Karkku Pt.2 and meeting my first host family!

KESKIVIIKO – WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday morning I had Finnish lessons for about three hours and then at about lunchtime we took a bus to the city of Tampere. The weather wasn’t very nice unfortunately, but it was still a great trip. First we had a guided tour around some parts of the city. We went into the beautiful Tampere Cathedral. We saw many painting’s inside, each had a story of its own. The tour also took us to the top of a hill where you could usually see a lake in the summer. The lake was frozen over so unfortunately we couldn’t see it but the snow made up for that.

Tampere was so pretty and had so many cute, colourful houses and old buildings. I think the bright colourful houses here in Finland are one of my favourite things about this country so far. Some of our oldies met us after the bus tour which was really nice and we went to a donut store with them in the city centre. They showed us around and some people went shopping for warmer clothes. I bought Finnish chocolate, I had to!

Back at Karkku, we had an evening with the KEO students [students at Karkku boarding school] where we played games to get to know each other and they performed some skits. I think we were all pretty tired after this after a long day.

TORSTAI – THURSDAY

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Out come the temporary tattoos and Australian flags! Today was a big day of Finnish lessons, about five hours, and a lecture with Mimmu about school in Finland. I learnt more about how the school system works here. After dinner our rotex took us to the Karkku church. It took about half an hour of trying not to slip on the icy path but we eventually arrived and had a candle church service [kynttiläkirkko]. It was really nice to reflect and think in silence because we had all been on a high of excitement since getting here. We walked back to the Karkku school and went to the Sauna house for Iltapala [evening snack] and another sauna. Though this time I didn’t jump in the ice lake. Some people made snowmen and we had a mad snowball fight.

PERJUNTAI – FRIDAY

Today was our last full day at Karkku which was a bit sad but exciting at the same time because our exchange really began the next day when our host families take us to our homes all over Finland. It was also a big day of lessons and two lectures, one by Mimmu about Finnish culture and things we need to know about living here. For example, she said on a bus you would never just sit next to stranger, personal space is a big thing. The other lecture was from a rotarian about being an exchange student in Finland.

Friday night was ‘cosy night’. We played games, listened to Finnish and Australian music and even played ‘heads down thumbs up’, a classic Australian game we all had in primary school. It was a great night and one of our oldies from Canada got to come as well so it was great to meet her. Kata, my tutor, gave my group and I the certificates for completing Karkku with a lovely card and a moose pin to add to my blazer. We went to bed probably about 1am the next morning.

LAUANTAI – SATURDAY

Today everyone was a bit excited and nervous as we were leaving each other and going to live a Finnish life with no one or nowhere we’ve known before. In the morning we had meeting with rotarians and also with our district rotarians then we had to pack our bags ready to be picked up. We had a closing ceremony and finally met our families. I was so excited to meet my first host family and very grateful that they drove about five hours that morning to get me! Everyone ate lunch together and we said our final goodbyes after lunch. Then another five hour drive to Nivala, where I will be living this year.

In my host family I have a host sister, Pinja, a host brother, Joona and my host parents, Kirsi and Ilka. They live in a very pretty yellow house, close to the Nivala city centre. There are about 11,000 people living in Nivala and the high school I am going to has only 150! Very different to Sydney but I am excited to experience living in somewhere so different to home.

Thanks so much for the great week at Karkku. Thanks to all the tutors and Mimmu. I hope I will get to see all the other exchange students at some point this year, thanks for the memories and an amazing first week.

FIRST WEEK IN NIVALA

So far this week I have already seen two ice hockey games, gone ice skating, tried reindeer pie, gone sledding and gone to Finnish school all week.

On my first day here I went to see my host brother’s ice hockey team play, the Nivalan Cowboys. At the game I also got to meet my second host parents, Jari and Kirsi. The next day was my first day of school which was pretty different to school in Australia. When you get to school you take off your coat and shoes [there is also no uniform] and go to class which starts at different times depending on what courses you take. There is a free hot lunch at 11am and there are actual tables to sit at, unlike my school at home. They also call their teachers by their first names, this is something I would get in trouble for doing in Australia. On Tuesday night my second host family came for dinner. I have three host sisters, Venla, Nuppu and Ella [who is on exchange in Tasmania] and one host brother, Atte, as well as my host parents who I met at the ice hockey game. We enjoyed some Finnish food including reindeer pie and karjalanpiirakka [which is rye crust with rice porridge inside]

One night, Pinja and I went ice skating which was really fun and we had the rink all to ourselves. On the weekend Kirsi, Pinja and I went shopping in Ylivieska which is about 20 minutes from Nivala. The next day I got taken sledding which was super fun although I fell off many times. We had a fire and ate makkara [sausages] and hot chocolate.

Kiitos for reading, I will only post every month now but look out for them on facebook!