Travel Blog » Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Vaasa Travel Blogs

Background: Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Finland

Map of Finland

Finland's Flag

Hostels in Finland
Latest Vaasa Blog Entries
Vaasa Photos

By MacKenzie H
April 8th 2008

Mom's Visit! Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

She Likes Shoes!

I've finally gotten around to writing this entry. Now that I'm sick and all I have plenty of time. So, on Tuesday, April 8, I made the 5 hour train journey to Helsinki. I got there and met Mom at the train station. It took me awhile to find her (being by the "big brown doors" is not very descriptive when there are about 12 sets of big brown doors). She was very happy to see me and of course I was very happy to see her too. We lugged all of her luggage, mostly crap for me, to the Omena [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
April 6th 2008

Easter Basket, Boat Trip, and District Conference Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Hey everyone. Wow, it's really been awhile. Sorry, I guess I've just been busy. It's really hard to find time to write in here these days. Between school, basketball, and hanging out with my friends I feel like I'm always busy. Anyway, here it goes. On March 11th I went to the theater and saw a really cool show. It was called "Kvinna på halvtid" (Part-Time Woman). It was what is known as physical theater which is where there is more movement and sort of dancing type of stuff than talking. At first I thought it was going to be really [View Full Entry]

By Jayblank
March 27th 2008

Back to Home Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Sisters Kilgast minus Tiina

It's cold. Very cold. Too cold. It's windy. And it makes it even more cold. To make things worse, one of the biggest snow storms of the year, supposedly, hits the country. Yippee! So it's cold here in Finland. And everybody is saying to us, it's been the so warm! And the sad thing about it is that they're right. I read in the Finnish weather forecast's webpage that it has been the warmest winter ever. The thing is, March, is supposed to be the beginning of Spring. Not the beginning of late winter... Oh well. One has to cope with [View Full Entry]

This is our hometown Vaasa from Sky bar. The reflection shows also our new camera.

By MacKenzie H
March 10th 2008

Basketball and Another Trip to Helsinki Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

So, I guess it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry, I've been busy. And sorry that there are no pictures this time, but I just got kind of lazy. So, anyway, where was I..... The weekend after I last wrote was incredibly tiring. On Friday, February, 15th was the Äldstes Dans at my school. This is a tradition in every high school in Finland to celebrate that the third years are leaving school and the second years are taking their place as the oldest in the school. Therefore, the dance is primarily for the second years. I would say it [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
February 14th 2008

Ni Har INTE Bananer?! Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Kent

So, the last couple weeks have been really great. I've been super busy. I feel like I always have something going on! Anyway, to begin where I last left off...... On Friday, February 1st I went to see a rock concert with some of my friends. We saw the band Kent. They are from Sweden and they are very, very famous in Scandinavia. However, they sing in Swedish, so outside of Scandinavia no one really knows them. The concert started at 8:30 and the doors opened at 7:00, so my friends and I got there at 6:00 to stand in line. [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
January 27th 2008

A New Beginning Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Replot

New family. New year. New school term. Everything is starting again. Hey everyone, sorry it's taken me so long to update again. I've moved to my new host family and I can't use my own computer here, so it's hard to find the time to update my blog. So, where to start? On Thursday, January 3rd, I moved to my new host family. They are a husband and wife who are in their sixties and all their children are grown up and have moved out. They live much closer to the city than my previous host family. When I lived in [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
January 1st 2008

It's Been Awhile Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I updated, sorry. I just got busy with my birthday weekend and then school, and then with every day that passed it became more and more that I had to write about. So, I'm finally doing it now. I'll try not to write a novel. So, I last left you after my trip to Lapland. After I returned I basically had the whole rest of the week off because that Wednesday, the 5th, I only had one class and then the 6th was Independence Day so we didn't have school the 6th or the 7th [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
November 25th 2007

Do They Even Have Turkeys in Finland? Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Me and Max

Hey everyone! It's been a couple of weeks since my last entry, so here it goes! I believe I left you all at November 4th. So, on Monday November 5th I only had my Finnish class since my normal school was having test week. I hadn't told you all this, but during my test week my family and I had been planning to go to their winter cabin in Lapland to go skiing for a week. However, since it hadn't snowed by Monday and it didn't look like it was going to snow for the rest of the week, we decided [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
November 4th 2007

Ever Changing Plans Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Outdoor Firepit

Since it's been about 3 weeks since I last updated this entry is going to be kind of long. Sorry. So on Monday the 15th, the day after I got back from Oulu, I woke up at 7:50, which is the time that my bus comes. Well, crap! So, I had to get ready really fast and take the next bus which comes at 8:25. I got to school and there was only about 15 minutes left in my first class so I just sat with some of my friends who had gotten to school early. Then I went to my [View Full Entry]

By MacKenzie H
October 7th 2007

Sports! and a Package! Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa

Zlotys!

Hey everyone! Wow! it's already October and I've officially been in Finland for over two months. Isn't that crazy?! It's been about a week since I last updated and I want to be sure to update before I leave for Germany and Poland. So, what's been going on? Well, on Monday I woke up at 7:00 and it was pitch black outside. I thought, "It can't really be 7:00, it's not usually this dark." It really was 7:00, though, and it really is getting dark here. However, we have daylight savings time in a few weeks, so that will make it [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Finland » Ostrobothnia » Vaasa