A Finnish Christmas

Well, I wasn't going to make this post until after New Year's... So that I could just write about them both at the same time, but I am a bit sick and I have some time. So I can write about New Year's later! Anyway. I really don't know where to start, it seems like so much has happened! This might be a bit long. Well here goes...

I shall start off by saying how much snow we have had latey! I'm not good at measurements exactly, but I can say that it's a lot. I was thrilled to have a white Christmas... It was beautiful. The weekend before Christmas my host family and I went to Turku, a city on the coast of Finland in the southwest. My host dad's parents live there. In Turku we went to many little market places with handicrafts and fresh foods, we saw the Turku Cathedral and the Turku Castle, and we went to the harbour. It's a really nice city..

In a few days time Christmas Eve came, the big celebration day for Finland. A short while after waking up we watched some traditional television programs on tv, including the Declaration of Christmas Peace from Turku. Then we had brunch together. We had riisipuuro, or rice porridge (traditional Christmas breakfast), and bread and really good cheeses. Riisipuuro is really delicious. You can put just sugar and cinnamon on top, which is what I did, or you can put this kind of date sauce/soup on top that has actual dates in it as well. I have tried it both ways. Anyway. There is a tradition in Finland where a small almond is hidden in the big pot of riisipuuro, and whoever finds the almond in their bowl is said to have luck for the new year. They also get to make a wish. So usually people keep eating and eating until they find the almond. Well. On my smaller, second serving of riisipuuro I found the little almond! I got to make a wish, and now I suppose I am lucky.

Then we just hung around for a bit and relaxed until it was time for dinner. We had three courses, a cold course with lots of cold fish, a warm course with ham and the three traditional casseroles (potato, carrot, and rutabega), and then dessert. And then... While waiting for dessert... Santa Claus showed up! With one of his elves and a bag of presents.. My host family sang some Finnish Christmas songs to him, then after we had dessert we opened all of our presents. I got really cool things.. Including a Finnish CD, some Marimekko things (Finnish designer), and this little Russian jewellery box. :)

On Christmas day everyone just relaxed basically. We had dinner in the evening, about the same as Christmas Eve, except we had reindeer too. Later we went sled riding later down their massive hill, and then had glögi and played a game. The day after Christmas, Boxing Day, is pretty important in Finland as well. It is Tapaninpäivä in Finnish. People usually visit their relatives or spend time with their friends. We went to Turku to see my host dad's parents. Then during the evening we traveled to Lohja (a small town) to see friends of my host family. That was fun. We went in their hot tub. Finnish hot tubs are pretty different than the hot tubs I have seen back home. They are wooden, round, and have a sort of fire pit and chimney in the back... And it was outside. When the hot tub got too hot we took a dip in the whole cut out in the frozen over pool or we ran around in the snow. Then we went to the sauna as well, and I saw my first vihta. A vihta, defined by wikipedia is "a kind of whisk made of birch twigs and used in the sauna to enhance the effect of heat by gently beating oneself with it." Yup. I used it to. It doesn't hurt or anything.

Lohja was nice. The next day we did some more relaxing. The family we stayed with was really nice. In the evening we headed home. Thennn the next day, which was yesterday, we went to Estonia for the day. To Tallinn, the capital city. It was really beautiful. Very medieval looking. There were so many colorful buildings and I saw a really awesome looking Orthodox church. We walked around, saw the old city, shopped at many handicraft stores, and came home. It was funny though because all though the Estonian language sounds SO much like Finnish, I couldn't hardly understand a word of it.

Now, I am just relaxing... Again. I actually wanted to put a good amount of photos in this blog... But my the blogger thing won't allow me upload any. So sorry about that.

Oh, and I got accepted into American University in Washington DC! So I am definitely going there next fall! I am going to major in International Studies..along with another major or minor as well. I am so excited!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year's!

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Lapland and Finland's Independence Day

I got back from my trip to Lapland two days ago. It was so much fun! Mostly because all of the exchange students were together...all 150 of us. We arrived in Lapland on Saturday, after a 13 hour bus ride.. We had lunch at the lodge we were staying at, which was really nice by the way, then headed straight towards the ski slopes. I decided to start with downhill skiing. First I tried the bunny slope, fell once, then moved on to the bigger slope, and never fell. I was surprised to find out that I actually like skiing! We had a candlelight dinner in the evening with fish soup and amazing blueberry pie. On Sunday we went to ski again. I decided to try cross country skiing that time... I thought it would be easier, but it was actually harder for me than down hill skiing! It was fun anyways.... It was just nice to see the nature of Lapland while skiing. It was so beautiful there. Everything was completely white and it reminded me of the movie The Chronicals of Narnia!

We had winter programs in the evening (after sauna and going out in the snow in our bathing suits!), which included some entertainment and a little show that the exchange students participated in. Mostly everyone put on a small skit or something about their country. Monday, our last full day, was definitely the busiest day. We visited reindeer and huskies, rode on reindeer sleighs and dog sleds, visited a Sami woman's old house, walked in snow shoes, ate reindeer for dinner (yum), and saw a Lapland nature museum. We even crossed the border to Sweden...just to say we were there! We had a little program during the night...which consisted of a Sami man singing traditional songs, the Rotex putting on skits, and the oldies giving away gifts to the newbies (us).

We left Tuesday morning. We drove about three hours and then stopped in Rovaniemi to visit Santa's village. Just incase someone did not know, the real Santa lives in Finland! In Santa's village we did a little shopping, took some pictures, and saw Santa (of course!). Then we headed back on the bus. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. It was so nice to just be with exchange students for a while. Exchange students just understand eachother... Since we are all going through the same thing. Plus, I just loved Lapland. It was cold, mystic, and beautiful. Did I mention the coldest day was -15 Celcius? Burrr. Oh! And the darkness! That was the only thing I didn't like as much. The sun came up around 10:30 am...and then set at about 2:00. So it was dark most of the time..haha. But, I really hope that I get another chance to go to Lapland during my exchange! It was amazing.

Other than my trip to Lapland, I started new classes at school, which are going very well so far, and I got my Christmas package from my parents! Pancake mix, maple syrup, pop-tarts, my new amazing camera, and a few other things! I am so grateful. Then, this Sunday, December 6th is Finland's independence day, or itsenäisyyspäivä in Finnish. There was a ball last night at my school to imitate the ball President Tarja Halonen has at her house to celebrate the independence day. I could not go though, because I had Finnish lessons. We did have another small celebration at school though today. They celebrate their indepence day a little differently than in the US. It is more of a gloomy and depressing holiday here. At the assembly sad sounding music was played, speeches were given, and the Finland flag was held up. They do not have the Finland flag up everyday of the year like in the US.. The Finnish flag is only raised on special holidays... I am sure that on Sunday I will see many Finnish flags. There was also a traditional polka dance performed in the assembly, which I though was really interesting, and then a small skit/song performed by a group of guys. I think the skit was about some sort of battle, but I am not sure since I can't quite understand Finnish 100% when it is sung... Lastly, Finland's national anthem was played, and everyone sung along. It is a really pretty song, I think.

I am interested to see if anything else will happen on the actual independence day. It is nice to see the patriotism Finns have for their country. People are patriotic for their country here, but it is in a different way than I am used to. I guess in the US we are just more outwardly patriotic I suppose. I don't know... It is really hard to explain. All I know is that the Finns are very proud of their country, even though they do not always show it.

Now, the Christmas holidays are coming soon. I only have two full weeks of school left until Christmas break. Their Christmas break here is much longer than mine back home! I have almost three weeks off here! Ahh, I love Christmas. It is such a wonderful time of the year, and I am excited to experience it here.

Well that is enough for now...actually quite a lot...
I will post more probably during the holidays!

Moikka!

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Thanksgiving

Today I celebrated Thanksgiving with my host family, and even though it was a little different it was still quite similar! We had everything that I would normally eat with my family at Thanksgiving.. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and so forth! We did have a bit of a hard time finding the cranberry sauce and the canned pumpkin, but we did find them...in a small American food shop in Helsinki. After eating the main meal we had pumpkin pie and coffee. Mmm the pie was so good...and the coffee was really good too. Maybe the best I have had.

I think that my host family enjoyed having Thanksgiving. They all thought it was so weird that there were marshmellows on top of the sweet potatoes...but they liked it! Especially my host mom! So.. I spent the whole day preparing for Thanksgiving... I actually cooked a lot. I made stuffing, my grandma`s salad, and mashed potatoes, then I helped with the rest. It was really nice though because I got to teach my host family about a holiday that they do not celebrate... I explained why we have Thanksgiving, and why it is so important to us.

After eating (and a bit of resting, I ate so much!), I headed off to badminton. I really like my badminton lessons. Mainly because I like to play, but also because I get to see Veera and Marjo(my host sister and mom from my first host family)! Then I came home, went to sauna, and now I am just relaxing.

This coming week will be a little hectic. First off, it is exam week. I will be taking my English exam and my Geography exam. I told my Geography teacher that I would take the test in Finnish (since all the notes are in Finnish), but I think I am going to ask her if I can take it in English. So tomorrow I am going to start working on translating the seventeen pages of Geography notes I have... That will be a challenge! Then... Next Friday I am leaving for Lapland! I am so excited!! I will get to ski, which I have never done before. I will leave Friday and come back on Tuesday.

After I return from Lapland a new period starts at school...with new classes. In that period I will be taking History, English, Philosophy, Math, Sports, and the Dance course for the ball in February.

I do not think anything else is new... Other than the fact that it is so dark here! The sun rises around 8:30 am, and then it sets at 3:30 pm. It is so crazy! It feels like the sun never really comes up...

Well... I should go and maybe start translating my Geography notes? Haha, I have a feeling that it is going to take a while.. and my test is on Wednesday.

Christmas is coming :)
Lahti has all of its Christmas lights up already, and all the stores have all of their Christmas goods out...
Now all we need is snow...since it all melted.

But, ahh.. I love Christmas time.. :)

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Sataa Lunta...

Well, I just wanted to write a quick and short post. Everything is still going well. My second host family is really nice! They speak to me only in Finnish, because I asked them to, and that is really great! That will really help me to learn. It is getting pretty cold here! It is snowing right now and it is so beautiful! But I think I will have to find a warmer coat somewhere, because I was so cold walking home from school today!!

I made pulla the other day with my host mom... That was a lot of fun! So now I know how to make pulla! It was really good pulla too.. Last weekend I went to Helsinki to see the Picasso gallery. Then it was Fathers Day on Sunday (which is why we made pulla!). Sunday night we just had a bunch of food to celebrate Fathers Day. Along with the pulla we had amazing mustikkapiirakka (blueberry pie). YUM.

This week will be pretty uneventful I believe. I might go to watch a hockey game on Friday with my friends from school. That will be fun! I have heard though that their team (the Pelicans) are no where near as good as the Pittsburgh Penguins...haha.

Well. I should study some Finnish now :D
ahh I love snow...

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Moving and a Relaxing Sunday...

First off, my holiday in Spain was very nice! It was so warm (around 80 degrees Fahreinheit everyday!) and sunny. We spent a lot of time at the beach and at the pool, and going shopping of course. It was nice to hear Spanish too! It is spoken so much faster than Finnish. But Spain (at least where we were... Tenerife) reminded me a lot of living in Florida. It has a lot of similarites. Of course Florida is a little cleaner and safer probably. But all in all, I had a really nice time, and would definitely want to go to Spain in the future for a longer period of time.

Recently... I have moved! I moved yesterday to my second host family`s home. It is a very nice home. It sits on a hill, and overlooks the whole city of Lahti. The view is beautiful. I have my own room... and kind of my own bathroom.. I don`t think that they use it very often. But I am living with my host mom, Marja, my host dad, Lasse, and my 9 or 10 year old host brother, Viljam. They also have a daughter and another son, but they are studying in college and do not live at home. They seem like really nice people though! The mom is a really good cook too...from what I have aten so far!

Today has been a really nice day though. I will go through my day! Well, most of it... So. I woke up and ate breakfast with Viljam, did some homework, went to the store with my host mom, and then came back and had lunch. Hannes, my older host brother, and his girlfriend came for lunch. We had shrimp, chicken, these really good potatoes, salad, bread, and two berry pies. Yum. Then I went to my badminton lessons. I have those with my first host mom and host sister, so it is nice that I get to see them every week! I really loved my first host family, so I still want to see them! Anyway... I came home after badminton and went to sauna. Ah, I love sauna... I am determined to have one in my home when I actually have my own house. Then we had iltapala. Hot tea, bread, fruit, and yogurt. So good. Such a good day :)

Last week was pretty good too. It was funny because after we came back from Spain it seemed so cold and dark here in Finland. It is crazy though how dark it is! The sun starts to set before 4:00 pm and it is fully dark by 5:00. Ooh! To change the subject... Lately, like all of a sudden, I have been able to understand so much Finnish. It kind of clicked. I can listen to people speak and understand a lot of what they say. I am still working on my speaking though. I am no where near being fluent. I just need to speak more. I am gaining a little more confidence in speaking, but I am always still a little nervous! I told my host family that I want to speak a lot of Finnish so that I will be able to learn! I want to be able to get to the point where I could survive soley on Finnish...but that will take some time!

So, I think this coming school week will be fairly uneventful. The main thing is that I need to buy winter clothes. It is starting to get really cold here. I just got boots the other day! I think that next weekend will be really fun though. On Friday evening I am going to a show with my host family. It is a show that Hannes is in for his school. He is in a theatre school. Then on Saturday or Sunday we might go to Helsinki to see the Picasso gallery. There are original Picasso paintings in the gallery. That would be amazing to see. So, needless to say, I am excited for next weekend.

This is pretty long, so I think I will end it now. I should get to bed soon.
Good night!
(I can`t say it in Finnish because I dont` have the characters on my computer)
:(

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Dancing and the First Sight of Snow

Well. A good amount has happened lately actually! I must mention first, that this might be the last blog that I will write for a little while, because next week is Syysloma, or Fall Break. I am going with my family to the Canary Islands! I am so excited. It will be nice to be somewhere that is warm! Speaking of weather... I was sitting in my room today and I looked out my window and I saw that it was snowing! Not like a blizzard or anything, but it was lightly snowing. I think the temperature is about thirty-five degrees fahrenheit today. I was so excited though! I love the snow. Only bad thing is, is that in an hour from now I have to walk to my Finnish lessons in this cold weather!

School has been really good lately. I like the classes that I have. I am taking this dance course (I think I might have mentioned this before) to learn the traditional dances for the ball in February. The dances are fun, and actually a little hard to learn considering that I have never formally danced before. Haha. But I am really looking forward to the ball in February. I just have to find a dance partner first. There are literally a shortage of guys in Finland...

Also in February, I will be attending a national session of the European Youth Parliament! I just found out today. The delegation I am in from my school got chosen to go to nationals! That is really amazing.

Wow. Maybe not as much is going on as I thought previously... Haha. Well I got accepted into college! University of Pittsburgh. But I think do not think I want to go there. I am going to apply to the college I really want to go to, and that is the American University. And at least if I do not get accepted at AU, I still have Pitt to fall back on!

Ahh.
Syysloma on kohta!!
Fall Break is soon!!

:D

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European Youth Parliament

This past weekend I attended a Finnish session of the European Youth Parliament. These sessions are to simulate what happens in the European Parliament, and to discuss and learn about the issues the European Union faces today. I went through my school, Lahden Yhteiskoulu, along with seven others. The session was held in Tampere, which is about a two hour train ride from Lahti. We arrived on Friday, and after the opening ceremony we met with our committees for the first time. Before going to the session everyone had an assigned committee, and each committee had a topic. There were eight committees total. My committee was the Committee on Human Rights. There were also the Committee on Constitution Affairs, and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs, just to name a couple of others.

So, we got into our committees, and got to know everyone. I had a really nice committee. All girls! There were probably between ten and fifteen people in each committee. We got to know people in other committees too, of course. There were a little over one hundred students there, which consisted of about fifteen different nationalities! The majority was Finnish though of course. Everyone there was so nice!

Then, Saturday was the work day. We woke up at 7:00 am, had breakfast, and met with our committees. Each committee also had two chair members, to help the committee form a resolution. So, like I said, our topic was about human rights. The problem dealt with minorities in the European Union and equality. We had to come up with a resolution to this problem. We brainstormed and debated all day Saturday with our committee, and after about eight hours, and numerous coffee breaks, we had come up with a resolution. I won't type it here, that would be extremely long. Basically we wanted to guarantee more rights to minorities, and we thought of ways to do so in our resolution.

Next came the time to assign roles for the General Assembly (GA). The GA was held on Sunday. I will try to describe the GA as quick and clear as I can. Hopefully I can do that! Well... All of the committees met in a large room, with the president and vice president at the head of the room. The main point of the GA is for the committees to present their resolution, and have it either pass or fail by voting. So, we have a committee. Someone in that committee begins by reading the operative clauses. These are the ways which the committee believes the problem can be solved. Then a defense speech is made by the committee, then an attack speech from another committee (if someone has an attack speech), and then the floor is open for debate. The debating lasts about twenty minutes. After the debate, one or two people from the presenting committee give their sum-up speech. This speech contains answers to open questions from the debate and then some emotion to persuade people to vote for their resolution. Next, people vote, and the resolution is either passed or failed...

I had the job of giving the emotional part of the sum-up speech. I thought that would be difficult, but it actually wasn't. I was a little nervous because our committee had to go first (this was decided at the last minute!) and no one knew what to expect. We did very well, I believe. Our resolution passed. Of course! The GA was very long. It lasted around seven hours. So, all in all, this past weekend was very hard work. Lots of politics, brainstorming, and debating. But I also made many friends and learned A LOT about the European Union. It was exhausting, but it was completely worth it and I feel like I gained so much.

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Tänään on keskiviikko...

Well this week has been good so far. I had my Math exam yesterday, and my English exam today. Math was a little frustrating, mostly because it was in Finnish. I had an easier version of the test, a version that didn't have all the word problems. But it did have one word problem, and I did not understand it at all. Then English was pretty good today. It was mainly reading comprehension... So I had to really think. Tomorrow I don't have any classes or exams, but I have to go to school anyway to meet with the other students that are going to the Finnish Youth Parliament this weekend. We are going to prepare for our topics.

So, I don't know if I have mentioned this or not, but it is getting so cold here! Yesterday morning it was around 35 degrees Fahrenheit. When I came out of school at 2:00, it was hailing slightly. Today I wore heavier clothing, because I knew it would be cold. I left early this morning to walk with Saara, my little host sister, to her school. Then I stopped by the book store and went to a café for a little while before my exam started. I love that there are actual places I can go to. Like back home the only place I could really walk to was a gas station...

Last evening after mostly everyone was home, I played this word game with my host family. You have a card with a noun on it, then you have to describe it to your partner and your partner has to guess it. My host mom, Marjo, described the words to me in Finnish, to Veera in Swedish (she was studying for a Swedish test), and to Saara in English since she is learning English. It was fun though, and actually helped me with Finnish! It is cool that Finland has two official languages. I guess the U.S. kind of does, like English and Spanish... But at the same time that isn't really true. Anyway. It is interesting to see all the Finnish products in Finnish and Swedish. So I know a few words in Swedish, just because I see them all the time!

Well.

Nähdään!

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Viikonloppu

This past week, and weekend, has been pretty good. On Thursday I went to the Sibelius Hall for the first time, which is a famous concert hall in Finland... It is in my city. I went and listened to a really good violin and cello concert. Then during a break in the concert, I ate some really amazing pulla! I had my first exam on Friday. It was French. I studied for it, so I think it went rather well. Some things I did not know, since I was learning French through Finnish. But I did my best! It is funny though, because we had two hours to take the exam, and it only took me one! I have the rest of my exams next week. I have English and Math. Then I have to start studying and researching more about my topic for the Finnish Youth Parliament.

I had my Rotary District Camp yesterday and today. That was fun. It was really nice to see people again. There are about twenty-five inbound exchange students in my district. Yesterday we hung out for a while, ate dinner, played games, had sauna, and then went to a campfire. The sauna was nice. We went swimming too, and it was so dark and the water was sooo cold! When I went underwater it took my breath away! Then I would run back to the sauna! The campfire was really nice too. The view of the lake at night was so beautiful...and the starry sky! It was cold though... Haha, I am in serious need of warm clothes. I actually was in need of some wool socks! But anyway... At the camp fire we made these Finnish pancake/crepe things. They are so good. You put like a load of butter in this little pan with a long handle, then put in the batter, then cook it over the fire. Once it is done, put the crepe/pancake thing on a plate and put some jelly on it. SO good. Then today, we just hung out with everyone mainly. So, the Rotary weekend was fun. I cannot wait until Lapland. That will be ALL of the exchange students!!

This evening, I am going to a musical at the theatre in my town with my youth exchange officer. We will be seeing Oliver! the musical. I am excited! It will be fun and interesting because it will be in Finnish!

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Minua ilahduttaa, koska puhun suomea.

So, I am taking a harder Finnish course, and I am so glad! I will learn so much more this way. I do have to catch up a little, so I have been studying really hard! But I feel myself learning more. I am actually thinking in Finnish a lot. Not things that are too complicated though, of course. I do need to speak more Finnish though. I can understand it quite well, I just need the confidence to speak it more! I am always afraid to make a mistake. But, I think I am speaking way more now than I did when I got here. People are always surprised at how much I know. A lot of Finns think Finnish is impossible for foreigners to learn. I don`t think so!

Ah! Tomorrow I am leaving for Sweden! I am going with my host mom and host sister on a weekend cruise to Stockholm. I am so excited. First though, we have to take a train to Helsinki. I can`t wait for that, because I have never been on a train before! I am so weirdly excited for the train ride! Haha...

So, I have not been up to too much lately. Studying mainly. A lot of Finnish, but some school stuff too. We have exam week the week after next week. Then we will start the new period, and have totally new classes. I think I will be taking English, Geography, Math, Religion, Photography, Cooking, and Sports. I am excited for the next period because I have some really interesting classes. It is really different because religion can be taught in schools here. I thought I would take it to see how it is, like how they learn about that. I just thought that would be interesting. Oh! And photography... Ah! I am really excited for that class.

Something that is really awesome... I get to go to a Finnish Regional Session of the European Youth Parliament. I got involved with it at school through a friend. This session takes place in Tampere and it is basically a weekend of debating European Union issues and trying to solve them. I will have a topic (which I do not know quite yet) that I will research before the session, and that will be my topic to debate. There will be 90 people my age, from all around Finland I guess (I am not sure if it is other countries too, but maybe), and there will be eight groups to represent the eight topics. Then each group will debate and come to a resolution... Then present it at some point. I am looking forward to this. Also, it is nice because everything will be in English!

Well, I need to go and get to bed. I have to get up early.
Ah! Ruotsi huomenna!
Sweden tomorrow!
:)

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I'm beginning to really like it here...

Well, this week has been good so far. I can't believe how cold it is getting though. Usually it is around twenty degrees Celsius, but then it is so windy. I do like the cold weather though. I can't wait until winter, especially because of the snow! I think I am going to have to buy more warm clothes though, because I really don't have that much. In the wintertime I will still have to walk to school, and I really don't want to freeze!

So, I drank this hot tea yesterday... And it was probably the best tea I have every had. Sounds silly, but it's true. It was some type of grey tea, but it tasted like pulla! Haha, seriously. I love hot drinks like hot tea, hot cocoa, and coffee! And I drink a good amount of those here. So, I was at the dinner table the other night, and my younger host brother was eating this t.v. dinner. It was reindeer and mashed potatoes! My host mom said her sister's husband (I think?) will make reindeer for me sometime. So, that sounds very interesting! I would think that it would taste like deer, but who knows...

I had my first Finnish class on Tuesday. I was a little bit disappointed though because I think it is way too easy for me. It was a basic Finnish course, but I didn't really think much about that. Our next lesson, for example, will be on pronunciation and the alphabet. I learned that quite a while ago, because I started studying Finnish basically as soon as I found out I was going to Finland. Which was in January, I believe. So, I am trying to find a harder Finnish class. I really want to learn more, and not start over again at the beginning. I hope I find a harder class!

School has been good lately. I think I am getting to know people better. I am beginning to realize though just how different school is here. I mean, I knew it was before, but... I don't know. Maybe it is because I am learning more about the Finnish culture. I have asked a few students at school what they do after school, like on school nights. Most of them said homework and studying. School really is their lives. People usually have a hobby though too. Maybe a dance class, music lessons, or a sport. Me, for example... I have my Finnish lessons once or twice a week and then I have badminton lessons on Sundays. But hobbies are separate from school, since there aren't any sports or clubs at school (which is what I miss about American high school).  There isn't as much student socialization at school it seems, compared to back home anyway. No Football games every Friday, things like that. My host mom said that a girl is likely to have one good friend. It is different. 

I am beginning to think that Finland is the perfect country for me though. I notice these things about their culture that are so like me, and I find it funny. I will try to think of all of them. 

1. The food is very healthy and that is how I try to eat at home 2. It is a very clean country and I am a neat freak 3. People are reserved and like their alone time, which I am used to, since I am an only child 4. It is a colder country and I do not do well in hot weather 5. School is mainly academics and I take my academics quite seriously.

Then I just love the language, it is so different and unique. It is challenging sometimes, but definitely worth learning. Oh, and I love pulla and sauna of course...

For me, I think Finland is the best place I could have come to for an exchange.

:)

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Fall in Finland

Well, things have been pretty good here. It is getting fairly cold, and it is only the beginning of September! Today has been an exception though, because it is so nice and sunny. But, it is autumn now...which is a little weird because autumn starts earlier here than back home. The trees are beginning to lose their leaves and it is cooling down already. It is also very windy! I like the weather right now, but I know it is going to get a lot colder and it will probably rain more often...so I have heard anyway.

I have a lot of free time right now, since my school schedule is not jam-packed. But next week, I will be starting my Finnish lessons. I will have them on Mondays and Thursdays. I am so glad for that!! Listening to people helps me learn Finnish, but I think a class will do so much more for me. Then I will be starting my badminton lessons this Sunday. I think that will be a lot of fun. I play badminton sometimes with my host mom and sister and I really like it. The excercise will be good for me too...

I think I am making more friends at school, or at least I hope so anyway. I have a handful of people that I talk to regularly and they are really nice. It is just harder to make friends here I suppose. People just have to get used to me. Also, I do not think that some people even know that I am one of the exchange students. This is because the school has gotten 100 new students this year... So it is hard to tell I suppose. But, hopefully they will know me over time. I am trying to talk to more people... It is hard because they are a little bit shy, and so am I sometimes. It is getting easier though.

So, nothing else has been new really. I have been spending a lot of time with my host family. I do a good amount of things with them and their church. Their church is a little different from the churches I have been to, but it is interesting to go to. It is nice because there are a lot of people my age there, and they are all extremely nice.

Well, other than that, I am going to Sweden in two weeks!

:)

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First Trip to Helsinki and Picture Day

Well, last weekend was very fun! On Friday I went to a hockey game with my host dad, Ari. It was a pre-season scrimmage. I think the actual season starts in a couple of weeks. Lahti's team name is the Pelicans, and I think they are supposed to be pretty good. It was fun watching the scrimmage, I hope I get to go to a lot of the games! Then on Saturday morning, Marjo, Veera, and I left for Helsinki. We had to go to the cello store first to buy Veera a new cello, and then we went to the Finnish Parliament building, where Marjo works. It was so beautiful. The whole building inside is symmetric, so every floor looks exactly the same. Good thing the different floors are color coded. And all the stairs and floors are made of Italian marble, I believe, which looked very nice. I took some beautiful pictures. 

Next, we went and briefly walked around. I saw a few fountains and statues that were really interesting. Oh! I saw the Helsinki Cathedral, and it was gorgeous! It is weird seeing things in person when you are used just seeing pictures on the internet.... But it was so cool. We stopped in a cafe and had lunch, and then headed towards the boat that would take us to Suomenlinna. Suomenlinna is an island off the coast of Helsinki. The boat ride only took about fifteen minutes. Once we arrived at the island, we walked around, looking at all of the old buildings that date back to before the renaissance (I believe). The island was used for some sort of Army base. At different points of time, Sweden used the island, Finland used the island, and Russia used the island all for military purposes. The island was so beautiful though. We went to the highest point on the island, where you can see the sea and an awesome view of Helsinki. There were also little houses on one part of the island, but they looked like tiny hills because they were covered with grass... But, other than walking around, we went to a war museum and a cafe on the Suomenlinna island. Then we took the boat back to Helsinki, and drove home.

Saturday night, I went with Veera to their church for a music night. The church band was playing, and it was pretty good. All the music was in Finnish of course, and I always get the songs stuck in my head even though I only know a few words! But it does help me learn Finnish. Then on Sunday, we just hung around and relaxed! Oh! Speaking of learning Finnish... I think I start my Finnish class next week. Tosi hyvä! Very Good!

Nothing exciting has been going on in school this week. We had picture day today! Not very different than picture day back home. The only difference is that we took a class picture. We have something similar to a homeroom class, that you go to only on Mondays, and that is who I took the class picture with. But, for some excitement..... This coming weekend, I am going to a youth group camp type of thing. Veera is also going. It will be fun I think, because I will be with people my own age... And hopefully that will help me to make friends! Also... Next month, I am going to Sweden! I am so excited. We will be going on a big boat, like a cruise ship, and it will be over a weekend. Yay :D

So... I don't know when I will be able to put up any pictures, if I can at all. Because I have SO many, that it would be a little difficult. And they are all on my computer... But I'll see. If I can't, I will make sure to show everyone when I get home!

Well, that is all for now. 

Nähdään!

P.S. I think my English might be getting a little worse since I hear a lot of Finnish. So sorry if things don't always look or sounds right! Haha...

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Finnish School

Finnish school is so different from school in the United States. I started school on Wednesday, August 12 and it was mainly an orientation day. On Thursday I had my first day of classes. I spent most of the day fairly confused, since everything was in Finnish. I got a little bit bored and frustrated, but on Friday it went much better. First off I only had two classes, Art and English, because of teacher meetings or something. Those classes were easier and I understood everything a lot better. Secondly, more students were talking to me and that is always good! It is a little more difficult to warm up to the Finns, so I suppose that it is pretty good if they come up and talk to you.

The school year is divided into five terms, or parts. Each term lasts five weeks. Then there are five periods a day with lunch being after the third period. Each class lasts for seventy five minutes. My schedule for this term looks like this:

Maanantai (Monday)
1. –
2. Geography
3. Math
4. –
5. Music

Tiistai (Tuesday)
1. Geography
2. English
3. Math
4. –
5. French

Keskiviikko (Wednesday)
1. –
2. English
3. –
4. –
5. –

Torstai (Thursday)
1. French
2. Geography
3. Math
4. –
5. –

Perjantai (Friday)
1. Art
2. English
3. –
4. French
5. –

The dashes represent periods where I do not have a class at all, so they are free periods. I can do whatever I want. I can go to the library, get some coffee, walk around, go home if I don’t have any more classes, etc. I know it looks like I have a lot of free periods now, but that is because my Finnish skills are not at their highest. The classes I am taking now are fairly hard for me since everything is in Finnish. It is the beginning of the year, and I did not want to feel overwhelmed. Later on in the year I will be able to take more classes because I will hopefully know a lot more Finnish.

Most of my days start at 8:00, but on Monday and Wednesday I start at 9:30, which I like a lot! I was taking Spanish, but I decided to drop it because I was getting all the languages confused, and it was too much to handle. I decided to keep French though because it is a beginner class and I really like it. My Geography and Math classes are the hardest because everything is in Finnish. The material is not too hard, but it is just difficult when you do not understand the instructions or anything else the teacher is saying!

My school is a lot larger here than my school back home. There is an old building (called Museo) where most of the Lukio (high school) classes are. Then there is a new building where all of the junior high classes are. The school is so beautiful. The Museo is over a hundred years old I believe, and it looks like a college building. I will have to take some pictures!

I have classes in both the Museo and the new building (they are all still high school classes though). It was funny because the other day I was in class in the new building and over the loudspeaker Billy Jean by Michael Jackson came on and I wanted to burst out laughing… It was hilarious. Then some lady talked about Michael Jackson for a while in Finnish.

Walking to school is also very nice. At first I did not think I would like walking to school, but I actually do. I get to see more of Lahti that way, and I feel more independent by walking to school. The exercise is very good as well! I feel like I have been getting so much more exercise here! I have been walking all around Lahti, swimming in lakes, and sometimes doing something with my host family at night. Some examples: I went rollerblading with my host mom, Marjo, the other night. I played badminton with Marjo and my host sister, Veera, last Sunday. And a couple of days ago I went to the gym with Veera and worked out and swam.

Another thing that I really like is that the lunch at school is free. It is a very nutritious hot lunch. It does not always taste the greatest, a little bland sometimes maybe, but at least it is free and healthy. There are also little machines in the cafeteria where you can get snacks or coffee.

I would compare the school here to college. You choose all of your classes, and they are always at different times. Then there is a lot more time between classes, usually ten or fifteen minutes, so that there is plenty of time to make it to the next class. School is not very strict here, because the students are really here for academics. The students take school very seriously, and I haven’t even seen any goofing around among them. My school is a private school, but it is non-profit, and the students have to have really good grades to go there.

Also, there are not any sport teams… No soccer, volleyball, baseball, etc. No clubs either. Sometimes there will be sport tournaments I have heard, but they just quickly form a team, play, and then they are done I suppose. Back to what I said…it is not very strict at school. There is not a dress code, which I like because it gives people more freedom to wear what they want. Students can have their cell phones on them at all times (only to use between classes of course) and they can bring drinks into class as well. So, there is definitely more freedom. Finland is supposed to have one of the best, if not the best, educational systems in the world, and I can see why. The days are shorter, which is very good, because when I am sitting for too long at school I get bored and exhausted and I cannot pay attention anymore.

So, to sum this up, I really like their school system!!

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Food and the Finnish Language

I should probably talk about Finnish food, since I seem to like it so much! It is much healthier than food in the US. I rarely ever see anything that has preservatives, artificial flavoring, or added sugar (the food back home is SO much sweeter than it is here!). A normal day might look like this:

Breakfast (I do not remember what it is called!): Every weekday morning for breakfast we have puuro, which is hot porridge. I add sugar to mine, because it is not sweetened of course. Then I add mustikkakeitto, which is blueberry soup, to give it more flavor. At every meal there is usually milk to drink, or juice sometimes at breakfast. But you can always have water if you want. Then there is cocoa powder to add to the milk, kind of like ovaltine! It is good!

Lunch (Lounas): I eat lunch at school of course on most weekdays. There is always salad and brown bread. The salad is not like back home though. Most of the time it just one vegetable like cucumbers, shredded carrots, or shredded cabbage. Or maybe there is a mix, like lettuce and melon for example. Any raw vegetable, it seems to me, they call a salad. Anyway, there is bread and salad, and then there is the main part of the meal. This always varies of course. On Thursday we had fish soup, which was surprisingly good. It had potatoes, carrots, and fish (obviously) in it. Sometimes there is a small dessert at lunch, but not very often.

Snack after School: When I get home from school there is usually a snack. This is maybe a sandwich and some fruit or vegetables. The bread here is so good! I love ruisleipä, which is dark rye bread. It is so healthy too. I think I said this before, but the bread is denser here. There is just more to it I suppose.

Dinner (Päivällinen...I think): Generally, dinner is eaten around four or five. For dinner I have had pasta with ham chunks, minced meat soup (so good!), potatoes and chicken in a sauce, and much more of course, but that is all I can remember right now! Then there is bread of at dinner as well.

Evening Snack (Iltapala): At night, around eight, there is iltapala, or evening snack. This is maybe one or two of the following: sandwich, bread, fruit, yogurt and granola, or this really good blueberry/whipped cream thing my host mom makes.

Dessert: There really is not dessert, but rather the desserts are eaten more sporadically. Like pulla… Yum! I love pulla. It is any kind of a bun basically. Like a cinnamon bun would be considered pulla. But there is a specific bun that is the main pulla. If that makes sense? It is a small sweet bun, but it is like nothing I have ever had before and it is so good! It has a very specific taste. Oh! Did I mention that Finns love coffee? I think I forgot! Finns drink coffee basically at any time of the day. Finnish coffee is good, but it is SO strong. Starbucks seems weak next to Finnish coffee.

I love going to the grocery store because all the food is so fresh and good. I can get mostly the same things (and more of course!) here than I can back home, but it just tastes better here. This is probably because I am a health freak. So I definitely love Finnish food!

Now… On to the Finnish language. It is actually not sounding so much like gibberish anymore! I can listen to my teachers and actually pick out a good amount of words. Not all of the words of course, but some! Sometimes it is hard though not to get bored in class. There is so much Finnish and the way it is spoken almost puts me to sleep in my morning classes! This is because Finnish is spoken in monotone. The tone of voice does not change, or fluctuate, or however that would be called. In English, for example, the tone always goes up at the end of a question…but not in Finnish. It is monotone, and the tone actually drops down at the end of a sentence.

But I do love the language. I might have just made it sound boring, but it is not! It is so interesting, and fun to speak. It sounds really beautiful if you speak it correctly. It is just so different from any language I have ever heard or learned about, especially because of the prepositions. The prepositions are not the same as they are in English because they are added to the end of words instead. For example: In Finland would translate to Suomessa. Suomi (Finland) and –ssa (which means in or at). So that makes things harder, because there are countless variations of one single word. It is crazy, but I love it!

People get so excited when I speak Finnish, especially at school. They are shocked that I actually know some Finnish and that I can speak it fairly well (for a beginner I suppose). Some people think it is impossible for foreigners to learn it, but I don’t think so. My host family helps me out a lot though too, since they speak a lot of Finnish with me. They say I am really good at Finnish, and they are surprised at how much I know. That makes me feel good! I really want to learn as much Finnish as I can. I mean, being fluent would be awesome. I will try my hardest. I am a language freak, so maybe it is possible! I start my Finnish classes in September, so that will help as well. I will have those classes twice a week. I think I will also start a hobby in September. I was thinking of starting dance… I want to do something different…

Well… Nähdään!

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First Days in Lahti

Well... Things have been very crazy! I arrived at my first host family's house on Saturday after one week at the Karkku language camp. I would say that I am learning more Finnish, even though it is coming along a little bit slowly. The camp helped a lot though with Finnish. It is very different when you hear Finnish all the time, than just learning it at home from a book or program. My host family speaks Finnish all the time, except for when they want to tell me something or explain what they said. But I will be taking a Finnish language course for beginners. I will start that in September, and go to it twice a week.

My host family is so nice! They are very welcoming and they help me with anything I need. Their house is only about a 15-20 minute walk from the center of the city, where there are many shops and restaurants. It is also very different for me to have siblings, but I am really liking it so far. There is always somebody to do something with. All of my host siblings started school today, and I start tomorrow. I am a little bit nervous! The first day at a new school is always the hardest!

On Sunday we went to the summer cottage. It was about 45 minutes away from the city of Lahti (where I am living) and it was kind of in the woods. The cottage was situated right on the lake, it was very nice. We got there and I went swimming with my host siblings in the lake. It was so cold, but very nice! There are so many lakes here, and in most of them the water is quite clean and clear. Then we went on a motor boat ride to a little town with restaurants and what not. And we went through a channel where the water changes levels... I am not sure what it is called. Later on we went to sauna, and then came back to Lahti. 

Today I saw my school for the first time, and it is much bigger than my school back home. I will probably end up getting lost. It is a very nice school though...very well known. I picked my classes today. This part of the year I will have English, Math, Geometry, Spanish, and French. Then there are four other parts of the school year where I will take different courses. Tomorrow is my first day of school and it is basically an orientation day...I will not go for the whole day. But everyday at my school is different. Most days I will start at 8, but some days I will start at 9. Then usually I will end somewhere between 2 and 4. Hopefully I will go more into detail when I actually go to school!!

Okay, Finnish food. It is quite good and very healthy. Especially now, there are many different kinds of berries and a lot of fresh food. We got fresh blueberries from the summer cottage on Sunday, and they were so good! But last night we had mustikka something or other, and it was blueberries (mustikka) in whipped cream basically, and it was good! Then I put lakka in mine, which is a little orange berry...kind of like a raspberry.

Well, I think I will go now, and maybe look around Lahti. I need to walk to my school again to make sure I can find it on my own. I will post pictures later when I am on my own computer and I am able to get to them!!

Moi moi!

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Arriving in Finland and Karkku Camp

Well, I arrived safely in Finland on Sunday August first, and now it is Tuesday the fourth. I know I have only been in Finland for a couple of days, but I already have so much to say. SO… I will probably update this blog a lot, just because I want to share things with everyone!

So, we started our Finnish lessons yesterday… They were not too bad. They were pretty helpful, but maybe it would be better if I was not so tired from flying so much! The camp I am staying at, Karkku, is actually really nice. I was quite surprised. Everything is super clean….I am glad I am in a very clean country. We have dorms rooms that we share with one other person. Here’s some pictures of the camp (the first one being the dorm houses):

On the camp there is a lake, and it is so beautiful. I got a few very typical Finnish lake pictures:

Also, which is pretty major, I had my first sauna! It was definitely an experience. The sauna is a small little room, probably a little bigger than a normal American bathroom I would say, with a bench and an oven with rocks on top. As soon as you walk in you can feel the heat. I believe it was 75 degrees Celcius in our sauna, so in Fahrenheit that would be very hot! I was dripping with sweat. Twice during sauna we got out and took a dip in the lake. It was extremely cold, especially for summer. It was probably the coldest water I have ever gotten into. It felt good though. After we were completely done with our sauna we swam in the lake for about 15/20 minutes. Pretty unbelievable, but once you are in there for a while you get used to it…or you body just goes numb, who knows. But after the sauna, you feel so relaxed…and ahh I just wanted to sleep then!

The food is actually very good too. Yesterday I for dinner I had minced meat soup that had veggies and potatoes in it and some bread. Their bread is very different from the US. It is actually real bread, and much more dense. Then for dessert we had waffles with I think raspberry jam and a little bit of whipped cream on it. It was so yummy! I really liked the soup though too. Here is a visual:

Other than Finnish lessons we exchange students just hang out. There are many different nationalities here and it is very cool. We play cards a lot together. We played spoons for about an hour today and I totally won!! Well I am glad that there are a good amount of people I know that will be in my same district.

So, today we are having Finnish lessons and on Wednesday we are going to Tampere, which is the second largest city in Finland I believe. I am very excited to go there. I think we are going to a amusement park? I am not really sure.

Alright, I have to go back to Finnish lessons soon. If you have not guessed by now I like to write a lot because I want to tell people everything, so hopefully you enjoy! Haha…

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My Last Day in the USA...

Well, I leave for Finland tomorrow! I think it is actually beginning to sink in now. I am extremely excited, but fairly nervous at the same time!

My official flight itinerary:

Leave Pitt at 12:35 pm and arrive in Detroit at 1:49 pm
Leave Detroit at 7:10 pm (five hour layover!) and arrive in Amsterdam at 9:00 am (the flight is 7 hr and 50 min)
Leave Amsterdam at 10:30 am and finally arrive in Helsinki at 2:00 pm Sunday

Of course there are time changes in there.
It is crazy that I have waited for this for over a year, and it is finally here! It will be hard to leave my family, because I am so close to them, but I know it is worth it. They will be here when I return. And they will always be there for me, including during my exchange, even if they can't be there in person.

Since it is my last day, I will be going out to dinner tonight with all of my family and some family friends. I am glad that I will be able to see everyone collectively before I leave!

Well, next time I post I will be in Finland.
Ahh... Just mildly freaking out! But in a good way, I am SO excited!!
I will miss everyone very much!

Hyvästit Yhdysvallat
(Goodbye USA)

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Viisitoista Päivää (Fifteen Days)!

Crazy as it may sound I am leaving for Finland in fifteen days! Still, I don't think it has sunk in... It'll hit me a week or so after I am actually in Finland ;). I am fully in preparation mode though. I have all of my luggage (and actually started to pack a little). I wanted to pack everything, but I had to stop myself! Haha. I have all of my host family gifts and a bunch of pins (for trading) to take with me. I can't believe how much stuff I have accumulated to bring with me. For my host families I am bringing mini photo albums of my photography, USA flags, Florida brochures, my rotary club's flags, and peanut butter (which I heard they do not have in Finland). I think I am also getting Pennsylvania book marks, key chains, and pins from Scott Hutcheson... so that will be really nice to take too!

Here's a picture of my first host parents, Marjo and Ari, that I got a while ago (I'm not sure where they are...it's not in my host city I don't think). Also, in my first host family I have two younger host sisters, Veera (13) and Saara (7), and a younger host brother, Aake (11). I hope I got their ages correct! I am really excited to have "siblings" :)

Oh, and sorry to change the topic, but I haven't got my visa yet! I mean everything is in order so that I have my visa technically...but not physically...if that makes sense. My visa is still in Finland I believe, and it's all ready to go...they just haven't sent it back yet. I think they may have my passport too. :/ My mom talked to the travel agency and they said that Finland likes to wait until the last minute to send these things back. Do they know I'm inpatient? I haven't got my exact flight information either. Buttt I did hear what the flight route will be. From what I hear I will be flying out of Pitt to Detroit...then from Detroit to Amsterdam...and then to Helsinki. Sounds exciting!!!

Also... Tomorrow I am having one of my final fundraisers: a yard sale. Woo! I think that it's a good idea...other than the fact that I have to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning to set things up. I am also selling hoagies as one of my last fundraisers. I have to say, it will be nice to be fundraiser free here pretty soon.

Lastlyyy, I have applied to two out of my four college choices! I applied to the University of Pittsburgh and Ohio State...anndddd I'm also going to apply to Virgina Tech and the University of Delaware once their applications become available (which hopefully is before I leave!!). I'm happy with my college choices though. All of them have a really good International Relations/Studies program or Political Science program... But, ah! I cannot wait to be done with all of this college stress. I am glad I am getting it out of the way though, because then I won't have to deal with it much when I'm in Finland. Thankfully, my mom will be doing a lot of financial aid and scholarship business for me while I'm gone. :)

Alright, well that's enough for now!

Hyvästi nyt!

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Finland is growing closer...

Well not much to report on, other than school is over and it's officially summer vacation :) I feel so relieved. Oh and I didn't even fail my advanced chemistry final! That was after the curve though of course...

And...I leave for Finland in 56 days. That is ridiculously soon! I'm excited, but fairly nervous at the same time.. I have a feeling that I'm going to miss my family a lot more than I previously thought. My friends too of course.

I found some more great pictures of Lahti:

A view of the city with the ski jumps in the upper right. I love this picture.

Sibelius Hall, which is a famous concert hall.

Street view of Lahti. Ski jumps in the background. :)

That's it for now. Nähdään pian!

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Less Than Three Months To Go...

So, things have been really good lately, very hectic though since the end of the school year is nearing. Only 7 and a half more days of school! I couldn't be more excited. I am a little sad though at the same time since it’s basically my last year, and there are probably a few people that I won’t see again. And finals are this coming week…that’s the worst. I only have three, so I guess that’s not too terrible. My advanced chemistry one is going to kill me though! I’m sure that I will fail…

But in good news, I talked to my school in Finland! My superintendent talked to my principal Mr. Moisala (I was there though of course). He said that I would be able to have an English class and a Social Studies class while I’m in Finland. My superintendent just wanted to make sure that I would be able to have those classes. And my superintendent is going to accept those credits for my graduation requirements! That’s a relief. I didn’t really want to have to take courses over the summer in order to graduate. Oh, the principal also said that I will get a transcript too, just so the courses I take are verified and what not.

Other than that, not too much is new. I just finished putting together most of my slide show presentation for Finland. I was kind of bored, so that was some entertainment :). Now that my departure date for Finland seems to be coming faster and faster I’m just trying to get everything done that I need to do. I found the colleges I want to go see in the summer, and I will apply later in the summer before I leave. I’m going to see Towson University, Binghamton University, and the University of Delaware. I was going to go see American University, but they were rude on the phone about scholarships and tuition, so scratch that idea.

Also, I’ll need to do some shopping for a little bit of new clothes, but mostly for host family gifts. The worst thing though that I’ll have to do before I leave will be packing! I know it’s silly, but I’m kind of dreading it. I have no idea how I’ll fit almost one year’s worth of stuff into two suitcases and a carry-on. I’ll want to bring all of my stuff! Which I know isn’t a good idea. I better start packing like a week before so I can gradually remove stuff out of it that I probably won’t need… Haha.

Oh! I almost forgot. We had our Rotary District Conference one week ago. It was fun. I got to meet the inbounds, who were very fun and crazy, and I got to see all of the outbounds again. I like being around exchange students because they understand what it's like to go through this whole process. We had to go to a Rotary luncheon and there were around 200 Rotarians there. We had to give a mini speech, which was a little scary! I know that I need to work on my public speaking skills for sure…haha. Here is a picture of all the inbounds, outbounds, and summer exchange students. And there's Larry, our district chairman in the middle…he has A LOT of pins! :)... (I'm in the front, towards the right, with the skirt...)

I’ve also realized that in the past week it seems like someone has asked me about my exchange at least twice a day. “Where are you going?!” “You’re going to Finland?” “What do they speak there?” “Say something in Finnish.” Haha. I don’t mind it though. It’s cool to see that other people are interested in what I’m doing. And speaking of Finnish, I’m still working on it! My Byki program tells me I know 361 words…which includes some phrases. So that’s pretty cool. I wish I knew more about sentence structure, but I suppose I have to take this slowly and start with the basics. :)

Well I’m going to go!
Happy Memorial Day weekend!

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Host Families!

I began talking to my host families in the last week or two! It is so exciting! I talked to my host mom, Marjo, from my first host family. She seems really nice and so welcoming! She works for the Finnish Parliament, which I think is very interesting since I want to study that sort of stuff (International Relations to be specific) in college. They seem to have a really nice family. She said that the children can't wait until I come (there are three children! :) ). I am so excited to have siblings, since I don't have any! They will also be taking me to Sweden, which is really awesome. I also talked to the host moms of my second and fourth families (and, previously, my little host brother from my second family). They also seem so nice and excited for my arrival. I am really glad that my host families seem so friendly and welcoming.

I've also been working a lot on my Finnish lately! Well, trying to. I don't exactly know how to form actual sentences, butttt I'm learning some words. I think the longest word I have come across so far has been pukeutumispöytä, which is a dresser.

I'm very close to my fundraising goal! Not too much more and my trip will be paid for! Not counting spending money though of course... This could all change though if I decide to go on the Euro-Tour, which I think I am leaning towards :]. In that case I would have to raise a little more moolah.

So, not much more to update on... 23 more days of school! Speaking of school, I really need to get a hold of my school in Finland, Yhteiskoulu. I need to see what classes I will be taking, and then my school needs to talk with them and what not. Butttt, I can't seem to get in contact with them. My YEO in Finland is trying to, so hopefully I'll hear something soon. I think my school is getting antsy.

To finnish...haha...finish, I mean, this blog off I figured I'd put in a couple pictures of Lahti I have found.

Ski Jumps in Lahti:


I'm not sure if this is in Lahti or not, but I still think it's a cool picture. Some kind of market I think...

näkemiin!

(bye!)

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Hei Taas!

Things have been going well I suppose. Very hectic of course. School is crazy sometimes, I am so glad that we only have two months left!

I have my Rotary District Conference next month! It's the weekend after prom I think... May is going to be a very crazy month! But fun I'm sure. I got an e-mail from my one host brother in my second family. His name is Viljam and he is nine. He seems very nice! I'm so excited!!

I wanted to put some pictures of Finland and Lahti on here... So here we go...

First off, here is a map of Europe to see where Finland is...

Here's just a map of Finland with a concentration on Lahti... Bordering Finland is Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east.

Finland flag...

A picture I found of Lahti! Lahti is a pretty big city, with about 100,000 people. And it's only 60 miles-ish away from Helsinki...

The school I will attend... Lahden Yhteiskoulu.

And this is my favorite one! It's in Lahti, of course, and I think the place is called The Market? I'm not sure. Anyway...I really like it, especially the little sail boat on the lake, and the trees.



Well that's about all I have for now. Currently I am waiting to get in contact with my school in Finland, so that I can figure out my classes and what not...I will only need two classes to graduate. But yeah, my school here says that my finnish credits should count.... I'm hoping!!!

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I have a city!

Well, today has been a veryy eventful day. First of all, I had my first Rotary Orientation, which went pretty well. I didn't really find out anything about where I was specifically going though. But then I got home, checked my e-mail, and there it was! I got an e-mail from the Rotary club in Lahti, Finland. I'm going to Lahti! I am so excited to finally have an official city.

I don't know much about the city, but from some pictures I have seen it seems beautiful. I believe it's a port city. In my e-mail from the Lahti Rotary I know what school I am going to, and the 4 families I will be staying with. Also at the end there was a list of dates when I will be doing things. I get to go to Lapland, and I have the opportunity to do a St. Petersburg-Tour and the Euro-Tour. I really would like to do both, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to raise enough money, since I would have to pay for them separately from the costs I am already paying for the Rotary. Also the Euro-Tour is in June, and I would really like to come back to the states to graduate in the beginning of June. Hm, maybe I could come back and graduate and then go back to Europe and do the Euro-Tour...haha that would be really awesome.

But yeah, I am really excited that I got my city and my host families. My host families don't know about me yet, but they will soon. I think I will be able to contact my first host family here in the upcoming weeks.

So I am looking into the Berlitz classes to learn Finnish. I have pretty much decided that if I try to teach myself Finnish that it's not going to work very well. I have already tried, and well, all I really know well is the numbers, colors, and days of the week. I think a class would be more helpful. And I think Berlitz is supposed to be a pretty good program. Hopefully anyway, my Rotary recommended it. =]

Well I'm going to go. Maybe I'll post more later after I have done some research on Lahti!

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I got my passport!!

Today in the mail came my passport! I was so excited! It makes everything seem more real! I will be leaving in around 6 months, which isn't really that long. I am able to get my drivers license next week after having my permit for 6 months, and that time flew!

Ah, I'm just so gosh darned excited!!!!

I wish school wasn't as hectic as it is though. I'm just overwhelmed with all the assignments and tests on top of thinking and planning for college. I sort of have to do everything early since I will be abroad for my senior year. I mean I'll be able to apply to my colleges while I'm over there, but I need to go see colleges and at least try to apply early while I'm still here. It's just hectic. Especially having to take the SAT and probably the ACT. Yuck! I took the SAT last month, and I get my results back this week. Hopefully that went well...haha.

Well enough about school...lets talk about Finnish! Hah. Well.... I think that maybe my skills are getting a wee better. I hope? It's kind of difficult though. What confuses me is that there isn't any prepositions in the sentences, instead they are added on to the end of the word. For example if you add -ssa onto the end of a word it means that something is located in, at, or inside of something or someplace.

Example:

Opiskelen Suomessa -- I study in Finland.

Conjugating the verbs too is something I haven't really tackled. I think once summer comes I'm going to have more time to focus on learning the language, since school keeps me busy enough.

Here is some really beautiful photography of Finland I've found: (They are all are from http://www.maion.com/)

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Terve...

So we had a pretty good ice/snow storm here in the northern U.S. yesterday. A lot of the trees here look like the ones in winter time in Finland. :)

I think that my Finnish is improving... I mean I at least hope so. I know the colors (most of them), days of the week, basic greetings, and I can count to one hundred. I would say that is a pretty decent accomplishment. I'm excited to find out where exactly in Finland I will be going to. I've read a little on Turku, Helsinki, Tempere, and of course Lapland. It will probably be a while before I find out though...

I received a book yesterday from the rotary called: The Exchange Student Survival Kit. I think that it's fairly helpful. A lot of situations in the book are ones that I hadn't thought of. Being prepared is a good thing!

My mom got a little freaked out though when I was reading her things out of my exchange book. She also got a little sad at the thought of not seeing me for 8 or 9 months. I know it will be extremely hard, because I'm so close to my mom, but I know it's going to be a great experience. I just tried to explain to her that I would e-mail or call her quickly everyday if it's possible. I think she worries about my safety too, but Rotary is known to be a very safe program, and I feel safe going with them.

I am just so ready to embark on this experience, but I know I have to be patient and enjoy my last year in American high school. It's like I'm a senior when I'm really only a junior. I feel like a senior though, I just don't get to participate in all the cool things the seniors do! Haha, oh well! I'll give that up next year to go to Finland!

I'm glad that my friends and family are very supportive about me going to Finland. I told my friends and a few teachers at school the day after I found out that's where I would be going, and they were all very excited for me.

Buttttt, other than thinking about my exchange not much else is new. Just going to school and trying to enjoy it...hah! I've been thinking a lot lately of college too, which is a little bit haunting. It's so hard what to choose for a major! These are my possible majors (or minors..who knows?): International Relations, International Business, Global Studies, French Language, and Art Management. I am leaning more towards International Relations with a double major in something else (Maybe International Business?) and a minor in French. I would really love to work for an organization like the UN and be able to be involved in the world and travel. I hope that by going to Finland I will have a better idea of what I want to do.

Well I better get off of here...I want to mess with my blog layout.

Näkemiin!

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It's been a while...

I haven't posted in a long time, so I figured it was about time that I did.

I recently found out that I am going to Finland for my foreign exchange. That was definitely a shock to me. I thought "What's in Finland?" because I hadn't really any knowledge on the country. I've done a little research though and Finland seems like a wonderful country. Also I have seen some amazing scenery online....it's beautiful! The lakes, forests, and especially winter time scenes. It's a good thing that I love snow!

I am anxious to go to a country that many people around where I live don't know about. I don't know much about it myself, and that's probably the most exciting thing. I am really worried about the language though! I've heard it's hard, and it looks it. I ordered a Berlitz book today on Finnish Phrases and what not, and I hope it really helps. I might look into Rosetta Stone, even though it's a little pricey for me, in the hopes that it offers Finnish.

I talked to my district guy today and I have an orientation in March. These next few months will really be exciting, especially because I can get my drivers license next month! (And my orientation of course!)

I've also been trying to raise money for my trip. For Rotary I have to raise around $4,000 but I'd like to raise $6,000 for personal expenses and everything. I currently have raised around $2,000, which I'm pretty happy about. I think my next funraiser will be selling pizzas? I'm not sure yet. My mom is pretty much in charge of my fundraising and my money. She has helped me so much.

Well, I'm going to go and see if I can find a good website to learn Finnish.
Hei!
Which is the only word I can currently remember, and it means hi...
haha...:)

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