Lapland

I returned from Lapland last week, and I thought I would briefly describe how awesome it was! With about 150 exchange students, there were always jokes, people to hang with, and general fun. The first day we went to the mountain (Finland doesn't really have mountains, for Portland, this is like forest heights or something similar). I tried cross country skiing, so Nordic! And I got my first taste of DARK and COLD! I live in the south, so it hasn't gotten this bad yet, but woah! The first day was sorta bad for a lot of people because some people got hurt and we were all exhausted from the 16 hour bus ride (at least for me) where we didn't sleep. Everything else was amazing though! The next day, we could have gone to the "mountain" again, or stayed the hotel and ice sculpted. I, and two other Americans, decided to sculpt Lady Liberty. Well, that was too hard, to it turned into ET, which then turned into a little monster. It was cute though!

The third day was my favorite. First, my bus group (there were four groups) went to a reindeer farm to learn about Sami people and how they take care of the reindeer. And I saw a reindeer for the first time, it was so cool! We then went to a museum and in the afternoon: reindeer ride and dog sled ride- magical! The reindeer pulling our sled was a bit wild, and wanted to be in the front. Also, its hoof was caught in the harness for a while. It was a very fun experience! Afterwards, I got to hug it, and even gave it a kiss on the nose, so cute! The huskies were also a blast. They were deafeningly loud as they waited to start, but once they started running, they were dead silent. There were puppies to. There were just a lot of exciting and cute things that day! In the evening, a Sami man sang to us in the tradition way. It was sorta a mix between yodeling and Native American chants. It was really special to hear that.

On the bus ride back we stopped in Rovaniemi, where Santa Clause live (HE DOES NOT LIVE AT THE NORTH POLE, HE LIVES IN LAPLAND!). I didn't see Santa, because it was too expensive, but there were more reindeer!

What I got from the trip: insight into the Sami culture, new friends for life, a lot of fun, and knowing the reindeer are my favorite animal!

November

Moi! It has been a while, but for good reason! I have been really busy lately learning the language, learning the culture, representing America, and making a lot of friends. The language is coming along nicely. I do get frustrated sometimes because I want to have a good conversation without having to use English, but that all comes with time and studying, I guess. Everyday I learn a lot more about the Finns and the little everyday differences that make them so unique. For example, candles are a very important part of a house. They enjoy having just a candle in the kitchen at night and when it is snowing at night, it is very warm and welcoming. They also make a lot more food from scratch. Last weekend I made Karjalan Pirrakka with my mom and sister. They look really difficult to make, and they are! You have to pinch the dough in a certain way and stuff, but in the end, they are delicious. Just a note on the pirrakka: we made karjalan pirrakka, which is apparently different than riisi pirrakka, but I have yet to meet a Finn who knows the difference...

Other things that have been going on are various presentations and special international days around town. For the past three weeks, I have had to go to primary, middle, and my own school, to teach about America, Halloween, or just act foreign... At the middle school I taught them how to make pancakes, and then we went to the Japan lesson and took some sushi :D Se oli ihana! The same day I also tried to teach them Out Door School songs, but they weren't really into it, oh well. It was fun to try! At my own school, my Mexican friend and I taught of group of us how to play American football, and it was awesome!

Generally life it wonderful. My birthday is next week, which should be exciting. I hope you all are enjoying the blog. Moro!

Finns

The Finns are very unique and I love them. They don't stress about work or school, they have a lot of hobbies, they spend time with family, spend time in nature, eat well, and live generally healthy lives.

They eat five times a day. It begins with breakfast, then lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, them evening snack. At first I though this was ridiculous, but when you bike to school, walking everywhere, and have several activities, you are always needing food. Also, candy. Finns have a large variety of candy, including Fazer chocolate which is equal, if not better than Belgium chocolate. The Belgium exchange students have even said it's good.

Some random things: I am always shocked by the amount of mushrooms on the ground and the variation. They always chuckle and say whether it is edible and how you cook it. They just know these things. They don't talk much. A lot of them dye their hair, and quite a handful dye it bright red! Finns hate Sweden, it is really funny- most of their jokes are about Sweden.

And Finland:

Finland is beautiful. The lakes are bluer, versus the greenish lakes you might find in America. There is a lot of forest, and the trees turn really picturesque colors in Autumn. Everything looks crisp and healthy. Also, everything seems cleaner. There are a lot of public trash cans and recycling bins. Also, the architecture styles makes everything clean looking. To summarize, it looks like Ikea, which is pretty awesome. And another very important thing about Finland: it is based on trust. Everything is very safe. For example, my next host family owns a business and they share a warehouse with another company. Also, Finland is designed for cold weather. There are coat racks in most public places because who want to carry around snow gear?

These are just random observations that all together plus more make me love this country. Finland was rated the best country in the world, and I don't doubt that at all.

Host Families

I am sorry I haven't written in a while, but I have been so incredible busy and happy, and here is why. My first host family was a mistake. There were a lot of issues. In general, they weren't prepared for me, they couldn't manage themselves, and they couldn't manage their home. I have moved in with a new family though and they are wonderful. I am very close to the city, I have three siblings, and we do a lot together. I feel very at home with them and they treat me very well. I haven't written here because I have been enjoying every minute with them.

More school, more food, more fun!

So school has been going well. I know where everything is, and everyone knows that I am American. One reason is that last Thursday all the exchange students gave a presentation to the entire school; I am proud to say America got more cheers than Mexico or Canada! And second, I am probably the loudest person in the building; I don't mean to be, Finns are just really quiet. Also, I am white, but I probably have the most exotic, thickest hair. I actually stand out! My favorite class is English because I spend my time learning Finnish with a German, and they are learning British English. Whenever they listen to tapes, I have trouble holding back my laughter.
I am still loving the food here. I have found my comfort food- apples. There are so many apple trees here, it's incredible. Also, last week, I really wanted spaghetti. So, on Friday, with my Canadian friend and a Finn, I went to a restaurant and got spaghetti. It was expensive for one plate, but so worth it. Also, the ice cream here is really good, and really cheap. I have been biking into the village a lot just to get an ice cream cone, great times.
As much as I like the food, I do not eat all day. I have made a lot of new friends. I went to a youth group last Saturday night with great people and great music. Before that I went to a mideavil festival, where I saw jousting! On Sunday, a British lady named Rosey arrived. I went rowing on the lake with her and my Finnish friend. She actually says "I'd fancy some tea, thanks" and "jolly good"! She left this morning, but I will miss her saying that so much. On Thursday there was a sport day for the school. I tried pessäpallo (Finnish baseball) and it was a lot of fun. It is a lot easier than American baseball, but I am still bad at it... On Friday, I played ultimate, and of course, got my spaghetti. Yesterday, there was an opera at the castle. It was incredible, and I have never been to an opera before. Today is the last day the castle is open for visitors, so there is a final market. There are arts, crafts, and food!
I put some pictures up on facebook, so check them out :) I don't yet know how to put albums on the blog, sorry...

School and Stuff

Yep, it's school time, and boy is there a lot to say. First of all, Kaurialan Lukio is really modern on the inside, even though the building looks old, it's awesome. There are 4 stories, so it is quite a workout. There are only about 500 kids, and that is "large" in Finland. There are 6 periods in the year, so my classes will change a lot. My schuedule is different every day, so I always carry aronud my papers. I am taking easy classes for the first period : art/sport, drama, english, music, and the not so easy one Russian. I will start taking math and harder courses later. You might think my classes are easy, but they are still in finnish, so yeah, hard. I don't really have homework, except in Russian so far, but the teacher only expects the exchange students to know the Finnish, then pay attention in class. Maybe I'll pick up some Russian though...maybe. Oh, lunch is free! Each class is 75 minutes long, and I am supposed to have a lot more classes. Therefore, I have A LOT of free time. I might go to one of my friend's classes (these are Finnish friends by the way!), study Finnish, or walk around town. There is a Canadian girl and a Mexican boy at my school. There are alot of Germans, but they aren't with Rotary. We have started a tradition where we buy chocolate and sit in the cemetary and eat it. Oh yeah, there is a cemetary by our school, it dates back to the eary 1800s. It is a pleasant place to sit, I guess...
Hämeenlinna is really cool, I plan to go to H&M tomorrow after school with the Canadian girl. We are trying to fit into the culture, so of course we must blend in with the fashion styles :) Speaking of fashion, most of the girls at school wear leggings and long baggy shirts=COMFY!!!
Back at home, the Israeli has left, but today, a swedish/finnish guy and his swedish girlfriend moved in for the next several days. I have never seen swedish hippees before. Last Sunday, at the buffet, I skinned a fish and made purple stuff for dessert- it was amazing!!! On the topic of food, because who doesn't love food, let's start. I have eaten an average of 4 potatoes, 5 slices of bread, 1 small cucumber, and I don't even want to know how much butter a day. These are the staples, no joke. Finnish food is bland, but it isn't gross. I like it a lot, which means I have been eating a lot. Also, every type of candy I have tried so far I like. They have a lot of dairy here. My host mom makes cheese, and I even got to help today! Also, I tried real cow milk, really good. She gets it from the neighbor's farm. She is going to ask them for me if I can try milking a cow, let's see how this works out...
Other stuff. There are a lot of mosquitos here, and because I live in the country, it's worse. at one point, I had 7 bites on my right foot alone, yeah. Finns are shy, but I have managed to pull words out of them, and I have even made some new friends. I have found Harry Potter and the Inheritance Series in Finnish, which I plan to get once I can understand them :) They don't have starbucks here, but it doesn't mean they don't have coffee. There is coffee available in a lot of places. I think there is one McDonland's in Hämeenlinna, but they have Hesburger instead. I have not been there, but it is just fast food-blah. They like Fanta here, who knew? They have pizza and kebab restaurants on every block. Those two are combined, by the way: pizza AND kebab. I am not exagerating when I say EVERY BLOCK. Again, who would know unless they went to Finland? I have yet to see a mini cooper, but the cars here are sooooo small, I like it! When they say Finland is safe, they are right. People leave their bags on the ground all the time. There are piles of them against the wall during lunch time. Also, no one has a lock on their bike, no one!
Wow, that was definitely more than "school and stuff." Oh well. If you have any questions about random stuff, food, finnish way of life, finns, reindeer, lakes, just comment and ask. Again, pictures soon, I keep forgetting, sorry.

First week

OK, so I have been at camp for the past week, so I have had limited access to the interetti. Camp was ultra fun. I learned a lot of suomea, made a lot of freinds, and had a lot of fun. On Tuesday, I caught a fish with a stick, string, and worm in one minute. I took the pole away from the guy before me who was holding it for a really long time :] I swam in a lake, canoed to an island, and went in sauna. Sauna is so amazing, I love it so much :) On Wednesday, we all went (about 114 students + tutorit) to Tampere. I got candy at a grocery store, very exciting. My new friend and I just walked around mostly. We also found out that you have to PAY for public restrooms. I WAS NOT HAPPY! Oh, and everyone was staring at my hair, until I returned their gaze and they quikly overted their eyes, because they are finns. My hair was down, so you get the picture. Later that night we went to a church from the middle ages. People sung and performed. The sound in that church would make someone cry.
Now the really fun part: my home. I live an over 200 year old manor, but my parents spend the day in the, wait for it, almost 100 year old castle. And yes, it is a CASTLE. There are huge dining rooms and huge kitchens. In the castle is the pharmacy museum. There are other buildings where people are working on their art, and they display it. I think there are about 5 galleries, one of which is in the castle. Tomorrow, they are having a buffet, and I get to help prepare with the cooks! Also, I walked to the lakeside, yes they are that close. I walked through wheat fields, I belonged in the sound of music, really. I also went to a 1000 AD pagan sacrificial stone, it was cool. My host mom is super nice, and she is a great cook. My host dad has a problem with his throat, so he can't really talk, but it helps me understand because he talks slower. He is one of those adorable old guys who gets really excited when I say something in finnish. He is really eager to show me everything. The other person staying in the house is a guy from Israel, he is a nice guy, but he leaves for his home (Golan Heights) tomorrow. My father showed us a book. Bear with me when I tell you this, because it is unbeleivable. Keep in mind that finnish has only been written down for about 500 years. He showed us the first bible ever written in the finnish language. There were fragments before, but this was the WHOLE thing from I think 1500 or 1600. It was real leather, stained pages, and my Jewish friend and I were in awe as we flipped through the pages. It was truely an honor.
Okay, I want to go to sauna now. Hyvää yötä for now (good night). I will post pics soon...maybe.