Marjaana Saarinen PARTIO
Jyväskylä, Finland

Biography

Here is some information about my life here in Finland. I got married at the age of 23 and got five children, but live now alone because my husband died 11 years ago and all children have moved away. But the children keep in touch. I have 5 grandchildren, none of them in Jyväskylä, and I keep myself busy still working three short days a week. I became a general doctor in 1969 and started work in the Central Hospital of Middle Finland 34 years ago, mostly taking care of the hospital staff (occupational health may be the term). My life has been rich and exciting. Now it is more and mostly peaceful. And I am in fairly good health. I am able to walk to work, or bike, or drive. Depends on the weather and the mood.

My best regards to you and the class
Marjaana

Editor's Note: With a population of near 75,000, Jyväskylä, Finland was founded by Tsar Nicholas I in 1837, and is situated in south central Finland on the north side of a beautiful small lake. Jyväsjärvi is linked by a narrow strait to Lake Päijänne, Finland's second largest lake and its deepest at 313 ft.

The city is an important traffic junction, the administrative and cultural center of central Finland and an industrial town noted for its woodworking, metalworking and trade fairs. The first Finnish-language secondary school was established here in 1858. The University was founded in 1934.

Photo: Jyväskylä city center