Life and Things Like That Around the World
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1320--Bleh24 May, 2009 | Posted by: person63
Dear Finland:Oreo Cookies = Good
Salted Liquorice = Bad
Salted Liquorice flavoured Oreos = Awful
My note to self: Be sure to avoid these things or anything labelled with "Salmiak" (Salted Liquorice) in the future. I am trying to make my way through this box of cookies, but I can only eat one at a time. The first time I ate one of these, I apparently made a funny noise and a funny face. I was expecting it to taste like an oreo, not Nordic Liquorice.
To be fair, a lot of Scandinavians like this salted liquorice. I don't think I have ever tasted any as strong as in Sweden or Finland, so I have avoided it here on purpose. Until I learned they put it in chocolate and Oreos.
1319--Adjustments for Chemistry22 May, 2009 | Posted by: person63
There have of course been adjustments to starting work here and I mean more than only using the metric system. The first is that timing is a little more casual. When a meeting starts at "nine in the morning", it actually starts at 9:15. In order to have it start right at 9:00, one must indicate that the meeting actually starts at 9:01. That's when people know that you are serious about the start time. I learned that lesson the second day of work when we had a meeting at nine, and I showed up right at nine and the room was empty. However I think my boss got an enjoyable laugh out of that.Additionally this lab has someone who just washes glassware and keeps the machines running at top quality. This person works here as a technician who has really helped me locate items when I cannot find them in the laboratory. But it still is an alien concept to have someone who washes the glassware in the laboratory for me--always I have had to wash my own (and sometimes other people's). There are also technicians who help with the manufaturing of certain devices (such as helping me make my reference electrodes). This may not be a cultural difference as much as a difference in the labs, but this is a change between this lab and the one at Tech.
So I have had to cope with the metric system a bit here. In science the metric system is used throughout the experiments, so I have been used to this system for these years. However some of the materials I use for work in the US are measured in inches because that is how the manufacturers' machines and methods are tuned. So sometimes I have been asked sizes of what we do in the US and the conversion rate is sometimes a little much to do in my head at the moment (such as cubic inches to cubic cm, or something like that). But like I have said, coping with the metric system hasn't been that big of an adjustment.
Today during coffee: We talked about American accents and made some pretty funny immitations. Additionally we talked about how some eastern Europeans will make their own alcoholic beverages (vodka, wine, etc) for their own personal consumption. Then we were told that chemists used to use the ethanol from the lab to make their own beverages; why is why ethanol is now shipped in plastic bottles over here and that the [alcohol police] will come and visit our lab occasionally. *Alcohol is taxed heavily here in Finland, so it is important that the government makes sure that all heavy alcohol
1318--Hiking or Work? Tough Question...21 May, 2009 | Posted by: person63
Tuesday morning at work: "Would you rather perform chemistry or go for a hike and have a picnic?" Not a tough question to answer, so almost everyone who had the free time chose to go on the hiking excursion that the university funded for our department (Åbo Akademi's Laboratory of Analyical Chemistry). If you can see, our lab is quite large, so this trip was a great way to become acquainted with both the area where I am living and also the people I will be working with for another twelve weeks). I live in the southwest archipelago area, so we went to another island that is close to where our secretary lives that a lot of people may not have been to before. The first thing we did was climb to the highest point around, which is more than a hill but not too much. Finland is not the Nordic country to go to if you want to see numerous fjords or magnificent mountains--it's beauty is in the paucity of large features so that you can see forests and nature for miles and miles.
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1317--Coffee14 May, 2009 | Posted by: person63
Coffee is very important to Finns here--Finland is the number one coffee consuming country in the world, at almost 10 kg per person per year. My customs book said that coffee breaks are essentially mandatory during the work day. And that's pretty close to the truth. Everyone at work gets together around the same time each day and talk about whatever comes to mind. It costs 5 euros per month for the costs of the coffee and tea and it is definitely worth it. I enjoy hearing about what people have to say because I get to look into the cultures at work.So I will start a coffee talk exit about something interesting I learned during coffee at work.
Today's coffee talk: 30 is sort of a milestone about having children. Having 5 children before 30 is a very weird thing.
1316--First day at work11 May, 2009 | Posted by: person63
So today was my first day at work. I spent the morning running around Turku (okay, walking) trying to turn in paperwork. There is so much paperwork to do for starting studies, getting the internet, getting a bus pass, signing my lease at the right office since I got lost last time I went there, etc. And then I got back in time for lunch.After lunch I started working on my proposal for Janata group for this fall and finished that. My boss came over to talk to me after being in meetings all day and said that we will talk tomorrow after the group meeting and photoshoot. So I need to show up tomorrow at nine.
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