My First Week

I wish I hadn't waited so long to update ya'll, but the reason I waited so long, is the same as I why I haven't updated -- I've been so busy  :D !

Consequently, there are a lot of pictures in this post- because the saying goes, "A picture says a thousand words..."

And also I figure I can't be a tourist much longer - I'm living here now after all!

School 

I didn't find out what school I was going to until a week before I went left for New York, but it was worth the wait ! I love my new school! I'm going to a school called Ressun Lukio , or Ressu. Ressu's mascot is Snoopy, because in Finland they call Snoopy Ressun :) it's super cute - little Snoopys are everywhere !

This is my School from the outside. It's really old - built in the 1800s- and I pretend it's Hogwarts  :) 

I stole this picture and the previous one from Google images because I feel awkward taking pictures in class, and also I couldn't get a good picture of the school because all the pretty trees are in the way.

At Ressu there are two , lets call them houses ;)  IB and Iippari. I am sort of a double agent because I take classes from both IB and Iippari, but fortunately no one seems to hate me for it. Above is a picture of my and some of my IB friends' attractive shoes (my shoe is the black flat) if you know what IB is, skip to Washington the Wiggler  (the dancing American poodle)! 

Okay, so I don't actually know that much about it, so this will be brief. IB stands for International Baccalaureate. There are IB schools all over the world (including North Carolina!). All the classes are college level and taught in English. And all IB kids are really cool (okay that might be considered an opinion ;-) ). Also I'm pretty sure there are two years of IB, and people here take pre-IB during their first year of high-school (in Finland there are 3 years of high-school) 

For the first 5 weeks of school on the IB side I'm taking:

Math and Finnish for Foreigners 

Iippari I don't really know anything about - except that all my classes are in Finnish .  Actually, I asked the girl sitting next to me what it was called ;). And singing in Finnish sounds super cool.

 On the Iippari side I'm taking :

Music, Art, Geography, and English ( I rock at English )

Trotting around the City 

Outside of school I get to enjoy this beautiful city with my new Finnish, and international, friends. All pictures were taken within a kilometer of my apartment :). Please note that my pictures do not even begin to capture the beauty that is Helsinki . 

^View of Swedish Embassy from the boat. On my first Sunday here my host parents and my host dad's twin took a boat ride around Helsinki. It was really lovely :) and only a little cold ;) 

     ^This roof reminds me of something from Dr. Seuss.

^ Stockman aka Finnish "Walmart "  

I say Walmart because its an "everything store" - but not in any other way like Walmart :) 

     ^My neighbors - primary colors are popular here  

I laughed so hard when I noticed every mannequin in this store was blonde, and it's true! 

Very many people are blonde here. 

     ^This is the 4th prettiest church I've seen Helsinki. It feels like a crime for me take pictures of the others. 

     My photography skill level is not high enough, however ..

     ^This one is my favorite. 

^Trolly for tourists! I'm shocked by how many tourists I see everyday - though I guess I shouldn't be! 

The word about Finland's immeasurable beauty is getting out!! 

(Please don't tell anyone else - it can be our secret ;) ) 

^I took this picture to show one of my friends where I was when I was a tad bit lost

(only 4 blocks from my apartment , whoops ;) ) 

    ^Another pretty-roofed-primary-colore building (sorry for the street light photo -bomb ) 

   ^My ihana (lovely) Finnish Backyard ☺

Rovaniemi 

My first true weekend in Finland we (my host parents and I) flew to the wonderland that is Rovaniemi!
I was quite tired when we finally arrived at their grand-kids house - but that didn't stop me from appreciating this view from their back-yard:

In the morning the 3.5-year-old pointed out to me this^ "pupu" (bunny)-- Good thing too!

I wouldn't have been able to identify it a such if she hasn't.  That is to say, the "bunny" was as big as my dog!
And had longer legs for sure!! 

The squirrels are funny looking too. They're crazy fast, chestnut brown, and wear cat's ears!

On Saturday (August 24th) we took my first trip to my host parents apartment in Rovaniemi, which in the front you find a river, and from the back you see this gorgeous natural lake:

I even dipped my foot in! In this lake! On the arctic circle! :D 

I couldn't decide which picture was better, so here are both. 

Santa's Village 

We also briefly visited Santa's village, which was super cute in the summer, and I can only imagine how stunning it is in the winter.

In Rovaniemi it was shockingly-cold in the nights (it got down to 4 C) but during the day (like when the following picture was taken) it got up to 70 F !!

I'm on the top of the world 

The Voyage and Arrival

So as you may already know, I arrived in Helsinki yesterday. I'm typing this at 4:90 am because I went to bed at 7:30 pm after not sleeping for nearly two days :D

This is what my bed looks like :

                    

It's super comfy! 

The Voyage                

At around 10 am on the 14th, I left Apex to fly to New York for the orientation, where I stayed in a hotel over night.

When I arrived at the orientation I was really confused because I walked into a conference room half full with puffy-eyed teenagers. I later learned this was because many had arrived as early as 9 am, and we weren't to get our room-keys until 3pm (though we actually received them around 4 pm). And I mean, being between the ages of 16-18 meant it can only be expected that the majority of us waited until midnight to pack.

I vaguely remember the events that took place during the orientation. Just that I met an overwhelming number of super cool people and something about a guy named Matt who dances around the world -- The 14th feels like a long time ago, or a dream at the very least. 

At the orientation there were 6 Americans Sweden-bound, 7 Finland-bound, 10 Norway, and Switzerland dominated with 17.  

Around 1 pm (NY time, which if you don't know is the same as Apex time)  the students going to Norway, Sweden, and Finland said Good-Bye to the Swiss kids (whose flight wouldn't leave NY until 9pm) and headed to the airport to fly Air-Berlin to - Berlin of course!

We were met by the line pictured above :D It was actually a lot longer then it appears, and when I met the lady at the front she made me do several scrambled dances to get the weight down on my carry-on

So of course I handled it by taking a selfie 

 My new friend humored me because she's super nice :D 

When we finally got on the plane, a very kind dude switched places with my other new friend so that the three of us could practice Finnish together, which we of course did the entire flight, and didn't once watch a movie, or discuss our lives in English, or our dialects, or cute animals. No not once. :D

I think we were on that plane for 8 hours, but because of time difference, I believe it was technically 14, and it felt like it .

Berlin

When we finally stepped foot on European soil (/concrete, same difference) we were greeted by this friendly looking bus who felt his purpose in life was to get us better acquainted with our neighbors, or at least me, it was very jerky. 

I took the time to turn around and take this picture just for you. You're welcome. 

When I got inside I proceeded to take more selfies in front of German signs and magazines, because, 

why not?

Also we had this line.

Finland-bound Americans (minus one whom has duel citizenship and got to skip our line, not that I was jealous or anything ;) ) 

I was surprised that the people gave us stamps at the front of the line, because that meant we could leave the airport, and wanting to be rebellious - of course we did.

The french fries were really yummy, but I was eating them at 9 am German time, so 2 am.

(we later learned that this act was in fact not rebellious because we had to journey quite some ways outside to our gate) 

After this relatively short flight I took this picture of the Helsinki skyline, and it was love at second sight, and first sight, and still love :D 

There was more trouble at the airport because the airline lost the luggage of two from our group. But I eventually met my host mom, and got to see my room where I am now!! 

 The chair is invisible. :D

The ceiling is really high and the light is really nice to look at  :D 

The stars around my window light up, and my room is quiet because it looks onto a courtyard 

And I can watch Finnish television from my bed!

And I already am starting to feel more at home <3

In short, I love my beautiful Finland. 

Claiming a New Family, Dropping out of High-School, and Other Recent Events

Host Family!

You are probably already aware from my last blog post (which, if you haven't read you should go do that, because it's really outstanding) I'm going to be an exchange student in Helsinki, Finland next year! I was really lucky to be placed super fast  to a host family that seems really nice! 

My future host mom hasn't said if I can use pictures of them in my blog or not, so for now at least I will grace you with my drawing talent ---> 

My host family lives right in the middle of Helsinki. I know this because my exchange sister (who leaves tomorrow :'( </3 ) got her dad to take a picture of the apartment I will live in next year (which is really beautiful and looks nothing like the house in the image to our right.)

My host parents also have a house in Rovaniemi, where Santa Claus lives!! Their son, who unfortunately isn't Santa Claus, also lives there with his partner and their three children. The kids (who are absolutely precious) are ages three, two, and not quite one. They look a bit like

<------this  

Other members of the family include four breath-taking race-horses, one fluffy, elderly cat (kissa) called Hermanni, and a turtle whom apparently doesn't have a name but don't worry I'll work on that :)

Fun Fact of the Blog: Selling turtles of any kind is entirely illegal in North Carolina 

I have a pretty good idea of what my life will be like in 2 months thanks to Facebook, Google Maps, and too much free time. All, except for where I will be attending school next year, which leads me to my next update :

I'm a High- School Drop Out ! 

Which will sound most ridiculous to anyone who knows me personally. So, it's explanation time!
For the last two years I was a student at a small charter school called Southern Wake Academy. For those of you who know about charter schools, think you know about them, or don't care to read about them skip to the dancing American poodle (that I drew with my mad skills) .

Yay! You stayed! A charter school is a school that receives both private and public funding. It's not controlled by the county, but rather only by the state so it doesn't have to follow all the same regulations. Each charter school is unique and many perform very well. Southern Wake Academy (SWA) requires that classes remain small no matter what, as part of its charter. Consequently, like most charter schools, SWA is required by state law to hold a "lottery"to decide which students may attend the school, when more people apply than there is space. A charter school cannot select one student over another student because of grades, skill, or merit because it is still a tuition free public school.

^His name is Washington the  Wiggler 

Because there is already a high demand for my former school in the Fall, and because I won't be attending any classes there next semester, they un-enrolled me so that someone else could have my spot (other schools in the area are very poor). As you probably assumed given that I'm 16, I did not graduate yet. I also have not been enrolled yet in a school in Helsinki, so as of right now no one officially holds my high-school transcript. When my mom tried to give my transcript to my "base school," (the school I would traditionally go to based on where I live) Apex High, the admission officer refused because I won't be signing up for any classes.

AFS says they've never had this situation before. I wonder if I'll be added to the drop-out statistics... :')

I'm literally too cool for school

But don't worry I won't leave you there ! Here's a picture I took at 3 am. My dog just laid there. <3 :) 

Harley and Clara Forever <3

Day-Dreaming about Future Adventures

SO. Hi :D. And Welcome!

 I'll start by introducing myself :). My name is Annabeth, I'm 16 years young and have lived my entire life in the heartland of beautiful North Carolina. Today is my first day of true SUMMER, though summer invaded 'Caroline months ago.

This is me on my 16th birthday

I'm currently listening to "Wagon Wheel" by the Old Crow Medicine Show, and trying to get into "Southern-Mode". ( I live a double-life because my parents are both yanks - but more on that later. )

We don't know each other very well yet, but I need you to help me keep a  promise!

The first one is this cannot end up like every diary I kept as a child (in my closet buried in stuffed-animals with one page written in). This is absolutely crucial because I had such a severe case of one-page-idous that I have more than a few diaries  with something along the lines of, "Dear Diary, sorry if I never, ever write in you again but..."

Who am I kidding, I should have been a  fashion blogger! ;)

The only difference now is I have an audience. ( even if it is imaginary )
Things to know about me before we get to the distinguishing feature of my blog :

1. I'm a big fan of animals, especially dogs. No matter how old I get if you have a dog, who is cute (all dogs are) and our paths happen to cross I will request to pet it because dogs are adorable. If I don't I'm trying to hard to impress someone and you should probably do your best to embarrass me. (I'm completely kidding don't actually )

2. I'm not a very visual person, so  I apologize if most of my pictures are blurry/my fingers in them/the lightings bad/you have no idea what the relevance of the image is

3. My family members insist I was cross eyed as a baby, but I'm completely in denial because was a perfect child. :D

18-months old and destined for greatness

4. There are probably some other things but I'm getting bored of this list.

Last week was absolutely CRAZY because I had final projects and tests, and on saturday Dun DUN DUNNNNNN the SAT!
I think I did Oh-KAY, but I find out my score on the 20th and if it's it's good I'll maybe let you know.

My summer will probably include a lot of lazing by the pool, the beach, and the computer of course ;)
Congratulations on gettng to this part of the blog! The top secret reason I'm keeping a blog is because I'm gonna be an exchange student!! To Helsinki, Finland this year! :D Okay it's not so secret, but through this blog I hope to show you some of Finland, through baby-blue  All-American eyes :)