Day 9

Boy was I tired. I slept 11 hours last night and should probably get out of bed soon or my family might think I'm dead.
It is now nighttime and I am going to go to Sauna again tonight. (I am keeping a count of how many times I sauna this year, just to see how many times I do). Last night, Minna made me a raspberry pie and it was amazing. So good. Finns eat whipped cream (vanilla whipped cream) on a lot of desserts and its very good. We had it with our pie along with raspberries and it was just the best dinner. We also had little sandwiches and yogurt :) didn't need much considering we had a big lunch. Today, we ate a big breakfast so we had lunch/dinner (lupper) at about 4, which was chicken rice and salad. mmmmmm. For dinner/snack (dont know what to call that one?) we had waffles and the Canadian Maple Syrup I brought with me. Today, Outi Minna , the dogs and I went for a walk along the beach and around our neighbourhood. It was beautiful outside. We wore sweaters but all ended up taking them off because it was so warm outside. After that, Minna and I played MarioKart and SuperMario on the Wii. It is safe to say that Minna beat me, at least 10 times. At 1 pm, I met Markus, Jonne, Sallamari, Henriikka and Joona who are Anni and Minna's friends. We all walked to our schools which are attached. Minna, Henriikka and Joona go to the younger school and Sallamari, Markus, Jonne and I go to the lukio. We then walked into the 'city' or village and they showed me the library, post office, health centre, the recreation centre and a few little shops. We were going to go into a clothing store but it was closed, so we headed home. On the way home, we stopped at the beach and sat on the docks for a few minutes. The water was cold, but I still wanted to go swimming. We came back here and played Wii, PS3 and a board game called Quackle until everyone had to go home. Minna and I watched a movie and then Henriikka came over again. They made waffles and I practiced my Finnish for 2 hours. We all ate waffles and syrup and now I am here. Henriikka has gone home and I am going to sauna soon. 

One thing I have forgot to write about in these blogs so far; In Finland, there is no laws for trespassing. They call it 'Any Man's Land'. You are allowed to hike in any forest you can see,unless it is fenced. I found this so interesting. In Canada, it is impossible to even walk into a forest because most of them are fenced or there are no trespassing signs. This was so cool to me. 
Another cool thing I learned today; the street I live on is called Vaahterapolku which means Maple Path. I thought this was cool and symbolic considering I am a Canadian and Maple Leafs symbolize us. 

I love it here so much. I fit in so well with my first host family. My mom and I both sing to any song we hear and Minna and I are already becoming a lot closer. She is becoming more comfortable with her English and I am becoming more comfortable with my Finnish (even though I am still totally confused 99% of the time). On the plus side, today Henriikka asked 'Mita kello on?' and I ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT SHE SAID!!!!!!!!!! I was proud of myself! On an even more plus side, nobody here snores and the bed is super comfy.

At the time, I didn't think language camp was that helpful. The camp atmosphere was fun but I didnt feel like I could focus in the classes. (I'm not sure if it was because I'd eaten too much or the fact that I hadn't had a good nights sleep in 2 weeks.) Now, I feel a lot more confident in my Finnish and I am remembering more and more every time I hear it. I will catch on to this language soon, I promise myself :) Today is Kenzie's birthday. I sang happy birthday to her (over facebook) in Finnish. I am encorportating Finnish words into my English sentences. Well trying. 


I am going to sauna now. So I will be back tomorrow :)
Hyvää yötä (Good Night). 

<3