This session offers an experiential inquiry into material-affective assemblages of place-based life technologies that are layered throughout a person’s introduction to Finland in the early stages of transnational immigration. Examples of these technologies include: ticket-taking machines in government offices, grocery store machines that weigh and price fruits and vegetables, strong credential requirements for online banking and proof of identity, package specifications and requirements for drop off and pickup of international mail and removal goods, and so on. The workshop component will include a group exploration of the felt impact of encountering such technologies in unfamiliar contexts, drawing upon Ahmed’s work in affect theory and embodied others (2000; 2014), Bennet’s work with the ecology of matter (2004; 2010), Massey’s (2005) work in the politics of space, and Deleuzian assemblage theory (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987). We also invite article abstracts for short presentations on topics related to these technologies of initiation into a new cultural and/or national space.