The Blog Post of Doom

ALLLLLRIGHTY then... brace yourselves, loyal follower(s). You are about to have your socks blasted off by a ridiculously longwinded blog post. I decided to entitle it so, as it subtly refers to the eminent peril that faces all those who dare read it (due to its aforementioned garrulous nature).


Dum de dum dum dum! We’ll start at the beginning (a very good place to start). School broke up on Saturday the 6th of June, which was great. My class went on a trip to Helsinki on Friday the 5th, which was awesome. We went to Suomenlinna, or Castle of Finland, which was built by the Swedish crown, in defence of Russian expansionism. So, in a nutshell, like many Finnish buildings, it was built to keep The Russians out :D I found it to be a very beautiful place, with a lot of history, however, it was kind of boring for our class, and especially me, as the tour guide spoke for about an hour and a half without pause (in Finnish, of course). After we finished our tour, we explored the city and went shopping for a while, which was nice.



On the Sunday after school broke up, I left for Eurotour, which was simply indescribable. It was such a great trip. I will never forget the fun times I had with such incredible people. Not only did I have the opportunity to see some of the most wonderful sights Europe has to offer, but I was able to enjoy the company of so many amazing friends. I don’t really know what to say about the trip, except for that it was one of the greatest times of my life and I now have so many fantastic memories to look back on and impress my grandkids with when I’m older. I guess some of the highlights of the trip were:

Sisterone, France. The little town in the French Alps was so beautiful. When we came the sun was shining and the place was just so green and perfect for exploring.



Lido de Jesolo, Italy. A little beach town where we had a free day to relax and hang out at the beach. I went to the arcade in the afternoon with my guy friends and we played street drag racer (at which I was epically horrendous, but equally amusing) and Dance Dance Revolution, which was fun.

Paris, France. We had a whole day to spend to ourselves and I had such a great time. We saw so many beautiful places and had so much fun. It was just a really perfect day.



Brussels,Belgium. We ate waffles and wandered around in the light drizzle and a beggar verbally abused us after we refused her money to pay for expenses associated with the death of her brother, the treatment of her son’s leukaemia and her uncle’s brain tumour.

Playing mafia in every hotel. I had fun hanging out with the other exchange students and, in times of complete boredom, playing 694 questions, signs, and, more importantly, mafia (the most popular card game of all).


My sister turned sixteen while I was away on Eurotour, so when I got back, I sent her a big birthday package with little presents from each country that I visited on the trip. It’s kind of horribly sad to think that your little sister is growing up, so it was a little hard to be away from home for her sixteenth, but I think it will make it all the more special when I return to Australia. By living away from home for a year, I know some of my relationships with people back home have certainly altered. I haven’t even spoken to many of my formerly close friends for months, and I can feel that certain friendships are very strained. I guess it’s also strange, too, because, there are some people that I didn’t even know that well, and maybe met on occasion at parties, but was never really close to, that have maintained interest in my life, which means a lot to me. My best friend has really made the effort to keep me in her life, for which I am very thankful. Although at times, communication is difficult, we always manage to post a comment on facebook, or send a quick e-mail just to let each other know what’s going on, and then talk later, when the time is more convenient. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life and I know that we are going to be friends for a very long time. My relationship with my family has changed, too. I get along with the oldest of my younger sisters even better than when we lived under the same roof. She has matured a lot in the time that I have been away from home and not being around each other constantly has made our connection stronger. I have had some great conversations with her since I have been away and I am so proud of who she has become and is becoming. I touch bases with my older brother pretty sporadically and I guess I miss the continuity of his presence in my life, but, when we do talk, we speak quite openly and freely, because we never really know when the opportunity to talk will arise next. My youngest sister is a very different person than when I last saw her. She has entered the realm of adolescence without trepidation and is persistently ageing my parents and causing general mayhem by wearing mascara to school and straightening her hair regularly. This has been a struggle for me to accept and I guess I wish I still had some influence in her life. As the oldest sister, I feel as though I have let my parents down in some way. My parents are very good to me and I really respect them both for all of the support they have given me this year. When I talk to my Dad it seems as though we are two adults speaking to one another rationally and I love that he listens to me and values my opinions and decisions. I can tell that some days it’s really difficult for my Mum to be away from me. As the oldest daughter, I felt like we had a really close bond. I’m not one of those annoying teenage daughters that treat their mother as the ultimate confidante and recount wild tales of adolescent parties, so that middle-aged women eye people suspiciously in the supermarket after hearing that they hooked up with their brother’s ex-girlfriend’s cousin, or puked in the fishbowl, or impregnated an eleven year old. I think my Mum and I have a good relationship, which matures from our ability to be honest with each other, which has propagated a mutual respect for one another.


Enough of family stuff, though. Ka-pow! Back to fun Finnishness! Okay so, after Eurotour I bonded with my host family for a while, who genuinely seemed to like having me back (which made it feel like coming home), just water skiing on the lake at their mökki (summer cottage) and eating makkara. A few days later, I went to Helsinki to hang out with my friends, Adrian, an Australian exchange student, and Sonya, a South African exchange student. I had a great time. We went opp-shopping and we explored a store that stocks treats from all over the world. We also went to the library, which was fun. I listened to some Finnish artists on the listening deck there, which was great. After I came back from Helsinki (after catching the non-express bus, unintentionally, and sitting in the bus for 4.45 hours), I said goodbye to my exchange friends, my oldies, Mariana and Jonas. It was so sad to say goodbye to them after having had such an amazing time with them, but I guess that they are ready to go home. Jonas weally needed to be reunited with his motorbike and Mariana’s family were calling. I want to travel a lot in the future and I’ve always wanted to go to South America, so who knows, maybe one day, I’ll see Mari again. I have an aunty that lives in Germany, so I’m planning on visiting her one year, so maybe I’ll get to see Jonas and his motorbike, too.


Other than saying goodbye to too many good people, I have been spending time with my host family and hanging out at home. I went to Lahti, to visit my friends, Steph (from Australia), Nick (from Australia) and Jun (from Japan). We explored the city a little, had ice cream, went ten pin bowling and went to a playground.
On the weekend I managed to go to a music festival, which was incredibly fun. I saw Belle and Sebastian (Stuart Murdoch has the most incredible voice live *swoon*), Ginger Ninja (very cool indie-electro band from Denmark), Regina Spektor, Florence and the Machine (Florence has such a raw, powerful voice live) and so many other cool Finnish artists. We also saw The Baseballs, who are a German band that cover popular songs with 1950s style crooning, which are so huge in Finland. We danced so much and had fun. During the day, we just sat in the park in the shade and had a picnic, or went to sleep, or read. I had a great time with all of the other exchange students that came. On the Sunday, it was Nicole’s (one of my friends that came) birthday, so we had a cake for her and shouted her giant ice creams and made sure she was well looked-after. On the last night, all of the Finns at our camping ground, in their drunken state, decided that rubbish bin drumming and tribal dancing was in order, so between the hours of 1 and 4am, not much sleep was had. I still had fun, though.


My friend, Adrian came back from Ruis Rock with me, which was fun. Although we were so tired that we slept most of the time, we managed to squeeze in enough time to make Aussie hamburgers for dinner one night and pavlova, too. Adrian is a really great guy and we get along well, so it was nice for me to have a friend stay with me and meet me family and see a little bit of what my life is like.


I really can’t think of what more to write about, really. I have just been having an amazing time here, appreciating every single day for all that it’s worth. I hope you can do the same.


Kiitos ja hei hei!

My Poorly Documented Life

Hei!

Well... I really think I may be in the running for the world's worst blogger. I genuinely suck at keeping this updated :( Currently, I feel like it's all a little overwhelming... I don't update it regularly enough, so when I have a sudden burst of motivation and do decide to post something after all, I have to attempt to consolidate my mental miscellany into something worthwhile. I mean, there's no hard evidence to substantiate the claim that anyone might actually read this, anyway, so I'm not sure if I should bother :(

Luckily for you, I am Australian ja minulla on suomalainen sisu, so I am going to write this with all the optimism and charisma that I can muster.

Okay, well, I'll start at the beginning, a very good place to start.

Early in May, we went on a trip to the Fazer company in Helsinki. There was all the chocolate you could ever dream of and more... I swore I would never eat chocolate again, following the tour (although, strangely, I seemed to be able to eat some just two days later... keeping the exchange student dream of achieving eternal fatness alive, ha ha!) It was so great... I hadn't seen many of the exchange students since Karkku and I just loved hanging out with everyone and catching up, just like the good old days. It really is amazing to see how everyone has changed in such a short time, already. I came with two of my exchange student friends and I really loved just talking and bonding (and eating, of course) on the bus ride home.



Another exciting event to happen was our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. It's one of those places I've always wanted to go, and it certainly didn't disappoint. While the visit indeed confirmed a lot of the Finnish preconceptions and prejudices about the Russians. I still found the city incredibly beautiful... even the dilapidated buildings and houses had their own kind of enchanting appeal. I loved seeing some of the historical sites that I had learnt about in school, it was really special. I also turned eighteen on the final day of our tour, which was fun. On the last night, all of the exchange students hung out together in the lobby of our hotel and counted down until midnight and everyone sang me 'happy birthday'. One of my Aussie friends even bought me a cake on the way home, which was so nice. I guess turning eighteen was also quite a turning point for me, as an exchange student. I didn’t realise it would be so difficult being away from my family on an important milestone and was a little taken by surprise at my first real feelings of homesickness. Still, all of my friends and family did their best to make my day special and I certainly had a day I'll never really forget.



Another big change that took place during the month was my first move. I was really nervous about changing host families, as I felt as though I had become a part of my first host family. Still, it’s been really great experiencing another family’s way of living and I know I’ll always be welcome at the Ylönen’s. I get along with my new family well. My host parents do speak English, but not astonishingly well, so lately we have been communicating almost entirely in Finnish. I have already noticed a dramatic improvement in my Finnish and I hope to be able to speak relatively fluently by the time I leave. My host Mum is so lovely and kind. She seems to be more open to the idea of human contact than most Finns and seems really gentle, which is nice. I’ve missed that sort of maternal love. My host Dad is so nice and I think he enjoys my attempt to try almost everything. We seem to have a mutual respect for each other, which I think is most probably derived from his inability to speak entirely comprehensible English, and my inability to speak entirely comprehensible Finnish. I really like my host sisters. I have one sister the same age and she has been so kind and is always inviting me to join her when she leaves the house. I’ve had so much fun here already. On Saturday I went to a Finnish rap concert with my host sister and some of her friends and we just danced and had fun all night. I had no idea of exactly what they were saying, but I understood the general themes of cars, girls, their breasts and backsides, so it seemed as though Finnish rap was no exception to the almost universal lack of quality lyricism in the rap music world. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was so lively and passionate... I had a really good time. My younger host sister is fourteen and really funny. She doesn’t have that sort of shyness and timidness that most Finns tend to have and is so outgoing and fun to be around. I feel so youthful! Having studied English at a higher level than everyone else in the family, my older host brother is always interested in spending time with me and trying to translate everything, along with correcting all of my mistakes in Finnish (which, I assure you are plentiful). While this is endearing and I know he is a nice person and means well, it has become a little frustrating for me at times, as it is distracting when I am still talking. I am trying so hard to learn the language and some days, especially now that I am aware of all the mistakes I constantly make, I feel really insecure and inferior. Still, so far, I am happy living in the family and feel quite at home already. I am also a regular source of amusement, especially when I make mistakes while speaking Finnish (which is pretty regularly).

Since moving with my host family, I have experienced so much already. My host Dad is interested in rally driving, so I went in the rally car with him one afternoon, for a test drive and I also came with my family to a rally competition one weekend. We have been visiting their kesämoki, too, which is just a slice of heaven. It is just so beautiful on the lake and you feel as though there is nothing else but you and nature, which is really empowering.




Another great thing about this month has been hanging out with the exchange students. I have two exchangee friends, one from Germany and one from Brazil that I see quite often. I feel like we know each other fairly well by now and I could tell them just about anything, so it's really nice to have people close to you that you can trust so entirely. A couple of days ago, we had an unofficial picnic in Mikkeli with the exchange students from my district and I had the best day. It was beautiful and sunny and I was in the best company. I will be truly sad to see the exchange students currently in Finland leave in two month’s time... many of them have supported me unconditionally, with complete understanding and compassion. Not only is this exchange program a fantastic way to experience the culture of your host country, it is a wonderful way to experience the rich vibrancy of so many other cultures, too. One of the Rotarians observed during one of our trips that ‘there was so much life’, which I find to be incredibly true... the passion and excitement fuelled by our mutual understanding is almost uncontainable, you can’t help but feel more empowered and alive just by being with such amazing people.



I can't really think of what else to say, other than that I am so happy right now and can't wait for more exciting adventures. I am heading off for our Eurotour on Sunday and I am so excited...I can't wait.

Until next time,
Heippa!

Jippii :D

Hei!

Wow! Guess who sucks at keeping a blog...
I figured a blog would be less taxing than keeping a diary and also less laborious than recounting every single detail of my experience to family and friends, but, apparently, I seem to have managed to find a way to bollocks it all up. Jippii! Go me!

Well, well, well. There has been SO much happening in my life since my last post. I have to say, I really cannot believe that it has been three months already. Mistä kaikki aika menee?

Easter was so much fun. Hyvää Pääsiäistä! Sorry that my wishes are belated, but, due to my evident lack of keeping-a-blog ability, it's just going to have to suffice. Easter in Finland involved eating chocolate, painting eggs, playing SingStar and meeting my baby host-niece for the first time. Jippii... minä olen vaihto-täti nyt! Yippee... I am an exchange aunty now!

I was also invited to my host niece's christening, or kaste, which was lovely. I didn't really expect to be invited, because I am a guest, so it really meant a lot to me that I was asked to go. I was practising my virsit (hymns) with my host Mum for days, so that I would be able to sing along. It was a very special occasion and Frida Elsa Viilinen, my host niece, as she shall now be known, was so beautiful. She didn't even cry. What a little champion!

Last weekend was the Rotary District Conference for my district in Finland. It was really great to meet all of the other exchange students and get to know everyone. All of our 'oldies' were very accommodating, especially when I brought ANZAC biscuits into play, ha ha. We all had so much fun with our tutors, who were really lovely. Lotta, one of our tutors who went to Newcastle, actually turned out to be the former host sister of a guy from my hometown, so she actually knew of my hometown (which is pretty amazing, when you consider the fact that it has an astonishingly thriving population of 5,000). On the weekend, we also enjoyed "Nordic walking" through the Finnish forest, which pretty much is identical to ordinary walking, just with sticks. We also attempted to conquer an extreme forest obstacle course, which proved entertaining. I had a great time playing melkkö, a traditional Finnish throwing game. The only fault of the weekend was the fact that there seemed to be so little time. I tried to get to know all of the oldies and socialise, but it was difficult to spend time with everyone. It seems so unfair that I have only just met these fantastic people, only to find that they will be returning home soon.

In other news, my life is only becoming increasingly superb, at the moment. I met up with two of the older exchange students in my area yesterday and another girl from AFS, which was so fun. It was great to hang out and I just felt so happy to be with people who can assimilate with me and understand my position. School is great... I have made more new friends and am trying hard to be more sociable. I feel like everyone has been so accepting of me and I really could not be more grateful for all the kindness that everyone has bestowed upon me. I have been speaking more and more Finnish, wherever possible, which is genuinely appreciated by my peers. It is so nice to have their encouragement and support... it really helps me to keep motivated to continue learning the language. Yesterday, there was a music concert performed by students at our school and a girl from my class sang. She had the most amazingly beautiful voice... it just made me see how there is so much much to people that you'll never know unless you take the time to get to know them. In less profound news, the Power Rangers theme song was performed by some guys from my year level. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day. Go, go Power Rangers!

Well, I can't really think of all that much else. I will try and update this more regularly, so that there's not such a visual assualt.

Until then, I look forward to visiting the Fazer headquarters in Helsinki and celebrating my eighteenth birthday in Russia! Jippii!

Heippa!

Hiihto Loma

Moi :)
Phwar... well, I must say, right now I am feeling rather chuffed with myself, having survived one week skiing in Finland without becoming incapacitated... hurrah! This past week, I spent skiing in Vuokatti with my host family, during Hiihto Loma, or 'Ski Holiday'.

I must admit, my first time skiing on the slopes was quite disastrous. I am insanely scared of heights, almost to a vomitous extent, so looking down a mountain whilst having my legs strapped to moving planks of wood/whatever skis are made of was not exactly an enjoyable experience for me. I kept falling over and managed to slide down an entire hill sideways, because I fell at the top and couldn't quite manage to bring an end to the momentum driving me towards the base. I can remember fighting back tears, at one point, because I was so scared, which was quite humiliating, especially when I was surrounded by three-year-olds that could pratically do handstands on their snowboards. Despite this, after a day or so, I eventually worked out how to use skis, with much support and encouragement from my lovely and all-too-patient host family. At first, I manage to ski down the beginners' slope without falling. I also managed to exit the ski lift without falling. The only major peak left to conquer was the Hill Of Doom: the only slope leading back to our cottage, upon which I managed to fall... Every. Single. Time!

By the end of the week, I successfully accomplished skiing down almighty slopes, practically sculling searing hot chocolates and not falling over every thirty seconds. A highlight, off the slopes, was making my first ever snowman! During the four-ish weeks that I have been here, I was yet to experience positive temperatures. Yet, as fate would have it, on the first day of Hiihto Loma, the thermometer's mecury rose to a whopping 2 degrees! And on that fateful day, Bertie, my first snowman/baby arrived into the world! P.S... [Just in case you didn't know, without positive temperatures, you cannot make snowmen: the snow is too cold and can't condense enough... it's pretty much just white fluff. ] It might sound pathetic, but that was one of the best days I have had here... I had so much fun playing with the snow and acting like a child at Christmas :)

Another mind-blowing experience was visiting the spa at a local hotel. Not only did I see more penises than ever, but was largely outnumbered by greying, middle-aged men with more ample busoms than mine. Still, it was a fun night and I really liked experiencing the different varieties of sauna [menthol, wood, steam, stone and floral-toilet-spray-scented]. I also had a great time bonding with my host sisters and my host brother and his fiance, while we were away. We played multiple games of Uno [intense!!], very complicated medieval boardgames, roasted Wilhelm makkara [sausages] on the fire, had Minttu jaatelo for breakfast and went Ten-Pin Bowling. On our final day, I am proud to say that I managed not to fall over for an entire day and even successfully defeated the Hill of Doom! I was radiant with triumph! I even learnt a new Finnish word to embody my newfound glory... helpponakki, which literally means "easy sausage", but is the equivalent of "piece of cake" :D

And that's the end of that adventure :D
Heippa :D

Life and other adventures...

Moi :)

It's been a while, I guess. I am really bad at remembering... it's one of my many skills, such as looking bad in all photographs and failing at riding bicyles in the snow, so I apologise for my tardiness :D

So much has happened since my last post. School is pretty normal now, I feel comfortable in most of my classes and I seem to be able to follow what's going on most of the time. The students at our school have been so nice to me and in all of my classes someone is normally kind enough to translate difficult concepts and texts, so most of the time school is quite fun.

I really love living with my host family and I feel right at home now... it's going to be really hard to leave here, when the time comes. I get along really well with everyone and I actually do feel like a family member, not just an outsider, so I always look forward to coming home after school each day.

I have been going to aerobics and step classes with my host Mum, Päivi, as I think it's important to spend time with family, which, to me, means showing an interest in their life and what interests them. It's also a fun way of keeping fit and improving my Finnish. The pain associated with abdominal crunches has helped me to remember 'alas' and 'ylös' [down and up] quite well, so I think it's been successful on all counts :D Another Finnish activity I've been doing with my host family is 'avanto' [hole in the ice], which is where you have a hot sauna by a lake somewhere and then swim in a hole in the ice... ha ha...minulla on sisu :)It sounds cold, which it is, but I think it's really quite refreshing once you've warmed up on your walk back to the sauna. I've gone twice now and last time I went five times, for ten seconds each [although I did count in Finnish, so it was probably more like twenty, ha ha].

Right now I am excited, because after school tomorrow, I am going swimming with one of my friends from school and then on Saturday, I leave for Vuokatti with my host family, to go skiing for a week. Although I am slightly nervous about falling over heaps and embarrassing myself, I am looking forward to having a break from early morning starts and experiencing my first positive temperature... Saturday's forecast is 1 degree! Yipee! I can't wait! Even though we're leaving early, I am setting my alarm for five a.m. and running outisde to make a snow man! I can't wait!

So, to synopsise, everything is wonderful. I love my host family, I love school [if only more boys would talk to me :P ] and I love living in Finland!

School O'Clock

Moi from Suomi :)

What a week! My first week at school turned out to be one of the best I have had in Finland so far, to my surprise. School itself was something I had perpetually dreaded since my arrival in Finland, as all of my rather ominous premonitions somehow seemed to share the recurring image of me sitting in the cafeteria alone, eating by myself and fighting back tears. Thankfully, this was not the case at all :D

While everyone seemed to avert my attention to the fact that the Finnish are shy people, before I even left Australia, I found that not everyone was as reserved as I had anticipated. Most people were pretty friendly and smiled or nodded in my general direction. In general, everyone was really sweet to me and a few people even approached me and introduced themselves, which was so nice. I managed to make a few friends, so I always seemed to have people to talk to, which was good. One of my friends and I were walking together after school and we ended up having a hot chocolate and talking for ages, which was just so good.

Although some subjects have been quite difficult, it has not been completely insurmountable and the little Finnish I know has served me well. People seem genuinely appreciative that I have been making such an effort to learn their lanuage and are always very impressed when I am able to speak a few words here and there. Of course, other students are naturally curious and equally as excited to hear an Australian accent live for the first time!

I have chosen beginners Russian, History, Psychology, Geography, English 2 and English 6 as my subjects for this period and am really enjoying them so far. Everyone is always really helpful in class and the people I sit next to have become my friends and are always eager to translate confusing texts. My teachers all seem nice and are happy to include me in class, to get the 'Australian perspective' on things.

So, in a nutshell, I couldn't have asked for a better first week at school. I have made new friends, had so many new and exciting experiences and I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year will bring!

Skiing in the land of the Finns and other adventures...

Terve :D

Aah! I can't believe that I have been in Finland for two weeks already! Last week, after language camp, I met my host family. They are soo kind and impossibly nice, which has made the transition into their family as easy as it could ever be.

My host sister, Sini, is so nice. She has quite similar taste in music to me, which I love, in addition to her amazing style :D Sini's older sister, Anna, also came from university in Helsinki to stay at home for the weekend, when I arrived. Anna went to Australia on an exchange in 2006/ 2007, so she has been really good to talk to and has been really welcoming. My host Mum, Päivi is so sweet and has been so kind to me: I have never felt uncomfortable in the whole time I have been in her company. Osmo, my host Dad, is absolutely lovely. He always educates me about the Finnish way of life and tries so hard to explain things, so I don't feel left out.

Although my high school had exams this week, I went in for a few days, once to talk about subject selection and another time to take an English exam. The other days I went with my host Mum, Päivi, to the school where she teaches and I talked about my life in Australia and shared some Australian music with her classes and helped during the English classes, which was fun. The students were quite shy, initially, but I could see their confidence grow after I amused them with my limited Finnish and they soon warmed to me and asked me soo many questions. I had the best time :)

I also went food shopping with my host family, which was fun. They have an entire isle of the supermarket dedicated to cheese and they have eleven different kinds of milk... they even have one type where the cows have been milked at night, which supposedly helps you sleep better :D I love Finnish food. I have just been trying absolutely everything and that way it has been very easy to work out what I do and don't like. One night we had warm berry soup for dinner, which was delicious. I also have been helping Päivi cook. On Thursday we made Runeburgin cakes, which are a traditional dessert to eat on Runeburgin Day, which celebrates Runeburgin, a famous Finnish poet. The cakes are made from old bread and have jam and white icing on top. The homemade ones we made were soo good!

I have also been riding a bike to school, which has been amusing. It's soo different riding on ice. It can get quite slippery in some places and in others, where the snow is too thick, it can become difficult to pedal. My first time cycling was okay, but I managed to take almost every corner too wide, which resulted in me ploughing into the metre-high piles of snow surrounding the road :)

My Finnish is actually going pretty well... I have been doing homework and I went to a beginner's Finnish course last week, which I will be attending every Wednesday. I have also learnt useful phrases such as "Sun tyttökaveri on söpö" and "Sinulla on kaunis nenä", which translate in English to "Your girlfriend is cute and "You have a pretty nose" :D'

I had my first skiing experience in Suomi last night, which was pretty hilarious and equally fun! One thing people should generally know about me is that I am ridiculously uncoordinated, so I was quite excited, but also vomitously nervous when my host parents suggested that I go skiing for the first time.

The first thing I learnt is that skiing is not as easy as it looks. As I struggled to prevent myself from sliding down the rapid decline, four-year-olds breezily snowboarded past me. I felt so guilty for my host parents!

I don't know whether it was the uplifting Star Wars music blaring in the background, or the entire Finnishness of it all, but after about three hours, I eventually made it all the way to the bottom without stacking it. I had soo much fun!

Moi Moi from Suomi:)

My First Week...

Moikka!

Wow! I am finally here... after months of enduring the entire rollercoaster journey that is Year Twelve, the searing heat of Waikerian summer temperatures and the herculean task of packing a suitcase for a year, I have made it to the land of the Finns :D

Last week was my first week in Finland, where I went to language camp in Karkku. Driving off in the bus and bonding with the other students was so much fun and seeing the sparkling snow for the first time was absolutely breath-taking. The entire landscape is just so different, it is hard to describe how magical everything is here, for those who cannot be here to witness it.

After experiencing the thrills of playing in the snow, going ice-fishing in an igloo, using snow shoes for the first time, jumping in the avaanto (hole in the ice) after the sauna, making snow angels and going sledding, I have had the best possible start to what I hope will be the best year of a lifetime. I have made so many new friends, learnt so many new words and done so many activities that I never would have had the confidence to do back home.

Anyway, I'll hopefully post something every week or so when I get the time, but until then, hei hei from Finland :)