After twenty hours of traveling, lugging around two heavy bags, and no sleep, I finally arrived in Helsinki. I was anxious and excited, my host family was waiting for me in the airport, I wanted to run, get my bags and leave, but all of the exchange students had to wait for all of the others to get off of the plane. After about an hour and a half of trying to find lost luggage and getting off the plane and managing to find our way through the airport. I got to meet my host family, I walked through the doors from baggage claim and there they were holding posters with my name, Finnish flags, and huge smiles on their faces. It was so amazing to see all of the girls I had been waiting so long to meet. Since I had taken so long to get through the airport we had a hour and a half together before I had to be back at the airport to get on a bus that would take all of the exchange students to language camp. We grabbed a quick lunch and then drove around Helsinki with the time we had. I loved meeting my family so much and the little bit of Helsinki I got to see was beautiful.

The kids coming to Finland were separated on three busses all leaving at different times from to airport to language camp. On the bus I met the kids I would be spending a year with in a foreign country. The bus ride was loud and full of adrenaline filled, exhausted teenagers. This was the time to meet people and make friends. We arrived at camp in time for iltäpala (an evening snack commonly eaten in Finland) and then had the rest of the evening to ourselves.

Each day we would have breakfast, a three hour lesson, lunch, a two hour lesson, kahvi (coffee break with a pastry to go along, Finnish pastries are SO GOOD), a lecture on Finnish culture, then sauna or outdoor activities and free time, evening snack, bed time, and then we would do it all over again the next day. Although the days were pretty full I had so much fun. When there was free time we would play card games, hang out with all of the friends we made, or go swimming.

During lectures we worked on pronunciation and vocabulary building. The teacher for students from the USA made the lessons fun, turning learning into a game. We listened to music in Finnish with English translations and all did our best to sing along when we could. We did worksheets and had help from tutors, Finnish people who had gone abroad previous years. We were taught that the language isn’t difficult or impossible, just different.

Everyone quickly formed groups, mostly with the people from their country but we all mixed together during other activities.

On Thursday we took a trip to Tampere, about an hour away from the camp where we were spending our week. I went with a group of three girls from the USA and one boy from Spain. During the time we had we took a bus tour, went to one of the older churches in Tampere, and then had free time to roam around the city. During free time we got coffee, the boy from Spain went to Subway, and we went to stores in the central area of the city. It was so much fun, we took a ton of pictures, and laughed a lot. We stubbled on music in a park and everyone around us definitely knew we were tourists. Even though everyone was super tired I really wish we could have stayed in Tampere longer. It was truly the highlight of camp for me.

Friday and Saturday, the Rotary members were at camp so we had lectures on the rules and other practical Rotary information we would need throughout the next eleven months. Most of Saturday was spent in lectures with out districts and country specific contacts, it was mostly the same information we had received in the past but it was very exciting because we were actually in Finland this time. After the lectures it was time to meet our families. Although I was ready to go to my host family I was sad to leave camp because those who wouldn’t be in my district or come on the trips in the future, I would never see again. The week all around was so much fun, I learned a lot, and made many new, amazing friends.

Tampere

The lake at camp. After sauna, people would run and jump in the lake. A very Finnish practice, but so much fun and refreshing.

We took a walk around the camp. Finland is so beautiful!

Looking over Tampere with my friend, Sibohan, from USA. It was super windy but the day was amazing.

Surprisingly, there were two of us from Tennessee!

All of the exchange students at camp from all over the world who will be staying in Finland and Estonia this year.