I need to start this post with a disclaimer. To be sure, Thanksgiving is the special holiday that takes place today in the USA. It is part of the American history and is celebrated due to specific tradition. This tradition has not crossed the Atlantic ocean. What has crossed, is the Black Friday shopping season - but that has nothing to do with my topic. So, let us get to the story that I wanted to share via my blog.
A letter in a thick envelope
Yesterday I was surprised to find a thick brown envelope from the University of Bremen in my mailbox here in Jyväskylä. I opened it and found a letter from our Kanzler (Head of administration). He thanked me for the work that I have done for the University of Bremen during my years of service. I was pleased to read that my work had been appreciated as a contribution to the success of the University of Bremen.
Normally, when researchers of the university have gone to retirement, they have been invited to a special event by the management of the university. This year, due to pandemic, such an event will not take place.
Instead, I (and others who have left the university service) have got this letter and two special gifts - as tokens of appreciation and as souvenirs from the years in Bremen. Firstly, there was a box of Bremen-based Hachez chocolate (with the logo of the University of Bremen and a picture of the Bremen Town Musicians). Secondly, there was a bag of coffee produced by the company 'Utamtsi' - founded by former students of the University of Bremen.
As I have mentioned above, this was a complete surprise. I appreciate the nice words with which the management of our university thanks the former employees who have gone to retirement. And it was nice to have such souvenirs from my years in Bremen transported to Central Finland - to keep the memories fresh.
So, I guess that this friendly gesture merits the characterisation as "Thanksgiving auf deutsch - in the Universität Bremen style". At least this made my day.
More blogs to come (but from a different perspective) ...
