Summer in the City

I have now been in Finland for nearly two weeks and everything is going ok. It has been good to get away from England and immerse myself into the culture and sophistication that is Helsinki. Lots of things have happened at the same time over the last few weeks and there seems to be no simple pathway to the next part of my life. I am almost coming to the end of my dissertation (which I am enjoying)and im looking forward to handing it in. I didn't get the funding for the PhD which means that I am somewhat in limbo as to whether to continue with the studying, at the very least I suppose I will start it part time. At first I was a little annoyed with the department, seeing that I have been at the university for a few years and I have paid god knows how much money in there tight little pockets. Now i just feel that theres not much you can do in these situations, its a dog eat dog world blah blah blah. I could equally be quite annoyed with the English education system as a whole but that would conclude nothing, thousands of poor students are in the same boat. So I will try to do something but I have no concrete plan yet.

On one of the first days in Finland I nearly drowned. Im not one for melodramatic updates but this event has made me rethink quite a lot. My initial response to it all was that lifes to short, all this worrying..I shouldnt bother..blah blah blah. But now I have had time to really think I dont want to stop this PhD dream. Life really is too short and if I give in I'll end up making a rash decision and ultimately find myself in a boring dead end job. Sod that.

The last two weeks have also given me the chance to see Helsinki in Summer which in a word is beautiful. Even though this is my 5th or 6th visit i have learnt more in this one visit. I have usually visited during winter but now in summer the whole city is transformed which I think has led me to see more of it and understand how big the place actually is. I dont know if its because I have no real life plan or if Helsinki is just wonderful but I dont want to leave. If I would be guaranteed a job or a PhD place then I would stay. The more I visit this place the more layers are peeled off , I understand more, see more, want more. Today i will go to one 'museum' to see The Real Citizen exhibition in Helsinki which will hopefully inspire me with my dissertation.

I will put some nice pictures on the next post!