New Ways To Communicate

No niin, Mä vain kirjoittaa vähän suomeksi, koska se vie on pitkän ajan...Mutta, viime viikonloppuna, mä menit lapissa kanssa mun host-perheeni. Lähdimme perjantaina illalla, ja menimme sinne myöhään illalla! Lauantaina menin lumilautailu kanssa mun host-isäni! Se oli mun ensimmäinen kerta, mutta se oli kylmä...Kävimme myös jääkiekko peli, ja satoi lunta. Sunnuntaina kävin hiihto ensimmäistä kertaa myös! Mutta se oli todella kylmä! (Se oli -27c)  Mä puhuin vain Suomea, ja ihmiset ymmärsivät minua! (He vain nauroivat vähän) ;)


Viime viikolla, opettajani antoi minulle suomen kieli koe, ja sain 8.5! Yayyyyy! Se oli tosi hyvä!


Tällä viikolla on koeviikko, mutta mun on vain 2 koe. Historia ja Maantiedea, mutta mun maantiedea koe on vain suomeksi, niin se on ei hyvä haha, mutta mä voin yrittää. Mä täytyy on myös kirjoittaa vain suomeksi. (Ehkä mä itken perjantaina hahaha)


Mun historia koe on helppoa, koska se on erilainen kuin mun luokkatoverit. Ja se on hyvä. :D


I thought I would tell you about the weekend that I just had, and about the little things that I have learned from it. It was actually a really cool experience for me in MANY ways, because I learned a whole lot more than what was planned! :)

Im not sure if I can explain it all very well, but I will try my best and add some pictures while I go. :D


This last Friday, my host parents and I left for Lapland again to stay for the weekend. We didn't leave until pretty late in the evening, so we didn't arrive to our final destination until almost 2am! (It was pretty late!)

BUT! I have a story to tell you!

 

During our drive to Lapland, I was falling asleep in the backseat- and my host dad woke me up, and was pointing out the window. (I didn't really understand what was going on, because after a certain time in the evening, I get so tiered that I don't understand Finnish anymore, and English is out the window from my brain at this time too, so im just kind of an empty sack.) BUT that's beside the point...

I couldn't tell what he was pointing at, because it was so dark outside; but he kept on pointing- and then I finally saw it!

You could SEE the Northern Lights above SWEDEN!!!

They were pretty faint, but STILL....

NORTHERN LIGHTS....OVER SWEDEN!

Do you know how cool that is?!

Geez!!!!


Anyways,

That was pretty amazing!


On Saturday, I went snowboarding for the first time with my host dad! (It was TECNICALLY my second time...but it was my first time actually TRYING, so I call it my first time.) My host dad is a ski instructor, and so it was nice that he was good at teaching!

However...we only speak in Finnish to each other, so it was REALLY  difficult for us to communicate! I couldn't understand anything that he was telling me, and he tried REALLY hard to get me to understand what he was trying to explain to me. (And I am so incredibly lucky to have a really patient Host-Dad, because im sure that this situation would be REALLY irritating and frustrating!)

Eventually after A LOT of work, we found a system that worked...we ended up dumbing it down A LOT.

We would have to sit down and draw in the snow to understand each other and what we were trying to say, and he would explain things to me by saying really simple words that I could understand.

For example:

When he was explaining to me that I had to LOOK in the direction I was going, he would yell out, "LOOK AT THE RED LIGHT, LOOK AT THE RED LIGHT, LOOK AT THE RED LIGHT!"

And then when I would switch directions, he would yell out, "LOOK AT THE YELLOW PICTURE, LOOK AT THE YELLOW PICTURE, LOOK AT THE YELLOW PICTURE!"

And then I finally understood that he meant that I needed to look in whatever direction I was going, because he was yelling out things that I could see in the direction I was going.


When my host dad was explaining to me how to switch directions, I couldn't understand what he was saying; so we ended up sitting in the snow and drawing pictures. And that helped A LOT.

We probably looked REALLY silly to everyone who was in hearing distance...but it didn't matter because we found a system of communication that WORKED and one we could BOTH understand.



This experience was really interesting for me, because it taught me that you DO NOT have to switch into a language you mutually understand when there is a miscommunication or a language barrier. You CAN find ways to communicate, instead of switching into a mutually known language...even when you both speak different languages.


I learned this lesson a SECOND time this weekend, when my host dad left to play ice hockey for the evening. I decided to cook dinner with my host mom, but it was a little tricky at first. Like with my host dad, my host mom and I only communicate in Finnish.

I didn't really understand what to do at first, but she showed me the recipe and told me to put all of the items she listed in the bowl. I didn't understand everything she was telling me to do, but she started using hand motions to go along with what she was telling me- and then I finally understood that she wanted me to mix them all together.

Eventually, I caught on- and I figured out the rest from there, and I ended up making dinner almost all by myself!

Making Finnish pizza!

 

 

And now time for the cheese!

 

My Final product! :D

(My host mom even told me that I was awesome at making Finnish pizza haha!)

 

 

I started learning different terms for things, and names for spices and different food items...It was really fun! It was a little difficult at first, because I didn't understand; but that was okay because I eventually caught on to what was being said!

 

I LOVE having a host family that ONLY speaks to me in Finnish. It is frustrating sometimes, and I cant even start to imagine just how frustrating it is for them! But I am SO glad that they are super patient with me and willing to explain things SO many times for me to finally understand what is being said.

 

I cant imagine hosting an Exchange Student who BARELY speaks my language, and who never even HEARD my language spoken until they arrived in my home...I cant even start to think how hard it must be for my host family sometimes, but I am sure glad that they stick to speaking to me in only Finnish. They are SO, SO incredibly patient with the Exchange Student they have in their house. (Who is me haha!) :D

 

 

Along with that, this weekend it was THE COLDEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!

 

I have NEVER, EVER experienced anything below -6 Celsius before. (I think its 18 in F.)

 

This weekend it was -22, and -27 degrees Celsius at night...which is almost -20 degrees in F!

 

It was literally PAINFULL and scary haha! But I loved every single moment of it! :)

 

 

The view out my window in the morning.

 

 

 

 

As a little side note: It must have been so funny for my host family to watch me literally run from the car inside, and then they would find me standing by the fireplace haha! My host dad  actually asked me once this weekend if I was cold while I was standing in front of the fireplace, and to that I replied, "Outside is cold...but here is warm, so im happy." :)

 

 

 

Overall, this weekend I learned A LOT of things...Not just the basics of Finnish Cooking, Skiing, Snowboarding, and how to survive the COLDEST day of my life haha; but I learned that you really CAN communicate with people in different ways when you speak another language.

 

 

So many people ALWAYS switch into English when they speak to me, especially at school. And yet, I have found that you CAN communicate without a mutually known language. Although it is frustrating, and takes a lot of patience...you can make it work, and eventually you find a way to communicate. :)

 

I wish that everyone would do this with me, instead of only my host family and a handful of my friends...I feel as though with a total immersion, everyone speaking Finnish to me everywhere I go, I would learn Finnish SO much faster instead of little tastes of the language here and there with people who are willing to speak Finnish with me. (Im sure the fact that I mention this in almost every post I write about learning Finnish gets annoying, so I will try to stop haha.)

 

The good thing though, is that a few exchange students and I speak Finnglish to each other, so that's always interesting haha. We say everything in Finnish up until we don't know a word. (Then we say the word in English haha.) So our conversations probably sound really funny when we are out in public. We've gotten a few stares and weird looks...but they are all worth it, because it means that we are learning haha. :D

 

We have started ordering things in Finnish every time we can, and sometimes people who hear us try to hold back laughter...which IS really embarrassing, but that's okay because we KNOW we sound silly! (And especially with our accents, we KNOW we sound really ridiculous and strange to Finns haha.) :)

 

But that's what makes it so much more fun to speak Finnish!

 

Also as a little side note:

 

This weekend, I also decided to start updating my blog a lot more. I think that using a blog is MUCH easier than posting short little updates on facebook and hundreds of pictures that don't really go along with anything...When I make a blog post, things are much more explained and organized, and people who read it are actually interested in what I am posting instead of just random facebook posts that don't really apply to anything and pictures which are randomly posted without an explanation that no one really wants to see...PLUS, I have realized this past weekend when I didn't have any internet, that I am MUCH, MUCH happier on my exchange WITHOUT facebook.  

 

This past weekend, that awkward phase of exchange went COMPLETELY away, and I was actually having the time of my life! SURE, there were lots of distractions from it, but I think part of that was that I had no way to use internet...it was absolutely great! (And to anyone on facebook, please don't take it personally! I still have email...but I really do think that bloging is a much better choice when it comes to updating about my exchange.) :)

 

SO, until then, be prepared for more posts! :D

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Awkward Moment

I remember last year, sitting at Rotary Oreintations with all of the other Outbound Students while we talked about things like Culture Shock, and Hosickness, and Learning a New Language- and all that fun stuff.

I remember a Rotarian telling us that if our Exchange didnt have ups and downs ALL time time, and that if it only stayed neutral, that we werent experiencing our exchange year correctly...

And this is what I wanted to post about...

those crazy ups and downs.

Now, I DONT want you all thinking that I am homesick, or having a bad time, or just plainly hating life...because that is TOTALLY not the case! (I just always post about the ups, and never about the downs- and I think that this is an important thing to address as an Exchange Student.)

As an Exchange Student, the first few months are GLORIOUS...ABSOLUTLY glorious.

Everything is new.

Everything is different. 

Everyone is speaking a different language. 

You see things and do things you have never done before. 

Its just glorious!

But then as things get into routine, and everything settles in...you experience a pretty bad low. (Or at least I did.) It wasnt that I was homesick, or that I missed a lot of things from home, or that I was talking to my friends from home too much or anything like that...I just cant really explain it, or WHY I was feeling so low.

I guess I was kind of always trying to speak Finnish, and listen to Finnish, and try to do my school work in Finnish. I had to translate all of my notes, so I was doing all of my school work TWICE in a day; and I just never really got a break.

As all of this is happening, you feel like you always have to be super happy, and smiling, and interesting...because you just want to fit the profile of a typical exchange student.

I thought I would make a post about this phase of Exchange, because I know that many other exchange students from my home district are also going through this. It has been hitting us all at different times, and to different degress..and I am offically one of the LAST ones to get to this phase. 

I thought it was never going to hit me...but alas, I was wrong. :/

I decided to post kind of about what other exchange students (and myself) have gone through during this phase, and kind of talk about it through my point of view as well as others. 

1.) You are tired all the time.

I am actually naturally just tired all the time in my home country, so I guess this is something I would experience either way! 

You are always speaking another language, and going to school in another langauge, and EVERYTHING around you is just moving fast, and it doesnt stop. 

You are trying to study this foriegn language, and trying to speak it all the time...and while you are doing this, you are still trying to be the always-happy foreign exchange student; who is absolutly exhausted all the time.

And in Finland, the sun sets really early- so its dark a lot of the time, which doesnt really help you to stay awake. 

(I was actually SO tired once after translating all of my notes from school, that I went to bed at 7.30.)

2.) You use social media/ skype a lot. 

 

I have only skyped home once, however I know that some other exchange students probably skype more that I do.

I HAVE been guilty about using facebook..but its hard to explain because I dont actually talk with a whole lot of people from home. (AGAIN, I apologize to any of my friends from home who read this...) 

I think the reason why I use it so much, is because I really dont have very many people to hang out with in my Host Country yet, and things are still settling in at school and what not. 

During this stage in Exchange, you are just kind of bored and you dont really have hobbies in your host country yet and you dont really have good enough friends to just call up and do things with yet. (Not that you are bored with your host country, but that you just dont know anyone well enough to hang out with them or to message them.)

3.) You start getting lazy with your host language

At this stage, you kind of get lazy with studying your host language- and you fall into habit of just speaking English (or whichever your native language is). You kind of fall behind with speaking and studying.

In this part of your exchange, you REALLY have to just force yourself to study, and to keep on speaking- even if you dont really want to. 

And sometimes this is hard for me when I have a bad day, and I just DONT want to deal with miscommunication and not understanding people, because they all speak English anways. (BUT its something that ive been working on!)

Part of your key to getting out of this stage of Exchange is actually learning your Host-Language more. It opens A LOT of doors in your exchange, and even though its frusterating now- itll be worth it, because then most of these problems will all be taken care of. 

My personal Experience...

 

In my case, everything was GREAT until I started having skip hours EVERY single day at school. While everyone else was in class, I had 2-4 hours every single day of just sitting around alone, waiting for my next class to start... 

I had to sit alone every day for at least two hours. (Sometimes a total of 4 hours a day, if the day was Tuesday.) And then after school, it would be totally dark and I would just go home and then translate all of my notes from school, because it was too late to do anything else after school. (My day would always end at 4pm, unless I had Finnish class and then I wouldnt be home until around 8.30.)

And this is all that I did for a few weeks. 

I think that NOW since classes are ending, and we are getting new ones- that things will get a WHOLE lot better...like NIGHT and DAY difference because I wont just have to sit around the school by myself every single day and now im starting to actually get friends at school and such. 

 Over-all, this stage in my exchange only lasted for a few weeks- and now I think that its not going to be long until its over. (I think the switch in classes will help a lot.)

I know that im not the only Exchange Student going through this phase of Exchange in Finland, but I think a lot of the reason why a lot of us are, is because that its so dark a lot of the time, and none of us really have lot of friends at school yet and people to talk to...so its just sort of a really depressing mood to have when its dark, and your cold, and you are just kind of alone with no one to really talk to...

BUT I mean, it doenst last all the time; and most of the time we are all super happy and everything! Just sometimes you get really down, and sort of depressed because of this awkward phase of exchange...

Im sure that once the classes end, and we get new classes and with the change and the holidays coming up; everything will perk up again and this phase will be offically over with!

(LIKE I SAID, dont get me wrong! I am still having the time of my life! Its not that im homesick, or anything of the sort...this is just one of those awkward exchange student phases and downs that I wanted to post about. I dont think an exchange blog should JUST be about all of the up´s you experience. They should be the ups, and downs, and everything inbetween.) :D 

One Year Ago/ Language Update

I got to thinking, and I realized that exactly ONE year ago THIS last weekend, I was called and told that my Rotary Club was selecting me to be their Long-Term Exchange student!

November 17th, 2012 I was called by the Youth Exchange Officer in my Rotary Club, and I was told that I was going on exchange. I even remember the EXACT phone call, and what we said.

Exactly a YEAR ago last weekend, I was accepted into the Rotary Youth Exchange Program!

Yaayyyyyyy!!!!!


Its crazy to think that im currently listening to a song that I wouldn't have understood last year, sitting in a bedroom that is MY bedroom, in a COMPLETLY different house...a COMPLETLY different country.

Its crazy to think that I am now speaking a language that I had NEVER heard one year ago; and im using it EVERYDAY. EVEYWHERE Finnish.


I LOVE Finnish. I LOVE Finland.

I cant even imagine myself last year, not knowing basically ANYTHING about the Finnish language, and Finland as a country. It literally IS mind blowing.

I used to speak pretty good French. I lived in France the Summer before my Exchange year, and I was GOOD at French. I studied French in school, and I loved listening to it...I got good grades in French. I could understand people when they spoke French...And now my Finnish is better than my French EVER was. (I actually cant even remember how to speak it anymore...)

I cant even think about going back home and NOT speaking Finnish. I cant think about going back to a place where almost no one speaks Finnish...where almost no one knows this language that I am now using every single day. Where so little people have ever even heard it spoken.

Now hold up, - my Finnish is NOT that good. In fact its amazing if I say anything grammatically correct! But I still use it EVERY single day, and speak it almost the ENTIRE day.

I stutter. I always have to repeat myself. And what I say really isn't grammatically correct.

But I TRY, and people can understand me. (for the most part.) :)

BUT this is where I am going to with this post, I guess. (A few of my friends at school have actually asked me to update my blog, so I guess that means that its been a little while since ive posted anything about whats been happening and such!) so I will use this post as a little miniature update until I can really sit down and add pictures and such.

1.) My language skills

FIRST comes first, FINNISH. There is a HUGE improvement since the last time I posted.

HUGE, HUGE, HUGE.

 Last time I talked about this, I was really frustrated with how bad my Finnish was, and how little I was able to speak. I posted about how little people would speak it with me, and how I REALLY wanted to speak Finnish...

Fast forward to now: HUUUUUUGGGEEEE improvement!

I started speaking 100% Finnish with my host family about 3 weeks ago; so since then I have only been speaking Finnish with my host family in all of our conversations and phone calls/text messages.

At school MORE and MORE people are speaking to me in Finnish, and it is literally AMAZING!!!!

It actually look a really, really long time for me to get people at school to speak to me in Finnish; because almost everyone speaks English- and Finnish is not a very common language, so they don't really expect me to understand or be able to speak. (The expectation for an Exchange Student to learn Finnish is pretty low.)  And that is kind of sad, I think. It was this reason why it was REALLY hard to start speaking Finnish at school!

But now, almost everyone at school speaks to me in Finnish- and its actually really cool!

I get a little embarrassed about it sometimes, because when I am talking with someone in the hallway, heads ALWAYS turn my way, and people sometimes LITERALLY stop and listen to me speak Finnish!!!

Who knew that speaking Finnish would be such a head turner?!

It makes me feel kind of embarrassed when people just stop to listen to me speak, or they turn their heads to see because they can hear me speaking! (My accent is so bad, and I stutter; so its VERY obvious when I speak Finnish!) But at the same time, it feels kind of...interesting to have people just stop and listen to me speak in the middle of the hallway. (I don't know a word to describe it, but its not bad!)

People always ask me why I want to learn Finnish SO badly, and they ask me why I don't just speak English during my ExchangeYear like some other exchange students who come to Finland. And my answer is confusing, but simple at the same time...

Of course I want to learn Finnish for A LOT of reasons. But the reason why I want to learn MORE Finnish than JUST being able to easily get by, is becuase  its different having a conversation with people in English than it is when I speak to them in Finnish. Its hard to explain...but I will try my best. (And it might sound cheesy!) :D

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.
If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."

I feel like this quote is the BEST way to describe it...

Just the WAY people look at me is different when I speak Finnish. Their eyes light up, and they smile, and it turns into a REAL genuine conversation instead of just a way of communicating.

And I love it.


Almost everyone who I talk to at school speaks to me in Finnish, and I even know people who have only heard me speak English only a hand-full of times! (Even though my Finnish is so bad!)

My friends are actually great. REALLY great. They are so incredibly patient with me, and willing to help me with my Finnish. I can understand ALMOST everything that people say, but of course they have to still speak slowly and I have to say, "What?" a lot of the time...But they are so incredibly helpful because they STILL speak Finnish to me, and they listen to me when I try to talk to them in Finnish.

A lot of people dont expect me to learn Finnish, and so most of the time people dont really expect me to understand what they say; so when most people meet me they will almost ALWAYS speak in English.

And its REALLY incredible when im with my friends, and they actually step into the conversation and correct the person speaking English to me; and they tell them to speak to me in Finnish and tell them that I can understand.

You have NO idea just how good that feels!!!

When I think about it, they actually have to be pretty good friends if we both know that it would be MUCH easier and faster for everyone if we just spoke in English- because they already speak English! BUT instead they actually speak to me in Finnish, just because of how badly I want to learn.  

Friends is actually the downfall of my exchange, and its very embarassing for me to admit...but finding friends is THE single hardest thing for me, being an exchange student in Finland. (And its SO embarassing for me to tell people that.)

In Finland, it takes a very long time to make friends. You have to really know a person for a long time before you befriend them, and you cant really understand why its like that unless you have spent a good amount of time in Finland. (I cant really BEST explain Finnish culture unless you yourself have experienced it, and learned to understand it, but I try my best.)

But THIS is where I boast about my friends again. (And I know that quite a few of my Finnish friends read my blog, and so if I embarass you, im sorry!) :)

They always encourage me to keep trying to talk to people, and to not give up on trying to make friends and to not be ashamed of my horrible Finnish. (Which sounds really cheesey when I write it down haha.) :)

They tell me that in Finland it just takes time to make friends, and to not feel like people just dont want to talk to me or befriend me; because they do. They tell me just to walk up and talk to people, even if they look closed off- because inside, they really DO want you to talk to them. And coming from my Finnish friends, that means A LOT to me.

And I KNOW that this all sound very cheesy...but I feel as though I need to write about both the ups AND the downs of my exchange...and this is for sure of those downs that im hoping I get over in the next few weeks. :D

Why Finland

This is a subject that has been on my mind for a little while...and for some reason I feel like I just want to make a post about it.

Whenever I meet a new person, usually the FIRST question they always ask me is, "WHAT are you doing in Finland!?" or, "WHY Finland!?"

I have actually lost count how many times I have been asked this question. I have been asked this SO many times, that I decided to make a post answering everyone's question: WHY Finland. :)

I think that I actually need to be completely honest in this post, and really say how I think and feel to answer this question correctly, and hopefully you can understand what I mean when I write this post.

Whenever I have this conversation with people in real life, they always always say things like, "Finnish people never smile" or, "Finnish people are so cold...I feel bad for exchange students who come here." or, "There's nothing in Finland...Why did you come here?"

Of course this is not ALL Finns, but quite the majority of who I meet always ask me this question.

It actually bothers me a little bit sometimes, because I don't understand why so many Finns think this. I don't understand how they can possibly think this way, because its not true at all!

To tell you the absolute truth...I don't actually have an immediate answer for people when they ask me this. WHY did I come here?! WHY did I come to Finland? (Even the Finns are mystified at the fact that I came from the USA to Study in Finland for a year!)

 

Ill tell you a little backstory:

I actually came to Finland on a total whim. When it came down to choosing countries for my Exchange, I actually CHANGED my mind at the last moment, and I even completely confused myself when I put Finland as my First choice.

I didn't know why. I didn't know how. It just felt RIGHT.

My first choice was originally Czech Republic, and in my Rotary District, we had a huge Ski Trip with all of the Inbounds (Exchange Students) and Outbounds (Students going on Exchange.). During this trip we would pick our Countries and be Assigned to them with all of us all together.

And you guessed it...during this trip, my mind had TOTALLY changed, and I fell in love with the idea of going to Finland...

I actually embarrassed myself A LOT with always talking to the Rotary District Country Officer for Finland, and always wanting to hang around the Finnish Exchange Students during the whole trip, before we got Assigned to our Countries!

We had to show that we were serious about which countries we wanted to go to; and since my mind had totally changed, I thought that I had to SHOW them JUST how BADLY I wanted to come to Finland! ...I probably spent the WHOLE week trying to be around them and talking about Finland. :P

Long story short, in the end I was assigned to my First Choice Country: Finland. :)



And now here I am, answering this question that I seem to be asked everyday.

It IS true...I  don't have an immediate or sure answer about WHY. I don't know why I decided to live in Northern Finland for a year...but it has BY FAR been one of the BEST decisions I have ever made; and this is why I am making this post. To SHOW you all of the reasons why I LOVE Finland, and WHY I chose Finland.

Finland is Forgotten:

I feel as though Finland is a total secret to the rest of the world. Its a country that is hidden in the Northern-Corner of Europe; and I feel like its just tucked away from the rest of the world, in a secret little wonderland.

Before I had come here, the only Finnish people I had ever met were two Rotary Foreign Exchange Students in my Rotary District...I had NEVER heard Finnish spoken prior to being in Finland, and sometimes this makes it hard for me to relate to things back home now.

The Finnish language is so abstract from any other language, and it really isn't like any other languages. The grammar is complex, and it sounds like nothing I have ever heard before. I was SO confused when I first came here, and I REALLY didn't know what was going on, or WHAT people were talking about.

The food in Finland isn't known Internationally, and it is very simple. I have heard jokes that the spices of Finland are Salt and Pepper; and you eat potatoes almost every single day.

Finnish people are so unique. There is no small talk, and they are very shy and calm.

Finland's nature is one of my FAVORITE things about Finland. Its hard to describe it. Its pure. Its quiet. Its real. It is literally impossible to feel anything BUT peaceful. It is just pure silence and glistening water. Its so simple. But its so real. It sticks in your mind like a post card, and it stays there. You don't hear any other sounds around you, and when you don't hear anything around you; everything else just takes over you. I cant describe it.

 

 

 

And even pictures cant show you how beautiful it is in person.

There are forests everywhere in Finland, and lakes that stretch endlessly...Its different than the rest of Europe, and its like your own little wonderland. I cant even describe it correctly to make you understand.

The People:

Finland's nature is very much all about being quiet...and it is very much mirrored and reflected in the people. They are known for being very quiet people, and words are not spoken unless something needs to be said.

Small talk doesn't really exist, but you HAVE to learn that their silence is just a part of conversation.

A lot of Finns that I have met have actually criticized this trait a lot; but sadly I don't understand...I have learned that there is NOTHING wrong with silence.

This was actually hard for me at first, because this is something that is TOTALLY different from the USA. I had to LEARN to not take this the wrong way, and now it is hard for me to imagine that at first I didn't understand it.

Finns are also very easily embarrassed, and sometimes even scared of being embarrassed. There are some Finns who are afraid to speak English with me, because they are afraid that their English wont be understood, or that it isn't good enough. (In reality, this is not the case, because they all speak really good English.) ;)

Finns are VERY kind people, and even though they are shy, they make the best of friends, and when they say something they REALLY mean it. They are always willing to explain things to me, and help me with things, and they are known for always being honest.

They are VERY warm people. You just have to break the ice and get to know them, and understand them. This took me a very long time actually, and it takes awhile to win the trust of a Finn. But it is SO worth it, because once you are friends with a Finn, they are your friend for life.

Finns like you for YOU. It takes awhile to get to know a Finn, but their friendship is something that is VERY special to me; because they are honest and true friends. I have found in Finland that my appearance is NOT measured here, and that people really DO like you for YOU.

Space to Breathe:

You just have SO much space to breathe, and just be yourself. You can just walk to a forest, or simply just go outside and talk a long walk- and just have space to think about everything or anything. Its quiet, and its easy to find a place to just be alone.

You can smell the forest, and everything is just so organic and pure.

And from someone who comes from Oregon, that is saying a lot! :)

Its always peaceful and quiet, and you can just think about anything and everything all the time.

Its easy to just slow down and loose yourself in everything around you, instead of being caught up in what everyone else in the world is doing and everything that is going on.

Things to do:

The things that make Finland so different and unique are endless...but some of the different things in Finland to try are Finnish Sauna (the REAL way), Ice Hockey, salmiakki, reindeer, tar candy (YES. Some Finns eat tar.), Fazer chocolate, Finnish Summer cottage...and the list goes on.

The list goes on and on, but I want to save that list of things for my check list. ;)

Finland takes you off the track of the rest of Europe. Its so different from other European countries, and it takes you to a place where you can hide and just be yourself and takes you into a story book full of wonderlands and unique people.

Why Finland?

This leads me to answer your question...WHY Finland?

Finland may seem like just a Northern Country when you visit it...but that is because to REALLY know its like, and to appreciate it, you  have to dig in deep to it. You cant just visit it. You have to experience it to REALLY understand what Finland really means. What Finland is really like.

It has been SO rewarding for me to come to Finland. I have met people SO different from those in the United States, and I am learning a language SO abstract and exotic from any that I have ever heard. I get to be around such raw and organic nature and beauty, and experience everything around me. Its been SO rewarding to get to know this culture that is so subtly and yet so totally different from my own.

It has only been 3 months, and yet Finland has already found its way into a special place into my heart.

This sounds SO cheesy...but its so true.

To put it honestly, I don't know WHY Finland... but im sure glad that I chose it and I really cant see myself anywhere else in the world but where I am RIGHT now.  <3

Update Week 13

Like I promised, I WILL eventually get to doing the second part of that last post...but im a lazy sack, and I decided that today I wanted to write about something else. (Sorry!)

Today I thought that I would write about how things are going so far and a little about what ive been up to lately. I don't think ive ACTUALLY made a post about what my own personal life is like yet, (and that might be because I like to rant a lot about random stuff.) and im sure as "interesting" as I am, that maybe it might be worth writing a little bit about. :)

Everything is kind of in a regular routine now, and things have really started settling in, which is good!

I go to school, I actually DO some of the work in class now. (Keep in mind though, that by "some", I mean I have the smallest idea of what we are supposed to be doing.) I can participate more in class, and hold basic conversations with people, and I have settled in to finding things to do with people, and well...basically things have settled in. :)

 

I guess ill start by talking about how school is going, and then go on from there:

This past week, I gave a presentation in my Geography class about Thermal and Geothermal Engergy...IN FINNISH! I didn't give the WHOLE presentation myself, and to completely honest, I really didn't give much of the presentation in the first place. BUT I did it in Finnish! I was kind of expecting it to go wrong, but I KNEW that I couldn't just chicken out...To tell you the truth, I actually wish that I would have given MORE of the presentation instead of only reading just 2 of the slides in the presentation.It went pretty well actually!

Unfortunately though, my teacher called in me during the next class to answer a question...asked in Finnish. (I think that me speaking in front of my class in Finnish, made her think that I actually understand a lot more in Class than I ACTUALLY do.)

It was embarrassing because I REALLY had no idea what we were talking about, so I sat there awkwardly, and then just decided to look down at my paper and just say a random word.

All she said was my answer was wrong, and then called on the next person.

It was pretty embarrassing, and I STILL don't know what she asked...but at least I tried, right? :)

I take all of my notes for all of my classes in Finnish, and then I come home and just google translate all of them as "homework."

I ended up switching out of my business class a few weeks ago, and getting into an art class. (Too bad I didn't know that my art class would be about drawing people!)

And for any of you who know me, I am a TERRIBLE artist! I cant even draw a ROCK!

This actually makes this class REALLY entertaining for me though.

I am taking the class with another exchange student, and we just spend the whole class laughing at how terrible our drawings are.

Everyone in the class is REALLY good at art, and it makes me super embarrassed when my drawings just look like sad circus clowns, or moldy pieces of bread...

The teacher once actually came up to me after I had finished my drawing, and told me that I was supposed to draw the person in my class who was modeling for the drawing...THAT is how bad my drawing was!

I have actually been taking pictures of all of the drawings that I have done at the end of every class, so that I can remember just how BAD my drawings were!


I am only taking a total of 5 classes, so I have at least 2 hours to waste everyday in between some of my classes. Fortunately, some of the other exchange students at my school have a 2 hour break at the same time as mine, so we have gotten to know each other pretty well by spending a lot of time together!

Every Tuesday and Thursday ive been taking Finnish classes at another school in Oulu, and next Wednesday I have my first exam! Which really shouldn't be all that difficult, but it DOES mean I will have a 10-11 hour school day, because the exam is 3 hours and it is RIGHT after my school day until around 8pm!

Im not really stressed about the test because it should be pretty easy for me, but I am worried about just how LONG the day will be! But I think that because the exam is in the evening, that it means that ill be able to listen to Finnish for the entire day before I take it, which will be good practice. :)

I have actually been tutoring one of my exchange student friends who goes to my school for our exam. All of the Exchange Students who go to my school are all in the same Finnish class, and I am pretty good friends with most of them; and we help each other with our Finnish, even though our Finnish is not very good.

We have also gotten into teaching each other our own languages during our free time at school, so this past week I have been learning Spanish, Thai AND Finnish. ;)

They teach me some of their native language, while I help them learn the basics of Finnish.

My Finnish isn't much better than theirs, but since my native language is English, they know that I only speak Finnish with my host family and I am only learning one language instead of learning both English AND Finnish at the same time, like they are.

Its really nice that I can help them with their Finnish, although I feel a bit unfit to do the job, because I am no where NEAR fluent, and I just barely conversational! But it makes me happy that I can help them with the things that I do know about the language.


And now I am SURE that this post is getting boring, so I will switch it up and talk a little bit about the more current things that have been happening, and add a few pictures from this past week to go along with them. (Because pictures make everything better.):

This was the sky last Tuesday when I was walking to Finnish class.

 

I couldn't help but take a picture!

 

This might sound stupid...but for some reason, there is gravel ALL over all of the sidewalks!

 

I have asked other exchange students, and NONE of us know why there is gravel all over them! We have come up with different ideas as to why, but they are just ideas that are full of nonsense...we don't really want to ask anyone about it though, because we know that we will probably sound ridiculous if we did. :)

 

I have wonderful and amazing friends who give me one of their jars of peanut butter from their package from home...

 

This week was my FIRST TIME in 3 MONTHS to have peanut butter!

 

I have a friend who is another Exchange Student from the USA, and he gave me one of his jars of peanut butter that he got from his package from home!

 

I literally almost died of excitement! :D

 

Unfortunately, everyone who I have gotten to try it hasn't liked it at all. :(

 

I apologize for the horrible picture quality...but YES, this is indeed one of my HORRIBLE drawings from art class!  Sadly, this is actually one of the BETTER drawings I have done. (And yes, this is super embarrassing to post, but I thought that if I mentioned it, I HAD to eventually post a picture of proof.) :D

 

 

 

 

 

I have some good news though!

 

.............................................

 

Tonight I am actually going to my FIRST EVER hockey game!!!

 

I am going with one of my RYE (Rotary Youth Exchange) friends from Chile, and it is her first ever hockey game too. :)

 

I am actually SUPER excited, because hockey is a pretty big deal in Finland, (My host dad really loves it.) and now I get to finally go to a REAL hockey game! So that is SUPER exciting! :D

 

 

 

I am not really sure what else to post about from this week to update about, but hopefully this was a good enough update about the types things that have been going on this past week, and how everything is going so far.

 

I know that I need to get better at updating about the kinds of things that im doing instead of just ranting about all of the good things, or the bad things or just RANDOM things in general.

 

So hopefully in my next few blog posts that I write, ill be able to add more pictures and talk more about the things that im up to. But HEY, this is a start, right? :)