The shouts and screams covered everything else, along with the beating of our paper fans against our thighs. We cheered, we chanted, we believed until the end. I've never in my life seen a game where the worse our team played, and the longer the game went, the louder the fans cheered. The stadium was just as full when we sat down to win the game as it was when we cheered them through the last 10 seconds of what was one of the worst games (I am told) of the team's history. Of course, having never watched any ice hockey, I had no idea it was a bad game until my host parents said they wanted to leave. I've never been one for watching sports in the first place, but last night was a really new experience for me. It was truly the most amazing experience because for the first time during my exchange I felt sad that this wasn't my own culture and I didn't get to live it every day. On the bright side, I feel a little more prepared for my move to Canada now, and I'm looking forward to watch some hockey next year in college!
Friday, March 22, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
A million things in a matter of weeks...
In the last month, a million things have happened. Maybe that's why I haven't written anything in a long time. I'll keep it to the major points though.
In February, my class celebrated their moving to the oldest class in the school by having a big dance. This is the normal kind of prom or spring fling that we have in the U.S. though... I mean big, princess dresses (I was one of two who didn't have a hoop skirt), boys with bowties and tailcoats, and, of course, balloons. First we trained, for a couple of months, practicing "old dances" like the waltz and the franseesi. Then, on the big day, we had four performances throughout the day for the elementary school, middle school, high school, and finally our parents. It was an incredible experience, and I was really thankful to my partner, Sebastian, who agreed to dance with me even though he's not in the same class as us.
What made the day even more special was the afterparty. We hired a bus to drive us to Kuopio, the big city near us, and joined hundreds of other students at a party in a hotel. There was a dj and some live performance by a Finnish rap artist I'd never heard of... But most importantly we were all together, and as a class I think everyone really bonded (me included!). Some of the people in my class who had never so much as looked me in the eye had long conversations with me about the most off the wall topics... It was a night of my exchange that I won't forget for the rest of my life. These are the moments that are most important to exchange students; the ones where we feel a part of the crowd.
A short two weeks after the dance, the Rotex in our district (Rotex is an organization for young adults who want to be active in Rotary but are either too old for exchange, have already done exchange, or don't want to do exchange) organized a winter weekend for us exchange students. So we packed our bags, skis and toppuhosut (snow pants) and three pairs of socks, and headed out for Siilinjärvi, a small town north of Kuopio. Me and a few other kids decided to do crosscountry skiing instead of downhill, so we set off on an afternoon tour of Siilinjärvi's country. We skiied a good four kilometers, through a farm and then back across the frozen lake (yes, we skiied ON the lake). Over the weekend, we had makkara, or sausage, and lots and lots of soup, and even more cookies and chocolate. It was good that we went skiing or else I'm sure everyone would have gained a couple pounds. Maybe we did anyway... Anyway it was nice to see other exchange students, and finally meet the new ones who came in January to our district from Australia and Brazil. I was especially happy to meet an Australian girl, Amy, who lives a short 20 minutes from my town!
Unfortunately, when the weekend was over, it was time for me to change families agian. Although it's always hard to say goodbye to host families, I was happy to find my way back into town. My new host family, with whom I've been living for 3 or 4 weeks, have been very generous and welcoming, much as my first two were. They live a different way than either of my previous families did, though, and for that reason I'm really happy I chose Rotary, one of the only programs that give students the oppportunity to be in more than one host family.
My host parent's names are Ilkka and Eeva, and they have one daughter who is studying at the university in Joensuu. My host father is an architect, and my host mom works at the bank. I've loved living in their family. They are both very active and engaging; we always speak in Finnish, and since moving there my Finnish has improved very much- though my English has gone the other way... We go skiing together and spend time at cottages (even though it's winter!). My host dad and my host sister's fiance made a hole in the ice for me at the cottage for me to try avantoon (jumping in the frozen lake!). It turns out, you can't actually swim in the frozen lake because it's too cold, and you have to wear a hat and gloves and socks while you do it, but it was such an amazing- and refreshing- Finnish experince. I think I might be doing it again before the spring really comes!
Sauna before avantoon...
My host parents also took me along to go ice fishing. It was a great learning experience, and I also realized that I have a weaker stomach than I thought. But no one will ever say I didn't try!
This past month has been filled with highs and lows, both associated with feeling truly at home in your host country. I'm only just realizing how important this experience has been to me, and how far I've traveled from the person who got on that plane seven months ago. It's true what they say- it's not a year in a life, it's a life in a year. And every day I know I'm a day closer to saying good bye to this life... But at least I still have three and half months of this amazing experience. Going home will be the hardest part of my exchange.
In February, my class celebrated their moving to the oldest class in the school by having a big dance. This is the normal kind of prom or spring fling that we have in the U.S. though... I mean big, princess dresses (I was one of two who didn't have a hoop skirt), boys with bowties and tailcoats, and, of course, balloons. First we trained, for a couple of months, practicing "old dances" like the waltz and the franseesi. Then, on the big day, we had four performances throughout the day for the elementary school, middle school, high school, and finally our parents. It was an incredible experience, and I was really thankful to my partner, Sebastian, who agreed to dance with me even though he's not in the same class as us.
What made the day even more special was the afterparty. We hired a bus to drive us to Kuopio, the big city near us, and joined hundreds of other students at a party in a hotel. There was a dj and some live performance by a Finnish rap artist I'd never heard of... But most importantly we were all together, and as a class I think everyone really bonded (me included!). Some of the people in my class who had never so much as looked me in the eye had long conversations with me about the most off the wall topics... It was a night of my exchange that I won't forget for the rest of my life. These are the moments that are most important to exchange students; the ones where we feel a part of the crowd.
A short two weeks after the dance, the Rotex in our district (Rotex is an organization for young adults who want to be active in Rotary but are either too old for exchange, have already done exchange, or don't want to do exchange) organized a winter weekend for us exchange students. So we packed our bags, skis and toppuhosut (snow pants) and three pairs of socks, and headed out for Siilinjärvi, a small town north of Kuopio. Me and a few other kids decided to do crosscountry skiing instead of downhill, so we set off on an afternoon tour of Siilinjärvi's country. We skiied a good four kilometers, through a farm and then back across the frozen lake (yes, we skiied ON the lake). Over the weekend, we had makkara, or sausage, and lots and lots of soup, and even more cookies and chocolate. It was good that we went skiing or else I'm sure everyone would have gained a couple pounds. Maybe we did anyway... Anyway it was nice to see other exchange students, and finally meet the new ones who came in January to our district from Australia and Brazil. I was especially happy to meet an Australian girl, Amy, who lives a short 20 minutes from my town!
Unfortunately, when the weekend was over, it was time for me to change families agian. Although it's always hard to say goodbye to host families, I was happy to find my way back into town. My new host family, with whom I've been living for 3 or 4 weeks, have been very generous and welcoming, much as my first two were. They live a different way than either of my previous families did, though, and for that reason I'm really happy I chose Rotary, one of the only programs that give students the oppportunity to be in more than one host family.
My host parent's names are Ilkka and Eeva, and they have one daughter who is studying at the university in Joensuu. My host father is an architect, and my host mom works at the bank. I've loved living in their family. They are both very active and engaging; we always speak in Finnish, and since moving there my Finnish has improved very much- though my English has gone the other way... We go skiing together and spend time at cottages (even though it's winter!). My host dad and my host sister's fiance made a hole in the ice for me at the cottage for me to try avantoon (jumping in the frozen lake!). It turns out, you can't actually swim in the frozen lake because it's too cold, and you have to wear a hat and gloves and socks while you do it, but it was such an amazing- and refreshing- Finnish experince. I think I might be doing it again before the spring really comes!
Sauna before avantoon...
After avantoon, outside!
My host parents also took me along to go ice fishing. It was a great learning experience, and I also realized that I have a weaker stomach than I thought. But no one will ever say I didn't try!
This past month has been filled with highs and lows, both associated with feeling truly at home in your host country. I'm only just realizing how important this experience has been to me, and how far I've traveled from the person who got on that plane seven months ago. It's true what they say- it's not a year in a life, it's a life in a year. And every day I know I'm a day closer to saying good bye to this life... But at least I still have three and half months of this amazing experience. Going home will be the hardest part of my exchange.
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