Our colleagues said they got more out of our visit than they had hoped or expected; always a great compliment to get. There may be ways now to collaborate on research and see how career writing might become part of curricula or training for career professionals in Finland.
Frans and I also enjoyed our trip to Koli, a gorgeous national site where we had snow-filled views of a long valley with endless lakes. These scenes have inspired Finnish painters whose work we admired in Helsinki. In Joensuu we also spent an evening in a traditional Finnish summer cottage where we shared good food and conversation with our colleagues. They were all very welcoming, generous and humble.
These self-effacing folks told us that the Finns aren’t likely to do a lot of hugging, but that being naked together in a sauna is just fine…that is, as long as you sit side by side, careful not to touch.
In October our work travels take us to the University of Iceland where we’ll also present career writing and career-dialogue training.
