Hello everyone, Previously in Becoming International: My Lab Journey , I gave you a general idea of how it is to pursue a PhD abroad. Today let’s go deeper and talk about my first days. In February it has been a year since I arrived in Helsinki pursuing my PhD at the University of Helsinki in the Department of Virology, so I decided to make a post about my first days in this large department. Everything new: the field, colleagues, supervisors, rules, language, experiments, and machines. Indeed, my emotions were running high, but I tried not to let it disrupt my focus on learning the first steps to integrate into this new environment with many challenges to come.   My first day I remember as if it were yesterday. Helsinki was cold and foggy, a place totally new, I have never felt so much cold in my life! I went to the department with my husband. This really gave me more confidence. I was scared about whether my English was good enough, if they would like me, the first...