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!