September 20, 2011

Terve!

Well it has been another week or so since my last post, yet it seems like just yesterday. Time has been flying here, I must be having too much fun!

So, the week has passed same as usual. School has been the same, just creating contemporary art in my art courses and helping Finnish students with their pronunciation and grammar. Spanish is also going well. My two years of art in high school have come in handy here. Overall school isn't very exciting. The only thing exciting about school is finding out what's for lunch. It's amazing here. Last week we had salmon. I'm not sure if I already  said this, but what school has salmon for lunch?! And its free! I couldn't even believe it, I thought it was for the teachers. Lunches here area ALWAYS healthy. There is always some sort of meat or soup, salad, and rye bread; and of course its free. The U.S. should take some tips from Finland, then maybe our country wouldn't have such a high rate of obesity.

Anyways, the week has passed with its usual routine and the weekend has come and gone way too fast. This weekend we rode an hour and a half north to a small area called Pernio. Jaana's Uncle lives there with his wife in a beautiful house in the woods. They build their house themselves and everything inside of it as well. It was beautiful.

 This is the front of their house.

 This is behind the house. It's something Jaana's uncle made. Like a river flowing down from the top of the house to the pond in the back.

The building on the right is a sauna and guest house. That is also their pond in the back.

Once we got there we were greeted with a mid-day snack of traditional Karjalanpiirakka (rye bread with rice mixture inside, usually eaten with butter on top. My favorite!), coffee, cheese and rye bread, tiger cake, and cookies. I really have to start watching what I eat. I have already gained a few pounds! Ooops! Oh well, at least its all healthy food. Anyways, once out stomachs were full we put on some fly resistant clothing and headed out for the woods. We ending up picking mushrooms for three hours and I can honestly say it was the most fun I have had the whole time I have been in Finland. I wish we had woods like Finland back home. There were at least 20 different kinds of mushrooms in the woods, blueberries, and lingonberries everywhere you looked. You could feed an army with the amount of food in the woods, it was amazing. Picking mushrooms also became sort of addicting. Once you found one you felt like you won the lottery!

 Me in my fly-proof jacket.

 Loaded up in the truck, heading out to the woods.

 Picking mushrooms!!!! These mushrooms were bright yellow and easy to find. Chanterelle is the name of this mushroom.

 My mushrooms! None for you! :)

 More mushrooms! I don't remember the name of these mushrooms but they usually grew in bunches and once you found once bunch there were always bunches to follow. These were addicting to pick because they were everywhere! We had to leave them because there were so many.

 After three hours of picking this is how much we had. I wonder how much money this would be if you bought this much at the grocery store... But here, they're all free! Oh, and there is also the "every man's right", which means you can go into any forest in all of Finland an pick how every many mushrooms and berries you want.

 Jaana's uncle frying the chanterelles for freezing.

Out of the whole day picking mushrooms this was the worst. After a dinner of sausage soup and rye and wheat bread, we spend the ENTIRE evening cleaning the mushrooms. Even though it took forever it was definitely worth it. These mushrooms are delicious!

We might go back to the woods and pick berries some weekend. It is so amazing how much food you can get if you just get out into the woods and pick it yourself. I can't wait to come home and search our forests for some food. Now that I know which mushrooms to pick that is.

Well Saturday picking mushrooms ended much sooner than I would have liked. I can honestly say it was the most fun I have had in Finland so far. I dare say if I lived here I would very well make a living out of picking and selling mushrooms and berries!

Sunday came and went just as quick however. My host parents found me a bike and we rode around Turku for the whole day. This Sunday was also names "Turku Day" so there was a labyrinth of flowers in front of the old Lutheran Church and people waited around the city all day for the firework show. Also, the new bridge was opening up and they celebrated this by creating a stage on top of the new bridge. They featured many different bands and singers on the bridge. One band, called "Negative" is a very famous band here. They played just before the fireworks. The river was packed. Before the concert and fireworks, however, we spent the day riding our bikes around the city and eating at vendors where they sold fried picarel (yum!) and vegetables. The day ended with fireworks and a nice big bowl of vanilla ice cream.

 Riding our bikes through Turku. In the background is the stage on the new bridge.

 Turku Lutheran Cathedral.

 Me inside the labyrinth of flowers in front of the church.

 The labyrinth of flowers. Turku is so creative!

 Inside the church looking back.

The front of the church.

 Stage on bridge and the band "Negative" performing.

 Fireworks! These fireworks were choreographed to about five different songs. It was amazing. These were the best fireworks I have ever seen in my life. And they were only for a new bridge!

Wooooooow!

I have never seen such amazing fireworks before. It was like taking all the fireworks I've ever watched in Onaway and combining them together for a super show. It was crazy. At one point the fireworks launched from the bridge actually bounced off the water and some flew onto the sidewalk where everyone was watching! Eeeek!

Overall I had a fantastic weekend. Living in Turku, Finland has been a blast so far. I hope all of you are enjoying my blog posts. I miss you all, I wish you could all experience this for yourselves, it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I feel so blessed every day that I am where I am today. Thanks again to all of you who helped make my dream of studying abroad come true! Until next time!

Love,

Karlee

Oh! I found the firework show on youtube, check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atazsNIiHY0&feature=related

September 12, 2011

Hello everyone!

Can you believe its already September!? It feels like I've only been here in Finland for a week, yet it has been one month and a week!

Not much has happened since I last posted something here. Things are carrying on same as usual, i.e. school, no homework, eating a lot of food, learning Finnish, and spending time with my host family.

Recently I went to a club with a friend I met at school. This was my first club experience and probably my last. While spending time with my new Finnish friend was fun, the club experience was disgusting. Much too loud of music, having to shout to speak to your friends, walking on glass shards and vomit, and clothes covered in alcoholic beverages from drunk teenagers made for a one time club experience I do not plan on attending again. However, I can now say that I went to a Finnish club and have proof that the Finns are not so shy when drinking. (Also, for those worried, my friend and I were not drinking, only dancing.) We left when the air started to cloud with the smell of vomit. I kid you not, it really was as gross as I am describing it. But my pictures are nice!

 This is the Finnish friend I was talking about. Her name is Emma, she's 19, and just as tall as me!

 Ooooo! Crazy club lights!

You would never guess they are drunk would you? Right. I don't know who they are and didn't even know they sneaked into the photo. Ignore them, aren't we pretty!?

Ha! Okay so yes, that was my lovely, one time only club experience. On the other hand, I have had much funner and lovelier times with my host family. For example, we just got back this weekend from their summer cottage. All day Sunday we picked apples. We ended up with about 150 kilos of apples, all being used to make apple cider! Yum!

 The dog (Wenda) and I by the apple harvest.

 Behind that lovely lady is the summer cottage.

 Front of the summer cottage and tool house/bathroom to the right.

Inside; table where delicious meals were eaten!

I don't think I will be going back to their summer cottage because winter is on its way. However, I will be going to my second host families' summer cottage soon. I will miss this place :(

There you have it. Nothing new has been going on here in Finland but I am still having a lovely time. Picking apples all day in Nauvo made me forget about the Posen Potato Festival going on back home. I hope you all had fun there! For those who went that is.

Anyways, I must be going now. It is time for Spanish in school and then I must wait till 4:45 for my first Finnish class to begin. Maybe I will go shopping!

I will post again soon!

Love,

Karlee

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

August 17, 2011

Good Afternoon my faithful blog followers :)

I don't even know who looks at this blog but I hope its a good read for ya!

Anyways, there has been a little dilemma here concerning which school I will go to. The first school I was supposed to go to (Luostarivuoren Lukio), lost my papers and their classes are full. Therefore, Matti took me to his old school where they were more than happy to take me in and I know have my first period schedule all set and a new school. I will be taking Spanish 1, Italian 1, English 7, and Art. My latest class goes till 2:30 on Monday and Thursday. However, starting in September I will be going to an Adult University to take "Finnish for Foreigners".

Other than that, everything is running very smoothly here and I am enjoying myself very much. Below, I have posted some pictures of what my daily walk to school looks like, a.k.a. the city of Turku:

 River.

 River again.

 Bridge to the other side of the river; leads to the market place and my school.

 Just a very cool looking building.

 Market produce! Yum!

 Market.

 Lots of market!

 Street with cafes and restaurants.

Now below is my new school. I don't remember the name because it is very long but I will figure it out soon enough:

 Both pictures show the front of the school.

Well there you have it. I have some more picture of Turku but I will post them later when I have gone through them all, I think I took 200 or so photos, ha!

I hope all is well back home and that you are all doing well. I'll post another blog soon :)

Moi Moi!

August 14, 2011

Moi everyone!

I have finally begun my exchange. After a whole week at the Karkku Orientation/Language Camp, I have finally made it to my first host family. They picked me up in Karkku and we drove 2 hours to my new hometown, Turku. Once we got here they took me to the oldest restaurant in Turku and we got ice cream. It was delicious! Then we went to the grocery store and picked up some food because they didn't have any after sailing on vacation a week before they got me. ha!

We then drove to the house and I unpacked. It is a beautiful medium sized home on the corner of Kupittaankatu St. My room is very nice and I even have a TV in my room!

After I unpacked Jaana's sister and her husband and two boys (2 and 7) came over and we had a HUGE dinner. It was delicious, Matti is basically a chef. Then we stayed up till around 12 and I went to bed. Now it is Sunday and I have not gone to church, which is strange. I will have to find one around Turku somewhere.

Today we are busy again, but not till 4 when we have a private birthday party at a cafe. It should be fun :) On Monday I will go to my school and get all my classes sorted out and then Matti will teach me how to use the bus, that should be interesting. Alrighty then, I am going to go for a run now so I will post another blog sometime this week. Probably after I start going to school. My host family has wi-fi and they told me I can always use it so lucky me!

Moi Moi!

Love, Karlee

August 8, 2011

Hello everyone!

I have arrived in Helsinki and am now at the Karkku Orientation Camp (3 hour bus ride away from Helsinki). We have free wi-fi here so that's the only reason why I can post this. Anyways, it's 5a.m. here right now but I couldn't sleep anymore so here I am!

Everything seems to be going great and I just cant wait till I'm with my host family. There are about 120 exchange students here from all over the world and they are all staying in Finland. However, only 3, including myself, are staying in Turku.

It's funny, being here isn't much different from being in Michigan. The weather is the same (today it's raining) and the landscape looks very similar. Just imagine driving to the U.P. and that is what Finland looks like, or Helsinki anyways. I haven't tried any new foods yet. In fact I'm waiting for breakfast right now as we speak. I'm starving!

Well then, I suppose I will post something here some time soon before I leave this camp for Turku. I'm happy to be here and miss everyone in Michigan already. Talk to you soon!

Love,

Karlee