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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