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?