TransFor-M-ing Canada

The past 3 weeks have been very eventful for me to say the least.  Our field course took me across Canada to 3 different provinces (BC, AB, NB) and my journey continued onwards to Joensuu, Finland.  During this time I have:
- been issued 9 boarding passes
- slept on average 4.5 hours per night
- started to learn Finnish (it's easy!!!  ...just kidding)
- got a truck stuck in true Albertan style
- made at least 10 new fantastic friends
- become engaged
- lost a grandmother (I love you and miss you Grandma!), and
- learnt a lot about life...

The BC portion of our course involved daily hikes and discussions about ecology and forest ecosystems in BC.  We had some discussions about BC history (thanks G. Weetman!) and had a few peeks at operational forestry.  Jorma Nuevonen was our fantastic guide and we got to go whitewater rafting in the budget...uh...I mean studying riparian ecosystems and the salmon run!  Ha!

In Alberta we looked at trees (spruce and aspen)...talked about trees...and thought about trees.  We spent most of our time at the Hinton Training Centre and up North at a research facility called EMEND (Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbances...I think?).  Unfortunately the day we left EMEND, the manager, Suzanne, passed away in an accident.  We really appreciate everything she did for us during our short saty there; we will always think well of her.

Before leaving Alberta we stopped by at Elk Island National Park and saw some bison up close.  We stayed in Edmonton on our last night, but our bust to the airport left at 4am the next day.  So instead of going to bed early, we made the responsible decision to not sleep and instead have a ''cultural evening'' on Whyte Ave.  Ahem.  I think most of us were sober by the time we made it to Toronto.

New Brunswick was hot and sticky compared to Northern Alberta. We swam regularly inbetween visits to museums, sawmills, furniture plants, and fast food restaurants.  We had cultural experiences in Fredericton, Moncton, and Saint John.  The Blueberry beer was every bit as good as I remember it from the CIF conference I attended in 2008.

Finally it was time to leave...A 6pm flight Fredericton to Montreal, then Montreal to Brussels (exectuive class with a bed!!!).  In Brussels I missed my flight, which was complicated.  You have to exit the airport, find a new ticketing agent since Air Canada does not have a service there, get new tickets, then re-check in (without baggage), go through security and finally to your new gate.  Avoid Brussels...that's my advice.  Finally I flew Brussels to Munich, then Munich to Helsinki.  Finally in Finland.  phew....but 1 more plane to catch.  A little 1 hour flight later....I was in Kuopio.  21 hours total travel time.

I spent 2 nights in Kuopio with Aku Kokkonen, a Finn who I worked with at Alex Fraser Reasearch Forest in 2010.  We picked chanterelles in his back yard, got ticks (gross!!), and toured the local city.  His mom owns a restaurant in town and fed us very generously, which was fantastic.  I had a sauna every night, which was absolutely amazing after so many hours travelling.  Today, he drove me to Joensuu.  I will spend 1 night here with my student tutor Henna, then hopefully will move into my apartment tomorrow.

Overall, it's been a very long month as you can tell by the length of this post.  I will try to make them shorter and more regular in the future!  I'll do my best to post photos once I get my computer up and running!

Congratulations Marley and Andrew on the safe arrival of baby Linden!

Hei Hei!