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!