FinlandSwedenNorway

So for the last 3 posts I've been swerving around weekends because so much happens in such a short time frame  that I can barely process what happened -- let alone summarize it!

However I think it's only fair I tell you about my trip to FinlandSwedenNorway!! For those of you who don't know - when you go really, super, far North there is a place where Finland, Sweden, and Norway squeeze next to each other.
But as you may also know, this place couldn't be very big because then wars might break out  (or something) and I actually didn't go there. (But I got within 10 Kilometers ) The problem is, you have to park your car, and hike to it, and because we were traveling with three children under the age of four that wasn't going to happen. But I did get really close that counts at least 50% :D which in Finland is still a passing grade :D

(Fun fact about grades in Finland to "pass" you just need to get more than a 4, and to get a 4 you basically have to do nothing-- so if you do more than nothing you pass :D! this is very different from the North Carolina system, where if you score less than 70% you fail)

Annyyyy-way this is the trip we made to Norway

Actually it started with my flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi , and then it was 7 hours in the car to lovely Tromsø ! 

I was so happy when I saw reindeer for the first time ! I jumped and screamed a little in my seat, they are so, so cute ! 

The first night we stopped in a town called Levi, the hotel was gorgeous- and even thought it was a few weeks ago I still remember exactly how good the food tasted.

The Car-ride was pretty long but I was okay with it because I had view's like this 

and this .
(stolen from the internet, but we drove by this exact place)

When we finally arrived in Tromsø I was greeted by this polar bears. Not so many polar bears live in Tromsø (no live ones ;) ) but they're just a short  boat ride away 

The view from my hotel room. The mountains are beautiful despite being barren. 

Downtown Tromsø is quite lively despite it's arctic temperatures.

We came here for Dinner, I loved the international flags- but an hour wait for okay pizza isn't so much fun 

Pretty Norwegian Church 

Please take note of how far North I am and appreciate the fact that I'm still smiling. Also, I have bought  mittens since this picture was taken :D

Stopping at a gast station in Sweden 

As we headed southeast into Sweden suddenly there weren't tree's anymore. We were above the "treeline" where there's too shot a growing season for even the toughest sort of tree's .

Kiruna Sweden

Fall came in the beginning of September

An eerily quiet town (no wind, animals, few people) It was a relief seeing a language that resembled my mother tongue.

....Though don't get me wrong Minä Rakastan Suomea <3

One Month !? What ??

I looked at my calendar to realize that on Friday I will have lived in lovely Helsinki for ...wait for it ... One month!? How did this happen??

 I assure you this will be the last post of its kind expressing how fast everything's going -as it's not the happiest thing to write about - but it's not an exaggeration to say I blinked,  and whoops August slipped from my fingers! Now I'm clinging to September like a prized china doll. 

But at the same time so much has happened it feels like I've lived here a life time! 

My Second Week of School...

Is now just a blur, but I do remember on Tuesday we had student elections for class government, and I had no idea what was going on because as one of the candidates phrased it: " I'm here to represent everyone who can't understand what the hell is going on, because it's all in F$&@ing Finnish " 

Needless to say , Suomia on vaikeaa. 

(Finnish is difficult) 

I was still feeling like a tourist then, so I didn't feel too awkward about taking some sneaky pictures :) 

We received these cute little Snoopy papers to vote for people on 

Yay! Finnish! And paintings! 

More Finnish! Maybe someday I can translate for you ... (this will transition to my next update but first ... ) 

The hour or so election process ended with some creepy grandma singing happy birthday to us, what?? 

Like. What??

-Exchange Students probs - 

My Finnish Progress 

Right now I'm in Geography class and I don't feel the least bit guilty for blogging in class because the teacher lectures the whole time in Finnish, and I notice things like:

-Finnish words are really, really long . Like. Really long. 

- When words have a lot of vowels (they always do) it looks like they're kissing the air when they talk.

- The only words you really need to know to speak Finnish are " niin" and " Oi"

Oi - when you bump into someone 

Niin- to say everything else 

I also really like the word Jaksaa ( Yahk- saa) 

Which doesn't translate exactly but it's kind of like, " I don't care to do something" 

It's really fun to say, say it a few times and then you'll understand :) 

🎶Jaksaa, Jaksaa , Jaksaa 🎶

After School

One of the great things about living in the center of Helsinki is literally, if you can not see Jäätelo (ice-cream), just walk two blocks any direction and I personally guarantee you will find some, it's everywhere !

It's really good but it doesn't taste like American ice-cream at all ... Actually nothing tastes quite the same as in America, except maybe Bananas. 

For example one day after school my friend Johannes and I baked...

American Cookies 

With Finnish ingredients 

They were yummy, but didn't  taste like they do when I make them in America. I'm actually starting to forget what some American foods taste like!! Just that they're different!

My friends and I ate them before I could take a picture of the final product, but this is what they looked like just before going  in the oven: 

Kamppi  

(and I don't remember if it has two mm's or two p's so I apologize if I've failed at spelling)

Kamppi is sort of like a shopping mall, where my friends and I like to hang out. I say "sort of a shopping mall" because it also has a subway station, and a bus station, and there's always something interesting going on! 

One day there was a really good band playing in the middle of the mall! 

And on different days I've received a free smurf cookie and a balloon! 

And just recently there were giant inflatable hockey players in the middle of the courtyard. I don't know why. There just were. 

(Although to be honest, I rarely know exactly what's going on - sometimes I just appear at museums, or people's houses, or movie theaters.. ) 

Some days after school I go to a park with a friend or friends. There is always a performer of some kind, and some are more eccentric than others. I've seen a tight rope walker, a glass-jug-music-maker, really-good-piano-players, and some random guy who just stood there in a creepy wolf costume -- just to name a few. 

Here are some pretty boats... 

Last Friday night I went to the Helsinki zoo (which is on an island) with my host family. It was open really late for a special "night of the cats" thing. 

There were tigers, leopards, lions, and much more! It was a really lovely zoo and I purchased my own tiikeri (tiger) to take home :)

I'll just touch on a few things from school

One of these things is not like the other...Moomins (white hippos) are everywhere!! 

For art class the teacher made me the model and everyone had 5 minutes to draw me, the drawings were all really good - here's just one of the better ones :) 

Class ends in 4 minutes so I'll tell you about orientation later - and probably elaborate on this post but .. Above is my lovely roommate Hermanni <3

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