Poland

During hiihtoloma (translation: skiing holiday) my host family and I went to Poland! Most families go up to Lapland for this time to go skiing or snowboarding, or some stay at home, and others use this break as a time to travel.

We arrived in Poland on the 21st of Februrary

After we got to our hotel in Krakow, we decided to walk around Krakow and see the life of the city. It was a bit of a sprinkle and it was refreshing to be somewhere new.


Day 2: Monday

Our day began with a 2 hour car ride with two ladies from Ireland to Auchwitz. This was a very impactful day for me. I can't put into words the immensity of emotions you feel when visiting. I've read many books in class and out of class about this place but being there and re hearing the things that happened there was a lot. I can't put much into words about the feeling I got but here are pictures that I took, so you can also bear witness in a way.


Day 3: Tuesday

Tuesday we were scheduled to go to Schlinders Factory at 10 am. For those of you who don't know who Schlinder is he was a Nazi offcial who helped saved hundreds of Jews from death at Auchwitz. It was another place I had been wanting to go and see for sometime. After Auchwitz we took a taxi to the old synagouge and went in and walked around in there for about 20 minutes. After this we walked back to the center and I meet up with a Rotary Exchange Student from Krakow, Maggie from Colorado. We hung out at a nice little cafe and talked about our exchanges and our lives in our new countries. After meeting up with her we went to go find my host parents and ended up running into them on our way to the mall.


Day 4: Wednesday

On Wednesday we walked to the Cathedral and Castle and had little audio tours around these places. I'm such a history nerd, since I had never learned of Polish history besides the fact that they had king and that was pretty much my knowledge of Poland until WW2. It was a bit creepy going into the cathedral and being able to walk to where the bodies of many kings/queens/ and saints lie.


Day 5: Thursday

On Thursday we left to come back to Finland. So there was nothing very speical, we ate breakfast, got our luggage, did a little last walk around Krakow and left soon after.

PICTURES!!

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Things about Poland:

I would also like to note the wonderful tasting breakfast at this hotel, I would not have expected it from there.

Things there are pretty cheap, I was honestly thinking how much I could buy if I went there on exchange (1USD= 3.6 zlottys)

Their food is pretty heavy.

They have many of the same customs as Russia

My next trip is to Rome on Friday!! I was hoping to have my American flag to take with me but it seems Posti (Finland's postal system) has lost track of it. Crying on the inside.

Sorry this post is so late, but better late then never?!

Until next time,
Hailey

114 Days Left

First off, before anything, I am writing this post for those who are going/ wanting to go on exchange, for my family and friends, and for anyone who wonders the true life of an exchange student. I'm not in anyway saying I want to go home or that I am unappreicative of being here, this is just the true feelings I have right now.

The other day I was waiting for the bus to take me to a friend's house and as I was waiting something hit me. I reliesed how comfortable I have became with living this life, living in Finland. I don't know how I will be able to adjust when I go home. Now the days I have left here are less then the days I've been here which means at that I;m no longer counting down the days since I've been here but watching the number of days I have left dwindle.

Your days on exchange arn't filled with endless adventures or constantly fun times. I haven't been the happiest here for the past few months, I've though about going home plenty of times. I've cried lots of tears but I've also smiled lots of smiles. I've had some really bad down times but also some times that made me so fucking happy that I'd forget that I'm a foriegner.

There is a part of me who wanted to go on exchange to get away from home, so I would no longer have to deal with the stress and hard times that that  life brought me. But the saying is true you can't runaway from home. I still feel the stress and constant worry that I did back home that only difference is is that I'm not there. Hearing the other day that my grandmother, who really means the most to me, has to have heart surgery scared the living daylights out of me. If something bad happens and I'm not there I don't think I could ever forgive myself for leaving. We all go on exchange knowing something bad could happen to someone we love but the fact that it could be reailty for me, is hard.

Anyway I only have 3 in a half months left so I will take advantage of the time I do have left. I'm not the best writer or blogger but I do try to do my best in writing.  Here are some pictures/videos of the past few weeks!

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Until Next Time,
Hailey