From Dec. 4th - 7th, every Rotary exchange student in Finland was in Lapland for our annual "Lapland Tour" there. It all began with the bus ride on December 3rd. There were four buses traveling to Lapland, as there were around 140 students. Ryne (the other American in Porvoo) and I were the first on our bus. It left at 5:30 p.m., but we didn't get there until after 11 the next morning - almost 18 hours on a bus. It wasn't too bad other than the fact that I slept about 2 hours...we had to stop every hour or so to pick people up along the way. But there were lots of friends that I hadn't seen since our orientation camp in Karkku, so it was a really fun trip. When we finally arrived in Muonio, our destination, I got to see all of the other people from the other buses.
We first checked into our hotel, Harriniva (http://www.harriniva.fi/), which was really more than a hotel; it was sort of an outdoor winter sports center. After we got our rooms and unpacked, we headed straight off for the ski place - Olos-tunturi. There, we could cross-country ski or downhill ski/snowboard - I foolishly opted for downhill skiing. For those of you who don't know, Finland is flat - reallllyy flat. So this "big" downhill skiing hill was smaller than Hilltop in Anchorage - bummer, a bit boring. But I helped the people who had never skied before out a bit, so it wasn't too bad. The next day we could either carve ice sculptures or go downhilling again - I went back to Olos-tunturi but this time attempted snowboarding, which I'd never done before. It was a painful experience, but very much more entertaining than the previous day. After skiing we popped over the bridge to Sweden for about 5 minutes, just to say we'd been to Sweden, basically. We then had some free time back at Harriniva to sauna or hang out with friends.
That night we went to the school in Muonio for a program there. The local Muonio students had prepared songs, dances, and stage tricks to show us, so we in turn shared dances and songs and whatever we felt like from our home countries.
The next day the really Lappish things began. We visited a reindeer farm in Torassieppi, learned how the Finns and the Sami (the natives of Lapland) used them as pack and herd animals (learning about Sami traditional dress and culture* along the way), and got to practice lassoing reindeer (using wooden dummies, of course). One thing that was a bit different from Alaska is the fact that almost every reindeer in Lapland is owned by someone - there are no wild reindeer. The reindeer can wander free, but all have ear markings to indicate their owner. We then went back to Harriniva to go on a husky sled dog ride (nothing special there, coming from Alaska). In fact about a third of the dogs at Harriniva were Alaskan Huskies...that was a cool thing to hear. We also went on a snowshoeing adventure through the forest around Harriniva (very beautiful and Christmasy), and hopped in sledges pulled by reindeer for a ride.
(* The Sami culture is considered to be much like the Finnish, with one exception. The Finns are a very prompt and timely people (at least compared to the Americans), but the Sami don't have the same need for haste as the Finns. You can read more about dress and culture here, on the lovely Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people)
That day was independence day in Finland - so we had an independence day dinner at Harriniva. I was a bit dissapointed though, becuase the Rotary adults with us didn't tell us anything about the independence day. No history or anything - so you probably know as much as I do about it. We basically just had dinner. =(
After dinner we had our own program in Harriniva. The high point of that night was that a Sami man came and sang us four Sami songs...they were really cool. If I had to describe them, I'd say they kind of had a soft whistling sound, like the wind...the whole sound was very natural and somehow beautifully pagan. The told of life in Lapland, and there were some songs about the wind and nature, and some were love stories.
And then we began the bus trip back - with one stop in Rovaniemi. In Rovaniemi (a city on the Arctic Circle) you can find the real Finnish Santa Claus. There was a whole Christmas village there, complete with shops and a post office. We poked around for a bit, then waited in line to meet Santa. We were led into a room where Santa was sitting on a big chair. We sat around him, told him what we wanted for Christmas, and got a photo with him. Then back to the bus, and back to Porvoo. I arrived there at 6 a.m. running on one hour of sleep, so I decided not to go to school.
Overall the Lapland trip was awesome. Some of the things (snow, reindeer, huskies) weren't so exciting for me as for some others, but there was still a lot of cultural things there (not to mention 140 friends) that kept the whole trip interesting. Also, I had never been above the Artic Circle so deep into winter - the sun never rose while we were there; that was something new for me. Amazing trip altogether :D.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thanksgiving!!
Yesterday, Saturday, was one of the first Thanksgivings that Finland has seen. It was quite a largish celebration. I woke up Saturday morning to the sound of Kirsi already preparing the pumpkin pie crust - so I hurried downstairs to help. We cooked most of the day; we stopped at about 4:30. By 5:30 all of the guests were here (almost all the exchange students in Porvoo plus some of my Finnish friends, including: two Italian girls, a Belgian girl, a German girl, a Japanese boy, a Thai girl, plus four Finns). A reporter even came from the local newspaper to ask us questions about Thanksgiving, our exchanges, and life in Porvoo. I started out by asking what people knew about Thanksgiving. The answers were mainly "Kalkkunaa, kiítetään...", "Turkey, people are thankful...". So I gave them a brief history of Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it today. Then we went around again, and everybody said what they were thankful for in their native language. Then, after a few more questions from the reporter, we began to eat. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, lingonberry sauce, salad, and a side of cooked mushrooms. For dessert we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I think everyone liked the food; Kirsi and Jari are wonderful cooks. The decorations during the meal were also quite something. Kirsi had gone out a couple of days before to buy special Thanksgiving decorations, so all of the colors during the meal were matching, with many deep reds and browns. After dinner we just chatted away for a couple of hours until everyone had to go home. It was an amazing Thanksgiving, so much more than I ever could have hoped for in a country were pumpkin puree is so difficult to find (we had to get it from Helsinki!). And much of it was due to Jari and Kirsi helping out, so I'm obviously extremely grateful to them. Next stop on the Holiday train: Christmas =D.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A Heartfelt Apology...sniff sniff. Plus some cool stuff
My family and others have pointed out (and it's entirely true) that I have been writing lots about what I've been doing on weekends (where I've been traveling and so on), but not so much about what life in Porvoo is like. The reason for that, I think, is that I am now so accustomed to life in Porvoo that I don't think about it any more. BUT now I realize that all you followers of my blog don't live here with me, and you still may be interested to learn all these Finnish cultural things that I already take for granted.
So: I will begin to write about (and take pictures of) life in Porvoo more, and will think more about my exchange, and how I felt at the beginning of it as compared to now. For now, here are some interesting facts:
Finnish toilets never have levers to flush them. Most have two buttons on the top: one triggers a large flow of water, the other small.
There are no chocolate chips in Finland.
There are no doorknobs in Finland, only handles.
Finns consume an incredible amount of potatoes, fish, milk, and rye bread.
Pretty much every person here chews Xylitol gum (look it up, it's pretty cool).
Every Finnish home has a sauna.
Most families have two homes - one in the city in which they spent most of their time while working, and another in the country by a lake to spend the summer in.
Salmiakki, a Finnish black liquorice, is really big here.
The Finns have an amazing system for their blankets and comforters. Everyone knows it's a pain to wash them (a pain to wash comforters, not the Finns). That's why we use top sheets. But I personally don't like top sheets - they come untucked quite easily and they always end up jammed down at your feet. So the Finnish system: you have a comforter-case, much like a pillow case. That way you can sleep right against the comforter and not worry about having to wash it - because Voilà! you can just wash the comforter case.
So: I will begin to write about (and take pictures of) life in Porvoo more, and will think more about my exchange, and how I felt at the beginning of it as compared to now. For now, here are some interesting facts:
Finnish toilets never have levers to flush them. Most have two buttons on the top: one triggers a large flow of water, the other small.
There are no chocolate chips in Finland.
There are no doorknobs in Finland, only handles.
Finns consume an incredible amount of potatoes, fish, milk, and rye bread.
Pretty much every person here chews Xylitol gum (look it up, it's pretty cool).
Every Finnish home has a sauna.
Most families have two homes - one in the city in which they spent most of their time while working, and another in the country by a lake to spend the summer in.
Salmiakki, a Finnish black liquorice, is really big here.
The Finns have an amazing system for their blankets and comforters. Everyone knows it's a pain to wash them (a pain to wash comforters, not the Finns). That's why we use top sheets. But I personally don't like top sheets - they come untucked quite easily and they always end up jammed down at your feet. So the Finnish system: you have a comforter-case, much like a pillow case. That way you can sleep right against the comforter and not worry about having to wash it - because Voilà! you can just wash the comforter case.
Moosehunting in the Finnish Wilderness of Ylämaa...bang bang!
So last weekend I went to my second host family's house (conveniently located but 500 meters from my current host family's), from which we drove two hours to the town of Ylämaa in eastern Finland, which is very close to the Russian border. There, we stayed with Taina's (my second host mother's) mother, but Taina's brother and sister were also very near. We got in late at night, so I went practically straight to bed for my beauty sleep. The next morning I woke up to fog and rain (boo!), and I was picked up by Taina's brother (I guess he would be my host uncle) to go hunting. We were in a small group, and we used a dog to try to sniff out the moose. There was another much larger group that lined up horizontally and walked through the woods to try to find them. My group didn't get any moose this weekend, but the larger group got one or two, so I got a largish hunk of moose meat to take back to my host family.
The woods in eastern Finland are quite different than those in Alaska. There was a lot of springy moss and extremely tall pine trees, and not much else.
Anyways, it was wonderful to see what the Finnish country life was like (it's very much like the Alaskan), becuase before this last weekend I had only been in cities.
The woods in eastern Finland are quite different than those in Alaska. There was a lot of springy moss and extremely tall pine trees, and not much else.
Anyways, it was wonderful to see what the Finnish country life was like (it's very much like the Alaskan), becuase before this last weekend I had only been in cities.
Stockholm Trip / Rotary Camp in Tammisaari (Ekenäs)
Two weekends ago, I went with my host family to Stockholm by ship! 'Twas a fantastic trip, naturally. We left from Helsinki at about 6 in the evening, bags stowed away in our surprisingly spacious cabins. The ship had lots of different types of entertainment, from shopping and dining to karaoke and dancing. After exploring most of the ship, eating dinner, singing some karaoke, and watching lots of black jack, we went to bed - and woke up just outside of Stockholm.
The area was absolutely gorgeous, as far as I could tell (it was foggy and snowing at the time). There were largish, pine covered hills with perfectly spaced chunks of granite poking out here and there, and the snow added a mystical and quiet aura to the air. After eating breakfast on the ship, we went out into Stockholm. It was incredibly beautiful (even more beautiful than Helsinki, I must admit) for two reasons. The first reason is that the city was never bombed in any war, so the buildings standing today are quite old and nice. The second is that the city has so much water in the middle of it (much of the city is built on islands), you can see across various bays and bodies of water to the other parts of the city. It was really nice to have that much visibility - it didn't feel crowded at all.
We first went to the Terracotta warrior exhibit (the Terracotta warriors from China, slightly famous, you may have heard of them). There were about 130 of the figures there. I was startled by the intricacy and detail put into them all those years ago - and by how much that intricicy has been preserved.
We then went sight seeing and shopping in the old part of Stockholm. I tried "kokosbollar", a very Swedish sweet consisting of nuts, chocolate, coconut, and some sort of cream filling. Quite tasty indeed. Then I met up with Liz Streeter, an Alaskan exchange student living in Stockholm. We had gotten to know each other in Alaska before we left for our exchanges. With her I saw some other parts of Stockholm, and then we went Fika-ing (a sort of going-for-coffee plus socializing art form...I didn't really understand it). And then it was back to the ship! Late that night the Helsinki-bound ship stopped in Ahvenanmaaa (Åland) to load and unload a few cars. Ahvenanmaa is officially part of Finland, but as it is an "autonomous region", it has its own flag, laws, and language (Swedish).
The next morning we were back in Helsinki, and I went straight from the ship's harbor to the center of Helsinki to cath the bus that would take me to the location of our Rotary camp, Tammisaari (Ekenäs). That day, the exchange students in my Rotary district (1420, if you want to know) and I just spent some time visiting, playing games, and dancing. The next morning we talked a bit about how our exchange has been going to far, and what our goals are in the near future for exhange. My main goal for now is the language. Finns do appreciate it when they are spoken to in Finnish, rather than English. I think too many exchange students in Finland don't learn even a bit of Finnish, and to me that was rather sad. Thus, it is my goal to learn as much Finnish as possible in the rest of the year.
Anyway, after that it was back to Porvoo for another week of school...which I really don't mind so much. :D
The area was absolutely gorgeous, as far as I could tell (it was foggy and snowing at the time). There were largish, pine covered hills with perfectly spaced chunks of granite poking out here and there, and the snow added a mystical and quiet aura to the air. After eating breakfast on the ship, we went out into Stockholm. It was incredibly beautiful (even more beautiful than Helsinki, I must admit) for two reasons. The first reason is that the city was never bombed in any war, so the buildings standing today are quite old and nice. The second is that the city has so much water in the middle of it (much of the city is built on islands), you can see across various bays and bodies of water to the other parts of the city. It was really nice to have that much visibility - it didn't feel crowded at all.
We first went to the Terracotta warrior exhibit (the Terracotta warriors from China, slightly famous, you may have heard of them). There were about 130 of the figures there. I was startled by the intricacy and detail put into them all those years ago - and by how much that intricicy has been preserved.
We then went sight seeing and shopping in the old part of Stockholm. I tried "kokosbollar", a very Swedish sweet consisting of nuts, chocolate, coconut, and some sort of cream filling. Quite tasty indeed. Then I met up with Liz Streeter, an Alaskan exchange student living in Stockholm. We had gotten to know each other in Alaska before we left for our exchanges. With her I saw some other parts of Stockholm, and then we went Fika-ing (a sort of going-for-coffee plus socializing art form...I didn't really understand it). And then it was back to the ship! Late that night the Helsinki-bound ship stopped in Ahvenanmaaa (Åland) to load and unload a few cars. Ahvenanmaa is officially part of Finland, but as it is an "autonomous region", it has its own flag, laws, and language (Swedish).
The next morning we were back in Helsinki, and I went straight from the ship's harbor to the center of Helsinki to cath the bus that would take me to the location of our Rotary camp, Tammisaari (Ekenäs). That day, the exchange students in my Rotary district (1420, if you want to know) and I just spent some time visiting, playing games, and dancing. The next morning we talked a bit about how our exchange has been going to far, and what our goals are in the near future for exhange. My main goal for now is the language. Finns do appreciate it when they are spoken to in Finnish, rather than English. I think too many exchange students in Finland don't learn even a bit of Finnish, and to me that was rather sad. Thus, it is my goal to learn as much Finnish as possible in the rest of the year.
Anyway, after that it was back to Porvoo for another week of school...which I really don't mind so much. :D
Thursday, October 7, 2010
ESTONIA TOUR!!!
Wellllll it was pretty much indescribable, but I'll do my best. Being so tired during the tour (I slept about 2 hours a night) I don't even remember all that we did - even the important stuff - but even so, it was one of the most fun weekends I've ever had. I will tell what I remember.
We started our wonderful journey in the Helsinki harbor. I and 17 other exchange students boarded the Viking Line XPRS, a huge cruise ship that travels between Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. On the boat they had restaurants (and nice restaurants they were!), shops, karaoke, and a dancing hall with a live band. It was a four hour boat trip to Tallinn. Once we got off the boat, we met up with the exchange students currently in Estonia (there were 7 or 8 of them) and we headed off to our first hotel in Tallinn. It was a very nice hotel, but since we arrived in Tallinn at about midnight, we had no time to go to the pool or sauna or do whatever we would do had we had time.
The next day we looked about Tallinn a bit in the morning, then loaded up on a bus for Rakvere castle . The castle itself is in pretty bad shape, many walls are crumbling and so on, but inside we got a wonderful tour. We dressed up in midieval costumes and got to have a midieval meal, not to mention practice archery, obverse a bloodletting ceremony (naturally I was the subject), and visit the castle's torture chamber.
Later that day we went to Narva and visited another castle on the Russian border. The castle itself was really cool, but our tour didn't quite compare to that of Rakvere.
In Narva we recieved an uncirculated 5 crown bank-note from the Estonian bank. The reason they gave us the bill is becuase Estonia is switching to the Euro in January, so we were to be the very last exchange students to use the Estonian crown.
We then went to our hotel and spent the night swimming in the pool and enjoying each other's company into the wee hours.
The next day we visited the Kohtla Mining Museum (http://www.kaevanduspark.ee/eng/index.htm) and were given a tour of the place. We were allowed to go down into the mine, take a ride on the underground choo choo train, and even drill a bit into a wall (pardon the pun..."bit"...haha?). We then had lunch in Jõgeva, and continued on to Palamuse Museum , an old schoolhouse and museum containing much history from many time periods (particularly the Russian occupation), but all from that area of Estonia. The link is here: http://www.palmuseum.ee/docs/polk_eng.pdf.
In the evening we visited Maarjaküla, a village aimed towards helped metally disabled people. The project is in fact a Rotary project, and the village recieves some funding from them. But most of the village's money comes from the work of the inhabitants. When a metally disabled person moves to Maarjaküla, he must find some work or studying to do during the day. Craftmaking, woodworking, and weaving were very common. The products are then sold in nearby cities in Estonia. The eventual goal for a person living in Maarjaküla is to gain enough experience and knowledge to eventually live outside the village, hopefully also employing the skills he or she learned there. After our visit to Maarjaküla we went to our hotel in Tartu for the night.
The next day, we woke up and toured Tartu with some Rotex (young adult Rotary) students. We then visited Tartu University and recieved some general information about the school's history, courses, and international relations. We then went back to Tallinn and left soon thereafter to Helsinki (again on the Viking Line XPRS). We poked around the center of Helsinki a bit, then went to a hostel where we stayed the night.
The next day we had the Rotary District Conference (also in Helsinki). It had been going on while we were in Estonia, but we came for the last day to introduce ourselves to the members of Rotary there. We also listened to a lecture about the life and work of one of the most famous Finns, Alvar Aalto.
Then it was back to Porvoo for me. As soon as I got home I ate a meal, then slept for 16 hours straight. I would have slept more, too, but I had to get up for school. :D
We started our wonderful journey in the Helsinki harbor. I and 17 other exchange students boarded the Viking Line XPRS, a huge cruise ship that travels between Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. On the boat they had restaurants (and nice restaurants they were!), shops, karaoke, and a dancing hall with a live band. It was a four hour boat trip to Tallinn. Once we got off the boat, we met up with the exchange students currently in Estonia (there were 7 or 8 of them) and we headed off to our first hotel in Tallinn. It was a very nice hotel, but since we arrived in Tallinn at about midnight, we had no time to go to the pool or sauna or do whatever we would do had we had time.
The next day we looked about Tallinn a bit in the morning, then loaded up on a bus for Rakvere castle . The castle itself is in pretty bad shape, many walls are crumbling and so on, but inside we got a wonderful tour. We dressed up in midieval costumes and got to have a midieval meal, not to mention practice archery, obverse a bloodletting ceremony (naturally I was the subject), and visit the castle's torture chamber.
Later that day we went to Narva and visited another castle on the Russian border. The castle itself was really cool, but our tour didn't quite compare to that of Rakvere.
In Narva we recieved an uncirculated 5 crown bank-note from the Estonian bank. The reason they gave us the bill is becuase Estonia is switching to the Euro in January, so we were to be the very last exchange students to use the Estonian crown.
We then went to our hotel and spent the night swimming in the pool and enjoying each other's company into the wee hours.
The next day we visited the Kohtla Mining Museum (http://www.kaevanduspark.ee/eng/index.htm) and were given a tour of the place. We were allowed to go down into the mine, take a ride on the underground choo choo train, and even drill a bit into a wall (pardon the pun..."bit"...haha?). We then had lunch in Jõgeva, and continued on to Palamuse Museum , an old schoolhouse and museum containing much history from many time periods (particularly the Russian occupation), but all from that area of Estonia. The link is here: http://www.palmuseum.ee/docs/polk_eng.pdf.
In the evening we visited Maarjaküla, a village aimed towards helped metally disabled people. The project is in fact a Rotary project, and the village recieves some funding from them. But most of the village's money comes from the work of the inhabitants. When a metally disabled person moves to Maarjaküla, he must find some work or studying to do during the day. Craftmaking, woodworking, and weaving were very common. The products are then sold in nearby cities in Estonia. The eventual goal for a person living in Maarjaküla is to gain enough experience and knowledge to eventually live outside the village, hopefully also employing the skills he or she learned there. After our visit to Maarjaküla we went to our hotel in Tartu for the night.
The next day, we woke up and toured Tartu with some Rotex (young adult Rotary) students. We then visited Tartu University and recieved some general information about the school's history, courses, and international relations. We then went back to Tallinn and left soon thereafter to Helsinki (again on the Viking Line XPRS). We poked around the center of Helsinki a bit, then went to a hostel where we stayed the night.
The next day we had the Rotary District Conference (also in Helsinki). It had been going on while we were in Estonia, but we came for the last day to introduce ourselves to the members of Rotary there. We also listened to a lecture about the life and work of one of the most famous Finns, Alvar Aalto.
Then it was back to Porvoo for me. As soon as I got home I ate a meal, then slept for 16 hours straight. I would have slept more, too, but I had to get up for school. :D
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Stamping Pidgeons
This weekend I stayed with my second host family, the Kaikkonens, to get to know them better before moving in with them in January. They have four children: Antti is two years younger than I, Martti (currently on exchange in South Africa) is six months older, Saara is nineteen, and Laura twenty-one and currently living and studying in Joensuu. On Saturday I went with them to Turku (2.5 hour car ride) to see a horse racing (harness racing) competition. There were contestants from Sweden and Norway as well as Finland. My host father (my second, that is), Pekka, is the chairmain of the leadership board of the company that sponsors these races, so we got VIP tickets for free. There were many famous Finns, Swedes, and Norweigans in the VIP box, or so I was told. I bet on which horses would win, and I even won some money from it.
Lack of English is beginning to take its toll on me...I have already forgotton the words "pidgeon" and "stamp".
Lack of English is beginning to take its toll on me...I have already forgotton the words "pidgeon" and "stamp".
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Time be flyin'
More business. A while ago I went to Helsinki by bus (somewhat expensive: 15 - 20 euros roundtrip) and met up with some other exchange students and Rotex. We grouped up and headed off to the site of the 1952 Olympics. We climbed a tower near the track and field stadium to get a view of the city. Soon thereafter we picked up some food and went to a park behind the Helsinki Opera house to play some games and visit (these were many of the same people that I got to know in Karkku).
The other weekend I went to Turku with my host father, brother, and my host brother's floorball team, as they had a tournament there. They competed against teams from all across Finland, and ended up getting second place. For those of you who don't know floorball: it's a sport played indoors, much like hockey but on a normal gym floor. (Obviously, the players wear tennis shoes, not skates.) The "puck" is actually a whiffle ball, and the floorball sticks have a scoop at the end to better control the ball. Floorball is popular over much of Europe, especially in Sweden, but it is only common in Finland in the Swedish-speaking areas (the south and west coasts).
When in Turku, I also met up with my friend Juuso, who was an exchange student in Soldotna last year. He gave me a bit of a tour of the city; we saw some old castles, churches, and historical museums. I got to see in one museum the oldest houses in Finland (they built the museum around these houses). They were cramped, one-roomed brick houses with a narrow arched doorway. We then walked about the city some more, got a bite to eat, and then looked at ships that had pulled upriver right into the middle of Turku. There were many warships from all over Europe...Germany and Denmark especially. I don't remember the exact occasion, but they were there in Turku to be enjoyed by people: you could even walk aboard them and have a look around (we didn't, as we didn't have enough time).
Turku is to be the European capital of Culture in 2011, so a lot of the city was under construction...they were fixing roads, re-painting apartments, and trying to make the whole city more aesthetically pleasing.
I was a bit homesick last week, but it has gone away, it seems. I'm quite thankful it has...not an experience I'd like to repeat.
I've been sick for about 10 days now with a sinus infection. I didn't go into the doctor's office until about three days ago, thinking it was just a flu or something that would go away soon. Anyway, the doctor put me on antibiotics and a mild steroid to keep my sinuses open, and while I haven't noticed any improvement yet, I should soon. Anyhow, the sickness is manageable, and I'm still enjoying everything here quite a lot.
This weekend I'm going to visit my second host family to get to know them a bit better. My first host family, the Kettunens, invited my second, the Kaikkonens, to their house already, so I have met the Kaikkonens before. I hope that wasn't too confusing.
I went to a hockey game last night - Jokerit (the Jokers) vs. Lokku (the Lock). I went with my host brother as well a friend, Roope. Roope lived in Shanghai last year with his family and attended an international school there. His family and my host family are quite good friends, it seems. Roope lives here in Porvoo, quite near to me, but is going to school now in Helsinki at a performing arts school.
So, next week I'm off to Estonia with other exchange students in my district- should be a blast! We're going to travel all over Estonia, have guided tours of famous places, and stay in fancy hotels - not to mention we get to travel to and from Estonia on a classy passenger boat: the Viking Line.
The other weekend I went to Turku with my host father, brother, and my host brother's floorball team, as they had a tournament there. They competed against teams from all across Finland, and ended up getting second place. For those of you who don't know floorball: it's a sport played indoors, much like hockey but on a normal gym floor. (Obviously, the players wear tennis shoes, not skates.) The "puck" is actually a whiffle ball, and the floorball sticks have a scoop at the end to better control the ball. Floorball is popular over much of Europe, especially in Sweden, but it is only common in Finland in the Swedish-speaking areas (the south and west coasts).
When in Turku, I also met up with my friend Juuso, who was an exchange student in Soldotna last year. He gave me a bit of a tour of the city; we saw some old castles, churches, and historical museums. I got to see in one museum the oldest houses in Finland (they built the museum around these houses). They were cramped, one-roomed brick houses with a narrow arched doorway. We then walked about the city some more, got a bite to eat, and then looked at ships that had pulled upriver right into the middle of Turku. There were many warships from all over Europe...Germany and Denmark especially. I don't remember the exact occasion, but they were there in Turku to be enjoyed by people: you could even walk aboard them and have a look around (we didn't, as we didn't have enough time).
Turku is to be the European capital of Culture in 2011, so a lot of the city was under construction...they were fixing roads, re-painting apartments, and trying to make the whole city more aesthetically pleasing.
I was a bit homesick last week, but it has gone away, it seems. I'm quite thankful it has...not an experience I'd like to repeat.
I've been sick for about 10 days now with a sinus infection. I didn't go into the doctor's office until about three days ago, thinking it was just a flu or something that would go away soon. Anyway, the doctor put me on antibiotics and a mild steroid to keep my sinuses open, and while I haven't noticed any improvement yet, I should soon. Anyhow, the sickness is manageable, and I'm still enjoying everything here quite a lot.
This weekend I'm going to visit my second host family to get to know them a bit better. My first host family, the Kettunens, invited my second, the Kaikkonens, to their house already, so I have met the Kaikkonens before. I hope that wasn't too confusing.
I went to a hockey game last night - Jokerit (the Jokers) vs. Lokku (the Lock). I went with my host brother as well a friend, Roope. Roope lived in Shanghai last year with his family and attended an international school there. His family and my host family are quite good friends, it seems. Roope lives here in Porvoo, quite near to me, but is going to school now in Helsinki at a performing arts school.
So, next week I'm off to Estonia with other exchange students in my district- should be a blast! We're going to travel all over Estonia, have guided tours of famous places, and stay in fancy hotels - not to mention we get to travel to and from Estonia on a classy passenger boat: the Viking Line.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Recent Doings
Two weekends ago, I went with my host brother, Rasmus, to Jyväskylä, a city in the middle of southern Finland. There, we stayed with Ukki (grandfather), my host father's father. In Jyväskylä we did quite much indeed. We went on a boat and cruised around Päijänne, Finland's longest lake, which stretches 180 km from Lahti to Jyväskylä. It was a nice calming ride...and it was really nice to see some of the Finnish wilderness (I've really only been in cities since I've been here). We then went to the Finnish Airforce Museum, Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo. There was much to see: models of planes, cross sections of cockpits, full sized jets, missiles, and more. Most of the planes had been built during WWII and had blue swastikas painted on them - a testament of the brief time when the Nazi forces controlled, and operated from within, Finland.
This past weekend I got my green card from the golf course here in Porvoo, although I still have no idea how to play golf. I went for two days to the Porvoo Golf course, and we were instucted (in Finnish, though, naturally) how to play. We also practiced putting and driving and other such things.
This weekend I also watched my first pesäpallo (Finnish baseball) game in Kouvola. Pesäpallo is quite a lot like American baseball, but there are four main differences. The first is that the pitcher stands just next to the batter, and throws the ball straight up in the air. Second, there is an "out" line that the batter cannot hit the ball past - so there are no "home runs". Third, the bases are in a zig-zag shape, not a diamond. And fourth, there are two (sometimes three, if the score is tied after two) groups of three innings, rather than nine back to back.
Other stuffs:
Yesterday I went shopping in Vantaa (just north of Helsinki) with some newfound friends of mine, a very usual for pasttime for Finns, apparently (even the boys).
Today was Rasmus's birthday, so before school we gave gifts, ate cake, blew out candles, etc. The birthday celebration was identical to that in America, it seems.
This past weekend I got my green card from the golf course here in Porvoo, although I still have no idea how to play golf. I went for two days to the Porvoo Golf course, and we were instucted (in Finnish, though, naturally) how to play. We also practiced putting and driving and other such things.
This weekend I also watched my first pesäpallo (Finnish baseball) game in Kouvola. Pesäpallo is quite a lot like American baseball, but there are four main differences. The first is that the pitcher stands just next to the batter, and throws the ball straight up in the air. Second, there is an "out" line that the batter cannot hit the ball past - so there are no "home runs". Third, the bases are in a zig-zag shape, not a diamond. And fourth, there are two (sometimes three, if the score is tied after two) groups of three innings, rather than nine back to back.
Other stuffs:
Yesterday I went shopping in Vantaa (just north of Helsinki) with some newfound friends of mine, a very usual for pasttime for Finns, apparently (even the boys).
Today was Rasmus's birthday, so before school we gave gifts, ate cake, blew out candles, etc. The birthday celebration was identical to that in America, it seems.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Finnish School
School so far is amazing. I, as an exchange student, need only to take 4 or five classes. I'm taking 4 2/3. Every class meets three times per week, but the time of day is never constant. So most days I have 3 classes, but Thursdays I have just two. Thursdays, of course, are my favorite. This period (the school year is divided into 5 periods rather than 2 semesters), I am taking a sports class (tennis, pesäpallo, ultimate frisbee, soccer, etc.), 2/3 (I attend 2 of the triweekly meetings) of a gym basics class (how to stretch, intro to weightlifting, etc.), a music theory and applications class, an english class (very difficult), and an art basics class.
Lunch is free, healthy, and tasty, and you can eat it off of real plates and silverware, not those silly paper trays and plates.
When I have free time (between classes or after school) I just step outside the school and I'm in the dead center of Porvoo; there's plenty to do and see.
Biking is the way to travel. My school is just half a mile from home, so I can bike there in about five minutes. After school I often bike around the city. Today I learned not to bike in Old Porvoo, as all of the roads in Old Porvoo are cobblestone. While speeding down a hill on a bike, it is hard to brake over cobblestone. There may be some bloody streaks on a certain fence.
Lunch is free, healthy, and tasty, and you can eat it off of real plates and silverware, not those silly paper trays and plates.
When I have free time (between classes or after school) I just step outside the school and I'm in the dead center of Porvoo; there's plenty to do and see.
Biking is the way to travel. My school is just half a mile from home, so I can bike there in about five minutes. After school I often bike around the city. Today I learned not to bike in Old Porvoo, as all of the roads in Old Porvoo are cobblestone. While speeding down a hill on a bike, it is hard to brake over cobblestone. There may be some bloody streaks on a certain fence.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Begin the Begin
This happens to be the first post of my new blog, which was created to keep y'all Alaskans (and otherwise) informed of my doings in Finland. I'll get right into it.
I began my journey to Finland at aprox. 1:40 AM on August 7th with my flight from Anchorage to Phoenix. It was a horrible flight. Then I went to Philadelphia. An even worse flight. However, in the Philadelphia airport I met 17 other exchange students from all over the US. We all took the same flight to Frankfurt, where we met 10 more exchange students from Canada, France, and Germany. We flew into the Helsinki/Vantaa airport and loaded up onto a bus. I traveled for 36 hours total. (Sidenote: somehow, none of us ever went through customs. Our visas were never even looked at.)
We took this bus to Karkku, the site of a Finnish/Estonian/Swedish culture/language camp. We stayed there for a week and learned (you guessed it) language and culture. We spent one afternoon in Tampere, a neighboring city, and we also visited old churches and historical sites in the area. All of us exchange students got to know each other quite well.
Last Saturday (the 13th), I finally got to my host family (the Kettunens) and city (Porvoo/Borgå). It's a beautiful city of 50,000 on the banks of the Porvoo River (Porvoonjoki/Borgå å). My host family is absolutely wonderful. They're very kind, hostpitable, and humorous. They've already planned many trips for us to do while I'm here.
I began my journey to Finland at aprox. 1:40 AM on August 7th with my flight from Anchorage to Phoenix. It was a horrible flight. Then I went to Philadelphia. An even worse flight. However, in the Philadelphia airport I met 17 other exchange students from all over the US. We all took the same flight to Frankfurt, where we met 10 more exchange students from Canada, France, and Germany. We flew into the Helsinki/Vantaa airport and loaded up onto a bus. I traveled for 36 hours total. (Sidenote: somehow, none of us ever went through customs. Our visas were never even looked at.)
We took this bus to Karkku, the site of a Finnish/Estonian/Swedish culture/language camp. We stayed there for a week and learned (you guessed it) language and culture. We spent one afternoon in Tampere, a neighboring city, and we also visited old churches and historical sites in the area. All of us exchange students got to know each other quite well.
Last Saturday (the 13th), I finally got to my host family (the Kettunens) and city (Porvoo/Borgå). It's a beautiful city of 50,000 on the banks of the Porvoo River (Porvoonjoki/Borgå å). My host family is absolutely wonderful. They're very kind, hostpitable, and humorous. They've already planned many trips for us to do while I'm here.
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