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. :)