Camp Karkku In a Nutshell.

Well...A LOT has happened since the last time I updated my blog! (And part of that is because they shut off the internet at the language camp- which was actually good, because then we got to enjoy the company of others instead of the internet...)

Anyways, back to Karkku.

We had Finnish lessons with our teacher and tutor each day for 5 hours. (We had breaks of course! ;) ). And these lessons helped A LOT! We got work sheets, and filled them out and stuff- and that will be a huge help when school rolls around.

(Speaking of school, I have my first day tomorrow!!!)

Anyways....

They took us to Tampere, which is I think the 3rd largest city in Finland. It was gorgeous! Everything is so beautiful in Finland. We had a tour with our bus, and we were able to walk around the city a little bit and have free time. It really is a beautiful city.

A view from a park that we went to

 

Around the city

 

 

 The cathedral that we went to in Tampere

 

 

Everyday at Camp Karkku, we had lectures, and one of the lectures was, "Life in Finland". The tutors explained different Finnish traditions, and one of them involved Santa. (Yes...Santa lives in the Finnish Lapland. :) ). They told us how in Finland, Santa actually comes to your house. And of course, one of the Tutors dressed like Santa and gave out candy.

 

I wasnt sure if I should take it, because the candy was hard and black...but I looked around, and the Finnish kids seemed to enjoy it. So, I took it and it tasted like black licorice; which was pretty okay when I first put it in my mouth. After a few seconds though it started tasting SUPER salty and NASTY! I started looking around during the lecture to see if other exchange students were having the same reaction...everyone was either scrunching up their faces or secretly spitting it out.

 

I put mine in a napkin...

 

I was later told that Finnish people really like this salty black liquorish flavored with ammonium chloride...its called, Salmiakki.

 

WHICH actually isn't bad. Nothing is bad. It is only different. :)

 

I actually eat it anyways, because I always tell myself that nothing is bad or weird. It is only different. And different is okay. :)

 

We had the last of our Finnish lessons, and we had our "Final Quiz" where we had all of these cards mixed together, and we had to separate them into: Food, Body parts, Family members, Drinks, Adjectives...stuff like that. It was fun. :)

 

During our last night together, we had a "talent showcase". Each country preformed something, and it was really cool! The kids from Taiwan sang, "Ill make a man out of you" in Mandarin Chinese, the kids from Brazil danced, and lots of other stuff. Of course, the American kids did the cha-cha slide...which was actually kinda fun, because we all messed up. It will make for a good video though. ;)

 

Afterward, we all went outside and took pictures together, and talked and said our Pre-Goodbyes. Which was actually kinda hard because we were all going to different districts, and these kids were our only friends that we had in Finland.

 

The next day our host families came! And it was actually scary, because none of us knew what to expect or what to do! We were all nervous, and excited at the same time. I didn't want to meet my host family before my things were all packed, and so I went back to my cabin with my friend (who had met her host family on our way to the cabin!), and we were both freaking out while we were packing. (Lets face it...its a little scary meeting the family you have been emailing and finally meeting them!)

 

Before returning to the main room, we said goodbye to each other, and some of our other friends- because we knew things would get crazy and exciting and unplanned once we met them!

 

Thankfully I met my host family right after I walked into the main hall of the school. ;)