Seitsemänkymmentä Kuus

As I write this my day count is at 76.

Oh where did I leave off? I’m far behind very far behind. Well here to catch you up…

I’ve switched to my last and final family. I arrived to perhe (Family) Ojamäki on the 9th of April and I will be staying with them until I depart on the 12th of July. Here I live with My host parents; Teija ja Timo, my host sister; Roosa, and my host dog; Essi. I also have 2 older host brothers and an older host sister who don’t live at home. I also have two host nieces; Nelle ja the baby who will receive her name when she has her christening 

I’m having the hardest time to get my credit transferred from the new lukio (high school) I attend. I found out that I still needed two more classes of physics and math for my diploma, no problem! So I asked my school for me to take these classes so I can get my credit transferred and I felt like I was at DMV, honestly.

I ran the Color Obstacle Rush in Helsinki with the other Rotary exchange students and Fifi! It was this past Saturday and despite the cold and horrid rain, it was actually quite fun! I don’t think the run was very well organized (looking at the FB page just about everyone had the same thought) so  if I had just gone by myself I don’t think it would have been fun. Going with the other exchange students made it 100000% times so much fun! Did we run? Yes. Did we walk? Hell yes!

(Click on the images to make them bigger)

April 1st, I gave some more presentations to elementary schoolers and here are some photos from that! They were so adorable, they even made me this poster after I gave my presentation to their class! 

   

                           

On April 2nd I had my language test, and to put it short, when we had the speaking part and when I meant "think" (ajatella) I would say "aja" (drive) and the look on the lady's face reassured me what I'm saying made no sense. I get my results at the end of May/ beginning of June, so all I hoped for is that I got an A2. 

My ability to read Finnish has gotten so much better! Myös minun suomea kirjiotta on okei no on puhun

Pitäisiko mä kirjotta kaikki suomessa? Ei, en voin >.< 

Mutta HOLY CRAP THE SUN DOESN'T SET TILL 10 NOW!!!! LONG LIVE THE BRIGHT NIGHTS!

I've also officially enrolled into university!!

School Lunch:

I decided to take a picture of the school lunch for a few days at my school:

So this was rare day, we had breaded chicken! A lot of days there is no meat for lunch and most of the time not chicken. I also have here "salad" and scalloped potatoes. There is also bread and nakkileipa.

Here is spinach pancakes with lingum berries, mashed potatoes, and the salad, with of course nakkileipa with butter 

Here this is like a meat sauce and you eat this with your potatoes, here is also broccoli, and nakkileipa with butter.

Things to look forward too:

• School Ending
• Tallin
• Midsummer
• Stockholm
• Summer Cottage
• Vappu 
• Other things that I don't know of yet

Things that I'm not looking forward too:

• School Ending
• Saying goodbye to my exchange friends
• Saying goodbye to my Finnish friends
• Returning to Reailty (Still consdering that I'm just playing a VR game rn)
• Actually knowing what is going on

Here are some nice random pictures I will leave you with...

                                 

-Hailey

Rome: Part 1 Video

\Due to the length of just the first two days I've decided to split it into two parts. So here are pictures and videos from my trip to Rome!

https://youtu.be/JjLNkdYhFtA

The Last 100

There's only 100 days until I leave for the airport to return home. 100. It doesn't feel like that long, it feels like I should still have seven months left, but I don't. I've been here for 246 days, or for 8 months and a day.

I can't comprehend that in 246 days I will see my mom, sister, brother, and family again. I miss my dog oh so much and she is the one I miss the most! I don't want to leave my life here. Some of it is because I've forgotten how I lived and how my life went back in the US, some of it is is that I will have to return back to a life of responsibilty, and some of it is is that this is my life, I feel as though I don't belong back home. I've grown so much and I don't feel the same as I did when I left.

I feel as though I will be lost when I go back home. Driving on the same roads I did a year ago won't have the same feelings because rather I'm thinking of my friends and what they are doing and what would I be doing if I was still in Finland.

This isn't a long heartfelt post but I will say thank you to everyone who talked to me at school or whoever I came into contact with. Thank you for giving me good memories to take home with me and cherish forever. Exchange tears your heart into two; part wants to go home and the other part wants nothing more then to stay.

Here are some pictures from through out my exchange

Until Next Time.
Hailey

(click on the photo's to make them bigger)

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