Blogs from Naantali, Southwest Finland, Finland, Europe - page 5

My host family went golfing today, so I came along to get some sun....haha actually it was raining. Yes, we were golfing in the rain in Finland, well actually I wasnt golfing, I was the trusty caddy. I carried Henkka's umbrella, and Marru's and Henkka's putters. It was also my job to pick up the flag when they were putting. Marru's friend Raili and her husband were also with us. It was wet and gray, but I had a lot of fun, watching them play, and dancing around. I also went on a couple scavenger hunts with Henkka, when his ball was lost. I was skipping around and dancing while I was running around here and there. They played 13 holes, and I felt like I had walked 10 km by the end of the day. ... read more

The autumn is here. Colorful leaves cover the ground. The foggy mornings show no visibility. It's always raining and windy, yet its beautiful. I am happy -most of the time- but of course I smile even when I'm not...some other exchange students here have called me "unbreakable", and they say I am the perfect person for this adventure, perfect because I am always happy. I dont think they know me. The air outside is crisp and cold, but very refreshing none the less. I broke out my puffy winter coat early this morning and I walked out into the world looking like a little purple marshmellow. I wore two pairs of pants and warm wool socks; warmth is my first priority. I went walking today. I visited places I have never seen before. I explored. I ... read more

Today Dorothee and I woke up early and we BOTH got ready for school...yes school, on Saturday. In Finland each school is sapposed to have 190 days and this year the school board at Naantali Lukio messed up and only scheduled 189 days so we have to come to school on Saturday. I had to dress up in a nice outfit with my Rotary blazer because I was scheduled to give 5 foreign exchange presentations to my peers and the public. I was also scheduled to perform in the school play at the same time, 5 performances. AHH! Leena drove us to school and I went straight to the autotorium where we were setting up for the play. We performed the play 5 times throughout the day, each performance lasting around 30 min. There were three ... read more

This past week was "Test Week" at school, which means the 6 week period is over and all students are taking their exams. It started on Thursday. Each day there were a couple different tests, so somedays the students had off, if they weren't taking the test for that day. I had the entire week off because this period I wasn't taking any tests. The other two exchange students, Jana and Sylvia, also had the week off, so our "counslor" at school, Laila, arranged for us to work at Taimo Elementary school, teaching English to youngsers! We arrived on Thursday morning and worked for Mrs. Ulla Ora-Nikolainen. She taught five English classes a day, and we helped out in every way possible! We acted out in plays about princesses and slaying dragons, we got interviewed ... read more

I caught the Train to Loimaa today at 12:47. Emma drove me to the train station, we bought some chicken wraps for lunch, then I boarded the train. It was a nice, short 45 minute ride to Loimaa. I got off the train and met Danni and Eddie (eddie had come from Turku the day before). Danni had his bike but he walked with us to the "town center" (which barely exists...its a VERY small town, only 7000 people). We walked through a beautiful little park and headed toward Danni's house. It was around a 3km walk so it took us about 45 minutes. On the way we met one of Danni's old host brothers at a bus stop. We stopped and spoke with him for a while then walked the rest of the way there. ... read more