Tranquility Interrupted – My Fulbright Semester in Finland
By John Donnellan
Published on June 18, 2020
It is rather ironic that I am writing this paper from my Pennsylvania home instead of my apartment in Turku, Finland. As the recipient of the first Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) Scholars award, my return flight should have been on May 31st and not on March 22nd. But then again, so much has happened to me, the USA and the globe since March 22nd.
Looking back to a gentler time in 2019, I recall being awarded my second Fulbright Finland grant. This was such an honor for me and for my school – New Jersey City University School of Business [NJCU] – where I am chair of the Management Department. Fulbright’s awards are very prestigious to the school, the department, the faculty and students. NJCU is a top Fulbright school for students, and the School of Business has two Fulbright Scholars at the moment.
In January 2020, my trip to Turku was uneventful and without issues. Everything was perfect from the logistics to meeting my sponsor at TUAS, Dr. Roslöf, the Head of Education and Research (Master School). After my arrival in Turku, we went to my assigned apartment at Uudenmaankatu 6, and it was minimalist and functional in design that reflected the ethos of the town. My daily walk to school took about 15 minutes, and the journey was beautiful as I walked past a soccer stadium and outdoor ice rink. At night I would unwind “spinning” at the local gym doing and, of course, relax in an evening sauna. The apartment was also about a 30 minute walk to the City Center which had all the top stores and restaurants in southern Finland. Thus, I was enchanted by Turku – a city not too small nor too large.
The TUAS campus was very nice, and students had many “quiet” spaces to unwind from a hard day of lectures. The office layout consisted of shared work areas since there were no individual offices for administration and faculty. My TUAS contact had arranged for faculty to take me out for lunch each week and explore Turku. I visited libraries, churches, castles and the enchanted land of the Moomins, thanks to Fulbright Finland Board member Prof. David Yoken. Additionally, Turku has so many historical buildings and artifacts from their olden days. I also learned how resilient and strong the Finns are and how they fought for their independence and freedom several times during Swedish and Russian control/occupation. I guess you need to be strong to live in such a cold and dark country.
In addition to my activities in TUAS, I traveled to the Fulbright Finland home office in Helsinki for orientation and other meetings. I enjoyed Helsinki since it’s so European in design and architecture. The Fulbright Finland team had so many fun activities for the grantees and our days went very fast. We were given a tour of Helsinki, went to the new library, visited the Sibelius Academy and went to the U.S. Embassy where I met Ambassador Robert Pence. Additionally, I was given the opportunity to “ice swim” but unfortunately passed on the opportunity – I did not realize I would not have a second chance.
Days in Turku were peaceful and calm. I spent a majority of my time on campus talking with students and faculty and preparing my lectures. I also worked toward my agreed goals of creating a collaborative environment between TUAS and NJCU for future joint projects. All was going according to plan. The only unusual thing was the lack of snow in Turku which I believe was a first, but didn’t seem to worry the Finns. My daily activity also included listening to world news through two television news stations – France 24 and RT TV. In late January, I was very interested as I watched the events unfolding right in front of my eyes about an illness that was detected in Wuhan China. - One of my TUAS students was from Wuhan, and I teach in China every summer so have many friends there. China is important to me. I also talked to my buddy in Thailand, Miss Charinsri Tangsopha, every day, and she was saying people were now wearing masks in Bangkok. Then January blended into February. The illness was now spreading to Europe - mostly Italy and France but still not a major concern on my radar. I can’t put a specific date when I realized we had a pandemic on our hands since Finland was perfectly safe…but something was going on that was new to me and I started to ask myself, “What about my family in NYC?”
Then perception became reality around March 19th when the U.S. State Department declared a level 4 alert. I was given the option of staying or leaving. Since I have three children and two sisters living in New York and New York City, I felt it was imperative for me to seriously consider returning to the USA. I discussed this with my host university, my own university, Fulbright Finland and my family. Everyone agreed that the best option for me was to leave immediately. Thus, my Fulbright term was terminated by the U.S. State Department, and I prepared to leave Finland.
The COVID-19 situation did impact my Fulbright experience, but my commitment to TUAS and students was not severely impacted only inconvenienced. Having been an online instructor certified through Quality Matters, I easily switched from face-to-face to online teaching immediately. I was able to teach master’s level classes from my home via video conferencing. In addition, TUAS and NJCU continued their relationship to form collaborative partnerships for student and faculty exchanges, jointly teaching existing classes, and working on creating new courses for TUAS/NJCU master’s level students. My classes were done through video conferencing, and scheduling took into consideration the seven-hour difference between the two universities. In addition, I formed many great relationships and have LinkedIn with many students, administration and faculty.
Being an experienced world traveler, I have encountered flight cancellations, runway delays, going to the wrong airport and random immigration issues. But my departure from Finland was a new experience. The timing was terrible. My flight was cancelled, as were 90% of all flights leaving Finland. My airline had no customer service. And I was actually worried for the first time that I can remember. It’s one thing to want to stay and another thing being unable to leave. Finally, after spending about six hours on hold to reschedule my flight, I was booked on a flight that connected through Frankfurt, Germany. The trip to Helsinki was uneventful. I finally boarded the plane, and all middle passenger seats were empty. Yet few passengers were wearing masks. The connection in Frankfurt was a source of anxiety. I could not return to Finland, and Germany was a major COVID-19 hot spot. My fears of disaster were extremely high.
Eventually, the plane left on time and arrived in Newark Airport NJ on the same day the Governor of New Jersey closed down the state. The Immigration and Customs Service at Newark Airport did not enforce social distancing, and the lines were extremely long due to enhanced procedures for entry into the USA. Although I did wear a mask and gloves, the vast majority of travelers returning from many points in Asia and Europe did not. My timing seemed perfectly bad. But one car rental agency was still open, and I was able to drive the final leg of my journey to my home in Pennsylvania. For the first time in a week, I thought all was well and I would be there for my family if they became sick… little did I know that I would be the one who would get sick.
Within two weeks of returning to the U.S., I began to feel sick. The medical staff at my local hospital acted immediately and brought me in for COVID-19 testing. I tested negative for SARS COVID-19 but have bacterial pneumonia and, to be honest, I am not sure the medical profession knows much about this virus since it is manifesting into various strains that are all a bit different. All my doctors say that, regardless of the negative test result, my symptoms sure look and act like COVID-19 (hello 30% false negatives).
I must admit my naiveté in not fully understanding the devastating impact of this pandemic until I became ill. I was of two minds - scared about being an older citizen but confident since I am an avid runner and only several weeks earlier was just doing high intensity “spinning” classes at a gym in Turku. The symptoms of this virus are terrible - high fever, running to bathroom every 5 minutes and, of course, not being able to breathe. But through this journey I learned a new love for nurses who are truly angels and are on the front line, who are kind and sympathetic and willing to help those who are sick. With their help, as of mid-June, I am almost back to full strength and look forward to running in New York’s Central Park by mid-July.
My family is so supportive, and we actually have become much closer since this occurred. I video conference with them every Sunday…first with my sisters then my children. But we are scared since the COVID-19 cases and fatalities continue to escalate and at times we feel isolated and unsure what to do. In the end, my experience with the TUAS administration, faculty and students was special. I finished my last online lecture recently and have graded all projects. I also had conversations with the TUAS administration and faculty on continuing the relationship. The Fulbright Finland team was simply amazing through this crisis and never stopped sharing information. They are a great team that reflects the strength and friendship of both Fulbright and Finland.
I think back and wonder what Senator Fulbright would say of his creation today. I believe he would be pleased with the friendships and experiences that I took away as well as the many students I have influenced. Fulbright awards are special and critical for exchanging cultural awareness and ideas. So what Senator Fulbright wanted is actually happening as the globe is going through a pandemic. Cross cultural cooperation is as strong as ever.
