Welcome to My International Year Abroad blog

If I were to ever choose a perfect class with a perfect professor in the perfect circumstance with the perfect lessons and the perfect amount of questions and answers to be asked…it would be Adaptation Charting.

So funny, first time I read the title of this class I was thinking it’s something very technical and uninteresting so I passed on it. Then later on, I was in need of more credits and this would have been one of my last options, so I went for it eventually, not knowing what to expect…best decision ever? mmm probably yes. I can’t even call it a class, it was more like a meeting, or maybe more like a discussion? a comfort class? a therapy session? a friendly hang out…it was a lot of things and still nothing classifies to describe it appropriately.

Our task was given on the first day we met: to document our semester as exchange students here in Rovaniemi, and it could have taken any form we wanted, again a lot of freedom… we were shown past examples of collages, journals, series of paintings, engravings, choreography. We could choose absolutely any artistic form of expression, very creative and very stimulating, I was already inspired and captivated by the end of the first class.

As the time went by, weekly classes were held, each with what would at first appear to be random discussions and lectures. They were fun, playful, sometimes sad, emotional, contemplative, but each time educative. The main topics were our journey development as exchange students, the Finnish lifestyle, culture shock and differences, the weather, life, personal stories, feelings, introspection.

By trying to understand what the purpose of this unusual class was, I came to the conclusion that it was simply a way of making us more aware of the baggage that we were about to create in these 4 months, and the baggage that each one of us was already carrying when we got here.

By the end of the course, I managed to print a little visual journal that documented my weekly feelings across these 4 months, by using photography, text, music and colours. Not the greatest graphic design piece, but a great personal piece to capture what the whole experience felt like.

Lessons learnt? Not too many technicalities, but rather increased internal + external awareness, I would say it helped a lot in the department of not feeling lonely, misunderstood, or wrong, it improved everyone’s confidence, composure and adaptability. Just seeing everyone loosen up as time went by and observing the freedom and joy in their creative results offered me a new perspective on the artistic process and how to properly experience it.

valuable questions to be asked

• how much has my past influenced me here?
• why am I here?
• where am I going with this?
• how am I transformed here?
• am I present enough now?