Wow!

So much has happened since my last blog post. I try to keep it updated but it is getting more and more difficult. So let's see, where to begin. I will just go from Friday. So Friday night we had a girl's night at a friend's grandfather's home who passed away. It was lots of fun! It was a nice house, too. Everyone brought different food and I brought my Jelly Bellies to share :) I stayed there until about 12 and Maiju's dad came and got us. Even though they all speak in Finnish, it is fun to be surrounded by girls my age and it's funny because I understand the swear words (normally a good 99% of a Finnish sentence) and I laugh when they swear, then they laugh because they know what I am laughing about! Haha!  But I really do appreciate when people even try to speak English because I know how intimidating it can be trying to speak Spanish to a Mexican. Usually, I can understand their English, although it's broken. Sitting in English class and listening to my friends talk makes me realize how lucky I am to already know English because it seems so hard to learn when not in the U.S.!







girls night!

Saturday during the day I went to a beach in Ruissalo with all of the kids in my exchange distrct 1410. Which, of course, is garaunteed to be a good time. It was kind of rainy to begin with, but then it started clearing up. So much for doing my hair, though! The fall in Finland is similar to the spring in Illinois. Rainy, cold, and wet. Although some days, it is beautiful. Anyways, when we got there we went to a pavillion where two drunk Finns screamed at us in Finnish basically threatening to kill us because we were being too loud. So after that little encounter, we found a place by the beach and  grilled some makkara (sausage) and played games as well as enjoyed the beauty of the Baltic Sea. Being with my Finnish friends is fun, but being with my exchange friends we instantly have a connection and can all talk about our experiences. Especially those of us from the states. At Ruissalo, many of my friends were telling me about the problems they were having with their family. I cannot imagine having major problems because you have to live with them for the next 2 months! Most of my friends said that they go to their house to eat, sleep, and shower and the rest of the time, are not home.

Not all of us, but some rebounds and inbounds from 1410!

After the beach, my friend Christine, from Canada, went to Turku to hang around. Some other exchange students were there including a kid from Colorado, Alec, and we went back to his place, which is about 15 minutes from Turku, and went fishing until about 10:30 then we went home around 11:40 that night. It was not too chilly, but the nightlife in Turku is quite different from the daytime. On Sunday, Christine and I just hung around my house and talked about how different everything is and about all the aspects of Finland vs. America ja Kanada.



Christine and I in Ruissalo

I am beginning to learn more Finnish as time goes on. Listening to music has helped as well as my Finnish lessons. There are only 6 of us in the class so it is very personal and I have realized that I learn by repetition. I have not learned yet how to form verbs, but hopefully I will soon because that is the key component to a sentence. Some of my friends are doing fundraising for trips and they sell all of the above: socks, detergents, candies, and toilet paper ja paper towels. Haha! How fitting for a economically fit country. This Thursday I will go to Turku with Enppu (my next host sister) and Maiju for an ice hockey game!! Yay!!! It costs about 20 Euro. Then on Friday, Enppu will be having a party. Other than that, who knows what I will be doing! Until next time :)