Here is the Essay I wrote for FUSYE YFU at the end of the summer:
Not That Different
Megan Yeo August 3, 2009
One of the first expectations people create before traveling to a new country is how different everything will be. From the food and people´s appearances, to the weather and the how buildings are made, we expect every last detail to shock and amaze us with its newness. I had similar expectations before I came to Finland. However, the biggest lesson this summer has taught me is how the world and the people in it are not that different after all.
At the beginning of my summer in Finland, I was told again and again not to expect anything, and to take whatever came my way with an open mind. While this is good advice, I believe that imagining how something could be before you see it is human nature. Like most travelers then, I expected that everything down to the last second would be different in Finland. It was a another continent and a unfamiliar culture after all. When I arrived, it became clear that this was not true. Not every minute was action packed, not every conversation was unforgettable. Not every morning dawned beautiful and sunny, and the days were not without boredom. Minutes passed like minutes anywhere else, and it rained just the same. Although I had some truly amazing and unique experiences during the summer, the concept of Finland and home are constantly jumping in my face. It´s just life, no matter where you´re living it. You can´t always decide how it is going to go, but you can decide how you are going deal with it. This is something I understand now.
Before I came, I imagined myself in Finland as if from a bird´s eye view, clearly showing me in the middle of a foreign country. When I arrived, I found that the view was not that different after all. I felt the same as I did back home. There was no thunderclap, no amazing realization about where I was and who I was. I had not changed at all, not the way I imagined. The feeling brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:`Wherever you go, there you are´.
At first look, Finland is a world apart from Stafford Springs Connecticut, USA. However, when I became accustomed to life in Finland I stopped thinking "Oh, this is so new and exciting!". I simply accepted things as normal and they ceased to amaze. Then I saw the similarities, the biggest of which is in the people themselves. Now I know that wherever you go, in whatever country and whatever culture, people do not differ that much. Their customs, their clothes, their food, their language and their ideas may differ. But when it comes down to it, we are all the same. We all love and laugh and hate and cry, eat and sleep and dream, no matter who we are.
Regardless of how unchanged I felt at the beginning of the summer, I have changed along with my new perspective, and learned many things about myself. I know now that people see me differently than I see myself and that I must be aware of how my communication appears to others. I learned that I am strong enough to handle a foreign culture, and that I have much more to learn and many areas I still need to strengthen. From this summer in Finland I can see my own country, family, friends and life from the outside. This new view has shown me how precious and special my home is. Now I understand how important it is to make ´home´a broader term. Now my home is not only a little town in the USA, but a place in Finland as well.
When people at home ask me what Finland is like, I will probably rattle off a list of praises: " It is a beautiful, clean country, the food is amazing, the people are lovely and very quiet, the nation is well run, in the summer it is still daylight at 11 pm, and I love it!"
But what I might not say to my family and friends, is how I don´t think Finland or any other country for that matter, is that different after all. I would not be able to fully explain to them how a country halfway across the world could be the same as home. Because most of them haven´t seen, like I have, how even though cultures in general differ greatly, the people who make up those cultures are incredibly and wonderfully similar. When you work it down to the essence that is human beings, you see that no matter where on the globe you point to, the people living there are all kin. With that realization I can comprehend what a small place the world is, small enough so that when I have stretched myself across the globe, home and Finland are not that different.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I AM HOME! IN THE USA! IN MY HOUSE! WITH MY FAMILY! In case you didn't pick up on it, I am extremely happy to be home. I miss Finland, but I so caught up in the awesomeness of being home, that I don't really have time! The flights back home were uneventful, although the longest one ( 9 hrs, 5 minutes) seemed longer than the one going to Finland. When we got to the Washington Dulles Airport, and went through customs, the American citizens went through a fast moving line that was parallel to a super long and slow line of non- citizens. It was so awesome, in a mean sort of way I guess, but I felt so proud to be in my own country again! I got the biggest thrill while waiting in the airport for my flight to CT, because I discovered that I could eavesdrop again!!!! I could actually understand the conversations of the people sitting near me! It felt amazing... but it was a kind of relief to hear some people there speaking a language that I didn't understand, it required less thought! I had to say goodbye to the other kids in the group, I was so sad and it felt awful to say " have a nice life!" to them! We have became very good friends over the summer. Luckily some of them live close by so I can see them maybe sometimes. My family met me at the Bradly Airport in CT, complete with a 'welcome home Megan' sign! They are all so awesome looking, my brother has gotten taller and got some swimmers muscles, Beth is gorgeous, and Jamie looks older! Nene, my new exchange student from Japan is really nice too :) At home, I kept getting amazing thrills from seeing normal, old things in my home, like yesterday morning I got up and just stood in my room staring at my dresser, thinking how lovely it was! HAHA! The newly painted rooms are nice too, I love how they look. My mom is also talking about painting the kitchen too!
Today I am going to go to the beach with some friends and this week is going to be full of seeing people and catching up. Next week we will start school I think. I guess that my summer in Finland is over now. It is a strange feeling, knowing that that huge adventure is behind me now. It has taught me alot. It has changed me in little ways. It has opened my eyes and showed me how beautiful and incredible the world can be. It has taught me to cope and to fly in airplanes without freaking out. It has taught me how exchange students living in my home feel. It has taught me a whole summer load of stuff that I could go on and on and on about, but for now I will stop typing, and say good bye to all you faithful readers. Thank you for your support this summer!! Moi moi!
And here ends the blog of Megan Yeo, American Overseas Student to Finland in summer 2009 :)
Today I am going to go to the beach with some friends and this week is going to be full of seeing people and catching up. Next week we will start school I think. I guess that my summer in Finland is over now. It is a strange feeling, knowing that that huge adventure is behind me now. It has taught me alot. It has changed me in little ways. It has opened my eyes and showed me how beautiful and incredible the world can be. It has taught me to cope and to fly in airplanes without freaking out. It has taught me how exchange students living in my home feel. It has taught me a whole summer load of stuff that I could go on and on and on about, but for now I will stop typing, and say good bye to all you faithful readers. Thank you for your support this summer!! Moi moi!
And here ends the blog of Megan Yeo, American Overseas Student to Finland in summer 2009 :)
Friday, August 14, 2009
hello!
It is currently 2:16 in the morning, and I know I should be trying to get some sleep. I have to leave for the airport at 4:40 this morning, and my flight is at 6:55 am. I just had to write now though, despite the lateness of the hour and then level of my exhaustion, because I am leaving in a matter of hours after all.
Last night I was out late with Petra at a dance... I´ll tell you all about it in person, but it was great. Lots of dancing Finns and looooooooooooooooud music and I get to bed at about this time, 2:30 am. tonight I was out until 1 am at a concert... which was louder, if possible and all Finnish rap. Still, it was nice :) So, needless to say, with my evening adventures and then all the day time programs, I am strung out pretty thin. This afternoon I came back to Petra´s and tried to do some packing. However, I suddenly found myself having a total emotional breakdown... I totally lost it. Those who know me know that this happens sometimes, and Petra said that the same thing happened to her on the eve of her leaving too. So that made me feel better and actually the loosing it helped, in a strange way. This week has left me very confused. At the end of my stay with the Haanpää´s, I was very clear about what I liked, what I was looking forward to at home, and why I did things they way I so. I also thought I understood myself better and had worked out some of my kinks. After this week in Tallinn and Helsinki though, I am very confused about all of those things. I guess it comes from being with the other students, who are all more independent and comfortable with city life, as well as being with Petra. Those midnight jaunts are new for me! But I loved them and I want to get more comfortable with them. I think sometimes I think too much, and that confuses me. On another note, which sorta contradicts what I just said, I think I need to learn more practical things. I felt sort of stupid next to the other students, they seemed to come up with intelligent things to say and know alot about a broad range of subjects. I sometimes just nod and laugh and sit there with a question mark over my head. This is something I need to fix, any ones help will be welcome :=)
Some notable events that I was at during the last few days before I go close my eyes for a few blessed minutes:
I have gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affair Office, met the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb ( he is awesome by the way), I have gone to the Finnish National Archives Office and got to see some seriously huge books. I have learned about Finnish education systems, and heard some things that really made me think. I have visited the US Embassy in Finland... which was quite awful really. The board room we were in was old fashioned, stuffy, and smelled strange, and the lectures by the different ministers of the Embassy were boring and ignorant. I liked the Finnish Embassy MUCH better. I have gotten used to Finnish design in public buildings and such, and it was awful to be in that stuffy crowded room. But, the reception was nice, I really realized then how important and official this scholarship is... I met loads of important people and it made me feel important. Today we went to the Iittala factory, and got a wonderful tour of the factory, which was fascinating.
I already mentioned my evening and early morning so far... people at home: expect a really dead tired Megan when I get home.
This will be the last entry in the blog while I am writing from Finland. Can you believe it? I sure as hell can´t. What a summer though... I feel different in my mind sometimes... more mature, more accustomed to dealing with daunting things. But sometimes I feel just the same girl who left for Finland back on June 21, 2009.
Here I am, sitting at Petra´s computer at 2:35 in the morning on August 15, 2009, writing from Helsinki, Finland for the last time. I hope that it will not be the last time however. In fact, after the summer I had here, I am completely positive it will not be. My sleepy love to you all... xox Megan Gail Yeo
It is currently 2:16 in the morning, and I know I should be trying to get some sleep. I have to leave for the airport at 4:40 this morning, and my flight is at 6:55 am. I just had to write now though, despite the lateness of the hour and then level of my exhaustion, because I am leaving in a matter of hours after all.
Last night I was out late with Petra at a dance... I´ll tell you all about it in person, but it was great. Lots of dancing Finns and looooooooooooooooud music and I get to bed at about this time, 2:30 am. tonight I was out until 1 am at a concert... which was louder, if possible and all Finnish rap. Still, it was nice :) So, needless to say, with my evening adventures and then all the day time programs, I am strung out pretty thin. This afternoon I came back to Petra´s and tried to do some packing. However, I suddenly found myself having a total emotional breakdown... I totally lost it. Those who know me know that this happens sometimes, and Petra said that the same thing happened to her on the eve of her leaving too. So that made me feel better and actually the loosing it helped, in a strange way. This week has left me very confused. At the end of my stay with the Haanpää´s, I was very clear about what I liked, what I was looking forward to at home, and why I did things they way I so. I also thought I understood myself better and had worked out some of my kinks. After this week in Tallinn and Helsinki though, I am very confused about all of those things. I guess it comes from being with the other students, who are all more independent and comfortable with city life, as well as being with Petra. Those midnight jaunts are new for me! But I loved them and I want to get more comfortable with them. I think sometimes I think too much, and that confuses me. On another note, which sorta contradicts what I just said, I think I need to learn more practical things. I felt sort of stupid next to the other students, they seemed to come up with intelligent things to say and know alot about a broad range of subjects. I sometimes just nod and laugh and sit there with a question mark over my head. This is something I need to fix, any ones help will be welcome :=)
Some notable events that I was at during the last few days before I go close my eyes for a few blessed minutes:
I have gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affair Office, met the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb ( he is awesome by the way), I have gone to the Finnish National Archives Office and got to see some seriously huge books. I have learned about Finnish education systems, and heard some things that really made me think. I have visited the US Embassy in Finland... which was quite awful really. The board room we were in was old fashioned, stuffy, and smelled strange, and the lectures by the different ministers of the Embassy were boring and ignorant. I liked the Finnish Embassy MUCH better. I have gotten used to Finnish design in public buildings and such, and it was awful to be in that stuffy crowded room. But, the reception was nice, I really realized then how important and official this scholarship is... I met loads of important people and it made me feel important. Today we went to the Iittala factory, and got a wonderful tour of the factory, which was fascinating.
I already mentioned my evening and early morning so far... people at home: expect a really dead tired Megan when I get home.
This will be the last entry in the blog while I am writing from Finland. Can you believe it? I sure as hell can´t. What a summer though... I feel different in my mind sometimes... more mature, more accustomed to dealing with daunting things. But sometimes I feel just the same girl who left for Finland back on June 21, 2009.
Here I am, sitting at Petra´s computer at 2:35 in the morning on August 15, 2009, writing from Helsinki, Finland for the last time. I hope that it will not be the last time however. In fact, after the summer I had here, I am completely positive it will not be. My sleepy love to you all... xox Megan Gail Yeo
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
hello all!
I am aware that you all have been waiting for another post, and that I have been really lazy in the last few days. I do however have excuses ( I broke the computer turn on button, which was awful and I felt horrible but it was fixed eventually, and then the Internet was super slow.) I wanted to write on Sunday, seeing as it was the day I left, but I didn´t get to. So I will have to write a short ( ha) over view of the last few days, which have been some of the most amazing so far!
Thursday we went to visit Äiti´s sister and family, ate snacks with them, and then went to the horse races down the road. It was really exciting, because one of their friend´s horses was racing, and came in third place! Äiti´s sister bet 3 euros on that horse and won a few more euros when it got third. She gave me the 10 cent coin as a ´lucky coin´haha. Friday we went to the amusement park Säarkkänniemi, where I rode my first real roller coasters. One was called ´Tornado´and it was fantastically scary! That was a fun day. Saturday, well nothing special, just hanging around the house and packing a little. Sunday, my last day, I finished packing, and prepared to leave... I also fell on my bike and skinned my knee really really bad... it has a huge sore spot and i am sure it will scar a little! It has caused my some discomfort during the last few days...! Sunday evening was great... we had a traditional Finnish summer meal for dinner, and then the family surprised me by announcing that they wanted to try making snores again, even after the horrible mishap from the first time. So we did them again, with great success and happiness all round. Then they gave me a Mummin mug, with four chocolate bars in it... I was sooo happy... oh and a card too. Then the girls acted out some little skits for me, which was adorable, and I taught then some that I knew. Then sauna... which was extra nice because Ilona came with me this time, and we had a great talk about everything... including how she felt now and thought now after having me for the summer. Then I said goodbye to the girls, and went to bed. I got up at 4:30 the next morning, Simo drove me to the train in Tampere, and off I went to Helsinki! The train was fantastic, because it was so smooth you could barely feel that you were moving! Petra´s mom met me off the train, and I went to the port where the other kids were. It was amazing, talking to them... all through the Tallinn trip we swapped stories, and talked up a storm. I learned that they all had similar problems and adventures as I had had! We got on the ferry, and off to Estonia. The Tallinn trip was well worth the 120 euros I spent for it... nothing has ever been so amazing. The place where we got off the boat was totally different looking form Finland, there were tons of ruins from the Soviet Occupation, crumbling buildings and sidewalks etc. Further into the city though was beautiful. There is the new city, which is slowly being rebuilt to be all modern looking... all glass buildings and such. There are the malls and the allys and the city looking areas. Then there is an aciant wall ( called the city wall) that separates that part form the old city, which really is a huge tourist attraction. But I know now why, because it was totally and completely beautiful. Old old buildings with red roofs, made of plasterish stuff of brick, beautiful cobble stone streets, tons of gorgeous shops, dozens of fantastic churches, and looooads of beautiful people. It felt like a place straight out of a fairytale, I have never seen a more beautiful city. We went on a 3 hour walking tour there with the Estonian guides who had been exchange students themselves. So many churches, and streets and shops and museums, all so little and beautiful and closely packed. IT really was a perfect old European town. I could feel the centuries of history I was walking on! We climbed the steeple of a church, up a tiny tiny stone spiral staircase, which was quite scary because you were always afraid you´d fall! The view from the top was amazing, I could clearly see the change from the new city to the old city. Then we walked to the upper part of the old city, where you could see the whole thing laid out below. Dinner was at a African Kitchen restaurant ( very funny, African food in Estonia) which was hilarious... the room was like a cave almost, painted with African designs and with couches instead of seats! We stayed up super late talking and finally slept ( in the hotel in the new town). The next morning( this morning) we ate breakfast in the hotel and then went off for our three hours of free time. I met Stina at the hotel, and she took me shopping in Tallinn! It was amazing seeing her. So strange though, because we´d just seen each other in Stafford Springs, and now I was there in her home town IN ESTONIA! She couldn't´t get over the thought, and kept repeating it. We shopped ( I bought presents!!!) and had a really really great time. She left me outside a hotel with the group and we went off the lunch at a Cafe Tao ( ha ha, another foreign restaurant). After that we had some more free time, so four of us went back to the old town to buy some flowers and sat in a cafe for a while. The weather was lovely and the place was heavenly. Then back tot he ferry, and back to Finland. Petra´s family met me at the port, and took me to a nice restaurant for dinner. I am currently in Petra´s room, at her computer and practically falling asleep on the keyboard! It is incredible to be here, in her home, since she has spent so much time in my home in the US. These past few days have been a whirlwind of change and movement... but I am not scared by it. I know I would have been just a few months ago, but now I can handle it. There was a moment on the train from Tampere on Monday morning where I was filled with such a thrill... I as going somewhere, I didn´t know exactly where or what to expect, but I was going and I was loving it. I guess that is the travel bug! love to you all... I´ll try to write soon.
Megan
p.s. please forgive the spelling errors, I am DEAD TIE RD. DEAD I tell you :)
I am aware that you all have been waiting for another post, and that I have been really lazy in the last few days. I do however have excuses ( I broke the computer turn on button, which was awful and I felt horrible but it was fixed eventually, and then the Internet was super slow.) I wanted to write on Sunday, seeing as it was the day I left, but I didn´t get to. So I will have to write a short ( ha) over view of the last few days, which have been some of the most amazing so far!
Thursday we went to visit Äiti´s sister and family, ate snacks with them, and then went to the horse races down the road. It was really exciting, because one of their friend´s horses was racing, and came in third place! Äiti´s sister bet 3 euros on that horse and won a few more euros when it got third. She gave me the 10 cent coin as a ´lucky coin´haha. Friday we went to the amusement park Säarkkänniemi, where I rode my first real roller coasters. One was called ´Tornado´and it was fantastically scary! That was a fun day. Saturday, well nothing special, just hanging around the house and packing a little. Sunday, my last day, I finished packing, and prepared to leave... I also fell on my bike and skinned my knee really really bad... it has a huge sore spot and i am sure it will scar a little! It has caused my some discomfort during the last few days...! Sunday evening was great... we had a traditional Finnish summer meal for dinner, and then the family surprised me by announcing that they wanted to try making snores again, even after the horrible mishap from the first time. So we did them again, with great success and happiness all round. Then they gave me a Mummin mug, with four chocolate bars in it... I was sooo happy... oh and a card too. Then the girls acted out some little skits for me, which was adorable, and I taught then some that I knew. Then sauna... which was extra nice because Ilona came with me this time, and we had a great talk about everything... including how she felt now and thought now after having me for the summer. Then I said goodbye to the girls, and went to bed. I got up at 4:30 the next morning, Simo drove me to the train in Tampere, and off I went to Helsinki! The train was fantastic, because it was so smooth you could barely feel that you were moving! Petra´s mom met me off the train, and I went to the port where the other kids were. It was amazing, talking to them... all through the Tallinn trip we swapped stories, and talked up a storm. I learned that they all had similar problems and adventures as I had had! We got on the ferry, and off to Estonia. The Tallinn trip was well worth the 120 euros I spent for it... nothing has ever been so amazing. The place where we got off the boat was totally different looking form Finland, there were tons of ruins from the Soviet Occupation, crumbling buildings and sidewalks etc. Further into the city though was beautiful. There is the new city, which is slowly being rebuilt to be all modern looking... all glass buildings and such. There are the malls and the allys and the city looking areas. Then there is an aciant wall ( called the city wall) that separates that part form the old city, which really is a huge tourist attraction. But I know now why, because it was totally and completely beautiful. Old old buildings with red roofs, made of plasterish stuff of brick, beautiful cobble stone streets, tons of gorgeous shops, dozens of fantastic churches, and looooads of beautiful people. It felt like a place straight out of a fairytale, I have never seen a more beautiful city. We went on a 3 hour walking tour there with the Estonian guides who had been exchange students themselves. So many churches, and streets and shops and museums, all so little and beautiful and closely packed. IT really was a perfect old European town. I could feel the centuries of history I was walking on! We climbed the steeple of a church, up a tiny tiny stone spiral staircase, which was quite scary because you were always afraid you´d fall! The view from the top was amazing, I could clearly see the change from the new city to the old city. Then we walked to the upper part of the old city, where you could see the whole thing laid out below. Dinner was at a African Kitchen restaurant ( very funny, African food in Estonia) which was hilarious... the room was like a cave almost, painted with African designs and with couches instead of seats! We stayed up super late talking and finally slept ( in the hotel in the new town). The next morning( this morning) we ate breakfast in the hotel and then went off for our three hours of free time. I met Stina at the hotel, and she took me shopping in Tallinn! It was amazing seeing her. So strange though, because we´d just seen each other in Stafford Springs, and now I was there in her home town IN ESTONIA! She couldn't´t get over the thought, and kept repeating it. We shopped ( I bought presents!!!) and had a really really great time. She left me outside a hotel with the group and we went off the lunch at a Cafe Tao ( ha ha, another foreign restaurant). After that we had some more free time, so four of us went back to the old town to buy some flowers and sat in a cafe for a while. The weather was lovely and the place was heavenly. Then back tot he ferry, and back to Finland. Petra´s family met me at the port, and took me to a nice restaurant for dinner. I am currently in Petra´s room, at her computer and practically falling asleep on the keyboard! It is incredible to be here, in her home, since she has spent so much time in my home in the US. These past few days have been a whirlwind of change and movement... but I am not scared by it. I know I would have been just a few months ago, but now I can handle it. There was a moment on the train from Tampere on Monday morning where I was filled with such a thrill... I as going somewhere, I didn´t know exactly where or what to expect, but I was going and I was loving it. I guess that is the travel bug! love to you all... I´ll try to write soon.
Megan
p.s. please forgive the spelling errors, I am DEAD TIE RD. DEAD I tell you :)
Monday, August 3, 2009
hello!
Sorry for the long wait, but this has been a very busy weekend and it is hard to keep up. A brief overview: Tuesday we went to Moomin world, like a fairytale world for little kids. It was crowded with small people and their parents, and very enjoyable to me too! Wednesday we walked around the town of Naantali, which is the perfect picture of an old European town. We ate ice cream there and bought several trinkets in little shops! Thursday we went to visit Ilona´s godparents at their summer lake home. It was really lovely, overlooking a blue lake, and we ate delicious food and talked. The daughter Tiina showed me some pictures she took of Pete Parkkonen and other artists whose concerts she´d been at. Friday was Anssi´s 20th birthday! Äiti baked him a cake, and then we packed up and left for the weekend so he could invite some friends over. We went to a very nice camping place near. I have pictures of the sea of campers parked between the pine trees, it is really something! We swam in the heated pool and went to sauna many times. There was a huge water slide as well, that was fun! It rained most of the afternoon on Friday, but there is something very lovely and exciting about swimming in the rain, so I didn´t mind. That night we had a nice meal together, and I felt suddenly much closer to the family. We were joking and laughing and teaching each other words. We have a joke that what we speak most of the time ( when I´m around anyway) is called ´Finnglish´. In Finnglish you would say ´could you please pass the maito ´( milk) or ´makes sure you go to vesa before we leave´( vesa is bathroom)! That evening was one of the most fun I have had... there was a disco for the teens there! It went from 9:30 pm until 1 am... by the end of the night I had been dancing for almost 4 1\2 hours straight! It was a very curious thing really: When we first got there, there were lights and music and everything fabulous, but no one was dancing. The walls were lined with Finnish teens ( and preteens) sitting on benches in little clumps, totally ignoring the music! I couldn´t, I was bouncing in place, but I didn´t want to be the only person dancing. I finally convinced Ilona and made her promise to come dance when there were more people out on the floor, and FINALLY we danced. I felt so free and happy, there is really no way to describe the feeling. Sometimes we were the only people dancing, ( me, Ella, Ilona, Heli, and a girl named Julia who we met there) but I didn´t mind. Something about being the only American there empowered me to not be shy, and I have never danced for so long at one time, ever! The Finns danced with us, and one guy asked to slowdance with me 6 times by the end of the night! HA! Anyway it was a blast! Sunday we drove home and watched ´Freaky Friday´until nearly midnight.
Today has been really great, although I didn´t do much at all. Äiti had to go to work, so we all slept in and took our time doing everything. I call it a soul-resting day... <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">aren´t that different from each other, and that realizing that makes the world seem much smaller. I will post the essay in the last blog post. It´s so strange, knowing I am going to leave the Haanpää´s home next week. Actually, next week I will be in Tallinn by this time! How the summer has flown by so fast, I´ll never know. I do know however that it has been amazing and incredible and unforgettable. I will try to write more in the next few days, as they will be action packed and worth writing about. Now I will go out in the sun and feel happy :)
This is the poem I wrote to reflect the feeling of the Finnish silence. It is something that I like very much, and wish more people at home knew the beauty of it.
The Melody of Silence
I thought I heard a bit of music,
When I opened up the door.
But when I strained my ear to hear it,
I found it was no more.
And not again did it drift,
Upon my waiting ear.
For it was the Melody of Silence,
Which I had loved to hear.
That little song of quiet,
So simple, sweet and clean.
I long to hear again someday,
When Peaceful Thought is Queen.
Megan Yeo
Sorry for the long wait, but this has been a very busy weekend and it is hard to keep up. A brief overview: Tuesday we went to Moomin world, like a fairytale world for little kids. It was crowded with small people and their parents, and very enjoyable to me too! Wednesday we walked around the town of Naantali, which is the perfect picture of an old European town. We ate ice cream there and bought several trinkets in little shops! Thursday we went to visit Ilona´s godparents at their summer lake home. It was really lovely, overlooking a blue lake, and we ate delicious food and talked. The daughter Tiina showed me some pictures she took of Pete Parkkonen and other artists whose concerts she´d been at. Friday was Anssi´s 20th birthday! Äiti baked him a cake, and then we packed up and left for the weekend so he could invite some friends over. We went to a very nice camping place near. I have pictures of the sea of campers parked between the pine trees, it is really something! We swam in the heated pool and went to sauna many times. There was a huge water slide as well, that was fun! It rained most of the afternoon on Friday, but there is something very lovely and exciting about swimming in the rain, so I didn´t mind. That night we had a nice meal together, and I felt suddenly much closer to the family. We were joking and laughing and teaching each other words. We have a joke that what we speak most of the time ( when I´m around anyway) is called ´Finnglish´. In Finnglish you would say ´could you please pass the maito ´( milk) or ´makes sure you go to vesa before we leave´( vesa is bathroom)! That evening was one of the most fun I have had... there was a disco for the teens there! It went from 9:30 pm until 1 am... by the end of the night I had been dancing for almost 4 1\2 hours straight! It was a very curious thing really: When we first got there, there were lights and music and everything fabulous, but no one was dancing. The walls were lined with Finnish teens ( and preteens) sitting on benches in little clumps, totally ignoring the music! I couldn´t, I was bouncing in place, but I didn´t want to be the only person dancing. I finally convinced Ilona and made her promise to come dance when there were more people out on the floor, and FINALLY we danced. I felt so free and happy, there is really no way to describe the feeling. Sometimes we were the only people dancing, ( me, Ella, Ilona, Heli, and a girl named Julia who we met there) but I didn´t mind. Something about being the only American there empowered me to not be shy, and I have never danced for so long at one time, ever! The Finns danced with us, and one guy asked to slowdance with me 6 times by the end of the night! HA! Anyway it was a blast! Sunday we drove home and watched ´Freaky Friday´until nearly midnight.
Today has been really great, although I didn´t do much at all. Äiti had to go to work, so we all slept in and took our time doing everything. I call it a soul-resting day... <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">aren´t that different from each other, and that realizing that makes the world seem much smaller. I will post the essay in the last blog post. It´s so strange, knowing I am going to leave the Haanpää´s home next week. Actually, next week I will be in Tallinn by this time! How the summer has flown by so fast, I´ll never know. I do know however that it has been amazing and incredible and unforgettable. I will try to write more in the next few days, as they will be action packed and worth writing about. Now I will go out in the sun and feel happy :)
This is the poem I wrote to reflect the feeling of the Finnish silence. It is something that I like very much, and wish more people at home knew the beauty of it.
The Melody of Silence
I thought I heard a bit of music,
When I opened up the door.
But when I strained my ear to hear it,
I found it was no more.
And not again did it drift,
Upon my waiting ear.
For it was the Melody of Silence,
Which I had loved to hear.
That little song of quiet,
So simple, sweet and clean.
I long to hear again someday,
When Peaceful Thought is Queen.
Megan Yeo
Monday, July 27, 2009
I have a bit of catching up to do I think! Even though it has only been a few days, much of interest has happened in those days that is worth writing about!
Saturday: Petra and her mother and father came for a visit! I surprised myself and started crying when I saw her, it was like hugging a little piece of home and it caught me off guard. We ate some lovely food, talked for a long time, took a walk and talked some more! It was blissful speaking to her in English and hearing about how she has been adjusting to being home. I will stay at her house while I am in Helsinki, something I am thrilled about. We have all sorts of plans! I might even be able to see Stina in Tallinn too while I´m there which would be brilliant!
Sunday: Me and Äiti went to church. It was a beautiful old church, yellow and white on the outside and painted all white inside. There was a huge silver organ, a gigantic painting of Christ, and several ships hanging from the ceiling. They were there to represent how we are all ´in one boat with God´. That Sunday was special because there was a group of young teens having their confirmation ceremony. The church was packed with family and godparents, all dressed up like for a wedding. The kids were dressed in long white robes, and paraded in carrying a huge cross. There were hymns, and prayers, and the normal things ( except in Finnish!). The confirmation bit was very quick, each teen was blessed by the priest while their godparents stood by. Even though there were about 25 kids, it was over quickly. Then communion, which I took part in. The wine was real and the bread wafer stuck to the roof of my mouth! Note of interest: the wine was the most unpleasant thing I have ever tasted!!! After the ceremony the teens all have huge parties, Ilona went to a friend´s that afternoon. I am describing it all in such detail because it was a Finnish church after all. The denomination ( I guess) was Lutheran, but more than that I´m not sure. After church we ate and then got ready for a total change of gear... the concert!!!!!! I have one word for you: WOW. Wow as in loud, wow as in yikes, wow as in exciting and wow as in I loved it! First there was Pete Parkkonen and his back up band. He was amazing ( and cute...) !! They danced and yelled and screamed and were really great performers. He even sang ´Womanizer´ by Britney Spears, and did it well too! The fans for Pete ( which you say Peh-tay btw) were mostly young teen girls, although the park was packed with families. For the next performer however, it got even more packed, if that was possible! Popeda, a boy band that had been playing together for 30 years is HUGELY popular in Finland, and the fans crowding to the stage for their show were much much older. And much younger too, which surprised me. There were old men dancing there, teens sitting on each others shoulders and whooping, and little girls standing on chairs and singing along! I didn´t like them as much, maybe because they sang in Finnish, and maybe because they were around 45 years old!! But the park was full of dancing, clapping Finns! Afterwards I couldn´t hear properly, it was so LOUD! I got an autograph and a hug (!!) from Pete, and a picture with the bass guitar player, who had really awesome long blonde hair! Happy me lol.
Today( Monday): Not much really, but I went blueberry picking! Not at a farm of somewhere like that, but actual, Finnish style berry picking... in woods. There was miles ( it felt like) of bushes, inbetween tall redbrown pine trees...we picked about 2 buckets full! Then at home I tasted ´blueberry milk´, a Finnish treat ( Blueberries, covered in sugar, drowned in milk and consumed.. yummm). Äiti also made a blueberry pie! Whoo hoo! Tomorrow we leave in the morning for the Moomin world near Turku. I´m not thrilled about being in the car again, but I think I will have a blast anyway.
Saturday: Petra and her mother and father came for a visit! I surprised myself and started crying when I saw her, it was like hugging a little piece of home and it caught me off guard. We ate some lovely food, talked for a long time, took a walk and talked some more! It was blissful speaking to her in English and hearing about how she has been adjusting to being home. I will stay at her house while I am in Helsinki, something I am thrilled about. We have all sorts of plans! I might even be able to see Stina in Tallinn too while I´m there which would be brilliant!
Sunday: Me and Äiti went to church. It was a beautiful old church, yellow and white on the outside and painted all white inside. There was a huge silver organ, a gigantic painting of Christ, and several ships hanging from the ceiling. They were there to represent how we are all ´in one boat with God´. That Sunday was special because there was a group of young teens having their confirmation ceremony. The church was packed with family and godparents, all dressed up like for a wedding. The kids were dressed in long white robes, and paraded in carrying a huge cross. There were hymns, and prayers, and the normal things ( except in Finnish!). The confirmation bit was very quick, each teen was blessed by the priest while their godparents stood by. Even though there were about 25 kids, it was over quickly. Then communion, which I took part in. The wine was real and the bread wafer stuck to the roof of my mouth! Note of interest: the wine was the most unpleasant thing I have ever tasted!!! After the ceremony the teens all have huge parties, Ilona went to a friend´s that afternoon. I am describing it all in such detail because it was a Finnish church after all. The denomination ( I guess) was Lutheran, but more than that I´m not sure. After church we ate and then got ready for a total change of gear... the concert!!!!!! I have one word for you: WOW. Wow as in loud, wow as in yikes, wow as in exciting and wow as in I loved it! First there was Pete Parkkonen and his back up band. He was amazing ( and cute...) !! They danced and yelled and screamed and were really great performers. He even sang ´Womanizer´ by Britney Spears, and did it well too! The fans for Pete ( which you say Peh-tay btw) were mostly young teen girls, although the park was packed with families. For the next performer however, it got even more packed, if that was possible! Popeda, a boy band that had been playing together for 30 years is HUGELY popular in Finland, and the fans crowding to the stage for their show were much much older. And much younger too, which surprised me. There were old men dancing there, teens sitting on each others shoulders and whooping, and little girls standing on chairs and singing along! I didn´t like them as much, maybe because they sang in Finnish, and maybe because they were around 45 years old!! But the park was full of dancing, clapping Finns! Afterwards I couldn´t hear properly, it was so LOUD! I got an autograph and a hug (!!) from Pete, and a picture with the bass guitar player, who had really awesome long blonde hair! Happy me lol.
Today( Monday): Not much really, but I went blueberry picking! Not at a farm of somewhere like that, but actual, Finnish style berry picking... in woods. There was miles ( it felt like) of bushes, inbetween tall redbrown pine trees...we picked about 2 buckets full! Then at home I tasted ´blueberry milk´, a Finnish treat ( Blueberries, covered in sugar, drowned in milk and consumed.. yummm). Äiti also made a blueberry pie! Whoo hoo! Tomorrow we leave in the morning for the Moomin world near Turku. I´m not thrilled about being in the car again, but I think I will have a blast anyway.
Friday, July 24, 2009
good afternoon from Finland...! It´s about 2:30 pm here, it´s very strange to think that at home it is about 7:30 in the morning, and eveyone just opening thier eyes...
I am relaxed in sweat pants and a tank top, complete with a mug of tea. Ilona is out with Anssi looking at scooters, Ella has a friend over, Heli is at a friends´ and Marjut is doing laundry and such. I took bike ride this morning to the mall... only to turn around when I got there and go home again. I had forgotten the bike lock and so couldn´t go into the stores. Not that I could buy anything anyway, but just to people watch . Oh well, I got some good sweaty excersize! The wind seemed to be trying to blow me off the bike as I went, quite annoying. Tomorrow Ilona wants to go to the mall anyway, so I will go along. Later Petra and her family are coming for dinner... this is a common thing in Finnish summers, having friends over for dinner. And as I found the other night, it is very pleasant. Sunday we are thinking about going to church ( more on that later) and then there is a park concert in the afternoon. Tuesday we will leave for the proposed plan I mentioned a few days ago, except now we aren´t going to Helsinki because Petra is coming here!
I´ve been trying to figure some things out in my head today, not all of them are clear enough thoughts that they will make any sense written here. Just a muddle of feelings and phrases. I´ve been thinking about how everyone at home thinks of me, like I´m off on a gigantic adventure. Well, I guess I am, but really.. well not every minute is action packed, not every conversation is unforgetable. Not every moring dawns beautiful and sunny, and the days are not without bordom. Minutes pass like minutes anywhere else, and it rains just the same. I know I have covered this subject very well in previous posts, but it is one that is constantly jumping at my face. It´s just life, no matter where you´re living it. You can´t always decide how it is going to go, but you can decide how you are going deal with it. It´s something I understand now, but I can´t always apply it to my actions. Maybe someday I´ll manage it.
xox
I am relaxed in sweat pants and a tank top, complete with a mug of tea. Ilona is out with Anssi looking at scooters, Ella has a friend over, Heli is at a friends´ and Marjut is doing laundry and such. I took bike ride this morning to the mall... only to turn around when I got there and go home again. I had forgotten the bike lock and so couldn´t go into the stores. Not that I could buy anything anyway, but just to people watch . Oh well, I got some good sweaty excersize! The wind seemed to be trying to blow me off the bike as I went, quite annoying. Tomorrow Ilona wants to go to the mall anyway, so I will go along. Later Petra and her family are coming for dinner... this is a common thing in Finnish summers, having friends over for dinner. And as I found the other night, it is very pleasant. Sunday we are thinking about going to church ( more on that later) and then there is a park concert in the afternoon. Tuesday we will leave for the proposed plan I mentioned a few days ago, except now we aren´t going to Helsinki because Petra is coming here!
I´ve been trying to figure some things out in my head today, not all of them are clear enough thoughts that they will make any sense written here. Just a muddle of feelings and phrases. I´ve been thinking about how everyone at home thinks of me, like I´m off on a gigantic adventure. Well, I guess I am, but really.. well not every minute is action packed, not every conversation is unforgetable. Not every moring dawns beautiful and sunny, and the days are not without bordom. Minutes pass like minutes anywhere else, and it rains just the same. I know I have covered this subject very well in previous posts, but it is one that is constantly jumping at my face. It´s just life, no matter where you´re living it. You can´t always decide how it is going to go, but you can decide how you are going deal with it. It´s something I understand now, but I can´t always apply it to my actions. Maybe someday I´ll manage it.
xox
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Pictures from Lapland
Ilona , Heli, Ella and Me next to a stone globe at the arctic circle
Me with the Santa Claus building!
On an old fashioned swing during a pit stop
at the Arctic Circle
At a museum
me and Ilona
Ella!
reindeer!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hiking up a mountain with steps..
nice view
nice view 2
nice view 3
white water rafting!!!
meeeee ( behind me is the guide dude)
all dressed up for the rafting
NORTHERN LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!
The Swedish side of the border ( see the arrow pointing to Finland...)
So here are somep pictures, I have loads more still on my camera, your patience is kindly requested ;)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I have failed ( again) to put my pictrues on the computer, the process is complicated because all the texts are in Finnish! So I will wait for when Anssi comes home to try again. We think maybe the systems on the computers here are different from those at home, so some of my devices are not working here. But I won´t bore you will technical talk ;) Though as you saw, my mom did put some pictures of Lapland that I emailed to her, very kindly I might add.
On Tuesday we went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and it is worth describing. Not the movie itself ( which was quite good, I must add but you can look up a movie review site for that...) but the theater itself. It was built inside an old factory in the middle of Tampere, and naturally looks quite differnet from American theaters. There were escalators up to more theathers, brick walls everywhere and a completely different lay out from what I am used to. I tried to explain to Ilona how American theaters were often big block buildings full with hideously loud crowds and lines! Another difference was how the Finns acted. They were quieter (as I expected), and generally more respectful of others in the theater. The lines at the ticket booth were polite and if not completely silent, at least hushed. Once the movie started, no one talked at all. I am in the habit of sometimes commenting on the movie to those watching with me, so I had to keep my lips pressed tight together so I wouldn´t burst forth with a `omg did you see that?!´ People did giggle softly at the funny bits, but there was no loud gafawing from the fat man in front :)
Wednesday we slept late and prepared to have some family friends over in the afternoon. I took a long walk, which was nice. The friends came at about 4:30, we ate a gigantic amount of food, with rubarb pie, chocolate chip bananna muffins and chocoalte cake for dessert! The muffins I had made earlier from a recipe of my mom´s. They turned out pretty good, for being a Finnish variation! I had to make some changes, like using shaved chocolate instead of chocolate chips and puting the batter directly into the papers ( no muffin tin) but they tasted okay! At dinner I finally discovered the meaning of the word ´ oikeesti´... the girls said it all the time and I was always wondering what it meant! Now I know it means ´really´!!!
I also got some travel paperwprk from YFU yesterday, I suddenly am being forced to think about going home! I have, as of today, 22 days left in Finland! I will be going on the trip to Estonia ( August 10th-11th) and then I have a orientation event in Helsinki until the 15th, when I fly home. I will get to meet the Ambassador of the US to Finland, and some other important persons! I recently found out that I will be staying with Petra ( my former exchange sister from Finland)´s family during my time in Helsinki, which is a relief. I am glad I will be where I know one person, instead of trying to adjust to a completely new house of strangers! They are coming on Saturday as well ( I am looking forward to that!) But there is all the packing to think about... uuuuugh I will push it to the back of my mind for now.
Today was quite eventful. First we went to Tampere to see the Pyynikki Observation Tower. It was built on a hill in Tampere, just outside of the city center. From the top ( which is open to the sky) one can see the entire city spread out below. Even more awesome, ( if that is possible) is that one can see the city as it lies between the two lakes. Anyone who has looked at a map of the Tampere area has seen that the city is on a narrow strip of land between the lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Now, from the tower I could actuallty SEE that picture from the maps! Really insane. We ate some amazing pastries at the base of the tower, they are apparently very famous and everyone who visits Tampere is told to come to the tower and eat that kind of pastry. Now I know why!
Then we went to see a beautiful Church called the Tampere Cathedral. It was full of beautiful frescos and stained glass windows... and a giant silver pipe organ which I was dying to try out.
Then to the market square in the city center. It was like huge flea market\farmers market... people selling their old stuff and more people selling their fresh veggies. We bought some `black sauages´another Tampereian delicacy ( haha). It looked like it came out of the wrong end of something, but it tasted pretty good. Not at all what I expected though, I was imagining it more like spicy sausage. We also ate some of a salad\frenchfries\ sausage dish which was quite yummy. After that we drove a short way to a museum. It was a recreation of housing for factory workers in the 1900´s. The arrangment of the rooms moved up from the early decades until about 1978. The rooms were tiny, and had housed 7 or more people, it was hard to imagine living like that. Very interesting though.
I have been starting to think of home differently, as people promised I would. It seems smaller, less important to the workings of the world, and the problems in it not as big. At the same time it has become much more dear. Seeing so much more of the world is fantastic, but there is something to be said for home as well. Those who have ever left somewhere for a trip will recall the amazing feeling that you get when you leave an old place for a new one. Any old travelers can say ( I am sure) that there is also a distinct feeling when you return home. I will back this up and clearify what I am talking about when I have actually experienced it.
Now the sauna is heating out in the garden, and I am going to go lie somewhere and try to digest the three tacos I just ate.
xox Megan
On Tuesday we went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and it is worth describing. Not the movie itself ( which was quite good, I must add but you can look up a movie review site for that...) but the theater itself. It was built inside an old factory in the middle of Tampere, and naturally looks quite differnet from American theaters. There were escalators up to more theathers, brick walls everywhere and a completely different lay out from what I am used to. I tried to explain to Ilona how American theaters were often big block buildings full with hideously loud crowds and lines! Another difference was how the Finns acted. They were quieter (as I expected), and generally more respectful of others in the theater. The lines at the ticket booth were polite and if not completely silent, at least hushed. Once the movie started, no one talked at all. I am in the habit of sometimes commenting on the movie to those watching with me, so I had to keep my lips pressed tight together so I wouldn´t burst forth with a `omg did you see that?!´ People did giggle softly at the funny bits, but there was no loud gafawing from the fat man in front :)
Wednesday we slept late and prepared to have some family friends over in the afternoon. I took a long walk, which was nice. The friends came at about 4:30, we ate a gigantic amount of food, with rubarb pie, chocolate chip bananna muffins and chocoalte cake for dessert! The muffins I had made earlier from a recipe of my mom´s. They turned out pretty good, for being a Finnish variation! I had to make some changes, like using shaved chocolate instead of chocolate chips and puting the batter directly into the papers ( no muffin tin) but they tasted okay! At dinner I finally discovered the meaning of the word ´ oikeesti´... the girls said it all the time and I was always wondering what it meant! Now I know it means ´really´!!!
I also got some travel paperwprk from YFU yesterday, I suddenly am being forced to think about going home! I have, as of today, 22 days left in Finland! I will be going on the trip to Estonia ( August 10th-11th) and then I have a orientation event in Helsinki until the 15th, when I fly home. I will get to meet the Ambassador of the US to Finland, and some other important persons! I recently found out that I will be staying with Petra ( my former exchange sister from Finland)´s family during my time in Helsinki, which is a relief. I am glad I will be where I know one person, instead of trying to adjust to a completely new house of strangers! They are coming on Saturday as well ( I am looking forward to that!) But there is all the packing to think about... uuuuugh I will push it to the back of my mind for now.
Today was quite eventful. First we went to Tampere to see the Pyynikki Observation Tower. It was built on a hill in Tampere, just outside of the city center. From the top ( which is open to the sky) one can see the entire city spread out below. Even more awesome, ( if that is possible) is that one can see the city as it lies between the two lakes. Anyone who has looked at a map of the Tampere area has seen that the city is on a narrow strip of land between the lakes Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Now, from the tower I could actuallty SEE that picture from the maps! Really insane. We ate some amazing pastries at the base of the tower, they are apparently very famous and everyone who visits Tampere is told to come to the tower and eat that kind of pastry. Now I know why!
Then we went to see a beautiful Church called the Tampere Cathedral. It was full of beautiful frescos and stained glass windows... and a giant silver pipe organ which I was dying to try out.
Then to the market square in the city center. It was like huge flea market\farmers market... people selling their old stuff and more people selling their fresh veggies. We bought some `black sauages´another Tampereian delicacy ( haha). It looked like it came out of the wrong end of something, but it tasted pretty good. Not at all what I expected though, I was imagining it more like spicy sausage. We also ate some of a salad\frenchfries\ sausage dish which was quite yummy. After that we drove a short way to a museum. It was a recreation of housing for factory workers in the 1900´s. The arrangment of the rooms moved up from the early decades until about 1978. The rooms were tiny, and had housed 7 or more people, it was hard to imagine living like that. Very interesting though.
I have been starting to think of home differently, as people promised I would. It seems smaller, less important to the workings of the world, and the problems in it not as big. At the same time it has become much more dear. Seeing so much more of the world is fantastic, but there is something to be said for home as well. Those who have ever left somewhere for a trip will recall the amazing feeling that you get when you leave an old place for a new one. Any old travelers can say ( I am sure) that there is also a distinct feeling when you return home. I will back this up and clearify what I am talking about when I have actually experienced it.
Now the sauna is heating out in the garden, and I am going to go lie somewhere and try to digest the three tacos I just ate.
xox Megan
Sunday, July 19, 2009
hello!
I just finished a lovely lunch here at the Haanpää´s, grilled meat, dark bread and butter, new potatos, salad, mushrooms filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon ( oooh) and strawberry muffins for desert! The strawberries were wild ones that grow in the back yard and theya re insanly sweet and good. I had forgotten until now, but I have a recipe that Mom had given me for chocolate chip bananna muffins, I plan to make them on Wednesday, when some friends are coming over. I am a bit worried that there will not be any chocolate chips in the Finnish store, but I am hoping. Äiti also made a rubarb pie, it was sitting out on the table next to the strawberry muffins. I had to walk away, they were so tempting! Äiti made the muffins in a different way: instead of putting the batter into the muffin tins, she put it directly into the papers and put those on a tray in the oven! I was amused. We will eat the pie tomorrow I think. The Finns make such good food, both in taste and in healthiness! Every lunch and dinner the table is loaded with yummies, I look forward to every meal. There are some things that I miss ( like bagles) but most of the food is similar. In the summer Finns grill ALOT, almost every night here. They cook minced meat on sticks ( the name escapes me), sausage, chicken, pork, you name it. I may have mentioned this before, but they also grill other things, like fruit, vegatables in tin foil and toast bread... yum! While we were traveling we went twice to ´Hesburger´, a fast food restraunt alot like McDonald´s. I was GREATLY amused by one thing there: how the cashiers brought you your food to the table when it was ready, like a normal restraunt. Of course the wait was much shorter, it still being a fast food place, but I was impressed none the less. No annoying lines ( like at McDonald´s ) while you stand there and wait for your food... ;)
Everythings is going really nicely now, all problems are cleared up and understood... at least we know now that there was a problem and know how to fix any future ones. I sort of expected to not do much this summer, aside from the Lapland trip, but it is not the case! We have SO many plans, like this new one: Sometime at the end of July we might pack up the RV ( again!) and drive to Turku, where there is a playland that Heli wants to go to. It is based on a Finnish cartoon character family called ´Muumins`. Then we would drive to Helsinki, stay at a really nice camping place there and maybe see Petra there! (If she is reading this, it might be sometime between the 27th and 31st of July... email me!) I am hoping it all works out! I am also going to an adventure park sometime soon, and well as a concert ( next Sunday), and the new Harry Potter movie ( Tuesday). I admitt it is nice to not just sit around the whole time. I am so sorry that I don´t have pictures up yet, I have about 170 or so, and they take so much time to upload... also Ilona doesn´t really want all of them on her computer because she is afraid they might slow it down. So those are my excuses, please be patient ;)
I have been making a habit of taking a daily bike ride, which is lovely. The Finnish roads have nice wide sidewalks, so it is easy to take a quick ride. And it´s exercise! Whoo hoo! I am always afraid that will get lost, but it never happens. I have gotten used to seeing people biking\walking everywhere.
The other day the girls taught me a Finnish dance called the ´letka jenkka`... you hop and jump and hop some more.. it´s really funny! Now I remember that they taught me another game too.... there is a big loop of elastic, which two people put around their ankles. A third person then jumps in and around the two elastics in a pattern, and if they mess up they have to start agian! I tried and did pretty well. Even Simo did it!
So that is life at the moment.. right now Ilona and Ella are playing the piano randomly, pretty strange sounding. Äiti says she really likes my playing, which is good because I like to play too! Heli is very good, for being 8 years old... I am impressed.
So that´s it for now, I´ll write again soon. =D
I just finished a lovely lunch here at the Haanpää´s, grilled meat, dark bread and butter, new potatos, salad, mushrooms filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon ( oooh) and strawberry muffins for desert! The strawberries were wild ones that grow in the back yard and theya re insanly sweet and good. I had forgotten until now, but I have a recipe that Mom had given me for chocolate chip bananna muffins, I plan to make them on Wednesday, when some friends are coming over. I am a bit worried that there will not be any chocolate chips in the Finnish store, but I am hoping. Äiti also made a rubarb pie, it was sitting out on the table next to the strawberry muffins. I had to walk away, they were so tempting! Äiti made the muffins in a different way: instead of putting the batter into the muffin tins, she put it directly into the papers and put those on a tray in the oven! I was amused. We will eat the pie tomorrow I think. The Finns make such good food, both in taste and in healthiness! Every lunch and dinner the table is loaded with yummies, I look forward to every meal. There are some things that I miss ( like bagles) but most of the food is similar. In the summer Finns grill ALOT, almost every night here. They cook minced meat on sticks ( the name escapes me), sausage, chicken, pork, you name it. I may have mentioned this before, but they also grill other things, like fruit, vegatables in tin foil and toast bread... yum! While we were traveling we went twice to ´Hesburger´, a fast food restraunt alot like McDonald´s. I was GREATLY amused by one thing there: how the cashiers brought you your food to the table when it was ready, like a normal restraunt. Of course the wait was much shorter, it still being a fast food place, but I was impressed none the less. No annoying lines ( like at McDonald´s ) while you stand there and wait for your food... ;)
Everythings is going really nicely now, all problems are cleared up and understood... at least we know now that there was a problem and know how to fix any future ones. I sort of expected to not do much this summer, aside from the Lapland trip, but it is not the case! We have SO many plans, like this new one: Sometime at the end of July we might pack up the RV ( again!) and drive to Turku, where there is a playland that Heli wants to go to. It is based on a Finnish cartoon character family called ´Muumins`. Then we would drive to Helsinki, stay at a really nice camping place there and maybe see Petra there! (If she is reading this, it might be sometime between the 27th and 31st of July... email me!) I am hoping it all works out! I am also going to an adventure park sometime soon, and well as a concert ( next Sunday), and the new Harry Potter movie ( Tuesday). I admitt it is nice to not just sit around the whole time. I am so sorry that I don´t have pictures up yet, I have about 170 or so, and they take so much time to upload... also Ilona doesn´t really want all of them on her computer because she is afraid they might slow it down. So those are my excuses, please be patient ;)
I have been making a habit of taking a daily bike ride, which is lovely. The Finnish roads have nice wide sidewalks, so it is easy to take a quick ride. And it´s exercise! Whoo hoo! I am always afraid that will get lost, but it never happens. I have gotten used to seeing people biking\walking everywhere.
The other day the girls taught me a Finnish dance called the ´letka jenkka`... you hop and jump and hop some more.. it´s really funny! Now I remember that they taught me another game too.... there is a big loop of elastic, which two people put around their ankles. A third person then jumps in and around the two elastics in a pattern, and if they mess up they have to start agian! I tried and did pretty well. Even Simo did it!
So that is life at the moment.. right now Ilona and Ella are playing the piano randomly, pretty strange sounding. Äiti says she really likes my playing, which is good because I like to play too! Heli is very good, for being 8 years old... I am impressed.
So that´s it for now, I´ll write again soon. =D
Thursday, July 16, 2009
hello! I am back from Lapland now, with a gigantic load of things to write about. I have my diary open here, and will be reading off of it as I go, I can´t remember all the things we did. To put it into one word, the trip was amazing. But you can´t possibly find much to interest you in that one word, so I will elborate :)
We left about 10:30 am on Sunday, July 5th and drove over 6 hours (!!!) to Oulu, on the western coast of Finland. It was a grusome drive... the camper shook and rattled so much when we drove that I felt quite ill for a while. The girls entertained themselves for all that long time with food and games... I might note that during this trip I have 1) learned about 4 or 5 new card games and 2) gained a few pounds!! They would often play the games in Finnish though. They played one alot like Madlibs, except that they wrote them themselves.... they laughed pretty hard. Something I found very nice was how every time another camper like ours pased us on the road, Simo and Marjut waved respectfully to them. Marjut told me that this is the custom in almost all European countries! We camped that night at a large campground... it was very close to the sea and we went for a walk there, which was really lovely ( although VERY windy). During our walk them Marjut asked me if I was unhappy with them or didn´t want to be there with them. She thought that because I had not been talking alot during the drive that I was sad! I quickly assured her that no, everything was fine, I just didn´t always talk constantly! I explained that sometimes when I was in an unfamiliar situation, I was shy and reserved. Anyone who knows me can back me up there I think! I felt really bad that she had been worried about my happiness!! The next morning it rained. Then it stopped, but everything was soaked! This proved to be a pattern the whole trip!! :) During the next leg of the drive ( which I will tell about in a minute!!!!!) we had a near disaster and a really lucky break! We had just gotten on the main road, when Ilona noticed that there was a window open somewhere. Soon it was discovered that the window up where the girls slept was MISSING! It had been left open and had BLOWN AWAY when we started driving! We pulled over, and Marjut and Simo got out and walked back the way we had come looking for it! Us girls were all quite and grim... we just sat and waited for a horrible length of time. We watched in the mirrors as they started back... but we couldn´t see if they had the window! If it was broken, we would have to go back home! Ella, looking through her binocculars annouced that they didn´t have it. A long, grim silence. Then she said, ´wait, yes they DO´!`The mood liften at once and everyone was sighing in relief and laughing. It was all in one piece, with just a tiny corner chipped off. Simo managed to tape it back into place with duct tape, and we continued on. Phew, close one! The adventure reminded me how much life is like a movie sometimes! NEXT STOP: YOU`LL NEVER GUESS WHERE! I now have been in four countries in my lifetime: the USA, Germany, Finland and SWEDEN!!!!!! We went to a town just over the Swedish border that same day!! There was no need for a passport, you just drover over a bridge and there you were! We went to a huge Swedish chain store, which was IMPOSSIBLY BIG! Imagine this if you can: A Kmart, a big carpet store, a furniture store, a kitchen ware store, a garden store and a toy store, all combined and multiplied by two. That was IKEA! We also went to a Swedish supermarket.. all the prices looked really expensive because they were in Swedish krones! For exmaple, a loaf of bread was priced 29.45 krones... which was only a few euros! We bought some food and ate it in the car: cold meatballs, two kind of swedish bread, potato salad and coconut and chocolate balls! Yum. Next stop, Rovaniemi, the unofficial capital of Lapland at the Arctic Circle! We went to the Santa Claus post there. The Finnish santa is called ´Joulupukki´! You had to walk through an alborate maze of bridges, fake glaciers and earth-rotation-monitors to get to his office, where you gave your names, your hometowns and your ages. Then we went in a sat next to the Joulupukki! He asked me if I was a lady all the time and made me do an American dance, haha! An elf took a picture of us there, and I mailed one card home. The next day we went to the Ranua Zoo ( in Rauna). It was fun, although VERY COLD... but that was to be expected at the arctic circle! I was a bit put out by the cold summer I was having, but then I´d remind myself that I in was Finland for pity´s sake and get over it :) We then drove to another camping pace in the mountains ( the Valtavaara range, which means ´power hill range´). Wednesday was a good power day: We hiked part way up a mountain as a trial run for the next day, when we planned to make it to the top. I was tierd and sore and not enjoying myself for the first few minutes, but then suddenly my whole view changed! I was so full of energy that it was all I coulddo to keep from running up that mountain! It was a hard path, loads of ups and downs, but I was somehow loving it. It helped that if you stood still for too long the mosquitoes would descend on you in clouds, so the best thing was to keep moving. I felt so good! After lunch we went white water rafting(!) near Kälyä. We put on big water proof boots, a water proof jacket, rubber boots and a helmet. Then we crammed into a yellow van for a 25 minutes ride to the starting point. Then you sit in an inflatable raft and paddle through a maze of rivers and lakes. Sometimes our guide would put on the motor when we had to go along way to the next set of rapids. The actual white water part was really really fun. Scary as anything, but fun. I was always afraid that I would fall off the raft, because you had to sit on the very edge, and your feet were the only things keeping you there ( you pushed them into the cracks). I loved it actually. Just like hiking, at first I hated it, but then I started to really enjoy it. That day really taught me that I like outdoor activies more than I ever thought :) There was something in the quality of the air there that made me feel so good, it filled my lungs completley and tasted so good in my mouth. I also tasted some water straight from the lake as we went... it was that clean! We saw some goregous scenery, and even a mother reindeer and her baby! Throughout the Lapland portion of the trip we saw herds of reindeer along the side of the roads and eating near the camp grounds!!! They are all owned by someone, but are allowed to roam free. It was now July 9th, and we went hiking again on the same mountain in Ruka. This time we took an easier route, and it practically flat, with wooden brdiges over the swampy bits. When we reached the summit, it was the strangest thing. If the weather had been nicer, we could have seen all the way to Russia from there, but it was not fine. All that could be seen was white fog, thick as anything. The trees stopped, the ground stopped and there was just whiteness!!!! There was a little hut at the summit, and all four of the walls inside were carved with the names and mesaages of those who have been there. I carved ´USA´ inside a heart there... I was so proud of it! There was also a book, in which all the hikers had written their names, the date and their hometowns. I wrote: ´Megan Yeo Stafford Springs CT USA´. Be proud all you Stafford citizens, your hometown is recorded in a book in hut on the top of a mountain in Finland!!!! We cooked sauages ( makkara in Finnish) in a traditional Lapland hut a little bit down the mountain. It had a fire in the middle and hole in the top for the smoke, with wooden benches all around. That was it. Then we drove about 2 and a half hours to yet another camping place in Vuokatti, which was right next to a ski and snow board place. We then went snow tubing (inside), which I thought was hilarious, seeing as it was July! I have now been sledding in the middle of summer! We had a sauna that night at the camping place, Ella, Heli and me. We went swimming in a little pond in between trips to the sauna, which made me feel all sleepy and nice. The next place we went to was like a little peice of heaven. The Haanpää´s grandparents summer cottage in Kaatamo. There was a little blue cabin, where I stayed with the girls, which was close to a little red cottage, where Mummo and Pappa slept. There was beautiful garden all around, and a beautiful lake just there. There was an underground celler, an outhouse, a smoke sauna ( more about that soon) and a regular sauna. There were trees all around, flowers all around, and a feeling of contentment all around. The day we got there ( Friday) it was warm and sunny, and the sun intesified the beauty of the place. I loved it at first sight. It reminded me alot of my great grandparents cabin in New Hampshire, except it was much smaller. The red cabin was almost fairytale like, full of little trinkets, an old brick oven and many woven rugs. It was clean, neat, everything in it´s place. Marjut´s parents only knew a few words in English, and by a few I mean about 5 each. Nonetheless, Mummo greeted me warmly in Finnish, and Marjut translated. This was often the case during our stay there, as she was the only really strong English speaker. But Mummo said something like ´Welcome to Eastern Finland, I hope you will not feel uncomfortable here and that you enjoy your time with us.´ During dinner ( which was amazing, Mummo is a wonderful cook!) they asked me what my picture of Finland is now. I had to think, but I said that was beautiful, clean, healthy, unique, modern. The people are friendlier than I expected, and more beautiful too. Finns take excellent care of themselves, their possesions and their country, it is something that I admire and respect. During this trip, and during my stay so far I have noticed something about people in general. Wherever you go, in whatever country and whatever culture, people do not differ that much. Their customs may differ, their clothes, their food, their language and their ideas. But when it comes down to it, they are all the same. We all love and laugh and hate and cry, eat and sleep and dream, no matter who we are. Before I came, I imagined myself in Finland like from a bird´s eye view, clearly showing me in the middle of a foregin country. When I got here however, I found that the view wasn´t that different after all. I felt the same as I did back home. I hadn´t changed at all, not the way I imagined. It´s like that quote `wherever you go, there you are´.
I did find it extremely challaging that everyone spoke Finnish all the time. I stopped trying to talk really after I while, because it was so much effort to translate everything. I think my vocal chords almost forgot how to talk! It made trouble for me, because during the weekend Marjut asked me ( again) if I was happy there, because it looked to them like I wasn´t. She said that Ilona especially was upset, she had said that I kept answering her questions with only one word, and she thought that I didn´t like her! This mortified, horrified and dismayed me. I was very upset... because I hadn´t noticed at all that I did that! There I was, trying so hard to do everything right, that I did everything wrong! I had been prepared for the typical Finnish silence, but this family had a more talkative fmaily culture! I do not talk alot when I am taking in a new situation and learning about people, but they took it as unhappiness or just not caring! How horrible! I tried my best to explain that this was typical Megan behavior, and tried extra hard to talk to Ilona. She had been waiting all spring to be my friend, and I was totally messing it all up. Another bad thing: I was a total idiot and accidentally deleted ALL THE PICTURES FROM THE ENTIRE LAPLAND TRIP FROM MY CAMERA! Luckily, Marjut and Ilona had taken many of the same pictures, so I will have some to post here ( when I get to it haha). The same day that I deleted the pictures, I had a really great experience. The smoke sauna. It differs from the regular sauna in that there is no chimney, and when it is heating the smoke is let straight out the open door. When you go there there is no smoke, just the smell. You sit and hit yourself with a bundle of birch branches and then run out into the lake! I didn´t like it as much as the normal sauna because of the smoke smell, which got into the back of my throat and felt strange. Still, a sauna is a sauna, and it was lovely. Washing my hair in the lake was also fun :) I also had a very interesting conversation on that day with Marjut ( Äiti) about homeschooling, the differences between American and Finnish education, culture, and people. I tried to explain everything in the best true light! We had another upset the next day, while making smores. They had never made them, and so we had to improvise with the crackers, the type of marshmellows and the fire ( we used the grill). Everyone was enjoying them, until Heli dropped hers on her hand, where it stuck and burned her! No one wanted smores after that. Heli held her hand in cold water for a long time, and I felt horrible! The burn is looking better now, and they all want to try smores again, with better luck next time! Tuesday night I went night fishing. I don´t think I´ve ever been fishing properly before, out in a boat on lake with pole. But I found that I really enjoyed it ( just like the hiking!!!) I caught the first fish too! All together we ( me, Ella, Simo and Pappa) caught 19 fish! Mummo made fish soup for lunch the next day, which was very yummy. Another mishap: ( btw, these are all out of order, but the 4 days we stayed there all blur together in my mind so it doesn´t matter!) I woke up one morning to find that I had been bitten by something in the night, and my upper lip had swollen to three times the normal size!!! It was awful! We put medicine on it, and by evening it was almost back to normal size, but still, quite depressing! We also went in a rowboat to an island across the bit of lake... I have dubbed it ´Ant Island´. Not becuase it is small, but because it is inhabited be a large number of nasty red ones! Imagine us all hopping and jumping around... ;) The lake and the islands in it reminded me strongly of Three Mile Island ( in Vermont) where my family goes in the summer. It was especially strange because that was the same time of month that we are usually there... so it felt right somehow. I also bought some things from a ´storebus´which comes for the people staying in thier summer cottages there. Very funny. It looks like a bus outside, but like a one-aisle store inside!!! I went with Simo and Äiti to her cousins house one evening... the house was lovely and the cousin laid out a goregous table of typical finnish treats... pastries, cakes and tea! I tried to be lady like, the set up was so lovely. I hope I didn´t seem quiet and boring! So many little things happened too, that are really amusing. Like the girls and I have a running joke about the mud at the bottem of the lake! They didn´t know the word ´mud´at first so they told how the bottom felt by wiggling their fingers and saying `bleeeeeeegh` now we do it just for laughs! I must remember now that no one can read my thoughts, annd that my actions might not be seen by others the same way I see them. I will try to be a better sister and exchange student, and open my eyes to the wonderful place I am in.
In closing ( yes I know I should have stopped typing long long long ago, you are probably snoring over there) I would like to write down some lyrics that I made up during the trip. Here goes:
Wake up little person
Open you eyes and see
There´s a whole world just waiting
The universe is your playground baby.
If the key opens the door
And the window´s open wide
take a chance and make a leap
You´ll find all of the answers outside.
Broken dreams and shattered hopes
Fill the path that lies ahead
Those that have gone before have left them
Made a river of tears they have shed
But where there is winter, bring the sun
Coax the flowers up out of the earth
Make a garden from a desert
Find the answer to what life is worth.
And when that window´s open wide
And when that flower begins to grow
Just remember all you ´ve seen, Love
Just remember all you know.
Pictures soon, I promise! Love you all, Megan
We left about 10:30 am on Sunday, July 5th and drove over 6 hours (!!!) to Oulu, on the western coast of Finland. It was a grusome drive... the camper shook and rattled so much when we drove that I felt quite ill for a while. The girls entertained themselves for all that long time with food and games... I might note that during this trip I have 1) learned about 4 or 5 new card games and 2) gained a few pounds!! They would often play the games in Finnish though. They played one alot like Madlibs, except that they wrote them themselves.... they laughed pretty hard. Something I found very nice was how every time another camper like ours pased us on the road, Simo and Marjut waved respectfully to them. Marjut told me that this is the custom in almost all European countries! We camped that night at a large campground... it was very close to the sea and we went for a walk there, which was really lovely ( although VERY windy). During our walk them Marjut asked me if I was unhappy with them or didn´t want to be there with them. She thought that because I had not been talking alot during the drive that I was sad! I quickly assured her that no, everything was fine, I just didn´t always talk constantly! I explained that sometimes when I was in an unfamiliar situation, I was shy and reserved. Anyone who knows me can back me up there I think! I felt really bad that she had been worried about my happiness!! The next morning it rained. Then it stopped, but everything was soaked! This proved to be a pattern the whole trip!! :) During the next leg of the drive ( which I will tell about in a minute!!!!!) we had a near disaster and a really lucky break! We had just gotten on the main road, when Ilona noticed that there was a window open somewhere. Soon it was discovered that the window up where the girls slept was MISSING! It had been left open and had BLOWN AWAY when we started driving! We pulled over, and Marjut and Simo got out and walked back the way we had come looking for it! Us girls were all quite and grim... we just sat and waited for a horrible length of time. We watched in the mirrors as they started back... but we couldn´t see if they had the window! If it was broken, we would have to go back home! Ella, looking through her binocculars annouced that they didn´t have it. A long, grim silence. Then she said, ´wait, yes they DO´!`The mood liften at once and everyone was sighing in relief and laughing. It was all in one piece, with just a tiny corner chipped off. Simo managed to tape it back into place with duct tape, and we continued on. Phew, close one! The adventure reminded me how much life is like a movie sometimes! NEXT STOP: YOU`LL NEVER GUESS WHERE! I now have been in four countries in my lifetime: the USA, Germany, Finland and SWEDEN!!!!!! We went to a town just over the Swedish border that same day!! There was no need for a passport, you just drover over a bridge and there you were! We went to a huge Swedish chain store, which was IMPOSSIBLY BIG! Imagine this if you can: A Kmart, a big carpet store, a furniture store, a kitchen ware store, a garden store and a toy store, all combined and multiplied by two. That was IKEA! We also went to a Swedish supermarket.. all the prices looked really expensive because they were in Swedish krones! For exmaple, a loaf of bread was priced 29.45 krones... which was only a few euros! We bought some food and ate it in the car: cold meatballs, two kind of swedish bread, potato salad and coconut and chocolate balls! Yum. Next stop, Rovaniemi, the unofficial capital of Lapland at the Arctic Circle! We went to the Santa Claus post there. The Finnish santa is called ´Joulupukki´! You had to walk through an alborate maze of bridges, fake glaciers and earth-rotation-monitors to get to his office, where you gave your names, your hometowns and your ages. Then we went in a sat next to the Joulupukki! He asked me if I was a lady all the time and made me do an American dance, haha! An elf took a picture of us there, and I mailed one card home. The next day we went to the Ranua Zoo ( in Rauna). It was fun, although VERY COLD... but that was to be expected at the arctic circle! I was a bit put out by the cold summer I was having, but then I´d remind myself that I in was Finland for pity´s sake and get over it :) We then drove to another camping pace in the mountains ( the Valtavaara range, which means ´power hill range´). Wednesday was a good power day: We hiked part way up a mountain as a trial run for the next day, when we planned to make it to the top. I was tierd and sore and not enjoying myself for the first few minutes, but then suddenly my whole view changed! I was so full of energy that it was all I coulddo to keep from running up that mountain! It was a hard path, loads of ups and downs, but I was somehow loving it. It helped that if you stood still for too long the mosquitoes would descend on you in clouds, so the best thing was to keep moving. I felt so good! After lunch we went white water rafting(!) near Kälyä. We put on big water proof boots, a water proof jacket, rubber boots and a helmet. Then we crammed into a yellow van for a 25 minutes ride to the starting point. Then you sit in an inflatable raft and paddle through a maze of rivers and lakes. Sometimes our guide would put on the motor when we had to go along way to the next set of rapids. The actual white water part was really really fun. Scary as anything, but fun. I was always afraid that I would fall off the raft, because you had to sit on the very edge, and your feet were the only things keeping you there ( you pushed them into the cracks). I loved it actually. Just like hiking, at first I hated it, but then I started to really enjoy it. That day really taught me that I like outdoor activies more than I ever thought :) There was something in the quality of the air there that made me feel so good, it filled my lungs completley and tasted so good in my mouth. I also tasted some water straight from the lake as we went... it was that clean! We saw some goregous scenery, and even a mother reindeer and her baby! Throughout the Lapland portion of the trip we saw herds of reindeer along the side of the roads and eating near the camp grounds!!! They are all owned by someone, but are allowed to roam free. It was now July 9th, and we went hiking again on the same mountain in Ruka. This time we took an easier route, and it practically flat, with wooden brdiges over the swampy bits. When we reached the summit, it was the strangest thing. If the weather had been nicer, we could have seen all the way to Russia from there, but it was not fine. All that could be seen was white fog, thick as anything. The trees stopped, the ground stopped and there was just whiteness!!!! There was a little hut at the summit, and all four of the walls inside were carved with the names and mesaages of those who have been there. I carved ´USA´ inside a heart there... I was so proud of it! There was also a book, in which all the hikers had written their names, the date and their hometowns. I wrote: ´Megan Yeo Stafford Springs CT USA´. Be proud all you Stafford citizens, your hometown is recorded in a book in hut on the top of a mountain in Finland!!!! We cooked sauages ( makkara in Finnish) in a traditional Lapland hut a little bit down the mountain. It had a fire in the middle and hole in the top for the smoke, with wooden benches all around. That was it. Then we drove about 2 and a half hours to yet another camping place in Vuokatti, which was right next to a ski and snow board place. We then went snow tubing (inside), which I thought was hilarious, seeing as it was July! I have now been sledding in the middle of summer! We had a sauna that night at the camping place, Ella, Heli and me. We went swimming in a little pond in between trips to the sauna, which made me feel all sleepy and nice. The next place we went to was like a little peice of heaven. The Haanpää´s grandparents summer cottage in Kaatamo. There was a little blue cabin, where I stayed with the girls, which was close to a little red cottage, where Mummo and Pappa slept. There was beautiful garden all around, and a beautiful lake just there. There was an underground celler, an outhouse, a smoke sauna ( more about that soon) and a regular sauna. There were trees all around, flowers all around, and a feeling of contentment all around. The day we got there ( Friday) it was warm and sunny, and the sun intesified the beauty of the place. I loved it at first sight. It reminded me alot of my great grandparents cabin in New Hampshire, except it was much smaller. The red cabin was almost fairytale like, full of little trinkets, an old brick oven and many woven rugs. It was clean, neat, everything in it´s place. Marjut´s parents only knew a few words in English, and by a few I mean about 5 each. Nonetheless, Mummo greeted me warmly in Finnish, and Marjut translated. This was often the case during our stay there, as she was the only really strong English speaker. But Mummo said something like ´Welcome to Eastern Finland, I hope you will not feel uncomfortable here and that you enjoy your time with us.´ During dinner ( which was amazing, Mummo is a wonderful cook!) they asked me what my picture of Finland is now. I had to think, but I said that was beautiful, clean, healthy, unique, modern. The people are friendlier than I expected, and more beautiful too. Finns take excellent care of themselves, their possesions and their country, it is something that I admire and respect. During this trip, and during my stay so far I have noticed something about people in general. Wherever you go, in whatever country and whatever culture, people do not differ that much. Their customs may differ, their clothes, their food, their language and their ideas. But when it comes down to it, they are all the same. We all love and laugh and hate and cry, eat and sleep and dream, no matter who we are. Before I came, I imagined myself in Finland like from a bird´s eye view, clearly showing me in the middle of a foregin country. When I got here however, I found that the view wasn´t that different after all. I felt the same as I did back home. I hadn´t changed at all, not the way I imagined. It´s like that quote `wherever you go, there you are´.
I did find it extremely challaging that everyone spoke Finnish all the time. I stopped trying to talk really after I while, because it was so much effort to translate everything. I think my vocal chords almost forgot how to talk! It made trouble for me, because during the weekend Marjut asked me ( again) if I was happy there, because it looked to them like I wasn´t. She said that Ilona especially was upset, she had said that I kept answering her questions with only one word, and she thought that I didn´t like her! This mortified, horrified and dismayed me. I was very upset... because I hadn´t noticed at all that I did that! There I was, trying so hard to do everything right, that I did everything wrong! I had been prepared for the typical Finnish silence, but this family had a more talkative fmaily culture! I do not talk alot when I am taking in a new situation and learning about people, but they took it as unhappiness or just not caring! How horrible! I tried my best to explain that this was typical Megan behavior, and tried extra hard to talk to Ilona. She had been waiting all spring to be my friend, and I was totally messing it all up. Another bad thing: I was a total idiot and accidentally deleted ALL THE PICTURES FROM THE ENTIRE LAPLAND TRIP FROM MY CAMERA! Luckily, Marjut and Ilona had taken many of the same pictures, so I will have some to post here ( when I get to it haha). The same day that I deleted the pictures, I had a really great experience. The smoke sauna. It differs from the regular sauna in that there is no chimney, and when it is heating the smoke is let straight out the open door. When you go there there is no smoke, just the smell. You sit and hit yourself with a bundle of birch branches and then run out into the lake! I didn´t like it as much as the normal sauna because of the smoke smell, which got into the back of my throat and felt strange. Still, a sauna is a sauna, and it was lovely. Washing my hair in the lake was also fun :) I also had a very interesting conversation on that day with Marjut ( Äiti) about homeschooling, the differences between American and Finnish education, culture, and people. I tried to explain everything in the best true light! We had another upset the next day, while making smores. They had never made them, and so we had to improvise with the crackers, the type of marshmellows and the fire ( we used the grill). Everyone was enjoying them, until Heli dropped hers on her hand, where it stuck and burned her! No one wanted smores after that. Heli held her hand in cold water for a long time, and I felt horrible! The burn is looking better now, and they all want to try smores again, with better luck next time! Tuesday night I went night fishing. I don´t think I´ve ever been fishing properly before, out in a boat on lake with pole. But I found that I really enjoyed it ( just like the hiking!!!) I caught the first fish too! All together we ( me, Ella, Simo and Pappa) caught 19 fish! Mummo made fish soup for lunch the next day, which was very yummy. Another mishap: ( btw, these are all out of order, but the 4 days we stayed there all blur together in my mind so it doesn´t matter!) I woke up one morning to find that I had been bitten by something in the night, and my upper lip had swollen to three times the normal size!!! It was awful! We put medicine on it, and by evening it was almost back to normal size, but still, quite depressing! We also went in a rowboat to an island across the bit of lake... I have dubbed it ´Ant Island´. Not becuase it is small, but because it is inhabited be a large number of nasty red ones! Imagine us all hopping and jumping around... ;) The lake and the islands in it reminded me strongly of Three Mile Island ( in Vermont) where my family goes in the summer. It was especially strange because that was the same time of month that we are usually there... so it felt right somehow. I also bought some things from a ´storebus´which comes for the people staying in thier summer cottages there. Very funny. It looks like a bus outside, but like a one-aisle store inside!!! I went with Simo and Äiti to her cousins house one evening... the house was lovely and the cousin laid out a goregous table of typical finnish treats... pastries, cakes and tea! I tried to be lady like, the set up was so lovely. I hope I didn´t seem quiet and boring! So many little things happened too, that are really amusing. Like the girls and I have a running joke about the mud at the bottem of the lake! They didn´t know the word ´mud´at first so they told how the bottom felt by wiggling their fingers and saying `bleeeeeeegh` now we do it just for laughs! I must remember now that no one can read my thoughts, annd that my actions might not be seen by others the same way I see them. I will try to be a better sister and exchange student, and open my eyes to the wonderful place I am in.
In closing ( yes I know I should have stopped typing long long long ago, you are probably snoring over there) I would like to write down some lyrics that I made up during the trip. Here goes:
Wake up little person
Open you eyes and see
There´s a whole world just waiting
The universe is your playground baby.
If the key opens the door
And the window´s open wide
take a chance and make a leap
You´ll find all of the answers outside.
Broken dreams and shattered hopes
Fill the path that lies ahead
Those that have gone before have left them
Made a river of tears they have shed
But where there is winter, bring the sun
Coax the flowers up out of the earth
Make a garden from a desert
Find the answer to what life is worth.
And when that window´s open wide
And when that flower begins to grow
Just remember all you ´ve seen, Love
Just remember all you know.
Pictures soon, I promise! Love you all, Megan
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Here are more pictures! They are dreadfully out of order, but here they are. There are also loads more, but it takes so long to upload them that these will have to do for now!
Here is the view from the sauna beach we went to in Turku!
Here I am in the window of a Finnish castle from the middle ages... in Turku
Me in a famous church in Turku
Marika, who was the YFU person in charge of our group in Turku, she was hilarious!
me washing carpets!!!!
Heli washing carpets
me and Ilona washing carpets with the lake in the background
Heli and Ilona ringing out the carpets :)
CARPETS!! Like I said, there are so many more pictures! Yesterday I bought a memory card for my camara and now I can take many pictures at a time, instead of only about 20 like I could before. Thus there are now even MORE pictures! Yesterday we also went stawberry picking! They allow you to eat as many as you like and pick as many as you like... there are no worries about people eating too many because they know that a person can only eat so many strawberries! Clever huh? And it´s true, I was full after 5 minutes! They were the most amazing stawberries too...Äiti and the girls had a nice way of dealing with the greens. They would just remove them when they picked the berry... that way we didn´t need to do that at home! After picking we ate coffee and pastries and gazed at the view... you´ll see when I finally put those pictrues up. It was magnificent, all the little green islands sitting in the sparkling lake with the puffy white clouds floating by... ahhh. We leave for Lapland tomorrow, I will not be posting during that time. I will however keep an account of it in my diary, and take millions of pictures! Before I go, I must tell about yesterday a little. The girls and I played Sing Star! I was pretty bad, seeing as I didn´t know any of the songs, but it was terrific fun! We are finally getting comfortable enough with eachother that we can laugh and tease... it´s so amazing. Yesterday I also entertained the family by teaching they an English tounge twister `how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood...etc` They thought it was pretty funny... and tried to teach me a little song in Finnish. I wasn´t bad.
I also made they brownies for dessert! They we amazing, and smelled like home. It was nice to make them something that they hadn´t had before. I seem to have gotten over a hump.. I was a little homesick\culture shocked a few days ago, but now everything is a little easier. Phew. Okay, gotta run, I´ll write when I get back from visiting Santa Claus!! xxx
I also made they brownies for dessert! They we amazing, and smelled like home. It was nice to make them something that they hadn´t had before. I seem to have gotten over a hump.. I was a little homesick\culture shocked a few days ago, but now everything is a little easier. Phew. Okay, gotta run, I´ll write when I get back from visiting Santa Claus!! xxx
Friday, July 3, 2009
PICTURES AT LAST! Here are some, there are loads more, they are coming soon! Enjoy!
here are the girls ( r to l: Ella, Ilona and Heli) walking in Tampere.
An Accordian player in Tampere
The market in a Tampere shopping center
my room!!!!
my borrowed bike and flowers
Heli and friends!!
Ilona and Heli
Heli and origami bird
me and the girls ( this is the table we eat most dinner at)
Heli!!
Marjut ( far right) and friends a lake home
Ilona and Ella drinking sprite in a row boat on a river!!
Me and Heli in the row boat
Ilona in Anssi´s army hat
Anniina and Heli and the doll ( Martta)
Me and Ilona after sauna :)
Dinner at the Siipibaari ( chicken wing bar!)
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