First Rotary event ja oppia puhumaan Suomea!

Niin, tämä viime viikonloppuna minä menit Rotary tapahtuma varten Rotary piiri 1400! Se on paljon hauska! Tapasin vaihto-opiskelijat piiriissa, ja oli viisi meistä. Kaksi Oregonista, yksi Italiaista, yksi Australiasta, ja yksi Chilestä. Oli viisi Rebound vaihto-opiskelijat kanssamme liian. Me menimme syömaan jälkeen keilailu, ja menimme puhumaan yhdessä suomea mutta me puhumme vähän niin me en puhumaan paljon suomea. Ja Tilasin minun ruokaa suomenissa kielen! Olin niin onnellinen! :D



And this was my first attempt of writing part of a blog post in Finnish...my Finnish isn't very good, but I really, really want to learn; and the only way I will learn is by speaking. (But I will write about this part later in this blog post.)

Ill start out by saying that this past weekend I had my first Rotary District event! The inbounds and rebounds from Rotary District 1400 in Northern Finland all got together and we went bowling and out to Dinner.

Rotary District 1400 Northern Finland! :)

 

 

I have to say...I did absolutely TERRIBLE at bowling, but it was so much fun to be with other Rotary exchange students and meet the Finnish rebounds. I even got to meet my host sister from my next host family! :)

 

We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant together afterward, and I was SO excited because I actually ordered in Finnish! I may not have had very good pronunciation, but I tried my best and I was really proud of myself! We talked about our exchanges and how things were going so far, and it was actually really awesome that we all just got to get to know each other and talk about what we were going through and be able to talk to the Rebounds about their experiences as Rotary Exchange Students and the kind of things they did.

 

Over-all it was a really good day.

 

 

So, NOW its time to talk about Finnish...

 

 

I have been in Finland for a little over 5 weeks now, and im starting to get a hang of the language...slowly, but surely! I have actually been afraid to speak Finnish. Its scary speaking a language that EVERYONE but you can speak. I have been afraid to speak a language that I barely know, and to tell you the truth...its a language that I have never actually heard spoken aloud until 5 weeks ago! Its scary speaking Finnish when everyone around me speaks English and has been studying it for years; and everyone at my school is all pretty fluent in English for the most part.

 

Its possible to go on exchange to Finland and learning LITTLE or NO Finnish; or even just enough to get by...but I don't want to learn JUST enough to get by. I WANT to learn the language and I WANT to speak with people. Learning a language isn't just a way to communicate with people...I think its something deeper than that. It has meaning, and it gives you a new way to look at things and to think about them. Its special and important, and its a language that I will never have the chance to learn again after my exchange year.

 

I USED to be afraid to speak...but now Im not. Im not really sure what changed...but now I really DO want to speak with people and try to talk to them, no matter how many silly mistakes I make. I used to be really, really afraid to speak in Finnish to people in groups of more than one person, but now I really DO want to go up and talk to people in Finnish.

 

I know that I really cant say that much yet, and that people have to talk really slow for me to understand them; but I am hoping that I will learn. But in order for me to learn I have to

 

STOP.SPEAKING.ENGLISH! 

 

Sometimes its SO nice to talk to people in English...but I am speaking English 85% of the time; and I am NEVER going to learn Finnish if I keep on speaking English!

 

I actually wish that people would stop translating for me, and would let me just sink or swim.

 

People are SO nice to me that they will talk to me in English to make things easier for me, and they will translate everything that people say for me. Which really is a HUGE blessing, and I am so thankful that they are willing to help me and talk to me...but I really just need to cut the rope with English and just sink or swim.

 

I may be utterly and totally CLUELESS, but I REALLY do need to stop speaking English.

 

I signed up for weekly Finnish classes today, and tomorrow my host mom is going to pick me up after school and come with me to my lessons to show me where to go. The classes are at a different lukio (High School) in Oulu; and I am pretty sure there are two other exchange students who are going to the classes as well. I am actually SUPER excited because my school counselor told me that  these Finnish classes may actually be TOO easy for me; and that I might have to take the classes for Foreigners who have been taking Finnish classes for a year.

 

A YEAR!

 

That made me feel SO much better about my terrible Finnish skills, and it made me actually believe that I might ACTUALLY be able to learn Finnish! I KNOW that its possible and that I CAN do it.

 

I think the reason why its taken me SO long to really get the ball rolling for learning Finnish is because I always SAID that I wanted to learn, and that I was trying hard to learn it. Which IS true! But SAYING and DOING are two totally separate things.

 

I think my intentions were in the right place, and that I was SO motivated to learn...but that I was just TOO afraid to speak! You CANT learn a language without SPEAKING it.

 

Its just not possible!

 

I was too afraid to speak, so I really wasn't learning anything!

 

If I REALLY want to learn Finnish, I HAVE to speak.

 

If I was brave enough to move to a different country, and live with a different family, and go to school in a different language...I think it was pretty pathetic of myself that I was too afraid to speak the new language I was learning.

 

Yes its scary...but learning a different language is part of being an exchange student, and I just need to be brave and force myself to speak! :)

 

EVEN if I make mistakes, and EVEN if my accent is horrible, and EVEN if people might not understand what I say, and EVEN if what I say is not grammatically correct...I HAVE to learn to be brave and just SPEAK!

 

 

Minä ajattelen se on aika lopettaa puhumaan englantia...olen opetella puhumaan suomea! :D

 

 

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

 

 

"I thought brave was not being afraid. You've taught me that bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway.”