{"id":413,"date":"2017-04-19T10:10:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T07:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/?p=413"},"modified":"2025-07-14T10:34:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T07:34:27","slug":"an-abundance-of-first-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/2017\/04\/19\/an-abundance-of-first-times\/","title":{"rendered":"An abundance of first times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>No, not the first times you are thinking of! Yeah, I just assumed what you would be thinking of while reading that title (which I agonized over choosing), but I\u2019m talking about a whole set of first times that would be insignificant to most. I believe in treasuring each and every moment, feeling and landscape, and that is why my list of first times is endless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As someone who came by almost two weeks after the official start of the semester, I must admit it was pretty hectic putting everything into order, getting a grasp of the situation, late-registering for the courses, buying furniture and dealing with a cold weather. Well, most would laugh at 0\u00b0C being considered cold weather but hey, you can\u2019t blame a Moroccan for experiencing a temperature shock away from the 15\u00b0C they left back home!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/IMG_20170304_214140_762.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2408\" height=\"2304\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/IMG_20170304_214140_762.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/IMG_20170304_214140_762.jpg 2408w, https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/IMG_20170304_214140_762-768x735.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2408px) 100vw, 2408px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Slowly afterwards, I finally came to enjoy Finland through Joensuu, its winter, landscapes, people, the laid-back yet motivating and efficient educational system and all the events that go in between. I took my time admiring every nook and cranny, including aspects as trivial as separate roads for bicycles and satisfyingly coordinated traffic lights. I also got to enjoy long safe walks in the snow even at late times at night and in deserted places such as lakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/04\/2-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As such, coming to Finland I experienced my first time traveling outside the country, getting on a plane, having my own room, freezing from cold, making foreign friends, doing activities in the snow, taking both my hands off the handle while sprinting on my bike through the streets, using English for so long, clubbing, enjoying peaceful night bus rides and much, much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more to come! (hopefully seeing Northern Lights this late in the season by some kind of miracle)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abir Hassani<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No, not the first times you are thinking of! Yeah, I just assumed what you would be thinking of while reading that title (which I agonized over choosing), but I\u2019m talking about a whole set of first times that would be insignificant to most. I believe in treasuring each and every moment, feeling and landscape, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[5,61,22,67,18,24],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comingtofinland","tag-erasmus-international-credit-mobility","tag-finnish","tag-incoming","tag-joensuu","tag-student-mobility-for-studies","tag-uef"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An abundance of first times - On the move<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/on-the-move\/2017\/04\/19\/an-abundance-of-first-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An abundance of first times - On the move\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No, not the first times you are thinking of! 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