Sorry I haven't posted for a while. My host family's computer was totally crashed so it took a while to fix it. Nothing that remarkable has happened since my last post. Just been getting really settled in. It's finally starting to really hit me that I'm not just on vacation. The other day I just thought "Wow...I live in Finland" and then I had to go sit down. But now that the rush is over my life is starting to develop a good routine. It's just so normal. But I like it. At this point though I don't really go out that much. Finnish people are so shy, and since I don't have any host siblings at my school it's taking a while to earn their trust and friendship. But I am getting there! I went out to lunch with a couple of my school friends, and they were more then happy to explain stuff in Finnish to me. So I learned the difference between suklaa and kaakao. Suklaa- food chocolate. Kaakao- drink chocolate. Luckily, the Finns think I'm hilarious when I try to speak Finnish so they are more then happy to teach me. Other then that, I've gone to zumba and yoga a couple times, I go nordic walking and running with my host dad, and I wander around town and secondhand stores. This past weekend I had district camp, which was so much more fun then the ones back in USA. We were at this summer camp site, and we really had nothing we had to do except get to know one another. It was quite nice. But then yesterday and today I was sick:( It was only a matter of time. My entire class is super sick and I have an inferior American immune system.
I I have spread apple crisp to Finland! Apparently, apple crisp is nonexistant here, so the first time I made it, it was gone withing 30 minutes, mostly thanks to Veikka. But they totally Love it. I felt like the most clever girl in the world after I made it based off all the praise I got.
So far I have been up to the summer home 3 times. It's actually Erja's parents summer house, but we just go up there on the weekends and use the sauna, and Erja's mom makes us dinner. It's on a really nice lake, and it hasn't been too cold yet but I kind of wish it was just to get the biggest shock after the sauna. The first time I went in their sauna was the first time I REALLY sauna-ed. It was awesome. and the makkarra(sausage) that we were going to eat for dinner was cooking over the sauna as we were using it, so it smelled really delicious. Also the first time, Erja's dad took Veikka and I out on his boat to show me the lake. It was like a like steam boat, and I guess he made it himself way back when. It was really nice, and the smell of gasoline and fish reminded me of Dad.
I haven't been fishing myself, but Erja and Vesa have made various dinners involving fish (mainly salmon). It's really a staple of the finnish meal, along with potaoes, rye bread, and milk. I myself LOVE rye bread- I coulfdlive off nothing but rye bread and butter. And salmiakki..And of course there is ALWAYS coffee. I think because I drink so much of it I have become immune to caffiene. No matter how much I drink of it, It doesn't keep me awake. Also, the butter here melts really easily...Weird.
Here the summer is just starting to turn to fall. And that means rain...lots of rain. And wind. The storms we get are endearingly called "little hurricanes". But I would kill for some thunder storms. That's one of the few things I miss. All the birch trees are already changing colors, and since there are so many, that means my world went from everything green to everything yellow. But I think it's even more beautiful then before. Fall has always been my favorite season. But I wish it was crisp. Back home I always knew it was fall when the air was dry and crisp, and there was always a biting wind making little leaf tornados as you walk. I miss the smell of autumn leaves. It only smells like grass and rain here, and that's a summer smell meant for June.
Anyways, everythings going good. Thanks to everybody for being so patient for my update.
Love
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