Geez. I believe an apology should be in order.
I am VERY VERY sorry. I promise to blog more. ;)
Alright...Now that was done, I guess its time to post about my Christmas in FINLAND!
Ill jump RIGHT into it with Christmas Eve.
To tell you the absolute truth, I didn't at all know what to expect- and I sure didn't know what the plan for the night was. I was pretty scared at first to tell you the truth. I didn't know how to dress, what kinds of traditions were going to happen, how I was supposed to act, WHO was all coming...needless to say I over thank EVERYTHING at first!
Our Christmas tree
I woke up on Tuesday not at ALL knowing what to expect; and it was kind of a scary feeling to tell you the truth. What was Christmas going to be like with another family? Who was all coming over? How am I supposed to dress? What kinds of traditions are we going to celebrate? How different will this year be? Will I be able to understand and communicate with everyone? The questions were ENDLESS...
My host parents had begun cooking the night before, and everyone was running around getting everything in order and getting ready for the evening to come...And all while that was going on, I was watching, trying to figure out WHAT was going to happen, and WHAT exactly I should be doing to prepare as well!
Making my moms Christmas cookies! (My real mommas cookies!) ;)
The finished product!
We started the day with Rice Pudding for breakfast, and it is tradition that an almond is hidden in the pudding, and for the person that finds it they either get a present or they have to sing a song, or something like that...I guess it is different family to family. :)
My rice pudding breakfast. :D
After breakfast, we watched Christmas shows while my host parents baked, and we ended up watching Swedish Cartoons with Finnish Subtitles! (And boy...that was interesting for my head to have to listen to Swedish and read Finnish at the same time haha.). It is also pretty traditional to go for a sauna on Christmas eve as well.
Things after that were kind of just getting ready...like lighting candles, and setting up the dinner table, and changing into nice clothes. We ate dinner around 5pm, and my host grandparents came to join us.
One of the candles we lit.
For dinner we had moose and ham. (The ham was served with REALLY strong mustard), and we had different kinds of fish, and rutabaga casserole, carrot casserole, and beetroot salad- and different kinds of traditional dishes that are served in Finland for Christmas dinner.
To tell you the absolute truth...During dinner, I was pretty depressed. It wasn't that I wanted to go home, but I just really missed the Christmas dinner that I usually had. Everything was SO different than what I was used to having, and to tell you the truth- it wasn't until AFTER dinner that I realized that I was longing for the Christmas that I always had. I wanted those traditions that I was used to.
It was at THAT point that I realized that I CAME here for a reason, and that reason was to try NEW things. And I realized that I WAS capable of TRYING something new and totally different, and that I wasn't GOING to have the kind of Christmas that I was always used to having. I was GOING to have something NEW and DIFFERENT, and that was OKAY.
I NEEDED to realize that things were going to be totally different, and that it would be OKAY. And I needed to get PAST my comfort zone of EVERY Christmas I ever knew, and be TOTALLY open to EVERYTHING that was being thrown at me- and just take ALL of it in.
And after telling myself that, I began to really open up and have a good time.
My two host cousins, Antti and Mikko came over- and my host aunt came over too. We kind of socialized for a bit, and my host family skyped their daughter- who is a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in the USA. And that was super sweet for her to be able to join Christmas with her family through Skype. ;)
It was a little bit sad for me at first, because I felt like I was intruding while their family was trying to Skype with my host sister, and I missed my own family; but I realized that I shouldn't worry about it, and that I truly WASNT intruding in, and that everything was okay. :D
After a bit, my host cousin Antti disappeared...
And of course since the REAL Santa lives in Finland; its tradition that he visits your house on Christmas Eve. ;)
So, naturally- we received a knock on the door- and Santa came to visit us. We took pictures, and we talked a little bit- and everyone sang a little song about Santa in Finnish (Except me of course, because I had NO idea what was going on haha!) And then he handed out presents from his sack, and then left.
And of course after a few minutes, my host cousin comes out of the back room and says to everyone, "Ohhhhh...sorry guys, I was in the bathroom." ;)
My host family with, "Santa" :D
We all opened our presents, and it was really nice! I gave my host siblings and parents Christmas ornaments from Oregon, and they seemed to like them a lot! I wanted to give them something simple but meaningful, and now every year they can put an Oregon Christmas Ornament on their Christmas tree, and remember me. ;)
I got some Children's books in Finish, which is seriously awesome! :D And I got a shirt for my local hockey team in my host city, which is ALSO incredibly awesome, because its something that I secretly really wanted haha. And of course I got chocolate, and new Pjs (which is great, because I didn't take any cute ones with me to Finland!), and things like that.
After we opened our presents, we had coffee (I had juice haha), and cake. We just kind of sat around and socialized, and it was nice. And soon after, everyone slowly left. Over all it was pretty good!
On Christmas, my host family tried really hard to make sure I didn't feel homesick, and it was really nice of them! I watched a movie with my host sister and host mom, and we ate icecream and for lunch I had leftovers from Christmas dinner. :)
I waited around until 4pm, and that is when I skyped with my sister and my parents! We talked for a long time, and I opened up my Christmas package from home then, and I got to open my presents from home over Skype. It was REALLY nice to have a long Skype session with them, and talk to my sisters family too! I got to meet my new niece and see what my little nieces got for Christmas, and that was really fun.
I also got to Skype my brothers family, and see my other niece and that was really fun too. (And they even let me Skype with my dog!) :D
So, over all Christmas this year was very different, but also very rewarding! :)
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