Blogs from Naantali, Southwest Finland, Finland, Europe - page 4

Today I layed around. haha...yes...well kind of ....it was a "resting day" says my host mother! :) Heini, Henkka and I went over to Mummi's and put together her tree and put the lights on it. I read many pages of the OFFICIAL SAT STUDY GUIDE. Henkka had some friends over, I watched Aladdin then talked with the family online! yay! for Merry Christmas Family TIME!!! :) oh yes, then I helped Henkka and Antti put up the tree, then later in the night Heini and I decorated it and then went to sauna. ... read more

So tonight was the Rotary Joulu Bailut! Eija picked me up at 5:50 and we went to the Old Church. There we had an evening mass for both Rotary clubs in Naantali. My principal, Leena Laakso and her boy friend Seppo Pukonen (my math teacher) sat next to us. Leena is Sylvia's (Canadian) Rotary counslor. We sang Christmas songs and listened a trumpet and piano performance. There was a short prayer, then my Rotary club members left and we all walked to the Kalatrappi Restaurant. They had set up a HUGE HUGE HUGE presentation of Finnish Christmas foods...which includes: Silli, silli, potatoes, and MORE Silli...which in finnish is....raw herring...FISH!!!! So of course being me, I decided to try a couple differnt kinds...which lead to 25 different kinds as more and more rotary members told me what ... read more

Henkka and I made Pipparkakkutalo (Gingerbread houses) today! Yippie!... read more

So I finally got some sleep last night! WOO HOO! I woke up today at 10, and showered and dressed up a bit, then Marru drove me to the Raisio Kaupunkitalo (city hall) where my orchestra performed for the veterans! We played the national anthem twice, then Laika Palaa, a beautiful finnish song! When we were finished Eija picked me up and we stopped by her house for some Glogi (amazing hot christmas drink), and to talk about Rotary business. She hurried me home by 2:15, and I changed into my red dress that I brought from home (Emma decided I would HAVE to wear it tonight). At 3 Marru, Henkka, and I crossed the fence to the Ahti's house for Emma's GRADUATION PARTY!!! I met Lotta's mother (she's an english teacher), and more of the ... read more

It's starting, Christmas is in the air. I was shopping with Emma and Leena in Turku on Friday, and the walking strip was brightly lit with thousands of christmas lights, and the windows in Stockmanns were full of Christmas scenes. The air was crisp and cold, but felt fantastic to breath. Later in the night, as we were leaving sleet started to fall. The small cold pieces of ice hit our faces and stung. By the time we got to the car we were soaking wet but happy. Christmas music was playing in all the shops that day, English and finnish. There were a couple street performers adding to the scene, playing their accordians and saxophones. It was fantastic. Then last night Marru and her friend Rele took me to the movie theatre in Turku to ... read more