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.