Everythings as if we never said goodbye

Snow!!!

I had my soccer trainings this week at 8PM at night! On a turf field. It was so good to get out on the field again. It is a good stress relief and somehow centers me and keeps me grounded. Literally and physically. I can't really say much about my weekend. It snowed for the first time, though! Nothing stuck to the ground, unfortunately. It is getting quite chillier, but if the sun is out, it is not too bad. I was talking to my friend Jenna Porter who lives in Helsinki and I met her before I left. At the last foreign exchange conference we had in the U.S.A we roomed together. We have gone through the whole process together and now we are here! But anyways, we were talking about how much we missed theatre. We feel so empty without it. Being on stage is so fulfilling and here it is so time consuming it would be hard to do especially since it is in Turku and I would be going there a lot. But I have, however, joined a choir of about 7 people at my high school. We will sing on a Swedish Saint Lucia holiday and also on a parent's night I believe. This week is also the start of the fall break. From Thursday to next Tuesday we have a fall break. I think I am going to a cottage in Pori but my friend Christine lives really close to there so I will stay one night at her house! Yay! I also think that the exchange students near Turku are putting together a Thanksgiving :) Yummy! The leaves are turning and it is so beautiful! Especially during dusk. When I woke up this morning, I thought it was 2AM and really, it was 6! It was still black outside! Ou nouuu!! Anyways, I am going to eat lunch now and warm myself up!

This weekend

This week was my first week with my new schedule. I have a psychology class and when I walked in, he asked if I knew what a white-tailed deer was and continued by saying that he killed two before going to school that morning. Then I have two other English classes and a sports class and hopefully I will be getting a singing course and possibly a dance course. For the next period, I will take a class for the old dance. We have to learn the dance and then perform it for people. Much different than prom! I am also joining the soccer team and some friends from Helsinki are thinking of starting a foreign exchange theatre group (yay!) I am like a fish without water because I have not been performing. On my weekend, well, Friday, I went to a Mexican and Finnish bar. At the Finnish bar, cleverly named "poro" (reindeer), I met two adults from the United States that worked with Carnival cruise lines. I eavesdropped and heard them say "Turku" like an American and I was like HEY! I am going to talk to them! Very refreshing to hear that. I think it is going to be so strange to come back to the states and understand all the conversations being had because I am so used to not understanding fully what people are saying. I am beginning to understand much more, though. Thank God! I can pick up on words and hopefully in a few weeks, I will be able to piece together what people are talking about. On Saturday, I lounged around did laundry etc. Then around 7 I went to Linda's house, the girl from Rotex who went on exchange to Mexico in 08-09 and there was a little girls night. One of her friends went to France and another to Italy. The girl from Itally Anni, did all of our nails and was such a sweetheart! Then today I went to a basketball game with a team from Turku vs. Helsinki. There were two American players, and the coaches were screaming in English (yay!) Then I went home and did sauna :) I have not been warm in a long time and it definetely helped. Supposedly, this is supposed to be the coldest winter in 1,000 years. Perfect timing, Christina! Anyways, tomorrow I will be going to Turku because my English teacher has a colleague there, and coincidentally, it is my next host sister's school! It is called TSYK. I have realized that my English is getting worse and worse. Uh oh. Tuesday I have training at 8 o'clock. Since we do not have practice after school, we have it very late in the night. AKA: cold! No pictures this time, sorry! Hyää yötä (goodnight)

Every weekend

Emppu, me, Gaby and Maiju on the top floor

sunset on the baltic

I have decided that I will blog post every weekend because it will be much easier for me and gives me something to do on lazy Sundays. So this week/end went by SO quickly! It is already October! This week I had my English exam and finished it rather quickly, as you can imagine...But afterwards it was nice to come home and relax. Then on Wednesday, I went to Turku with exchange students and had coffee and walked around. I cannot express how awesome it is being with them. Then on Thursday, Gaby and I went to Turku and then took the wrong bus to a town outside of Lieto. The bus read "Lieto As." which we mistook for Lieto central...gah! So we went to Aura and I was so happy because when we walked into somewhere to ask when the next bus was coming I said, "Milloin on seurava linea-autoa" which is like When is the next bus? And she understood me and gave us a schedule! Gaby's mom came and got us,, that will never happen again!! Then on Friday I just layed low, went to the skatepark, because yetserday morning I got up around 7 to leave at 7:45 for the Picnic Cruiser! Gaby, her host mom, Hanna (my mom), Maiju, and Enppu went on a HUGE cruiser to the middle of Finland and Sweden then we switched boats and came back to Turku. Everything on the boat was tax-free including alcohol and the adults there were not afraid to show it...There were SO MANY drunk people, it was actually quite frightening...I was sitting there thinking "That could be my mom falling down that ramp". It was like a security blanket was just ripped away because average adults were stumbling drunk.

some islands before sweden-ish area

Finland is too good for other vodkas so they made their own :)

But other than that, the sights were absolutely BEAUTIFUL! There are thousands of islands between them and some of them have never had man step on them before. The islands go from lots of foliage, to rocky, and that is how you know you are getting closer to Sweden. There were quite a few foreign people and quite a few people that acted foreign (who were just drunk). The food was SO DELICIOUS! And it was buffet style. Watching the sea and eating fish- not a good mix. I ate deer and it was disgusting. My mom let me have a glass of wine. And I was hammered. Not really. But the shops were really nice and I got a Svea hat! Everyone my age has a Svea hat and theyre about 19 Euro, but on the boat they were 16 Euro. It is a Swedish company, but Finland wears it...strange because they hate each other. Anyways, the boat had I think 7 floors and a nightclub, sauna, etc. Then when we got home around 8PM i was exhausted. I will add pictures later! God bless! Until next time

turku river at night

i thought this was a cool picture of the cold fog riding my bike to school in the morning

The Weekend

So this weekend went by very quickly! But it will continue until tomorrow (Tuesday) because I have my English exam, then after, I will make a new schedule. Anyways, Friday evening didn't do

much. Maiju and I hung around at the skatepark and then I recieved the package from my parents!! :) It was SOO GOOD to get things from home :) They even smelled like home. All of the candy in Finland is either chocolate or salty liqourice (no joke). So when I got Skittles and Starbust, etc. I was so happy. I even got things that I completely forgot I would need. My parents used plastic bags as filler and that is good because you have to pay for them here! I use them in my garbage can and unless I go shopping, I don't have a bag...Anyways, that was a really nice thing :) Especially the old clothes I left at home because I need warm clothes!

Urho appreciates my old clothes being sent here, too :)

         Then on Saturday, I went to my friend Jennna's for a Finland party! Everyone wore white and blue and we had one helluva good time! :) All of the girls are so warm and friendly and are genuinely interested in you. It is not like small talk in America, it is like, "Hey I want to get to know you!" Haha. But it really was very fun. Usually people bring snacks when they go to parties. Like I brought a can of Pringles (yes they have pringles here), and some other people brought candy or a bag of chips. It is very smart, actually...That way everyone gets to eat anything if they brought something! Thats how it goes for most parties you go to.I met so many new girls and they are all awesome people! Very kind and real people. But going to the party, all fun aside, made me homesick for my friends. Then Alina made everyone in the family cupcakes, which were delicious. She is a sweetheart!
But I think I will go to Turku today to walk around, etc. Until next time! Hyvää pääivä!

The Finnish flag came in handy, thanks mom and dad!! Just in time :)

My "C" cupcake :)

Moi!

Sorry I have not been writing much, lately. But this week is test week so I will not be doing very much except on Tuesday I have the English exam and have to write an essay then eat lunch and make my schedule for next period.
 I had my little sister's 11th birthday party yesterday. They had an "Amazing Race" and went in pairs to various parts of town and in the field behind the house to complete tasks and get clues to the next station. At mine and Gaby's station (in the forest behind the house) they had to translate three sentences from Finnish to English. "I am Finnish", "I am 11 years old", "I have a green monkey". It is hard for Finns to remember "I am", "I have", etc. because they put those words at the end. I.E. Tallossa (in the house). Or minulla (I have). But it was very fun. I gave them a bag of Jelly Bellies and Gaby gave them some Mexican candy and it was so cute! They loved them. Finnish people have chocolate and salty candy. So it was quite a change for them! Today I went for a run around town. Going on bikes, runs, and walks helps me to learn where things are and different routes, because, like my dad, I never like to take the same route everyday. Like to spice it up! Hence, why I am in Finland ;)
I got a package from my parents today! It was so awesome to recieve. Since it was so big- it weighed 14 kilos (roughly 20ish pounds). They had to send it through Helsinki customs and then to Turku customs, which was a blessing because Helsinki is about an hour and a half away. Turku-15 minutes. At the post office customs place they had to send it to because they did not know what the candy was. And if it was medicine, it costs around £400 just to have customs look through it! Fortunately, since I am a student I didn't have to pay for the things in my package! YAY! It can cost up to 50 euros- I don't understand- If someone pays to ship it here, why do you pay to recieve it? Just my opinion.
Anyways, inside my box was American candy, clothes, and random things of the sort that are too expensive to buy in Europe- ex. Makeup! Mascara costs 10 Euros! Ah! But I got Pop Rocks, Dots, Sour Patch Kids, Tootsie Rolls, etc. Lots of American things! It was so good to recieve things from home, but it was also very strange. It was like new things, but they aren't new. I don't know! Just lots of mixed emotions, but definetely made me very happy. I had been looking forward to it forever!!! I am trying to get Urho (the dog) used to being in my bedroom because when Fanni is here, he likes to sit and watch out the window, so I let him in my room and he decided to thank me by peeing on my sheets! Haha, your welcome, Urho.
 I have a chalkboard in my room and I put different Finnish things on there to help learn the words. I am beginning to slowly understand Finnish language concepts and different words. For example, last week I drew a stick figure and marked all the body parts. This week I put up opposites (Big, small; Fat, thin; Up, down) Things of that nature.
After this weekend I will put up pictures from the party! I am also going to a Finnish party tomorrow at my friend Jenna's (pronounced Yennnnna) and we have to wear blue and white. I am going to bring my Finnish flag that my parents sent me! Just in time! Thanks mom and dad! :) Much love and God bless! <3

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 :)



i want cheez its!

Yummy!

Grandmas table :)

There is not really any good junk food here, it is all healthy! I just want some greasy Taco Bell or Doritos...mmm...Doritos...Anyways the days go by very quickly here which will make up for when they go very slow in the winter :( Anyways, have not really been up to much. I met up with an exchange student who went to Mexico 2 years ago with Gaby and we shopped around and had some cafe treats! The weather has slowly been heating up, but I know it will go back down again...just waiting now...anyways, every Wednesday I go to my grandparents house for dinner and it is absolutely delicious! I end school at 2:30 on those days, but the inbound students also go and get coffee in Turku so maybe I will have to switch off! Today we had an italian thing with bacon and noodles and then we had bread with berries and vanilla ice cream. Yummy! And of course, rye bread with butter. At school, they have rye crackers, and oddly enough, they slather them with butter and I am completely okay with that! The school lunches are good compared to the lunches in America, well at least at Lakes...I miss the classes at Lakes, or moreso, how the classes were taught. Here it is strictly for exams and is directly from the books...which I understand now why they have the most prestigous schools in the world...and we sit around and play games. But seriously, I am so used to being loud and running around at school and despite how much I hated Lakes, I truly miss it now when I see how other schools are. I will have one exam during our exam week. And guess which one! Yes an English one. But other than that, I will be free for those 7 days while everyone has tests! And then we all switch classes. Gotta go do laundry and have evening snack!