December 11th (Lapland and Trade school)

Wow!! It has been way to long since I've updated my blog! My apologize to all interested in my journey here! I will keep more up to date from here on out! Lots has happened since October 18th! For example first snow fall, I was very pleased to see the same kind of snow here as back home in Minnesota! Also I went on a week long trip to Lapland, which is in Northern Finland. I went on this trip with about 125 other exchange students from around the world, who are all doing what I am doing here in Finland! It was an absolute blast of a time! Met some pretty awesome people and got to work on my Australian slang, I've almost got it down! I went christmas shopping and realized it cost an arm, a leg as well as a small fortune to ship anything of any size back to the states! All and all I have been really enjoying my stay here, each and every week I feel like I am making new life long friends here, and that is something I can not be more thankful for!

Here we go! Trip to Lapland!
It started with an outrageous 16 hour bus ride, in a bus jammed with 45 exchange students! Exchange students are a loud bunch of individuals making it very challenging to get any sleep over the entire ride! Once we got there it was -20 degrees C which I think is about 0 degrees F, so not to bad at all however one of my good friends who trekked here from Mexico was not so thrilled on this temperature! He kept asking me questions like, "Hey dude, is it normal for my nose to kinda hurt? Inside when I breathe there is ICE!? Is that okay?" and when I asked him if his feet were cold he smiled and looked at me and said "Nope, I have 3 pairs of sox on! Screw style man its cold!!!" However everyone seemed to be having a great time! I went skiing for 2 days while up there, it was barely skiing by my definition. There were 2 T-bars going up a single run, thats it. I was just excited to be skiing with my friends though.

The third day I was up there was a day I will never forget! It started with going to a reindeer farm and feeding reindeer and learning about the old and new ways of the farm! Super interesting! Then we went to this nature place and watched a video about the animals that live in Lapland! Also very cool! Then here is where it gets really interesting! We went to lunch, had meatballs, my favorite! Then we snowshoed about half a mile to a reindeer track where we got to ride behind reindeer! Sounds fun but it was actually kinda scary, cause they were semi-wild reindeer and there was no one leading them, they were suppose to just follow the trail! Then we walked some more to a Husky Farm!!! There were 400 huskies there! We were fortunate enough to get suited up and go for some rides on the sleds behind them! Such an amazing experience to be pulled by such cool animals! Got to see some puppies too!

The next day we got to go to meet the big man himself, Santa! Every kids dream, not even joking the real santa lives in Finland, look it up! I'm not crazy! Santa is real! Didn't get to meet any elves though, kinda bummed about that! It was really cool though! There were probably 15 gift shops in this 2 block area! To get your picture with the big guy too, they were asking for your life savings! So i just told him what I wanted, asked if I had been naughty or nice, even though I knew the answer! Then told him I would see him in a few weeks and that was that! Then hopped back on to the bus and drove to dinner. All 125 exchange students got to eat at some hotel place and then say our goodbyes. It was tough because some of these people I may never see again, and thats a big thought to rap your head around when your saying goodbye to someone! It was tough but once back on the bus it was fun and games for the next 16 hours until I got home!

I just realized while looking back at this post how many exclamation points there are. I guess I am just very excited to be here having so much fun! I'll get a new blog posted about how my Finnish Christmas goes!

For now, One Love
Be safe, and Enjoy Today

Traveling! October 18th

Hello again! Just got home from traveling to Helsinki and Stockholm! It was a great time and I wish I had more time to spend in both those incredible cities! I also had my last rugby game of the season this last weekend which was bitter sweet for sure. It was one of the most fun games of rugby I have ever played, and I also scored a couple times however I got pretty beat up and maybe cracked a few ribs. I would do it all again though for such a fun game! The reason I was able to travel this week is because I am on my fall break. Which is a random week in the middle of October where we don't have school. I don't really understand it but I am not complaining!

I went to Helsinki on Monday with my host family in the morning. We drove around looking at all the sites a foreigner would appreciate and enjoy. We went to the Olympic stadium from the 1952 summer Olympics. That was extremely interesting and its all original with wooden benches and no cup holders in site! Then we went to Stockman a department store with 8 floors! That was absolutely insane! We spent 2 hours in there and I was just walking around taking in how massive the place was the entire time. It has 3 restaurants in it, and I am pretty sure it was connected to a hotel! Oh and the parking was all underground and I think 4 different levels! I guess they do it big in Finland as well! Then it was time to board the ship. So we stood in lines for about an hour doing a bunch of different things before we could board. Finnish people really like standing in lines I guess. Once on the ship though it was very relaxing. There were different performers and stuff throughout the evening but other than that it was pretty mellow. I got to see last years winner of Finnish Idol perform, Diandra Flores, which was really fun! There was karaoke and many other fun crew ship like activities. Only downside to the cruise was the size of the cabins, I could touch the walls with both hands and 4 of us slept in there! But the beds were surprisingly comfortable.

Then before we knew it we were waking up in Stockholm! We went from the boat straight to the Metro so we could see old Stockholm first. The third picture from the top is a picture of old Stockholm, it reminded me a lot of Paris actually. The streets were very narrow and all the buildings were really old and esthetically pleasing with cool designs in the masonry. We walked around there for a while then made our way into the center of Stockholm. That was a lot like other big cities, big name brand shops everywhere mixed with touristy gift shops and local restaurants and pubs claiming THEY are the best. It was a lot of fun seeing another country though, I wish I had more than 6 hours to see it though.

We got back on the ship at around 4 and had a huge buffet dinner followed by of course a nap! Then the night began with some karaoke! There were two night clubs on the ship, one on the very top of the ship and one in the front of the ship. We pretty much moved in between those two clubs the entire night going from show to show. It was so much fun, I met some of the singers from the earlier shows, most of them were Russian but one was from Florida so that was super fun! I hung out with him and we talked about America and our experiences over here in Scandinavia, he was a real cool guy! By the end of the night my cheeks hurt from smiling so much and my stomach hurt from continuously laughing, I would call that a successful evening! Then we got back to Helsinki the next morning had a casual breakfast and headed home. It was a great experience traveling to these two great cities and I hope I can go back again soon.

For now keep smiling,

Enjoy today and be safe!

One Love

October 3

Since my last post its been nature nature nature! I've gone up to my summer cottage twice and spent a weekend exploring the nature around my house here! There is so much unexplored nature here in Finland it blows my mind! It is truly amazing what mother nature has created! I have noticed that the best way to think over any serious thoughts I have is by taking a stroll through the incredible woods near my house, it clears my mind right up and puts a smile on my face from ear to ear! I also had my first district conference this past weekend, which was extremely fun! I have been taking Finnish lessons twice a week so I am slowly picking up the language I think. Yesterday I played hockey in my sports class for the final test, and luckily my Minnesota roots pulled through and I wasn't the worst in the class! Each and every day I have been having more and more fun here! Still miss Minnesota but I think Finland will be a good home for the next 8 months!

The summer cottage is one of the best places in Finland I have been since I have been here! It is truly the most relaxing place in Finland! There is no agenda there other than remembering to keep putting wood in the sauna and hot tub ovens. Its just a place to go and think and relax, and I'm good at that! I went up there with my exchange buddy from California named Connor and we rowed across the lake to an island to explore, also went on some crazy cool walks during the day. At night we made raging bonfires and sat and sang songs by them, it was a good weekend. Then the following weekend I went up with my exchange friend from Colorado named Blaine and we went mountain biking all day Saturday at the ski resort by my summer cottage! That was a blast! That night we had a crab feast which was super good and really fun! We went on a really long walk that sunday around the summer cottage reflecting on our day of biking! I hope to go up to the cabin soon!

This weekend was the first district conference! Super fun seeing all the other exchange students from my district! We went to sauna and had a bonfire and went frisbee golfing! It was less than 24 hours long but so extremely refreshing hearing everyone else's stories of there exchange!

This week has been testing week so I have only gone to school for a couple hours, because I don't need to take the tests in most of my classes! Which has allowed me to go for runs almost everyday and explore more around my house! The sun has also showed itself a couple times this week which seems insignificant but when I have not seen the sun in roughly 2 weeks because of all the cloud cover it is very refreshing to see it!

I'll try to blog more frequently now!

Be safe and enjoy today, One Love!

September 10th

Since my last post I have been extremely busy! I went to a finish wedding that was both quite boring but also very fun! I also went on a field trip with my school to another town in Finland, where we visited some interesting design museums. This weekend I had a rugby tournament too. It didn't go as well as I would of liked but it was very fun!

There are some things I have been getting used to here that I have not been mentioning in my blogs. I forget to mention these things because they have just become second nature to me. Each morning I am woken up at around 6:30 or when the sun comes up by a rooster pheasant squawking outside my window! They are everywhere in my neighborhood! Also because I am not allowed to drive here I have to rely on my finish friends to get me places. I have become friends with a lot of my host sisters friends who is currently on exchange in New Mexico, and they are mostly girls. This leaves me riding on the back of girls mopeds 3 to 4 times a week! At first I felt extremely emasculated riding on the back of a girls scooter, but after being here for only a week I realized no one cares who is riding where because your all going to the same place!

The wedding I went to was pretty interesting. The service was pretty long or at least it seemed that way because it was in another language that I can barely understand. The reception was cool though, it was not like American wedding receptions though. There was only dancing for the last 45 minutes of the reception and it was all slow dancing, which isn't really my cup of tea. Pretty much the entire reception consisted of eating, talking, walking around between tables then eating more! I think there ended up being 5 total courses!

I was just interrupted while writing my blog by smoke seeping under my door to my room! Then I heard my host dad stomping around the house saying some not so choice words, and when I opened the door to my room (which leads right into the family room) I was greeted by the house being filled with smoke! They tried to start a fire in the fire place but something happened so the smoke wasn't going up the chimney but straight into the house! That made my average monday night pretty exciting!

Back to the wedding though! After the first 4 courses of really good meat and potatoes and salad and other delicious greens was the desert! The desert consisted of cake, coffee and Konyak! That was an interesting mixture! After we finished desert my 20 year old host sister and her cousin and I walked around the town we were in and went to a couple of clubs to end the night! It was overall a fun weekend and an enjoyable wedding!

Last week was an average week of school, nothing to special. However on tuesday last week I helped the principal to my school teach a gym class how to play softball! He thought I was the most qualified person to help him after finding out I played baseball for 8 years. It was a lot of fun though! Tomorrow with my rugby club we are helping the principal teach another gym class how to play rugby! The principal is so cool! One time he called out in the middle of the lunch room to me and the other exchange students asking us to join him for Finish baseball after school, and when we looked hesitant he yelled at us "Be there or be square, dudes" so we all decided it would be fun to join him! Finish Baseball is a crazy sport, I cant explain the rules so look them up if you want more details!

The rugby tournament was three hours away so we had to leave at 8 in the morning to make our noon game! I road up with the captain to our team and two members of the Finish army that play on our team so I heard some pretty cool stories on the way there and learned a couple of new finish words I probably wouldn't learn in school. We ended up playing 3 games as a team but I played 4 because another team was short players. I met some cool guys at the tournament, one guy from New Zealand, and a couple more from France. One thing I will never get sick of is the connection shared by rugby players world wide! I played pretty well for not having played for 4 months, but I do still feel each of the games!

Yesterday a fellow Minnesotan exchange friend came from a neighboring town to visit me and my buddy Connor from California here in Hameenlinna. We walked around the huge public park here called Aulanko, and explored the castles built in the 1800's with in the park! It was great fun and nice to see another Minnesotan! I'll never get sick of big Minnesota hugs!

Hopefully my next blog post will be sometime at the beginning of next week but we will see.

For now, Live life and be safe!

Getting into a schedule now (August 29)

I've been pretty busy since my last post! Rugby every monday and thursday night! We have a tournament coming up on the weekend of September 8th and 9th! Im very excited to play some games with this team! I also took a trip last Thursday with my host sister and her friend to the town of Turku, which used to be the capital of Finland. (the picture is an old church in Turku) I also met the parents to my host mother, and went to the famous iittalaa glass factory! I also went to the local pool this weekend with some of my exchange friends!

Turku was an incredible city with a ton of history, I'm so glad i got the opportunity to enjoy such a beautiful city! We went shopping in a huge shopping establishment as well as walked around the large city! There is a river that runs through the middle of the river that boats travel up and down.

On Saturday I met my host grandparents! They didn't speak any english which made hand motions, pointing and pictures our tools to communicate. They were extremely nice and welcoming! We ate so much food there because my host grandma kept bringing out more and more food. Then we went and picked apples in their back yard. It was a lot of fun and great to meet them! Saturday night I was invited to a party too with a bunch of Finish kids so I was able to make some new friends too that day!

Some exchange students and I on Sunday we went to the swimming hole! It has a high dive and two lower spring boards. There is also an area with jets and water features for massaging and playing with! It was a lot of fun and we are all glad we decided to go there.

I've been have a great time here so far! I do miss home but I feel like that is completely normal, and it is getting easier everyday to be away!

Enjoy today and be safe!

First week of school and Weekend at the summer cottage (August 20)

Hello Again! I have been extremely busy since my last post! I finished my first week of school last friday on the 17th, then I headed up to the summer cottage with my host mother and father for a relaxing Finish weekend.

On Friday at school though something interesting happened, there was a fire drill! However it was unlike fire drills that I am used to back home. While I was in the restroom I heard an announcement in finish and so I listened for any words I recognized and only heard a few, not enough to figure out what was being said. As I was walking back to class I ran into the principal of the school and he said to me "Gunnar right now is a fire drill so get out of the building now!" Without hesitation I found the nearest door and walked out of it to find the entire school watching that one door. As soon as I stepped out of the school I noticed a teacher press a stop watch then look at me. So I was the last student to leave the building. I just looked at her and said "Sorry I am an exchange student" and gave her a big American smile and walked into the group and tried to find someone I recognized.

After that day of school was over I headed home on the bus and then packed for the weekend at the summer cottage! packed everything except I forgot T-shirts so the whole weekend I had to borrow some from my host dad, turned out to not be a problem because he bought 45 of the same T-shirts last time he was in Thai Land and they are all at the cottage. We spent the weekend relaxing in the wood heated hot tub, going swimming in the frigid lake and sitting in the sauna! We did make a trip to IKEA though to pick up a chair for the cottage on saturday and that took half the day. Who knew IKEA was a day trip, I guess thats how they do it over here, we even ate lunch there. On our way back we stopped at an old car museum and that was really interesting. There were some similarities between the evolution of cars in Finland and America as well as some differences that I noticed. I was able to sleep until 12 every day and I enjoyed that a lot!

Tomorrow is my first rotary meeting so I need to polish my presentation tonight. I am very excited to meet all the people who are responsible for giving me this unbelievable opportunity here in Finland so I can show them how greatly thankful I am to be here!

Be safe and enjoy today

First Day of school (August 14)

Had my first day of school today! It went well, I have 3 other exchange students I know in my grade. I had school for 3 hours today total and one hour was eating lunch and another hour was a concert by the Zambian vocal collection. We all had great fun on the private tour we got. The school has 500 students and 5 floors. It is a high school, however here high school is only three years long.

Yesterday I went to that rugby practice I mentioned and it was a ton of fun! The average age of the team is probably 30, but only a few of them have played before so although they all have tattoos and are mostly bigger than me its hard to find them intimidating when they are always asking me questions about the rules, because this will be my 6th year playing.

I went longboarding as well yesterday for about an hour and a half around the neighborhood, it was a nice way to explore the area. I went 3 kilometers to the closest grocery store, walked around then headed home. It was a short but fun ride!

Be safe and enjoy today!

First few days (August 5 - 13)

Went to a language camp and met over 100 other Exchange students from around the world who will also be spending there year in Finland like me. That was a huge bonus because now I have connections all over Finland through other exchange students. It stays light here till approximately 10:30 (picture was taken at 10 PM over looking the lake the camp was on) every night and the sun comes up at around 4:30. During the language camp we visited the city of Tampere, which is the third largest city in Finland. Also during the camp we went in the sauna almost every night, we went from the 80 C sauna to the 15 C water which is a drastic difference!

My host family is extremely gracious and thoughtful, which makes it much easier to call this place home for the next few months. They have two daughters so I am there first boy, and I think someone told them boys don't stop eating because they are always putting food in my face and asking me if i hungry. We went to their summer cottage for a little bit the other day and me and my host dad went and checked his crawdad traps. We pulled out around 25 of the little buggers!

I start school tomorrow! I am excited but also very nervous! My job is going to be to make a bunch of good new friends. We will see how that goes with how quite all the Finns are. Good news is I found out there is a rugby club in my town though! However I can't plan on making friends my age through the club because it is a mens club and I think the youngest person on the team is 25. But the first practice is tonight at 7, so we will see how it goes.

I am very excited to begin my adventures in Finland, however I do miss plenty of people back home in Minnesota. But 10 months wont seem long at all, just yesterday it feels like my first day of high school and that was over 4 years ago, so 10 months is just a blink!

Be safe, and enjoy today!