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