask. Of course, statistics is also a part of a research master, because ultimately you need to analyze data to make conclusions. The first lesson start on September 11th. Before, we will get an introductory week with general information. I will meet all other students there.

In Joensuu, an organization (Elli) provides apartments for students. You simply apply at the website and if a room is available, you get a message. I will live in the west of Joensuu in a newly renovated building. So I'm very curious how it looks! I even know who my roommates will be. Two girls who also study EMCL! A French and a German girl, so maybe I can practice my languages ​​a bit. Furthermore, some other EMCL students will live in the same building. Each building also has a sauna so you can warm up in winter. Yes, that seems to be a big thing in Finland. An experience I do not want to miss is to take a sauna and then jump into the cold lake.

The apartments of Elli usually do not have furniture. Yesterday (Wednesday) we (a Dutch student, French roommate, and I) were in hunting for furniture in Joensuu. At least, I was able to score a second hand bed. In addition, I bought a nice corner office, a chair, and a nice relaxing chair. This morning we collected the key from the apartment. My first furniture will be delivered today. Afterwards, we will go to Jysk for a mattress, pillow, and duvet.

 

Meanwhile, I am very busy with the preparation of a poster presentation about the tDCS research I conducted in Russia. I will give this presentation at a conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference is from 11 to 14th of September. It's a lot of work right now, but I'm definitely looking forward to the conference. This is my first conference and I find it very exciting!

A cute , wooden house in Joensuu