Christmas begins!

Went to Turku on Saturday to watch the Christmas tree in front of Turku church to get lit up. :) 200 something lights for the years Turku has been in existence. Beautiful, but cold. Definetely going to need some hardcore warm gloves!

Georgia and I in front of the Cathedral. My head is blocking the tree...

In front of the "old market" in Turku. Left to right- me, Georgia (Australia), Alex (Colorado), ja Safire (Michigan)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with exchangees. Got an awesome package from my awesome cousin and it made me cry cause it was so sweet and so unexpected :) And got another package from home with a few necesities (lots of socks) which iam thankful for when I go to Lapland (north Finland) next week and it is -30C...let me put that into perspective. Lapland=30C. My freezer=20C. THAT cold. Getting cards from people warms my soul :) Thanksgiving is over now on to Christmas time! There was a Christmas tree in school...That would NEVER happen in America- too many contradictions and complainers. Oh and my cousin gave me a mini pumpkin- and Michelle, it was in perfect condition when it got here :D I did not see one pumpkin in Finland :(

2 roasted chickens, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, banaffie pie, and cookies. happy thanksgiving!

thanks for the knitted hat and scarf michelle! i love them :)

made 3 batches of cookies. the first batch was eaten before i even made the batter for the second batch...by the way, this was the finnish picture (hence the frowns)

Well

Time is flying by way too fast. November just began and now it looks as if it is going to end soon. What! Well, anyways I have to sum up 2 or 3 weeks now because I have failed to update it weekendly once again. So last weekend I had my district inbound camp (1410) and it was a blast. We played a few games- I won charades :) and ate Finnish food and drank coffee, etc. etc. It was really good to be with EVERYONE from our district because I only see a few sometimes. We meet in a cafe by the river every Wednesday, but it's only the people who live close enough to Turku to go. We arrived in Laitila (where we stayed at) around noon on Saturday and spent the night (I got top bunk -.-) and left the next morning after having a Father's day dinner...with no fathers...in a church...There is something really wrong with that picture...Anyways! OH! And we also did sauna and jumped in the lake. The lake wasn't frozen yet, but it was so much fun jumping in the lake- and addicting! I went quite a few times. The temperatures have remained around -2-5C. And we are also getting a little snow just before Thanksgiving :) Which, by the way, the exchange students and I ARE celebrating. It may not be traditional Thanksgiving, but we'll whip something homely up. The picture below this post is of a parent's night on Thursday at which I sang "Don't Stop Belevin'" and had 5 back-up singers and it was so nice to perform. I miss theatre like crazy. Especially having so many people so close to you. Then on Wednesday Gaby and I gave a presentatin on our life in Lieto. We made a video and I handed out Laffy Taffy...no banana ones though, because as my mom and I both know, those are the best. This week is test week so I will have a test tomorrow and another on Thursday. Both English, but those tests aren't as easy as you'd think! The listening comprehensions are quite tricky...Anyways, I think I am going to a place called 'Caribia' on Tuesday. It has an indoor pool and an outdoor pool that is heated :) It sounds amazing! I have been quite tired lately. It gets dark around 4PM and remains dark until around 9:30AM or so. They put sand down on the streets, but the snow remains on the streets so when it is packed down, it is incredibly slippery...I know because I have caught myself from falling over 15 times now. OH and last week, I also went to Gaby's house and made quesedillas as well as chocolate chip cookies :) They were delicious. I made some for my host family, too and I think they liked them. I also made them American pancakes, too. They have crepes here. But they are both delicious :) I am picking up on more of the language, I think. I went to a party last night and let me tell you, drunk Finns LOVE speaking English. It was refreshing to hear English amongst kids my age again :) And they speak really well. But sometimes when they speak Finnish, I pick up on the sentence about 2 or 3 minutes after they said it...but still! I am learning :) That's all for now! Until next time...

snow! gaby and i

America V. Mexico!

us at the father's day breakfast (it was fathers day in finland by the way)

Wow!

So it has been quite some time since I last wrote...about 2 weeks approximately. I am sure you have all been refreshing the page at work awaiting the next post <Aunt Tina ;)> So I will start with last weekend, which was Syysloma- fall break. I went to my friend Christine's house in Eura (outside of Pori where my family rented a cottage). We went to her friend's houses at nighttime after a little arts and crafts session and just talked about all of the things we have been doing and of course how much we miss Taco Bell! Then the next night I stayed in the cottage and my family took me to the coast and it was absolutely gorgeous! Pori is a semi-bigger town on the coast of Finland. Unfortunately my camera broke because some rain got into it, but I will be receiving my mom's camera shortly. Fortunately, however, my host family was kind enough to take pictures of us on the coast which I will put up at some point in time :P

The next night (Sunday night) I went to an Abi Bileet (third year party). It was a blast!! There were a lot of kids from my school, and a few that I had never seen, at that party. It was at a plce called ParmaHarju, which is kind of like  YMCA establishment to some degree. For example, they have a gym, sauna, eating area, etc. I do not know what else to compare it to, it is cheap to rent though, hence the third years wanting to rent it. It is so funny because all the guys in my class won't talk to me when they're sober...but when they get drunk, they are literally in my face asking me dozens of questions, which is okay, if they all weren't at the same time :P We left around 2 I think and most other people either stayed there or left around 6AM.

That week on Monday I also went to a billiards place in Turku with some exchange friends and it was a blast, even though I completely suck at pool! We were being too loud (what a surprise in a Finnish bar) and a man who had brought his own cue (very serious about his playing) yelled at us to be quiet. Luckily, we had a Finn with us so we knew what he said! I also went to get a prescription and I went to the SCHOOL doctor! They have a doctor and a dentist at Liedon Lukio so that we don't have to leave campus. AND it is free!

Then this Wednesday I went to an indoor cross country skiing place with my host mom, Gaby, my host sister, and her friend! It was so much fun! I was terrible and had snow all over me, but it was so much fun! People go to Paippi, the place, all year round and people go to practice lots of times a week if they are really dedicated. There were literally kids under 12 passing me with flying colors and I thought it was hilarious, but Hanna told me that they have been doing competitions. I thought it was going to be similar to ice skating, but I kept on putting my sticks on top of each other and falling over. Haha! The track is 700 meters long and is about -2 to -3 degrees celcius. My family had skiis for me and I rented boots. But it was incredibly fun and such a treat- a lot of my friends said they had never been there! I couldn't stop laughing because I made such a fool of myself, but people understood when I was on the ground after trying to ski UP a hill...hard work! Lots of upper strength...which I completely lack...

Me and Gaby in Paippi!

Then this last Friday second years dressed as hippies for Halloween, third years dressed as "snobs", and first years whatever they wanted to be. Halloween really is not a big deal here, but that is later.

hippies!

Friday night I went to my German friend Leonard's house with Georgia (from Australia) and Alec (from Colorado) and we just hung out and his mom made us Finnish pizza (peaches and ham)- delicious! It was very nice to be with exchange students, as always! But while I was there, my little host sister, Alina, had her own little Halloween party! I am sad that I missed it because it sounded like fun! There were some kids at another party trying to scare the girls that were in our house and so Hanna played a little trick on them and scared them away- it sounded hilarious! Then my family was in the forest in the backyard and the girls walked around and were terrified of going anyone near my host mom, dad, or brother because they were the scary characters! Then Saturday I went to my friend's Halloween party! On the way there, we saw trick or treaters in the neighborhood...on Saturday! Halloween is a very new holiday here. I think Hanna said there was one group of kids that came to the door! I got a Halloween card from home and it was so sweet :) Always makes my day!! But anyways, I went as a black cat to my friend Sanni's party (so original!) It was the same house that I went to the girl's night last month. It was quite fun! Lots of the girls dressed up, but it is still a strange holiday to them.

cat, rockstar, cowgirl, crazy dead wife! :)

Then the next day, yesterday- Sunday, I went as an 80's girl to the rotary Halloween party. It was held at a Swedish restaraunt place in Turku. It was so much fun! I hung out with 3 Aussies- they come in January (when Australians schoo lyear starts) and they are leaving this January! So soon! But anwyays at the party we played a few games and just hung out and ate. Nothing like a real good old fashioned American Halloween party, but it was good just to celebrate it as I know they do not celebrate it at ALL in other countries. The girl on the right is a rubiks cube. Finns like dressing in grotesque costumes as opposed to America where girls dress in as little clothes as possible using Halloween as an excuse.
After the party, my host parents picked up Christine and I and we came back to our place where we relaxed and had delicious and filling pizza that was homemade. Peaches and ham :) Christine stayed at my house because she lives about an hour away and it would be a while until she got home. So she went to school with me today then we came home after eating lunch around 10.15 with the younger kids took the dog out, and then honestly passed out. We had a long weekend!
My Finnish comprehension is getting better, I think. I can kind of pick out what coversations are about. I don't even pay attention to the endings, right now, I am just trying to listen for words that I know! Over Syysloma, my friend went to Paris and she sent me a postcard and it was so incredibly sweet of her!! I have something from Paris! Oh, and my host grandparents went to Tunis and they brought us all back a little stuffed animal camel and a keychain :) So international!! :D That is all for now! <3