Last night I stayed in the Hermica Hotel. A little expensive, but better than staying on the streets. When I arrived in Tampere yesterday evening the temperature was only -4 degrees, which is not very cold for this time of year. However, it seems that they have had a bad winter and last week there was still no snow. I arrived just late enough to avoid the sleet and ice. Today the snow is everywhere as if it has been snowing all winter. I phoned my parents from the hotel and lucky for me they have some phone problems: it didn’t appear on their computer and I didn’t have to pay.

Today there were a couple of important things to organize: a flat, my contract, phone, and my laptop. Of course, I also had to sort out matters for the courses I am going to teach. OHJ-2050 is fine, although I still have to update the webpages. OHJ-5016 is another matter: it seems that the previous lecturer presented it as a self-study seminar, and I guess that can work, but I would like to have a discussion session each week. We’ll see who shows up on Monday. There are still some South African matters that I have to sort out, but I hope to finish all of that by the end of February. So the biggest important issue is my doctoral studies.

Being back in Finland is strange. I’ll need a few days to get used to it. It is not so much the physical circumstances: I’ve spent enough time here to know what to expect, and how practical things work. But mentally I have to change gears. I’ve been trying to remember what it was like last year, and I think that there were two “modes”: during the first half I was more relaxed, and my life was pretty much as it had always been, as if I were living in Finland for a long time. During the second half of my last visit, I was working all out and, apart from my two trips (the bear watching and the west coast tour with Antti and Maria) I did nothing except work. One big difference is that at the start of my last visit, I hadn’t been in Finland for about two years (except for my thesis defense). This time, it has only been 7 months and I find that it makes a difference. This description is perhaps not very coherent, but the point is that I need to find a “zone” to work and think in. Of course this kind of thing evolves, but I reckon it will take at least two weeks before I settle in to a good routine.

At least the university flat that I am staying in is convenient. It is fully furnished, which means that I do not have to buy all the essentials again. At least not immediately. I will only stay until the end of February and then I need to find a TOAS flat, but for now my life is pretty luxurious.