Listening to local music and news has helped me pronounce and practice my vocabulary. My favorite Finnish band is currently KUUMAA.
This past week, I had an event in Helsinki (the capital of Finland) to meet with new Fulbright Scholars participating in the Leaders for Global Schools program, where administrators and teachers from schools K-12 are in Finland to learn how the school system works here. This program allows them to learn about different teaching methods for students and how they can use these to aid them in improving the way that education is practiced within their schools. I attended one of the events to meet all these amazing people and talk about the schools they work at and how they enjoy learning about Finnish culture.
I spent a few days in Helsinki exploring the city and visiting museums after this event. My closest friends from my Fulbright year and I went to a few art museums to see new exhibits with beautiful art pieces. We also went to the Chinese New Year festival to get some delicious Chinese food in the city center! Lastly, we went to the national library in Helsinki to do some school work, which is my favorite part of Helsinki to do homework. It is beautiful and has a great environment to focus on studies.
I read a bunch of academic articles for my classes. These included research on environmental policy, how society has changed within the energy sector and how to write sustainability reports.
