The years to come

Now that the time has changed, the sun sets around 4:30 in the evening, which is pretty much the latest I've ever seen it set in the U.S., where I live. In a way then, if I thought that was depressing in the U.S., you'd think I'd be in for something else, but now it's all new and to me left to be discovered. I think I've made it past October, which for me wasn't entirely entertaining. Now I'm making new friends and acquaintances, and having people to hang out with and speak Finnish (when I can manage).

I've also been putting more thought into staying here an extra year, or who knows, transferring to finish my studies. As I've learned today the entrance exam is only offered in Finnish and Swedish, which at the moment seems like a rather daunting task. On one hand, I've certainly got experience and have been taking classes in Finnish and completing exams and learning through Finnish, but an entrance exam?
I've never taken one in English. Who can be sure. I'm tempted to go for it anyway.

It looks like there are other options, such as applying as a free mover-- perhaps this would make it possible to gain the skills necessary to pass entrance exams. Yet another would be that maybe I should just go home for a year to finish my studies in the U.S., before coming back to apply in Finland, but to me, it seems like moving back and forth might just be too irritating. The reason I'm talking about this now is not just that I've been thinking it over for a while, but it's now on the edge of November, and admissions season is nearly beginning for the university here.

It's an interesting prospect. I guess right now, too, I'm stuck between departments in a sense. I've been taking more classes in the department of Finno-Ugrian Studies as a result of having nearly all of my linguistics training out of the way, and knowing generals of the field to be able to persue higher linguistic entertainment, but it seems like if I were to apply anywhere, it would be to the department of General Linguistics. I guess in that sense, it's time to check out what the department is up to and maybe attempt to get involved.

Like someone in my Sámi class had said, she wasnt too sure what the general linguistics department would have to offer me if I came, and I guess I seemed to have (unfortunately) found that, at least based on class listings, which basically equate to the class listings from home. I guess that's why I'm slowly falling into Finno-Ugrian studies in an official academic sense; it's where my interests lie and what I want to learn more about.

* * *

So, this quarter (which has just begun today), I'm taking some new classes on the history of the study of Finno-Ugristics, and then something on foundations of multidisciplinary research of Sámi. This semester also, I'm taking a course on the History of Russia until 1917, which has so far been very interesting. The instructor is attempting to explain Russia's identity, and so far this all seems very agreeable to me. Russia has always struggled with its own identity, trying to figure out whether or not it is Asian or European, and was clearly (for a time) some sort of imperial power. To me, Russia will always remain Russia, not exactly European and not exactly Asian.

I guess what is most confusing about the whole of Russian identity is that if you go with just the geographical area, Russia is not only an agricultural society, but a nomadic society. Spread all throughout the peripheral areas of Russia, there are (to list a few) the Tuvans, the Sámi, the Tartars, Evenkis, and Aleuts. Some of these people have according to the lecturer, had a large formative role in Russian identity, and to their credit, the Tartars and Mongols did manage to terrorize Russia for quite a long time. So, what is Russia? Guess I'll find out.

Gives me things to think over though. It seems like the lecturer has this sort of hope of infecting us with one of the things he sees as a point of russian identity, and that is sitting around the kitchen table discussing Russian identity. I could see it happening, for sure.