Week Thirteen: The Last Two Weeks

Not much has been going on recently, but I have managed to stay busy. I have things to do almost everyday after school. The week after school break I went walking with one of the neighbors down the street, which was really nice and I really like her. I saw a movie with a girl who is a friend of the Patrakka family. My friend, Jacobo, came to visit from Mikkeli for the weekend. It was really fun to be the tour guide in Helsinki for once instead of the tourist. His first day here was kind of a mess since he got off at the wrong stop, and I spent about an hour getting off at different train stops trying to find him. In the dark (at 4:30pm) we visited the Cathedral and Market Square in Helsinki. On that Friday we went to the weird art museum (I talked about it in previous posts) and rode chrome bikes that had replaced one of the exhibits I had seen the last time I was there. I was quite disappointed that the puppet exhibit was no longer there. We tried to make plans to go play laser tag in one place in Helsinki, and we got a decent sized group together. When we arrived at 4:30 they told us they wouldn’t have a place open fro us until 9:30. We spent the evening talking and trying to figure out what to do but we never did. One boy had canceled his other plans to come and I felt so bad that we wasted his time. The rest of the weekend Jacobo and I watched movies and played foosball. I really enjoyed getting to show him around Helsinki.

Monday it snowed. There wasn’t much, but enough that schools in Tennessee would have been called off. I went with a group from school to Helsinki University to talk about languages for this program I am participating it. Laisha and I went around Helsinki afterwords looking for “Halloween” costumes for the school dress up day (she was an angel and I was the devil). The snow was packed and made walking very hard, we were both slipping all over the place trying to get around the city. By the next day the snow had all melted.

On Halloween I went to a party at Elina’s school which was quite boring since most of the people there were under thirteen and it was extremely crowded. I spent most of my time with Essi as I let her play on my phone.

My family actually successfully put together a family evening, after Eedit’s cheerleading, we all went bowling at the mall by my house. I was terrible at bowling, even Essi beat me in our overall score, but I had a lot of fun. It was nice to having an evening where the whole family was together.

Friday, I went out after school with some other exchange students and just walked around Helsinki. We found people from Spain giving out free hugs, under all of the newly hung Christmas lights, the Finnish people were not keen to this, but as exchange students we were ready for the hugs. We had a really nice time together before I had to leave to head to Jasmine’s house for her Halloween party. We ate candy, watched movies, and talked through the night. Saturday was spent as a lazy day in Jasmine’s home before we went to see the movie Halloween (we had to walk home in the dark alone and it was really terrifying).

I went to cheerleading the next day and found out we have to perform in front of all of the teams that are actually good on December 3, I am not a fan of this news. I went to Essi’s adorable gymnastics performance, and to their cousins house to play with all the children afterwards.

Not much has happened in the last two weeks but I have stayed busy.

Halloween Costumes

Essi and I at Elina’s Halloween Party

Christmas Lights in the Market Square

The first snow

Family Bowling

More Christmas Lights in Helsinki

Spanish people giving free hugs

The graveyard are covered in candles the first Saturday of November

Week Eleven: School Break, Estonia, and Mikkeli

On October 24, 2018November 15, 2018 By riversandroads2102In October 2018Leave a comment

School break started strong, I spent the night at my friend’s house and watched scary movies. On Saturday, I met Sebastian, from Mexico, at the train station by my house before we were to go to Laisha’s birthday party together. We made brownies and hung out at my house until it was time to go. When we first arrived it was just Laisha, Paola (Mexico), Cata (Argentina), Sebastian, and I. Later some Finnish girls from school showed up. The evening was absolutely amazing, I became closer with everyone there. We all started making plans to hang out in the future. Paola spent a good portion of the evening trying to teach me to cartwheel and…it ended up being SUCCESSFUL! They also tried to teach me how to dance which was very…unsuccessful. The night was absolutely amazing and one of my favorite ones I have had since I have been here. On Sunday I met up with Cata, Laisha, Sebastian, and two boys from France, we walked around Helsinki and talked for a few hours. Both Sunday and Monday evening I went to the light festival in the amusement park in Helsinki. On Sunday I went with my neighbor and Monday I went with my friend from Ecuador. The light festival is a pretty big deal since it’s the last time the park is open before it closes for winter. The lights were beautiful and I had an amazing time each night.

Tuesday my host family took me to Seurasaari (an outdoor museum sort of like Cade’s Cove in Tennessee). The park was beautiful especially since the leaves were turning colors. On the island were Seurassri is located there was actually an area blocked off for a naked beach in the summer.

When we didn’t have plans over break I spent a lot of time with Laisha outside because of the really nice weather we have had for the past week and a half.

On Thursday my host family went on a day trip to Estonia. We had Essi, Elina, my host aunt’s two kids, and a family friend’s kids, that meant five kids all under the age of nine, it was kind of crazy. Despite the moments where everything was crazy, the trip was really nice. The old town of Tallinn was beautiful, and Reija did everything she could to make the trip enjoyable for me. We went to a KGB jail in the basement of a building, went to a look out place over the Old Town, had lunch in the market square, walked around the city, and I met up with one of my friends who is on exchange in Estonia. I loved Tallinn and the day trip gave us just enough time to see what we were hoping to.

Friday I left for Mikkeli to visit my friend Jacobo, from Spain, and Tanja, from Germany. I went to my first hockey game with them and one Rotarian (our team won), which was a lot of fun. The next day we went to and orienteering party with their host dad and then had an hour to walk around Mikkeli. That weekend I went to church for the first time since I have been here, and of course the whole service was in Finnish. After the service everyone started taking pictures of us because we are exchange students (it was quite strange but really funny). I had a great time in Mikkeli visiting my friends and I can’t wait for them to come visit me.

When I arrived home Sunday night I dropped my stuff at home and headed out to the amusement park for the last time until next summer. I was meeting my friend Jasmine to see the firework show, that was the closing ceremony of the festival. I was truly amazed by the work that went into the show and the lights. The night was an amazing way to bring the end of school break.

Laisha’s Birthday Party

Estonia with Elina

Goofing around in Estonia

Tallinn

Russia Orthodox Church in Tallinn

Old Town

The Cathedral in Mikkeli (not the church we went to) with Jacobo

Overlooking Mikkeli

Week Ten: Reflection

On October 18, 2018March 25, 2019 By riversandroads2102In October 2018, ReflectionsLeave a comment

This blog post is filler because this week sucked. Honestly, it was terrible, no idea why and there’s not much of a good explanation. School was stressing me out and I had no motivation to go to my classes. The weather was finally really great, it was warm, so I didn’t want to be in school. I wanted to be out exploring and enjoying the weather. I think I have learned the most in the last two weeks than I have since I’ve been here, because the last two weeks have sucked but the weekends have been really great. It has really reminded me that this year isn’t just supposed to be easy, it’s not just a vacation.

There are times when I want to go home, I want to see my friends, my family, MY CATS (let’s be real, I miss my cats more than anything else), my city, my car, my school, my room, my bed, my house, my outdoor shower, Chick-fil-a, and Clumpies (only Chattanooga people will understand). I miss being able to blast my music whenever I want, being able to make spicy thai noodles or pesto pasta or chocolate chip cookies whenever I want, packing my lunch for school, the drive to school, joking with my brother, getting popsicles, Whole Foods, getting gas, knowing where I am 80% of the time, just walking around with my friends, and being able to hide in my room without feeling rude.

But more importantly, I miss being able to understand what’s going on, I miss the fact that people won’t (most of the time) just ignore me when I try to talk to them, I miss two sided conversations where I don’t have to force it, I miss being able to make a joke without worrying people will be offended, and I miss being able to just be me and not being scared that someone will try to get me sent home. I am tired of having all of my senses on high alert 24/7 because when some is yelling they could be yelling at me but how would I know. I’m tired of people starting to speaking Finnish to me and I stand there feeling really dumb, not understanding a thing they say and getting myself in awkward situations because of my “yes” or “no” answer.

But despite all of the things that I miss or I am “tired of”, I don’t want to go home because of weekends like this one or the one before last. Weekends and adventures where I am surrounded other exchange students, who understand exactly what I am going through, or other people I know that genuinely care about me. Those adventures are why I am here, those people are why I am here, and they are why I am still here, why anyone is still here. I have learned so much about myself and the world in the short two and a half months I have been here.

I am okay being alone, I am not dependent on being with other people all of the time. I have found peace with just walking around the city alone and seeing whatever I want, and in the process I have found some really good music. I am less anxious and have more confidence. Even though my confidence or anxiety aren’t at my ideal level yet, it’s gotten so much better. I don’t wake up every morning terrified of anything and everything, I’m not constantly on the verge of freaking out, which was something I experienced frequently in American high school. I am more happy with myself, my sense of humor, my ability to make people happy, and I now understand how people should actually treat me.

Although I still hesitate sometimes, and of course there are some moments I am scared and have self-doubt but those are much less frequent than in the past. I have grown up, I know how to buy my own groceries, make my own food, limit the amount of unhealthy food I eat (we are still working on this one, exchange calories don’t count right?), read a map, get around with public transportation, ask questions, be independent, and talk myself through my own issues and uncomfortable situations.

Despite the fact that I miss home sometimes, I am here, in Finland, living my best life. I can live at home for the rest of my life after this year if I want to. I have made amazing, life-long friends from all over the world that care about me. I have plans to travel the world to see them. I have experienced amazing things that a lot of people my age don’t get to: I have seen the northern lights, been in Finnish sauna, visited Sweden, visited one of the most iconic places in Finland, rowed with people from all over the world in the Baltic Sea, lived in Finland for two and a half months, attended Finnish high school, explored, traveled, seen weird things, lived with an amazing host family (with four younger sisters), and been a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. This journey hasn’t always been easy but it’s not supposed to be or you wouldn’t learn anything. I would not and will not trade this experience for anything. These friends and memories will last a life time. I really look forward to spending the next eight-ish months in Finland learning more about myself, this culture, language, and amazing country.

Week Nine: District Camp

On October 8, 2018October 18, 2018 By riversandroads2102In October 2018Leave a comment

Honestly the beginning of this week was pretty rough. It was the start of the new term and we had all new classes. I had just gotten adjusted to my old classes when they told us it was time to change classes. I start school at 8:20 almost every morning now, which is a struggle (I miss 11:20 mornings). I went to Finnish lessons for the first time in almost two weeks and was totally lost. I liked my classes from last term much better. I did join a soccer team that doesn’t actually play games they just play together and it’s just to have a good time. The environment was really great. On Wednesday I went out after school with my second host family. We went to this giant mall and a hotel that looks over Helsinki for hot chocolate. The evening was really great and made me so happy. Thursday I went out with friends for one of my (Finnish) friend’s birthday. We went shopping and to eat together and it was a lot of fun. I got to know the girls better and they showed me good stores to get better deals on products. After hanging out all together a lot of people went home, but I went to my friend Sohvi’s house to meet her cat (softest cat ever). I’m really glad I went to Sohvi’s, I really like her and now that we have a class together I think we will be a lot closer.

Over the weekend we had the 1420 District camp in Suomenlina (an old military fort island off the coast of Helsinki). All of the exchange students from the district (even the kids who are in Estonia) met up to take a ferry to the island. After dropping our bags at the hostel we were staying at for the weekend, one of the Rotarians walked us around and showed us the highlights of the island while talking about the history. We went to the store on the island and bought as many snacks as we could and all played games together, eating snacks before we had free time to explore the island that afternoon. During free time I went with Laisha, Paola (from Mexico), Jasmine, and Roxy (from Germany), we all became fast friends and had so much fun together. We found really cool, dark tunnels that we explored, none of them had much in them it just smelled bad. We took so many pictures and all around had an amazing time. All of us made plans to hang out soon because we all live so close to each other. In the evening we all went back to the hostel for dinner and to spend time with everyone else. We had to go to bed pretty early because we had a Rotary charity event to save the Baltic Sea where we had to row in the ocean for one hour.

Waking up early the next day was awful especially when we ended up sitting around doing nothing for almost two hours when we got to the event, the rowing was great though. We all got to see Helsinki from a new perspective that was absolutely beautiful, especially since the weather wasn’t that bad. We had a nice lunch after the event on one of the cruise ships in the harbor and sold raffle tickets to the other people at the event. When the exchange students were allowed to leave we all walked to Kamppi (one of the big malls in the center of Helsinki) and showed the Estonians highlights of the city before they had to leave. We got coffee and hung out before we all left. Everyone was exhausted. I was about to go to sleep when my host dad ran upstairs and came into my room to tell me that he got an alert on his phone saying you could see the Northern Lights in Southern Finland. As soon as we could Ella, Mikko, and I drove to the lake where you are supposed to see them best. You couldn’t see much it all looked like a thin, long cloud across the sky with a tiny green tint. It was still amazing, but a little disappointing. At home we started to walk inside when Mikko yelled at us to come back out. We could see the green glow, much brighter than before, just over the tree line. There wasn’t much movement but they were changing every second. Mikko and I went to the stairs that look over the whole city (Ella went to sleep to prepare for school). Since there was so much light there the Aurora was really dim but you could see the cloud like shape stretching across the sky with its light green shimmer. It was amazing.

This week turned out to be really great. It was one of those weeks that make me realize why I am here.

Rowing in Helsinki