Huhtikuu 27

Randomly felt like blogging, so here is an update on my host family and what I have been up to this week, and what I will be doing over the next month, just so that all you guys know what I am up to if I suddenly lose my motivation and never blog again.

   First off, I love my new host family. They are just awesome. It's not awkward at all, and I can just sit around and chill with my host siblings. The other night, Saana (15 years old), Oona (21ish) and I had an ice cream and movie night and watched " The Notebook". It was just so easy to just lay around hanging out. There is also my host brother Oke (24ish) and we also get along really well. He showed me the Finnish version of Reddit yesterday, and I was actually able to understand some stuff!
    All of the kids play underwater rugby, so on Tuesday they brought me with to play with Kouvola's men's team. I scored twice, but I struggled a bit with breathing through a snorkel while trying to wrestle with some old men underwater. I had a lot of fun though, and I am excited to go again!
     Good description video of underwater rugby

This weekend I have a district conference in Kuopio. I am not excited, but not dreading it. Just indifferent towards the whole thing.

On Monday I am selling tickets at the Vappugospel concert in Kouvola. It is just a music festival in honor of May Day, and if I work there I get in free. Kind of nervous, but I don't think it will be too difficult. Some of my friends are also working there so it should be fun.

Then on the 19th I am going to Belgium with my aunt Shellie! I have to take the train to Turku, and then I fly to Brussels. I don't really know what we will be doing, but I am so excited! We are going to Paris at some point which will also be awesome.
     
   

Main street in Kouvola "Manski"

Main street in Kouvola going the other way

Kouvola's theater company did "Hamlet" in finnish. One of my friends went and she said it was actually very good. I guess old finnish translates pretty well into old english.

A turkish guy that plays the accordion on the street every day. I wanted to get a better picture but I felt like a creep.

Kukkakauppa (flower shop)

Authentic Thai resturaunt! It is very delicious.

Weird statue in the park.

Uusi Perhe (New Family)

Yesterday I came to a new host family! They are super nice and I look forward to getting to know them. I was sad to leave my last host family, but I will still be able to see them before I leave. I will miss Rasmus very much:( There isn't a dog in this host family, but there is a cat. I don't seem to be allergic to her....I think by now I would have reacted, because last night she slept on my bed. Maybe I have evolved past allergies.
    In my new host family it is my host parents and their youngest daughter living at home. The two older kids live at home sometimes?(I am not totally sure about this) They all speak good english, but they are trying to speak Finnish with me. They have had 6 exchange students before me, so they already know what to do.

Pics eventually!
Edit: Pics Now!

"Courtyard" Behind garage

Front of house

My new address is Sammonkatu 7 45100 Kouvola Finland

Trip to Lapland (Lapin Matka)

A week after I got back from Russia, my friend Max came to visit from Lithuania (he is also an exchange student), and to go to the cabin in Lapland with my host family over spring break. At the cabin were also staying Lotta, Sammi, and Kirsi; friends of my host parents who I know very well already. We spent the week downhill skiing, nordic skiing, and watching movies. The adults went out every night, so Max and I watched many movies.

After we got back from Ruka, the next day we went to my "host grandparents" house for Easter dinner. As usual it was delicious, although everyone laughed at Max's inability to understand Finnish. For dinner we had the traditional Finnish meal of lamb with potatoes, and the extra Finnish dessert of mämmi.

I think Mämmi deserves its own little paragraph since it is so Finnish. Whenever someone thinks of Finnish foods, this is what they think of. It tastes like Raisin Bran, but only with milk and sugar. Not even a Finn would eat it plain. This dish is as Finnish as can be, and although it looks literally like shit, I quite enjoyed it, and even had a second bowl. All of the family were eagerly watching us take our first bites, just waiting for us to spontaneously combust or vomit from the pure mämmi-ness of it. But then when my facial expression turned from initial disgust to enjoyment, and I was able to choke out "Aika hyvin" (Quite good), they all laughed and dug in viciously.

And Kinder Suprise. America is missing out so badly with these. Eating a Kinder Suprise is like pure ecstasy, and I don't understand how I was able to survive without them until this point. And then you get the enjoyment of putting a complicated toy together (But I got dumb car stickers. Max got an awesome plane, and Tiia got a wind up car, so I just had to sit there with my stickers while they played with their awesome toys). Apparently, they are illegal in America because children could choke on the toy. Seriously? These toys are pretty damn big. You would pretty much be the biggest idiot ever if you somehow managed to accidentally swallow this whole thing.

You will never know pure joy.
Thanks a lot AMERICA.

(I will add pics once my previous host mom can email them to me)

Pietarin Matka! (St.Petersburg Trip)

Hello to all my deprived readers. Sorry for no updates for a while, but I have been feeling quite unmotivated lately, and writing a lot in english gives me headaches. Quite a lot has happened in the past few weeks though, and due to that and threats and guilt from my parents I will force myself to write.
     In general, everything has been going good. My finnish is getting better all the time, and now I can understand the majority of conversations. Never the jokes though. I have learned to laugh when everyone else starts laughing so I don't just sit there making everyone else feel awkward. My speaking is okay. That is all. Just okay.
    On the other hand, my english has gotten terrible. As you may have already noticed, I sound ridiculous. And that is really all I have to say about it. Part of why I hate blogging now is because it is so difficult to formulate sentences in english.
   About 3 weeks ago i had my Rotary sponsored trips to St.Petersburg. We visited all the major touristy areas, the Hermitage, and we also went to the Russian ballet!

Trying to order pancakes at a Russian resturaunt. We definitely got some odd looks...

Russian government building

The Hermitage
We were only able to see a small fraction of the exhibits. To see them all would have taken 3 years!

Eating at a "traditional Russian" resturaunt. Delicious!

Sketchy entrance to Peter the Great's Museum of Oddities.

Crab flavored chips.

We went to a Russian Folk Show and saw 2 hours of traditional Russian dance.  Was fantastic!

Russian a cappella singer

Russian Orthodox church where we attended a service.

We had to cover our heads to show respect.

There were street salesmen everywhere! Especially the ones selling hats.

Church of Spilled Blood

Russian soldiers

I loved Russia and definitely want to return someday soon! Hopefully I can improve my Russian and visit Moscow. Becoming fluent in Russian is definitely something I want to do.