August 29, 2011

WOW!

So it's been a pretty long time since I've posted something on here, and I have done so much! So much that its hard to remember all I've done! Anyways, I will try to recall what happened these past days here in Finland for you.

Alright so last blog post I told you all about my school and you saw some pictures of Turku. Since then, however, I have been to Helsinki, went sailing on a HUGE sailboat called Ihana, saw all the Tall ships that were at port here in the Turku River, went to my host families summer cottage in Naure, and went sailing for eight hours in the Archipelago. Busy, busy, busy!

First off I willl tell you all about Helsinki. Upon arrival my host family and I walked around the capitol and I took lots of pictures. Its a much bigger city than Turku and it has many more older/traditional buildings as well. Here are some pictures;

 Ha! It's like something you would see in Italy. But in Helsinki it was just "art".

 Helsinki from above.

Helsinki was nice, we only spent about three hours there because we had to go to a 50 year birthday party. That was in another town about 20 min away. After the party we spent the night at my host mom's sister's house and then headed home. Overall, I'm glad I am in a "small" city like Turku. Helsinki was a bit too big for me.

Next on the list is the Ihana. This was a two-mast sailboat which was built by a club organization, all by hand.  Everyone who worked on creating this boat essentially "owns" part of the boat as well. We were sailing for three hours on this big thing.

 Getting ready for sailing. The woman in the pink is my host mom, Jaana. The other people are their friends and family.

 Look! That's me under the front mast. I'm so small compared to the boat!

T

 Captain Karlee. They put a lot of faith in my driving skills, eeekkk!

That's the back-mast. Big, big, big boat.

So after sailing that wonderfully large thing, we walked around Turku river and looked at all the Tall Ships that came to Turku for this "sail boat celebration". Then we watched fireworks. Check these pictures out.

 This, everyone, is the tallest sailboat in the world! It's from Russia!

 Visiting sailboats in port on the river.

 Looks like its from the Pirates of the Caribbean doesn't it?

 I should be a professional photographer, aye?

 It was beautiful!

Well there you have it. I saw all these ships that looked like they were from the 1800's. It was a great experience.

Last but not least is my most recent adventure. On Friday, my host parents, host sister Laura, and two friends of the family had a picnic by the river. We ate salad and bread and just enjoyed the last warm day of Finland's summer. After the picnic we drove out to their summer cottage in Naure and spend the weekend sailing, saunaing, and swimming! Oh and eating of course! We had to take two ferrys to get to the island where their summer cottage is. It was a great time.

 More tall ships. This was the last day they were in Turku.

 This isn't a very good picture, but if see something pink in the water which resembles a flower, that's a jellyfish! These are not poisonous or dangerous is any way but they can shock you if they get really scared. There were everywhere in the sea! Seeing the jellyfish was one of the most exciting moments of being here in Finland so far. Ha!

 My host sister Laura and I during our picnic.

 From left to right; Matti (host dad), me, Laura (host sister), and Matti and Jaana's friends.

 Summer cottage in Naure. We ate in that area and there is also a sauna in there. It was very cozy and

beautiful inside.

 Matti's dad (host grandpa) getting me all suited up for sailing.

 The fire in the back was a traditional ceremony. Once this fire was lit, others were lit on other islands and so on and so on. From right to left; me, Jaana, Erka (Laura's boyfriend), and Laura.

 Me in my waterproof sailing gear. Drinking cider, yum!

 Me! That ship in the back is the Russian sailboat leaving Turku.

 Posing for a photo is pretty tough on a sailboat! We were taking a snack break :)

 That is what our sailboat looked like when we were sailing in the open Baltic sea. However, OUR sailboat actually touched the water on one side. It was crazy! I feared I was either going to fall out of the boat or throw-up! ha!

Well there you have it! Those were my experiences and adventures these past two weeks here in Finland. I had a great time!

I will post soon. Next time though I will post right after the weekend because it's hard to remember all that you do it two weeks time! Hope all is well back home, I miss you!

Love,

Karlee