First day in Colorado

My first full day at Colorado was supposed to be pretty laid out. Go somewhere to fill the fridge with actual edible things, grab some lunch wherever and get ready for my first working day on Monday. Little did I know that the plans were about to change a bit and that I’d end up hiking the Rockies for almost three hours with an empty stomach.

Posting this again just because

Without having eaten anything but one yoghurt the whole day since I got up at 4am, me and two other Finns took a small trip to Eldorado Springs and the Eldorado Canyon Trail. The path there was luckily clear of snow and there were only a few icy spots where you had to think twice about where to put your feet. The views were pretty spectacular but the cold wind from the west was brutal in some places.

Yes it was windy

One thing that I’ve already noticed here is that after the sun starts setting, it’ll get pitch black really fast. After hiking for more than an hour and a half, we decided to stop and turn back. There were no signs anywhere along the path which would’ve told us how far away some places were and the path just seemed to go on forever. When we got back to the car, we were all happy about the decision as spending another 15 minutes before turning back would’ve made the return trip much harder. The strange thing is that I still wasn’t feeling hungry but I guess my body is still so messed up from the time difference that it doesn’t even realize the lack of calories. This was quickly rectified with some yummy Thai cuisine though.

Wait, what?

Long story short - I work for Vaisala which is a Finnish company listed on the Helsinki stock exchange that manufactures meteorological equipment.

In late October I got a call asking whether I was available and interested in moving to Colorado as an expatriate for a short while. At first before really knowing any details about the practical issues, the idea seemed really daunting and I felt 90% no, 10% yes. Where would I live, what would the rent be, who would pay my salary, where should I pay my taxes, what insurances would I need to get, do I need a visa, how long would the expat exactly be and the list goes on and on.

In the middle of November I finally got to hear more from the HR department and most of my questions were answered and my mind went from 90% no to maybe 50%/50%. After thinking about it a little more, the yes-side clearly started winning and at the end of November we prepared the contract although it took until 7 December until it had been signed by all parties.

The Visa application. Yes, it's quite thick.

The reason for this whole expat was that Vaisala Finland had switched to a new ERP system in May 2010 and now that same system was also to be implemented in Vaisala Inc. Anyone who has gone through an ERP change knows the problems that are to follow. In our role we have to know many different modules of the system pretty well and therefore my experience should come in handy in these early stages of using the new system.

Since the whole process was started so late, I couldn’t make it to the US for the actual roll-out which happened in the beginning of January. The Visa process takes its time but luckily I had the help of an American law firm that helped me with filling out the needed documents. Still it took just a hair under two months before I finally had the interview for the Visa and everything was clear, just over a week before the booked flight to Denver. This time in between was a bit nerve wrecking since I didn’t know for sure that I would get the Visa and therefore making some of the practical arrangements wasn’t possible until just before the trip.

Bye bye Finland

The flight from Helsinki to Denver via Frankfurt, Germany went without any big problems although I did manage to lose the one liter clear ziplock bag that had all the liquids (shampoo, tooth paste, deodorant etc) in it. Whoopsie. I got really nervous before the interview with the Customs and Border Protection officer at the Denver airport who is the one who either lets you enter the country or sends you back. This can really difficult for those using the Visa Waiver Program and who travel in and out again multiple times during the 90 day period. Two of my fellow Vaisala colleagues were almost turned back and only made it in after really long "interrogations". However, since I had the Visa, the interview went by smoothly and suddenly I was greeted by the warm and sunny Colorado weather.

I think I could get used to this view