Since I've been here, I have discovered many reasons why I think Rotary sent me here.
1) I am reserved at times and not much of a small talker. If I don't have anything important at all, I don't usually say anything.
2) I'd rather smile at someone as a greeting rather than make a huge conversation with them (Finn's are great at this).
3) I love to sit by the water and stare at nothing. Not sure how Rotary discovered this but its so true.
4) I love the small town feel. (Everywhere in Finland feels small town)
5) I never thought I used to connect with nature that easily. Rotary obviously knew something about me that I didn't because it is my favourite thing here.
6) I'm kind of impatient and like to embrace change..... a lot. Finnish school changes... a lot :) so does Finnish weather.
7) I like design, fashion and architecture. All things that Finland knows lots about. Not saying that I'm in the fashion capital of the world, but just saying Finnish people know how to dress. That's all.
8) I love to wear tights and boots. EVERYONE HERE WEARS TIGHTS AND BOOTS!!!
9) I love cucumber. Rotarians, were you spying on me for my entire childhood? Its all I used to eat!
....
I cant think of anything else right now.. I'll get back to you.
I dont really know what else to write because I've discovered so much and experienced so much in the last 3 weeks.
Language
I'm doing fairly well. I know foods, drinks, greetings, basic sayings, some body parts, days of the week, months, numbers, colours, some items of clothing, weather, some basic questions (name, age, time, weather, nationality, where are you from?) and some other random words. I think I am doing pretty good considering I've only been submersed in the culture for 3 weeks. I am starting to understand more and more of what people are saying everyday. Especially if I say something in English and then they repeat it in Finnish. I am now able to catch words and understand WHAT someone is talking about, even if I don't understand everything they are saying about that something. I start Finnish lessons in 2 weeks and it will only go uphill from there. I am a lot more comfortable attemping to discover what someone is saying rather than speaking Finnish myself. I am still having trouble pronouncing things. Doesn't help that I pronounce everything wrong and someone at school always corrects or makes fun of me because I say it wrong :(. Whatever, It'll come..
I am hoping to be able to understand (and possibly speak) most Finnish by Christmas.. that is my goal.
Differences
Vehicles- I don't remember seeing one pick up truck since I've been here. Everyone has vans but they are not like Canadian Vans. They are shorter and boxier and they kind of look like .... I cant explain. Here's a picture.
\Everyone drives those or cars. Not very many trucks or SUV's here...
Clothing- everyone has a lot more fashion sense here. People care about what they look like and they make an effort to show that. Coloured pants, converse, and blazers are everywhere. This isn't really clothing, but a whole bunch of people in my school have these things called Teeth Jewels. It's like this metal thing that goes on your tooth and I think it looks really stupid and it would bug the crap out of me. At first, I thought a girl had something stuck in her teeth but it was just this stupid jewel thing. I dont understand it..... Also, some people at my school have scary piercings. This one guy has this huge metal ring that goes through the cartlidge between his nostrils. He looks like a bull. Its gross. But I guess that goes along with any country. A lot of people here wear glasses. I guess contacts aren't as common because I see way more classes here than I do at home. Also, almost everyone has blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone is pale (I've seriously seen like 4 people who are tan. Fake tan. I have seen one that is kind of tan and everyone refers to him as 'Sami, the one who is dark and doesn't look Finnish' well at least that's what Arlene (Mexico) refers to him as.)
I can't think of what else to write so I guess I will just move on...
Day to Day Life
Here is an outline of my average day. Both weekday and weekend.
Weekday
6:45am- Wake up
6:50am- Shower or get hair wet.
6:55am- Get dressed, do hair, do makeup.
7:15am- Eat Breakfast (toast with cheese, cucumbers and cold meat) or cereal or fruit.
7:30am- Pack School Bag, try to decide which shoes I'm going to wear..... (this takes a while)
7:35am- Wait for time to pass so that I can leave for school.
7:40am- Leave for school.
7:55am- Arrive at school.
8:00am- Find my friends and sit down at a table for a few minutes before class.
8:05am- Go to class and wait outside for my teacher.
8:10am- *no bell* and class begins.
8:10am-9:25am- Sit in class and pretend I have some idea what is going on. Wait for time to pass. Count down the minutes until class is over.
9:25am- *no bell* class is over. Halls fill with people, so everyone else leaves class.
9:25am- find friends, sit down for a bit before class starts again.
9:40am- Go sit outside 2nd class, and wait for my teacher.
9:45am- *no bell* and class begins.
9:45am-11:00am- Sit in class and pretend I have some idea what is going on. Wait for time to pass. Count down the minutes until class is over.
11:00am- *no bell* and class is over. Halls fill with people so everyone else leaves class.
11:00am- Meet my friends in the halls somewhere. (They're impossible to miss with only 300 students)
11:05am- Wait in line in the Ruokasali (Cafeteria) for free lunch!!
11:10am- Eat Lunch
11:25am- Go downstairs and sit on the couches and wait for class to begin.
11:35am- Go sit outside 3rd class and wait for my teacher.
11:40am- *no bell* class begins
11:40am-12:55pm- Sit in class and pretend I have some idea what is going on. Wait for time to pass. Count down the minutes until class is over.
12:55pm- *no bell* and class ends. Halls fill with people so everyone else leaves class.
12:55pm- find friends and sit for a bit before class begins.
1:05pm- go sit outside class and wait for teacher.
1:10pm- *no bell* class begins.
1:10pm-2:25pm- Sit in class and pretend I have some idea what is going on. Wait for time to pass. Count down the minutes until class is over.
2:25pm- *no bell* class is over. Halls fill with people so everyone else leaves class.
2:30pm- walk home
2:45pm- arrive home.
2:45pm-2:50pm- pet the dogs for 5 minutes becasue they are so excited I am home.
2:50pm- Take the dogs outside to go pee and for a little walk to burn some energy.
3:00pm- Come inside and lay down and maybe watch tv or go on my computer for a little bit. Or do homework if I have any I can comprehend.
(**at some point between 2:30 and 3:30, Minna arrives home**)
4:15pm- Outi arrives home.
4:30pm- we begin making dinner
5:00pm- we eat dinner
5:30pm- we clean up dinner
6:00pm- we think about going to sleep.........
6:30pm- still thinking about it.....
7:30pm- still thinking (on the computer now or watching a tv show)
8:00pm- heat up the sauna
8:30pm- sauna is ready!!
8:30pm-10:00pm- everyone goes to sauna and gets ready for sleep.
10:00pm- ALYSSA GOES TO BED :)
10:30pm-11:00pm- everyone else goes to bed.
Thats about as detailed as it gets folks... Except I never have 4 classes a day. I only have 3 and my schedule is different every day. I am done school at 12:55 on Monday, Thursday and Friday and on Tuesday and Wednesday I am done at 2:25. On Tuesday I don't start school until 9:45 but the rest of the days I start at 8:10. On Wednesday, I have spare (hypäri) 2nd period with Arlene and Roosa. Sometimes we go to town, sometimes we go to the computer lab, sometimes we sit on the couches and talk. :D
Okay weekend, I am not going into that much detail....
8:00am-10:00am- RISE AND SHINEEEEEE.
11:00am- breakfast.
11:30am-12:00pm- think about getting dressed and doing something with the day.
12:30pm- grocery shopping (We grocery shop a lot...Today I think we went to 3 different grocery stores)
1:00pm-1:30pm- come home.
1:30pm- think of what else we are going to do that day. (nap, watch tv, go somewhere, do something. this changes up.)
3:00pm- make lunch/dinner. Usually this is the main meal on weekends. It allows us to have our snacks earlier and have time to burn them off before we go to sleep. It's bad to eat right before you sleep...
3:30pm- Eat dinner
4:00pm- clean up dinner
4:30pm- think of something else to do.
7:00pm- have a snack.
8:00pm- **see weekday schedule** :)
So that's my life. If you have any questions or want to know anything else that I have left out, just let me know. I am still sick and my brain is not in the mood for thinking so you should be glad that I was able to write this much...
Nähdään :)
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