*sniff* Do you smell that? *sniff sniff* That’s the smell of blog neglect.
But, in my
defence, I have a good reason for it; I’ve only got 3 ½ months left in my
exchange. I’m serious *weeps
uncontrollably* At the ‘four month’s left’ marker I freaked out. I couldn’t
possibly be leaving this beautiful country in four months. It’s not possible! Inconceivable!!
From that point on I’ve been soaking up every second I’ve got left like a
sponge in a desert.
Don’t get me
wrong Canada, I still like you and have missed all of you, but going back to
Canada means leaving my new home behind.
Yes, Finland is
my new home. You want an example? The thought of not going to sauna every week hurts my soul.
I plan on buying a pool pass and spending hours in our crappy Canadian saunas,
complaining about how Finnish saunas are much better compared to this lukewarm,
electric closet. I also enjoy Salmiakki and get excited when I see the number
8, which pretty much means I’m a Finn.
But, in all
seriousness, if I talk any more about me having to leave Finland I’m gonna get
tears on my computer, so how about an update?
I changed
families last Sunday. This is my final family during the exchange. I didn’t
actually have a room for the first five days because it was being built. The
room I have now is crazy nice, better than my own room back in Canada. My third
family is as big as my first family; six kids living at home, but this time two
have already moved out. I’m sure a lot of you are attempting to imagine how I
can live with so many kids, but it has become very, very normal to me. I am
having trouble imagining my life without these little bundles of joy running
around me all day.
A big plus for
this family is no one can really speak English, so I have to speak Finnish. If we don’t understand each other we can’t
resort to just giving up and speaking English; we have to explain ourselves in
different ways, look up words in the dictionary, or act it out like charades. I
am damned good at forming complex sentences using only a few words and a lot of
sound effects (with the mandatory frantic hand gesture).
The Kinnunen
family are very sporty in general, but hockey seems to be the main attraction. The hockey world
championships (I actually have no idea what the name is in English) are in May
and I can’t wait to watch with them. I’m hoping there are no serious
Canada/Finland games, because I might end up sleeping in the shed. One of my
new little brothers, Väinö-Matti (pronounced in English ‘Vai-neuh’), is an avid
hockey fan. It scares me how much hockey facts can fit into that
eleven-year-old’s brain.
The Kinnunens have a dog named Fairy. Fairy is not a Finnish name at
all, so they pronounce it in many different ways. Sometimes it sounds like
‘Fai-reu’, sometimes ‘Fai-ree’, and sometimes ‘Fai-ray’. The last example
sounds almost exactly like my Finnish name ‘Klai-ray’. This is rather confusing,
and half of the time I’m not sure which one of us they’re talking to. Many
jokes have been made about me pissing on couches and taking me for walks.
I went ice fishing for the first time last Tuesday, and I had a blast! It was WAY better than I thought it would be. I ended up going with a bunch of 4-10 year old kids, which was a lot of fun cause they’d try to speak really fast to me so I wouldn’t understand. I caught 7 fish, but only five were big enough to eat. I only squealed like a little girl three times while pulling the hooks out of the fish, and only felt bad for them five times.
Last Friday I went to a Kärpät
game. The Kärpäts are Oulu’s hockey
team playing in the SM-Liiga, which
is like the highest level you can play in Finland. Think of it as an NHL farm
team. The game was great; we won 4-0! I had fun listening to the chants and
cries from the crowd. The team is doing really well this year, and I’m hoping
to go to one of the playoff games!
That same Friday we had our first day of ‘spring’. It was beautiful. I
almost cried when I saw blue sky. I forgot the sky could do that! I went for a
two-hour walk in the sunshine, and felt extremely warm even though it was still
only 4 degrees. Despite all the sun we’ve had this week; our backyard is still
a giant ice-rink, which is awesome when attempting to walk to the bus stop.
I’m also experiencing something that Finns call “spring headaches”. This
means my brain doesn’t know what to do with all this sun and light and warmth.
When I wake up at 6:30 to catch my bus I can actually see where I’m walking.
This is amazing. My brain has gotten used to assuming that if the sun is up
it’s around 12:00 in the afternoon, which gives me a constant feeling of being
late for school. I’m hoping this goes away soon.
Don’t expect a blog post again anytime soon. As much as I want to keep
you updated, I’d rather tell you all about it later than miss getting to
experience it now… but I will probably upload some photos. I’m uploading all my
Finland photos onto Facebook, and they can be found here: To Infin(land)ity and Beyond. I’ve set
the album so that you don’t have to be a member of Facebook to see it. I know
it’s not the same as a blog post, but it’s better than nothing, right?
Anyways, I can’t think of anything else to say, so I’ll leave you with some pictures. You can find all my blog photos and more if you follow the link above.
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| My room, in the prosess of being built |
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| My little brother Onni kicking my butt in NHL 2011 |
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| WE MADE A FORT!! |
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| My beautiful new siblings |
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| With some minor adjustments, I actually fit into the fort. One of the problems of growing up.... :( |
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| My brandnew room, complete with Canadian and Finnish flags! :D |
Anteeksi Suomalainen, mutta en vissiin kirjoita suomeksi enää. Minä tykän kirjoittaa suomeksi, mutta olen niin hidas ja tarvitsen paljon aikaa kirjoittaa. Ehkä, ensi kerralla, mutta ei nyt. SORI!
