Settling in Bloomington, IN

After the orientation in Washington, DC it was time for us to fly to Indiana and start another week of orientation in Bloomington. Center for International Education, Development and Research (CIEDR) at Indiana University is hosting us this fall semester and they have done an amazing job planning and organizing everything and helping us settle in. They have helped us go through all the paperwork needed and taken us to various offices at the university, to a local bank, to the social security office, etc. They have even helped us get to the grocery stores, get local cell phones and things for our appartments. The first few days would have been very different without our CIEDR friends.

Even though we will only stay here for one semester, it has required surprisingly much paperwork, different documents from our home countries as well as from the U.S. before and after our arrival in the U.S. It has been an extremely educating process that started last spring and a good way to learn about the various offices and how many things are done here. And many things are actually done very similarly in Finland. One thing that I admire about Americans is how helpful and kind everyone is. No matter who you ask or no matter which office you visit, everyone is so happy to help you with friendly smile to make you feel welcome.

During the orientation week in Bloomington we also walked around the campus and even got to visit the local elementary and high school for the first time. We were given a very walm welcome there as well. I'm looking forward to the weekly visits to Bloomington North High School that will start next week and getting to know the campus and the city of Bloomington better as well. Exciting weeks ahead, I'm sure.