“45 Kilo­me­tres on Foot in One Day” – How Bhu­pen­der Dis­cov­ers Oulu Step by Step

What does Oulu look like when you slow down? For Bhu­pen­der Singh, the answer lies in walk­ing – a sim­ple habit that has shaped his every­day life and deep­ened his con­nec­tion to the city.

Bhu­pen­der Singh, 28, is orig­i­nal­ly from India and is cur­rent­ly fin­ish­ing his Master’s degree in Learn­ing, Edu­ca­tion and Tech­nol­o­gy at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu. Before mov­ing to Fin­land, he spent four years teach­ing sec­ondary school biol­o­gy at Rajghat Besant School in Varanasi. The expe­ri­ence shaped how he under­stands learn­ing – not just as a trans­fer of knowl­edge, but as some­thing that involves the whole per­son.

Much of what he enjoys doing remains close to the nat­ur­al world. Long walks, bird watch­ing and wildlife pho­tog­ra­phy are cen­tral to his life, with a par­tic­u­lar fas­ci­na­tion for macro pho­tog­ra­phy.

Through a close-up lens, he focus­es on small details that often go unno­ticed – pat­terns, tex­tures, tiny struc­tures. Over time, that way of see­ing has sim­ply become sec­ond nature.

Beyond pho­tog­ra­phy, he spends as much time out­doors as pos­si­ble – hik­ing, trekking, camp­ing and explor­ing. At times, he packs a tent and heads into the woods, drawn by the qui­et. At the same time, sport has always been an impor­tant part of his life. Bad­minton, bas­ket­ball and vol­ley­ball con­tin­ue to keep him active.

Bhu­pen­der arrived in Oulu in 2024 to begin his Master’s stud­ies. After sev­er­al years in the class­room, he want­ed to take a step back and exam­ine edu­ca­tion from a broad­er per­spec­tive – how stu­dents learn with new tools, how teach­ers adapt, and what role tech­nol­o­gy real­ly plays. The pro­gramme in Oulu stood out for its strong focus on learn­ing sci­ences.

“Peo­ple Take Cycling Seri­ous­ly”

Bhupender’s first impres­sions of Oulu were shaped by its calm­ness. Com­ing from India, where cities are full of con­stant move­ment and den­si­ty, the qui­et and space felt almost sur­pris­ing. The city’s infra­struc­ture also stood out imme­di­ate­ly.

He notes that well-con­nect­ed walk­ing and cycling routes make every­day life smoother: the city seems designed with move­ment in mind, across all sea­sons.

Still, what has sur­prised him the most is how peo­ple move through win­ter. As Bhu­pen­der puts it, “peo­ple take cycling seri­ous­ly here – not just in sum­mer, but right through win­ter, on snow, on ice, even in the dark. The infra­struc­ture sup­ports it, and the atti­tude is sim­ple: you just go.”

The rhythm of light has also left a strong impres­sion.

– You don’t real­ly under­stand it until you live through it, he says.

– Sum­mer days where the sun bare­ly sets, and win­ter days where it dis­ap­pears ear­ly – it changes how you sleep, how you plan your time, and how the city feels.

Sauna cul­ture was anoth­er new expe­ri­ence. Bhu­pen­der admits it took some get­ting used to, but grad­u­al­ly its role became clear­er.

– It’s woven into how peo­ple relax and con­nect – both some­thing pri­vate and some­thing deeply social. Once you go reg­u­lar­ly, you begin to under­stand why it mat­ters.

Oulu stands out to him most because of its close­ness to nature.

– In many cities, you have to trav­el to find nature. Here, the for­est, the sea and the riv­er are always with­in reach. You step out­side and you’re already part­way there.

And some­times, nature offers some­thing extra­or­di­nary.

– On clear win­ter nights, you can step out­side and see the sky mov­ing with green and red lights – auro­ras. It’s not some­thing you get used to.

“IH Oulu helps you to…”

Bhu­pen­der describes Oulu as a city that gen­uine­ly sup­ports stu­dents.

– What stands out is how much the uni­ver­si­ty cares about stu­dents’ well­be­ing beyond aca­d­e­mics. The sup­port is there in every area. Uni­Move makes sport easy and afford­able, and the stu­dent union is very active with events and ser­vices, Bhu­pen­der says.

Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu (IH Oulu) has also played an impor­tant role in help­ing him set­tle in, Bhu­pen­der tells.

– When you arrive in a new coun­try, there are so many prac­ti­cal things to fig­ure out. Hav­ing a place, where you can walk in and ask any­thing makes a real dif­fer­ence. IH Oulu also helps you meet oth­er peo­ple.

Over time, liv­ing in Oulu has qui­et­ly reshaped his dai­ly life.

– The slow­er pace has changed my rhythm. There is less hur­ry, and the out­doors is always close. Long walks have become a much big­ger part of my life.

He also appre­ci­ates how the city removes the need to choose between urban life and nature.

– You don’t have to decide – the for­est, the sea and the riv­er are all close enough to reach on foot or by bike. In many cities, that would take plan­ning. Here, you just put on a jack­et and go.

When asked about his favourite place, he finds it dif­fi­cult to choose. Walk­ing itself mat­ters more than any one des­ti­na­tion. Still, one place stands out.

– The Uni­Move sports hall is prob­a­bly my favourite place in Oulu. I can spend hours there, some­times play­ing four sports in one after­noon. My friends joke that it’s my sec­ond home – and they’re not wrong.

“No Plan, No Hur­ry”

Walk­ing has been part of Bhupender’s life for a long time, but in Oulu it has tak­en on a deep­er mean­ing. The city, with its con­nect­ed paths and near­by forests, has made it easy to turn walk­ing into a dai­ly prac­tice rather than an occa­sion­al activ­i­ty.

For him, walk­ing is ther­a­peu­tic. In the midst of busy sched­ules, dead­lines and expec­ta­tions, it offers a rare moment to slow down. There is no fixed des­ti­na­tion and no pres­sure to achieve any­thing – only his own pace and the sur­round­ings as they are. In those moments, walk­ing becomes a way to be ful­ly present.

It is also the most gen­uine way he knows to expe­ri­ence a place. Mov­ing on foot reveals details that would oth­er­wise go unno­ticed: qui­et streets, sub­tle changes in light, the rhythm of every­day life. It allows time to stop, to observe, and to take detours with­out rea­son. Although it is the slow­est way of mov­ing, it is, for him, the most mean­ing­ful.

– Walk­ing in nature is the sim­plest way I know to come back to myself, no plan, no hur­ry, just the path and the trees.
Walk­ing through forests, along lakes or across neigh­bour­hoods sharp­ens atten­tion to small things – a bird in a tree, the tex­ture of bark, a patch of flow­ers, reflec­tions on water. These are the details that often dis­ap­pear in a hur­ried life, and walk­ing brings them back into view.

Along the way, there have also been lighter moments. One autumn, while walk­ing through the woods, he noticed a squir­rel fol­low­ing him. Only lat­er did he realise why: peanuts had been falling from his unzipped jack­et pock­et, and the squir­rel was qui­et­ly col­lect­ing them one by one. It turned into an unex­pect­ed and amus­ing encounter.

His longest walk in Oulu stretch­es to 45 kilo­me­tres in a sin­gle day, from Rajakylä to Kon­tinkan­gas, onward to the Jääli beach and back home. At that dis­tance, the idea of count­ing kilo­me­tres fades. What remains is move­ment itself – the grad­ual shift­ing of land­scapes and a qui­et sense of pres­ence.

– You just keep mov­ing, and the city and the woods slow­ly change around you. By the end of a day like that, you are tired in the right way, body well used, head qui­et, the world feel­ing close.

For Bhu­pen­der, walk­ing is ulti­mate­ly about atten­tion and con­nec­tion – to sur­round­ings, to moments, and to one­self. Over time, walk­ing has become his way of get­ting to know Oulu. Through repeat­ed paths and chang­ing sea­sons, the city has turned from a place of study into a place that feels like home.

Bhupender’s Tips for Mov­ing to Oulu x 4

1. “Pre­pare for the win­ter, but do not be scared of it. Yes, the cold is real and the days are short for months. But the city does not stop: paths stay clear, cycling con­tin­ues, life car­ries on. Bring warm lay­ers, get used to the dark, and learn to enjoy what the sea­son offers rather than fight it.
2. Get a bicy­cle here. You do not need a car here. Most of what you need is reach­able on foot or by bike, and the net­work of paths is one of the best things about the city.
3. Use the sup­port that is here. Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu, the Stu­dent Union, Uni­Move – all of these exist to help peo­ple set­tle in and feel at home. Most new­com­ers do not know how much is avail­able until they ask.
4. And final­ly, come with an open mind about the pace. Oulu is not a busy or noisy city, and that sur­pris­es some peo­ple at first. But the qui­et is one of the best parts of being here, if you let your­self set­tle into it.”

We’re look­ing for inspir­ing sto­ries from Oulu

If you know a per­son, com­pa­ny or com­mu­ni­ty with a strong inter­na­tion­al mind­set, let us know. We’re always hap­py to high­light local voic­es with a glob­al touch.
Send us an email: annakaisa.vaaraniemi(a)businessoulu.com

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