Nauttien pienistä asioista

The past few months in Finland have been like a roller coaster. Everyday has been so busy, my week consists of many different activities. My week begins with my school day starting at 10 and as soon as it ends at 2:30, I go to Spanish right after school for about an hour and a half and right after that I go to my Finnish lessons for another hour and a half. On Tuesdays I go to school then running practice. Wednesdays are my easier days because all I have is a Finnish lesson. Thursdays are the best, I have school then dance practice (for “prom”), then either a rotary meeting or volleyball practice or both. Sometimes my host brother and I will get Chinese food after volleyball then go to the gym. On Fridays, in the evening I have running practice then a young people night at the church. Saturday morning I have another running practice. On Sundays I just chill.

The “prom” is a lot different from the proms in America. Here it is called wanhat and you have a dance partner, every Thursday we have practice and so far we have learned 6 dances (I think..). We have 12 dances in total. On the day of the dance the dancers wake up around 6am to get their hair and makeup done and maybe even their nails. The dance starts around 8am and family, friends, and some lower level students will come to watch. The boys wear suits and the girls wear puffy dresses. My partner is 16 so he will also do the dance again next year. There are more girls than boys so a lot of boys dance twice, once when they are first years and once when they are in their second year of high school (there are only 3 years of high school here).

I am so excited because next Friday I leave soon for Lapland and I will get to go snowboarding, spend some time with other exchange students, go to lots of sauna, and hopefully see the northern lights!

My favorite things about being in Finland:

• the sunrises/sunsets
• the style (hair, clothes, design, etc.)
• saunas
• SO MUCH COFFEE!
• hockey.
• the education
• the candy
• the cars/mopeds/moped cars
• the language
• the fresh air
• the safety
• the parties

My least favorite things about Finland:

• the weather
• the dark

I love everything about being in Europe, it feels like a dream. My time here has gone by so fast I can’t believe I’ve been here almost 4 months. I miss my friends and family so much but I don’t want to leave Finland any time soon.