Being an alien resident in Finland

Dave arrives in Finland back in November

I am one of two Americans at FMI. Gil Leppelmeier has been in Finland about 20 years and is well assimilated. Other countries represented include Joana from Portugal, Lorenzo from Italy, Sylvain from France, and several Russians (including my landlord Sergej). We have a short-term visitor from Romania. I don't really know if any Asians or Africans are around (if they are, FMI keeps them well-hid).

New professor Sabine Goeke arrives with her remote-sensing instrumentation.

At the Division of Atmospheric Sciences at the university, there are seven professors, four Finns, and three new recent implants: me, Sabine Goeke a Swiss-schooled German who had postdocs in the USA, and Gerrit de Leeuw from The Netherlands. There is also a distinguished professor from the USA: Doug Worsnop. So, the demographics of the university division are changing. It makes for an interesting time.

Plans for the research-forecasting "collaboratory" at FMI include experiments on how forecasters deal with stress of the high-pressure working environment