April 21st Spring in Finland

I've been having so much fun here since my last blog post! I have taken a second trip up to Lapland in Northern Finland, I have been skiing a few times but mainly I have just been enjoying the presence of the sun! For almost 4 months I saw the sun only a handful of times, and now it is out and shining every day!! I really did not realize how important the sun is to my over all mood until it came back out and put a big smile on my face! One thing I was missing from home was all the cool places I knew of to relax and watch the sunset, so I started going on adventures to find places like that here. As you can see I found a good one overlooking the castle in my town. I also was privileged enough to get to see the Aurora Borealis of Lapland, or the Northern Lights.

My Spring Break!

While everyone else was soaking up rays in some tropical "paradise" I was hanging out with my great host family and enjoying mother nature at her finest, deep in the Arctic Circle! We were all staying at my host family's cottage, which is almost at the top of Finland! Look on a map before you doubt how gnarly that is! I was relaxing and taking as much in as possible, going for walks each day and exploring as much as possible. One of the days we drove to visit my mother land, Norway. Unfortunately it was the only cloudy day we had on our entire trip, but we made it a good time! It was weird to think that at any given time I could be running into an aunt or uncle or cousin! Another day while we were there we went to a reindeer farm. That was the second time I have visited a reindeer farm but it was just as interesting as the first. One of the most memorable things I was able to do on my spring break arctic adventure was hold a wolf dog puppy! I dont know what it was about the little fella but I think knowing that one day he is gonna be a huge meat eating machine was pretty cool. Wolves are my favorite animals so to hold a little wolf dog pup was truly remarkable for me! Besides holding the baby beast, the northern lights I was lucky enough to see was my favorite part of the trip! We first saw them early in the evening and they were pretty remarkable, then we kinda stopped checking on them and went to bed. In the night I had to tend to some business outside cause there was no toilet in the cabin and boy was that a surprise! After finding a perfect tree that needed watering I realized it was really bright outside for being 3 in the morning and I looked up and saw the most colors I have ever seen in the sky! No picture can do them justice! It was truly being in the right place at the right time, I ran inside grabbed my camera and snapped that picture and a few minutes passed and they were back to just green lights. What was so crazy about them was I could actually hear them, there was a buzzing sound along with a kind of ocean wave sound. It was an out of this world experience!

I am heading to St. Petersburg, Russia in a few days so ill be sure to post about all the happenings there. Unfortunately my adventures here in Finland a dwindling, which makes me sad. I have learned more than any book could ever teach me here, it has been an inspirational and eye opening experience to live here. It is not over yet though, so until my next blog

One Love
Be Safe
Enjoy Today
Smile Often

March 14th

Well it has been almost 3 months since my last blog post, so I apologize for that. I always tell myself that I will update my blog more often but I never seem to get around to it. It has been an extremely busy  3 months, that is for sure. From Prom in January to the Ski World Cup last week, I have been jammed with activities and new experiences. Oh and my parents came to visit me for my Winter Break which was super fun!

Prom here is way different than the prom we have back in the states. Here in Finland we spent nearly 3 months preparing 7 or 8 dances. We learned how to Waltz and Tango along with a bunch of other classic dances. All the girls wore ball gowns and had their hair done very nice and all the guys wore tuxedoes. I felt like I needed to break into song every time I walked into a room cause I looked so official and I felt like Frank Sinatra! It was my first time wearing a tux so it took some time getting used to how high up my pants were. After getting ready though everyone from the school went to this dance hall and performed our dances, because I had two partners I had to perform it twice. It took about an hour each time we went through all the dances, which means I was dancing for 2 hours! There was 2 schools doing all the dances too, so there was probably 500 nervous kids dancing in the same room which quickly increased the temperature so it was SO HOT! Tuxedoes dont breathe either so I was dying by the end of it. Then it was picture time, so in all the pictures its after we all danced for 2 hours. I was kinda tired by the end to say the least. Then the next day was chaos! I had to go to 4 different younger schools to show off my new moves. Then ended at my current school to show the younger students what the dances look like. Finally when it was all said and done I had danced 7 times in 2 days. Then there was a huge after party with everyone at this event place that the schools rented out for all of us, it was super fun!

Then soon after the Prom, my parents came! It was incredible seeing my parents after 7 months away from them! I had this weird idea that it was going to be kinda odd seeing them and interacting with them after being away for so long but I was so wrong. As soon as I saw them it felt like I said good bye the day before, my Dad and I started talking about the difference in weather between Finland and home while my Mom chatted away with my host mom. We spent the first night exploring Helsinki and just enjoying each others company, even though we got lost and ended up eating at a Mexican chain bar/restaurant we still had a blast! The next day we took the train up to Hameenlinna, the city I live. My parents and I had dinner with both my host families so my parents could thank them for keeping me in one piece. It was extremely odd combining part of my life from Minnesota with my life here in Finland. When my parents met my friends here it was super fun for them to put faces to all the names in my stories I have told them! The next day we went back to Helsinki. We went to a fortress called Suomen Linna, it is an island off the shore of Helsinki. We walked around that for a while then went and met up with my homie Blaine who is from Colorado but lives in Helsinki for some dinner. The next day we left for Vienna, Austria!! We have good family friends who live in Vienna that we were staying with, so we were able to get a great private tour of one of the most beautiful cities ever! The first day there we just chilled and hung out cause we got in kinda late and we wanted to be well rested for our upcoming adventures. The second day we explored Vienna on foot all day! It was great seeing all the old architecture and history! The next day we woke up, had breakfast then jumped on the plane back to Helsinki. The rest of that day we spent in a small bar just talking about memories and the future it was a great relaxing evening spent with my two favorite people in the World. Then they left at 4 am the next day. Overall though it was such a great time spent with my parents!

I had one day after my parents left before I went 3 hours North to a city called Jyvaskylla to play snow rugby! It was the most fun but grueling sport I have ever played! The field was made up of chunks of ice and snow the size of basketballs when we first arrived so they brought in a bulldozer to break it up into volleyball size chunks. It was super fun though, because there were teams from around the world there. We had 4 games and lost them all but had a great time playing them. Then the after party was super fun! The tournament rented out some club in the city for all the rugby players to enjoy good food and dancing! The next day though I could barely move, but it was totally worth it!

Last weekend I spent with one of my best friends here in Finland. Her name is Marissa and she is also from Minnesota, its funny because we met here in Finland and connected on a Minnesota level. On Saturday in her town was a World Cup ski competition, with cross country skiing and ski jumping, so we went to that together with some of her Finnish friends. It is a nice change of pace when we hang out cause its like being in Minnesota when we are together. The ski competition was crazy though, absolutely insane how far the ski jumpers go! It was way cooler to watch it in real life than on tv.

Until my next blog
One Love

Surround yourself with positivity
Smile everyday
Live life the way you want to

Christmas and New Year in Finland (January 14th)

It was a busy holiday season here in Finland during the end of 2012 and beginning 2013. Many things have happened since I last wrote on my blog: I had Christmas at my summer cottage, brought in the New Year with many great friends, and lastly, I have recently moved in with a new host family.

Christmas at the summer cottage was so enjoyable and relaxing! The second day I was there I was able to going skiing at Sappee, a small but fun ski resort right by my summer cottage. It was so great starting the holiday season doing what I love. The next few days leading up to Christmas consisted of sleeping, going to the sauna and hot tub, shoveling snow, and preparing for the big day. On Christmas Eve we hung out and watched a Finland tradition on TV. The rules of christmas were read at 12 o’clock sharp. Then we ate a lot at dinner and went to the hot tub and after we opened presents! I worked up the courage to go swimming in a hole in the ice that we made during the day! It is something that is very popular here, kinda like the Polar Plunge or an ice dive. On Christmas day my host grandparents came to visit, which was very fun. I was also able to Skype with my parents back home and watch them open the presents I sent them. I even got to see my mother tear up while reading my card. It was hard being away from home on Christmas but it was made easier by spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day up at the cottage with such a great host family who made me feel so welcomed and loved.

Before I knew it, it was New Years Eve! It was such a fun night to spend here in Finland. I went to a good friends house to celebrate the end of 2012. We played games and sang karaoke, it was so much fun! After that we went to the center of town which is a meeting spot for all the kids to get together and have a good time while celebrating the past year and bringing in the new one. It was so fun to celebrate the bringing in of 2013 with my friends and almost all the kids from my school. 

Right now I am writing this blog from my new bed, in my new home. I spent the first 5 months of my exchange with the Rihkanen family, and I could not have asked for a better family to welcome me to Finland. My new home is an apartment in the middle of town, and I mean the middle! From my living room window I look out at the town center. It is very convenient being within walking distance from mostly everything. This new family is just like my other host family. I have a new host mom, new host dad and a new host sister who is 20, just like my other host family and also like my family back home! Oh and how could I forget Ines, the chillest little dog ever! I feel right at home already and I have only been here for a couple of days. I can’t wait to get to know this family better!

2012 was a terrific year, although it was filled with some extreme sadness and hard times, it was also filled with celebration and happiness throughout the year. I started 2012 in my home town in Minnesota with my best friends, and ended it in Finland with many new friends that I plan on keeping close to for years to come. The start of 2013 has been great, and if it’s any representation of the year to come I can’t wait!

For now, One Love
Be safe, live for today and maybe ill see you tomorrow