Aima Meets Jyväskylä

Finns are proud of their strawberries. The berries grown within Finnish borders are the sweetest, the reddest, and the all-around best. Which obviously means that we had an obligation to go strawberry picking.

And so we did. Marita, Kaisla, Unna and I drove to the fields, armed to the teeth with buckets and a determination to hunt down the sweetest of the strawberries. "Pick a row. Pick berries." Two hours and four heaping buckest later, we drove home to meet Jenna.

Jenna is one of the other girls from YFU, and we became friends quite easily during orientation. She's the one out of the fourteen of us exchange students that can actually speak Finnish.

Her host sister, Saara, had wanted to meet a friend in Kangasala, and Jenna remembered that I'm here, too. Arrangements were made so that she would spend a night here, and then I would commute back to Jyväskylä with her to spend a day with her host family.

We spent the rest of the day swimming, and then we went to Reinola, the youth group here. Basically, we talked with people and cooked lettu (pancakes, but closer to crepes) over a bonfire.

The next day, we all went to Tampere to show Jenna around. Then Jenna and I boarded the train headed to Jyväskylä.

I met the Sormunens: a lovely family. We biked around the lake and visited a big flower shop/iitala outlet. Then, it was off to visit the Alvar Aalto museum. I was told that there are many Japanese people that come to the city to study architecture. (Alvar Aalto is a famous Finnish architect from Jyväskylä) We walked around the city center, but unfortunately, it was a Sunday, which meant all the stores were closed. No shopping for Aima. After dinner, I got back on the train and headed to Tampere.

Hyvää Syntymäpäivää, Kaisla!

July 11 was Kaisla's 18th birthday. We began the celebratory day by going to her room in the morning and singing to the sleepy birthday girl. Still drowsy with sleep, we all shuffeld down to the breakfast table which was set with hibiscus flowers, candles, eggs, bacon, and strawberry cake.

Later that day, we packed our bags and loaded up the big blue van for an overnight trip to Savolinna, Retretti, and Imatra. The entire excursion had been a last-minute ordeal, which is how Kari likes things. "Calendar" is one of the dustiest words in his vocabulary. He like things to be spontaneous and adventerous. This is very different for me, as I have parents who are planning summer vacation way back in January.

Anyways, it took us five hours to drive to Savolinna, which is a city famous for opera. It was rather late--7ish. Too late for stores to be open. So we just went on a mad hunt for hotel rooms and later decided that we didn't really want to go to the opera, anyways. So I just saw Savolinna through the car window.

After breakfast he next day, we drove to Retretti, which is a city famous for its art exhibitions.

A note about Finnish hotel, esp. regarding their breakfasts: I have been in two different hotels, and they have both had amazing continental breakfasts. None of the Costco-bought danishes and muffins nonsense that I've gotten used to in America. Here, a continental breakfast means a full out buffet.

Back to Retretti. The first exhibition in the museum featured white porcelain manga-like characters. Manga really gets around, I guess. There were also glass surfboards and animal sculptures. The most impressive, though, and the highlight of the exhibition were the paintings of a Finnish summer.

The paintings were done in the early 1900s, but I noticed that the landscape has hardly changed at all. Finland is a nation that has been well-preserved. There were lakes and forrests hundreds of years ago, and they still stand today.

We moved on to watch the release of the dam at Imatra. It is, I belive, the largest in the country. While it isn't as big as the Hoover dam, the water was mesmerizing. A composition of Sibelius floated through the air until the notes were overtaken by the rush and roar of the water.

Five hours later, we were back at home, only to find that Joona had single-handedly consumed the rest of the strawberry cake.

Out with Outi

A view of Tampere


On July 14th, we were faced with the taks of clearing out the entire cavity beneath the house. You see, the entire building is built on a slanted hill (I suppose that's redundant, as all hills are slanted, lest they be called plains). Anyways, the house is held up by large stone pillars, and the area between the house and the ground had become a jungle of wood and bricks and miscellaneous junk, all of which had to be transported elsewhere.

And so it was. For three ours, we heaved wooden planks to the shed. The pieces that couldn't be slavaged were piled into a...well, a pile to be burned later. It was all heavy work, not like what I'm used to. Still, it was good to be useful.


While we spent the whole of the morning and early afternoon clearing the underside of the house, I failed to understand the purpose of it, as I was told we'd be taking it all back later. There was something said about covering the opening, but then how do you get everything back?

Whatever. I don't make houses, I wouldn't know.


After washing up and wolfing down some soup, Outi came and I went to spend the rest of the day with her in Tampere. Ah, I should back up and tell you who Outi is.


Well, I'm here in Finland through an organization called Youth for Understanding (YFU). During my stay, YFU has assigned my host family and me a contact person to keep a tab on me and help smooth out any misunderstandings between my family and me, should they arise. My wonerful contact person is Outi Lehmus, who lives in nearby Tampere and has been associated with YFU for a number of years.

She offered to take me around Tampere with her, and I gladly obliged. She is about my mom's age. She's blonde and wears bright pink sweaters and speaks wonderful English and Finnish and very good Japanese (she lived there for a year due to her husband's employment).

We were joined by her daughter, Aino (kinda like Aima!) who returned from a year long exchange program in Argentina just two weeks earlier. Outi told me that since coming back from Argentina, Aino had turned latino and was suddenly very talkative.

The three of us had lunch, and did a bit of shopping and ice cream eating. We drove around Pispala, which is the older, well-to-do area of Tampere. It is complete with cobblestone streets and a gorgeous view. We went to the lookout tower at the top of the hill for a good look at the entire city. Tampere is a beautiful, quaint city nestled between two lakes. At the foot of the tower is a cafe, where they serve coffee and the best munkki (sugared doughnuts) in town. Unna tells me there are contests to see who can eat as many munkki without licking their sugary lips. I'd fail miserably.


Next stop: Outi's house. I was delighted to find Japanese decorations everywhere. After a quick tour, we watched "Lost in Translation". Then it was back to Saarikylät for Aima.

There you have it. That was my day with Outi. (btw, Outi is pronounced O. T. like oh, tea!)

anteeksi...

I suppose you can think of this as a post between posts. This is to say anteeksi, I'm sorry I have not been updating. I just got back from a four day camp, and we're leaving again tomorrow morning for Lapland. I have a lot of catching up to do with this blog, so I'll just divide everything I've been doing into a few posts. Here goes...

NOTE: I am still alive.

Also note: I don't know why, but this post is backwards. So if you start at the bottom, the pictures will go in consecutive order. Sorry. I'm a newbie.

I was 200 km away from St. Petersburg, and only a few away from the Russian border.
Unna, me, and Marita in front of the cathedral in Helsinki.

Kaisla and her beloved horse friend.

Unna and Litu, on our way home from the tiny marketplace nearby.

This is at the medieval festival in Turku. All of these random Finnish people came up and started taking pictures of the foreign girl....it was slightly awkward

My first taste of Piima.....it's like spoiled milk.

"very healthy!"

The beautiful Baltic Sea. This is where we went to sauna and had a Finnish Barbeque on our last evening together.

The market place in Turku! In the back is the Orthodox church.

Me, in the marketplace, with my mango meloni ice cream and markimekko shopping bag.



I'm sorry it's been so long, but things have been rather busy here on this side of the Atlantic. I am, however, still alive and breathing. Here are some pictures (finally, finally) to prove it.

A Day in the Life of Me

At orientation, they told us that Finns are early risers, so try not to sleep in. The suggested time to set the alarm clock was 8.

Well. My family is in comatose till 10:30. But hey, I'm not complaining. For once in my life, I'm the first one to grab my robe and stumble down to breakfast. (which is also different, as I don't ever remember eating breakfast during the summer)

Finland is the number one consumer of coffee per capita in the world. They are like coffee binge drinkers. And so, naturally, on the first morning I was here, I was offered coffee with my breakfast. "What? You don't drink coffee? Well, you drink tea?" And so. Without fail, I drink tea each and every morning. I drink it with porridge, I drink it with open-faced ham and cheese and cucumber sandwiches, I drink it with rye bread, I drink it with berry soup.

Sometimes, I miss my pancakes.

There is a lake right by the house, and we go swimming more often than not. Errr..actually, what we do is probably closer to dipping. A swim is usually just slipping on your bathing suit and staying in the water for 15 minutes, then running back to the house before you are eaten alive by mosquitoes. It's fun, and the lake is sparkling clean. Many people around the island actually have the lake water pumped to their house.

Here, nature is inescapable. As we drive in the car, we are either flanked by forrest or saphire lakes or fields of sunny yellow canola flowers. We took a walk around the island two days ago, and for four miles, we saw only five cars. If that. Shopping centers were replaced by forrests and fields, and cars turned into cows and horses. This is all rather surreal for me; a city girl stuck right in the middle of the epitomy of countryside. It reminds me of the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle--it's all green and peaceful. If you look carefully, you might see a little blue house somewehre on the bottle. And that is where I live.

Every night, I discover new mosquito bites and shove the sleeping mask on my face. The sun doesn't set here till midnight(ish).

On the Island Where I live

This morning, Kaisla came prancing into my room: "we have a gift for youuuuuu!" It was that picture: they scanned it and kindly labelled it. I had told them that I was keeping a blog this summer, and they were excited to be able to help me show you where I am right now.

It is pretty, yes? Today, Kari pulled out the boat and we went chugging around the entire island. It's really hardly anything more than a rowboat with a motor attached to it, and Kaisla said that she hasn't been on it for about four years. But it was a perfect way to see all of the beautiful scenery.

We went swimming after dinner for a little while. My host mother, Marita, told me that in the wintertime, they cut a hole in the ice and go swimming sometimes. "It feels good when you get out of the water." hmmm.....

Apparently, it's very good for the blood circualtion and is really helpful for people with arthritis. Especially when paired with the sauna. Any takers?

Home Sweet Home

BAHAHAHAHA. I'm sitting in my room in Finland right now!! It's wonderful, and I'll post pictures soonish. I promise. (again) It has a slanted ceiling with a sunroof, and you can see the forrest and a huge field from the window. The other window. There's a walk-in closet that I wish I could take back to Michigan with me. My sister put up the pictures that I had sent with my application, which added a touch of home. (Even though there are actually no pictures up in my room at home. Just empty picture frames that are wishing for pictures.) Also, my mother, Marti, put a miniature statue of Mary by my bed, along with Finnish chocolate and black liccorice and..well, something else. I don't know what it is, but it might be candy of some sort.



Anyways, a quick flashback for you.



I went to sauna yesterday for the first time. I was scared. Terrified, actually. Sauna is a room that Finns sit in for relaxation. There are benches, and a stove that they throw water on. The more water, the more steam, the higher the temperature, and the more they love it. Often, Finns will sit in the hot sauna and then run out and jump into the freezing cold lake or, in the wintertime, roll out in the snow.



The sauna is a place of reverence in the Finnish culture. Way back when, before technology and sanitary hospitals, Finnish ladies would go into the sauna to give birth. Afterall, the sauna is the cleanest place in the entire house. Also, administrators in the Finnish government used to have meetings with other country officials in the sauna. Why? Becuase in the sauna, you have to be yourself. You cannot be reserved or dishonest. Finns are their true selves while in sauna.



Oh, and did I mention this all happens while you are naked? That's right. No clothes.



Well, all of us American exchange students went in with our wimpy bathing suits, all nervous and anxious with anticipation. Every Finn that we'd heard from would rant and rave about sauna, but I don't think any of us could understand why anyone would want to sit in a room naked and sweat for fun. I certainly didn't.



but it was SO MUCH FUN. I was sitting there, dripping from the shower. After a while of sitting in the sauna, you can't be sure if you're dripping water or sweat. And then you lick your salty lips and realize it's sweat. After we sat in the shower for a few minutes (I think I was probably only in there for five minutes or so), we went and jumped into the Baltic Sea, and that's the best part.



Don't belive me? Well, you can just fly yourself over to Finland and see for yourself.



Anyways, today was the day that all of our host families came to pick us up from the hotel in Turku. We were all anxious and excited, and had no idea what to expect. They had it arranged so that the students wouldn't be able to see the families until after lunch, even though all of the families were sitting in the next room. It was infuriating, to say the least.

I was waiting for the elevator like a good, lazy American that won't go down two flights of steps, when I heard ''AIMA!'' It was Kaisla and Unna and Kari, my host sisters and my host father. They were late for the meeting, so I had a chance to see them before I was supposed to.

Luckily, it wasn't awkward at all. Even the ride home was completely ok. It was a two hour drive to the house, which is near Tampere, which is the second largest city in Finland. On the way, we went to see the theatre where Kari works (he is the director, and it is a huge place), as well as three of the churches where Marti works (they are ancient and beautiful.)

A quick story before I have to go--on the way home, Unna told me that we were having fish soap for dinner.

Soup and soap. It was delicious.

...are we there yet?!

I'm here!!!!!

ok, quick flashback. On Sunday, (was it Sunday?) I flew to Washington, DC where for a YFU (Youth for Understanding) orientation. We sat through meetings, learned a little bit of Finnish, and I was able to meet the thirteen other students who are going to Finland through the same scholarship. Learned names, and made friends. There are people from all over America--from New Jersey to California to Hawaii to Michigan.

The next day, I guess it was Tuesday, we went to the capitol to meet our senators (or, rather, people who worked in the office with the Senators). So, I got to see the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the Supreme Court and the tip of the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. Later that day, our group visited the Finnish Embassy for about four hours to learn about the history and culture of Finland. That evening, we were invited to the residence of the Finnish Ambassador for a dinner to celebrate our departure. It was my first experience with Finnish food. Although there was no reindeer on the menu, there were plenty of potatoes )boiled, in a gratin, in a salad, etc etc), as well as a beautiful and delicious strawberry cake.

Then, Wednesday morning, we took off from the Washington Dulles International Airport. The flight was as good as flights can be, I guess. And, finally, we arrived at the Helsinki Airport on Thursday, and took a two or three hour bus ride to Turku, the ancient capital of Finland. (I don't know how long the trip really was, since I was asleep for all of it.)

Soo......I'M HERE! We ate dinner on Thursday at a Mexican restaurant, which I found extremely ironic. That was yesterday. Today, we had to sit through more orientations, learn more Finnish, and figure out what to do and what not to do when we're with our host familites.

But, we did get to explore the city a little bit, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could send you the breeze and the scent of the strawberries in the marketplace.

I'm writing from a hotel computer, and I don't know that I can upload pictures. But I will, eventually. Promise.

Later, and kiitos for reading. (I means thank you, and it's all Ican remember.)

Tossed Salad

Ah, well it's 1:09 am right now, and it's not tomorrow that I'm leaving anymore--it's today. It's a strange feeling; I've been looking outside all day, thinking, "wow. I'm not going to be seeing that tree for another two months. Bye, tree. Wow. When I get back, all the roses will probably be gone. So long, roses."

I meant to have all of my packing done yesterday, so I could just relax today. Ha! The queen of procrastination strikes again. In fact, I'm still not entirely packed--I have some buttons to sew onto some sweaters and I've been avoiding it since noon. Want to see? Here's what my room looked like for the majority of the day:

And that's only half of it. See the little space in the middle? That's where I sit and groan.

Well, at least I had one suitcase packed already. As you can see, I had one 45lb suitcase filled ENTIRELY with gifts and summer reading books.

I didn't even set this blog up until late afternoon. I was putting it off becuase I didn't have any idea what to call it. I was trying to think of something innovative. So I ended up using an Aima Joke. (oh, stop laughing.) Here were some of my mom's suggestions:

"Oh! Oh! I know! How about...AimaJapFinn? How's that? That's good!"

"No? Mmm...ok. Then what about AimaFinnToBe? Use that one!"

~sigh~"Ok ok. Aima...Aima...Aima...oh, I don't know."

Thanks, mom. :)

I still need to go and print out some Finnish phrases and things, with the intention of studying on the plane. We'll see if that happens or not. I'll tell you.

It really hasn't sunk into my head yet. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure what it was that made me do this in the first place. I basically just resubmitted my application from last year on a whim. And here I am, on my way to Finland, a country I hardly know anything about.

Well, here's a list. I'm good a making lists.

What Finland Is to Me:

-Santa's birthplace

-Saunas (which I am still a bit confused and nervous about)

-Gallons and gallons of coffee

-Where Moomin Troll lives (you probably won't know Moomin unless you're Japanese. Or Finnish.)

-Reindeer territory

-Where the Hakalas are!

That's it. That's all I know. And now, you know just as much about where I'm going as I do.

MY HOST FAMILY

Well. I've been emailing my sister, Kaisla, since May 7th. (I just went back and checked my email ^^) Here, another list.

This is my family:

sister, Kaisla (18)-- A lover of photography, horses, and Spain.

brother, Joona (16)--A skier/jumper. He jumps with skiis.

sister, Unna (14)-- One who dances. A ballerina of 11 years.

mother, Marita--A Pastor.

father, Kari--An actor and director of theater.

pet, Litu--a friend in general, I guess. As all dogs are.

Well, I ran over to Megan's to say my goodbyes. That was hard to do.

And then Chris, my senpai (sorry, Japanese insert here. Senpai is a term for someone who experienced something before you did. In this case, Chris went to Finland two years ago as a YFU student) and fellow night owl, came over around 11 to say bye. He's leaving for Germany, so I won't see him for a whole year...

Oh, and why is this entry called Tossed Salad? Because that's what I feel like right now: I'm happy and sleepy and frazzled and excited and nervous and scared and confident energetic. And also, this entire post has just been one, gigantic, tossed salad. Just scattered. If you could follow this, you are one talented indivudual.

I'm still getting used to this whole blog-making thing. It's really crazy looking right now. I'm sorry. I'll try to be a bit more organized in the future. For your sake and mine. :)