Hey guys!
Finally I found plenty of free time and the feel that I have to share my experience from Finland with you again.
For all of you who do not know, why I did not write anything for almost a whole year:
Well, it was a hard time actually. There were some problems within our family and last year, I began to learn for my final exams for High School. Now I can say: Both "problems" are solved.
I got my final certificate, called 'Abitur' here in Germany. This needs to be celebrated, of course. :)
But let's come back to the actual reason, why I'm writing this.
It was the 27th of August 2012 or My first School Day.
As you may know, Hilkka and I went to Klaukkala couple of days ago to get my bus ticket for a whole month. But as I do forget everything, I also forgot the bus ticket in the morning of this day. xD
So I had to run back to our house and while running, I called Unto so that he could hand it out to me at the front door. With my last ressource of power, I ran back to the bus station. And if this wasn't bad enough, the bus was coming already. So I was waving with my hand like an insane while managing to make it some last meters aaaaand...
I MADE IT!!!
Hardly seeking for air, I climbed up the bus stairs up to the bus driver and took out my ticket and handed it out to the driver. He shortly looked a little bit irritated at me but nevertheless he put the ticket into a special machine. The card vanished... -I stoppped breathing (I think, you could see the white part of my eyes)- but with an annoying BEEP my card appeared luckily and the bus driver gave it to me again. I quickly took my precious, precious ticket and took a seat quite in the back of the bus just to start breathing again.
However, the rest of the trip wasn't that exciting anymore. It was easy to find the station where I had to exit the bus. From there on, I just followed the other students to school.
A big and red building grew out of Klaukkala's horizon. And there I stood, in front of the school, I would visit half a year from now on. The entry was decorated with the big letters 'Arkadian Yhteislyseo' (which means High School or at least something connected to that).
Stepping inside, I could see some lockers on the right side and the toilets on the left side. Especially the last part can be life-saving sometimes - just saying. ;-)
Some steps further, there were some tables and Finnish students sitting around there, their eyes shortly noticing the strange new guy coming through the door were quickly heading back to their mobile phones in their hands, because our eyes met each other.
I slowly moved towards them and asked something like "Hei, minä olen saksalainen vaihto-oppilas... and I am looking for the office". One guy stood up and grabbed my hand and said: "Hei, I show it to you. I'm Tuomas, by the way." After getting to know the head teacher plus organization stuff, Tuomas brought me to my first lesson - biology. Nowadays, I ask myself why the hell I chose that. Maybe because it's an interesting subject - at least in Germany. But this teacher I had, rather a vampire than a human (my mates will know), just read out of his nice papers and never used one single word in English as far as I can remember. I tried to write down all words I understood but it was useless...
Luckily I had a nice table neighbor called Meeri. She could explain the stuff, Mr Vampire talked about, quite well and I felt definitely better. Thanks to you at this place.
I should stop this blog entry at this point. Otherwise the text would get way too long. I have got more to share from this day. This day was quite full of new people and places.
Sorry again that you had to wait such a long time. I try to share more this week but from Friday on, I'm gonna be on holiday.
So, that's all for now.
Stay tuned
Terveisin Finno
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Soapbox racing
Hei guys!
Long time ago, I wrote an entry about having sauna and visiting a village festival. Now it's gonna be about my first impressions of Helsinki and soapbox racing.
We managed to go there at around 1pm. On the motorway driving to Helsinki, my mother suddenly hit me on my leg and said something like "yelppa autoa" (at least that's what I understood because my Finnish was still bad). I was quite shocked and wondered what I did wrong. :D It turned out that everytime a yellow car (KELTAINEN AUTO!!!) passed by, the fastest person in our car could hit his or her neighbour. During the whole time in Finland, I was quite good at this game, haha!
We easily found a parking lot close to the hospital, where Hilkka works and went to a tram's stop in the city. As I actually don't like big cities, I was quite surprised how this one caught my attention. I found some beautiful corners and shot some photos. Then we took the tram to the center of Helsinki, hiked up a hill and faced the race track of 2012's Red Bull Soapbox Race.
A lot of different soapboxes were found at the beginning of this track. My favourites were "Black Pearl" with Jack Sparrow on it (from 'Pirates of the Caribbean') and the "Batmobil" with Batman himself. :D
In the end a guy who drifted down the hill in a grill won the championship. It was so interesting to see all the different ideas of soapboxes. One could see that people have put plenty of work into this day and it succeeded really!
Enough for today.
Next time, I'm gonna tell you from my first school day with Tuomas and so on.
So until next time,
stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
Long time ago, I wrote an entry about having sauna and visiting a village festival. Now it's gonna be about my first impressions of Helsinki and soapbox racing.
We managed to go there at around 1pm. On the motorway driving to Helsinki, my mother suddenly hit me on my leg and said something like "yelppa autoa" (at least that's what I understood because my Finnish was still bad). I was quite shocked and wondered what I did wrong. :D It turned out that everytime a yellow car (KELTAINEN AUTO!!!) passed by, the fastest person in our car could hit his or her neighbour. During the whole time in Finland, I was quite good at this game, haha!
We easily found a parking lot close to the hospital, where Hilkka works and went to a tram's stop in the city. As I actually don't like big cities, I was quite surprised how this one caught my attention. I found some beautiful corners and shot some photos. Then we took the tram to the center of Helsinki, hiked up a hill and faced the race track of 2012's Red Bull Soapbox Race.
A lot of different soapboxes were found at the beginning of this track. My favourites were "Black Pearl" with Jack Sparrow on it (from 'Pirates of the Caribbean') and the "Batmobil" with Batman himself. :D
In the end a guy who drifted down the hill in a grill won the championship. It was so interesting to see all the different ideas of soapboxes. One could see that people have put plenty of work into this day and it succeeded really!
Enough for today.
Next time, I'm gonna tell you from my first school day with Tuomas and so on.
So until next time,
stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
Sunday, February 23, 2014
First sauna of my life!
Hei :)
Last time I told you about my first day in Suomi. Here comes the second day.
But before that, I have to tell you from my first time in sauna. It was the day before in the evening when my father came into my room and said: "Do you want to go to sauna?" I said: "Yes, why not!" So I put my trunks on and went into a small wooden room with a big sink with stones inside. Unto filled a bucket with water and came to me. He set the temperature and sat down next to me. Unfortunately we couldn't talk to each other because, as I'm hearing impaired I can't wear my aids in the sauna. But nevertheless it was a quite strange feeling for me. It changed from "normal climate" to "Italy climate", later from "tropical climate" to "hot as hell" :D I was sweating so much, I thought I would dry out but I survived. I had to stop with sauna earlier than Unto. He stayed in that cabin for such a long time... How can people do such strange things?! Yes, it is healthy, I know, but it is so incredibly hot in there! After taking a cold shower I felt really good, so it is no lie that saunas are good.
The next day. From my diary entry:
"The day began with breakfast at 9:15am with 'The Simpsons' on TV. I still understand too less Finnish. I wonder what the others in Germany do right now. -After breakfast Sami and me drove to a village festival. There I bought a prepaid-card for my mobile phone but it seems like it doesn't work really :( (It turned out that I was just able to write messages when I had WLAN.) The festival was very nice, with rock music in the background. My family met several friends there and talked a lot while I was looking around curiously.
After that we stopped at the lake "Sääksijärvi" and not "seksijärvi" ( first funny language fail - look it up if you want to know what that means :P ). There we made pictures and swinged a little bit.
( seksijärvi ;) )
Later that day we picked some blueberrys and currants in our big green garden. Hilkka stopped earlier because she made tasty food for us: rice, vegetables, salmon, bread and grilled chicken. Se oli hyvä! (It was good!) After that we skyped with my German parents and talked a lot. It was so good to see them again. -These damned mosquitoes!- Back at my desk I already feel a little bit homesick, even though I watched a German series called "The Public Prosecutor" (German name: "Der Staatsanwalt") and ate tasty Toblerone ice cream. The next day will be very interesting, too. We are going to Helsinki! There will be a Red Bull soapbox race! But now I'm going to bed. Hyvää yötä! (Good night!)
You see, I wrote a very nice diary entry at this day. And now you know what I will write about next time. It was good to do so much because if one doesn't do anything, he thinks about the past, the present and the future. The emotions come up and then one can either feel very alone or very happy. As an exchange student it happens more often that he or she feels alone. You have to imagine being in another country with unknown people around you. In the beginning you don't want to tell them how you feel because you don't know them good enough to trust them already. You have to make sure that these people are okay. These people will be your family for the next time. In my case it happened very fast luckily. I knew early that I found a warm and lovely family. Hilkka, Unto, Sami, Elvis. Thank you again! <3
That shall be enough for now.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
So until next time, stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
Last time I told you about my first day in Suomi. Here comes the second day.
But before that, I have to tell you from my first time in sauna. It was the day before in the evening when my father came into my room and said: "Do you want to go to sauna?" I said: "Yes, why not!" So I put my trunks on and went into a small wooden room with a big sink with stones inside. Unto filled a bucket with water and came to me. He set the temperature and sat down next to me. Unfortunately we couldn't talk to each other because, as I'm hearing impaired I can't wear my aids in the sauna. But nevertheless it was a quite strange feeling for me. It changed from "normal climate" to "Italy climate", later from "tropical climate" to "hot as hell" :D I was sweating so much, I thought I would dry out but I survived. I had to stop with sauna earlier than Unto. He stayed in that cabin for such a long time... How can people do such strange things?! Yes, it is healthy, I know, but it is so incredibly hot in there! After taking a cold shower I felt really good, so it is no lie that saunas are good.
The next day. From my diary entry:
"The day began with breakfast at 9:15am with 'The Simpsons' on TV. I still understand too less Finnish. I wonder what the others in Germany do right now. -After breakfast Sami and me drove to a village festival. There I bought a prepaid-card for my mobile phone but it seems like it doesn't work really :( (It turned out that I was just able to write messages when I had WLAN.) The festival was very nice, with rock music in the background. My family met several friends there and talked a lot while I was looking around curiously.
After that we stopped at the lake "Sääksijärvi" and not "seksijärvi" ( first funny language fail - look it up if you want to know what that means :P ). There we made pictures and swinged a little bit.
Later that day we picked some blueberrys and currants in our big green garden. Hilkka stopped earlier because she made tasty food for us: rice, vegetables, salmon, bread and grilled chicken. Se oli hyvä! (It was good!) After that we skyped with my German parents and talked a lot. It was so good to see them again. -These damned mosquitoes!- Back at my desk I already feel a little bit homesick, even though I watched a German series called "The Public Prosecutor" (German name: "Der Staatsanwalt") and ate tasty Toblerone ice cream. The next day will be very interesting, too. We are going to Helsinki! There will be a Red Bull soapbox race! But now I'm going to bed. Hyvää yötä! (Good night!)
You see, I wrote a very nice diary entry at this day. And now you know what I will write about next time. It was good to do so much because if one doesn't do anything, he thinks about the past, the present and the future. The emotions come up and then one can either feel very alone or very happy. As an exchange student it happens more often that he or she feels alone. You have to imagine being in another country with unknown people around you. In the beginning you don't want to tell them how you feel because you don't know them good enough to trust them already. You have to make sure that these people are okay. These people will be your family for the next time. In my case it happened very fast luckily. I knew early that I found a warm and lovely family. Hilkka, Unto, Sami, Elvis. Thank you again! <3
That shall be enough for now.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
So until next time, stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
Friday, January 24, 2014
My first day in Finland!
Finally I'm back!
I stopped writing when I told you about landing in Finland. Here we go again. :)
Sooo, my diary (yes, I wrote one during my exchange year!) says the plane landed at around 1:10pm.
BUT without my laptop... Yes, I forgot it at the airport in Frankfurt. That was a VERY awkward feeling, I can tell you... Thanks to God, the laptop was found and sent days after arriving in Finland. Luckily I don't forget anything anymore. I mean, I hope I won't. So, after leaving the plane, I went to pick up my baggage and went outside. I've seen pictures of my host family already before, so I just had to look for a man with a quite big moustache and a woman with long, red hair. Well, I think it was quite easy to find them because there were just two people who had to smile when they saw me. :')
(From now on, my host father started to make videos and take pictures of everything I did in Finland. I got used to it after a while. :D )
My host mother, Hilkka, hugged me. I can say, she has very strong arms... But it made me feel that I was welcome. Unto, my host father, did the same. I felt very good and I was so curious to live at their home.
But my first words to them are quite memorable: "Excuse me, I've got a little problem. My laptop is still in Frankfurt". We are still laughing about it. (Of course, we're still in contact and maybe I'm going back to Finland in Summer this year :) ). But at this day, Hilkka was a little bit shocked and said "Oh oh". Best reaction ever.
After calling my German father, he managed everything, got the laptop and sent it to me. He's kind of a hero. Well, my host parents and me drove to a little town (I won't tell the names of the towns and villages as well as second names of persons because of privacy reasons) where we stopped to buy my month ticket for the bus to school. Our next stop was the supermarket in the same town. I found these so-called "Angry Birds Softdrinks" and bought it because I wanted to know what it was (it's like an energy drink for children, smells like Haribo sweets, yeah!). And it was my first contact to the best chocolate of the world. It is called Fazer. My host parents have to send me some bars at each christmas, haha. Then my host parents showed me my school which was also located in the same town. It is a quite nice building, definitely more beautiful than mine in Germany.
But then we drove to a little peaceful village in the middle of the woods. It was the place where I was going to stay 6 months of my life. I really loved this place and I still do. The house was very comfortable and warm and I was glad to live there because I imagined that I could also live in a mess-house. However it doesn't matter. I found my second home. That's the point!
After lunch, we drove to the place where my host brother Sami was working and brought him something to eat. From my first impressions, he seemed to be be quite humorous and nice and it turned out to be true later.
This day went by so fast. It happened so much but it was a very important day. I found a second family and a second home. I hate saying "host family" because actually, they are like another part of my whole family.
I think, that should be enough for today ;)
Sorry for being forced to wait...
Nevertheless I hope, you like it.
Feedback would be nice (volunteers me to write more).
So until next time: Stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
I stopped writing when I told you about landing in Finland. Here we go again. :)
Sooo, my diary (yes, I wrote one during my exchange year!) says the plane landed at around 1:10pm.
BUT without my laptop... Yes, I forgot it at the airport in Frankfurt. That was a VERY awkward feeling, I can tell you... Thanks to God, the laptop was found and sent days after arriving in Finland. Luckily I don't forget anything anymore. I mean, I hope I won't. So, after leaving the plane, I went to pick up my baggage and went outside. I've seen pictures of my host family already before, so I just had to look for a man with a quite big moustache and a woman with long, red hair. Well, I think it was quite easy to find them because there were just two people who had to smile when they saw me. :')
(From now on, my host father started to make videos and take pictures of everything I did in Finland. I got used to it after a while. :D )
My host mother, Hilkka, hugged me. I can say, she has very strong arms... But it made me feel that I was welcome. Unto, my host father, did the same. I felt very good and I was so curious to live at their home.
But my first words to them are quite memorable: "Excuse me, I've got a little problem. My laptop is still in Frankfurt". We are still laughing about it. (Of course, we're still in contact and maybe I'm going back to Finland in Summer this year :) ). But at this day, Hilkka was a little bit shocked and said "Oh oh". Best reaction ever.
After calling my German father, he managed everything, got the laptop and sent it to me. He's kind of a hero. Well, my host parents and me drove to a little town (I won't tell the names of the towns and villages as well as second names of persons because of privacy reasons) where we stopped to buy my month ticket for the bus to school. Our next stop was the supermarket in the same town. I found these so-called "Angry Birds Softdrinks" and bought it because I wanted to know what it was (it's like an energy drink for children, smells like Haribo sweets, yeah!). And it was my first contact to the best chocolate of the world. It is called Fazer. My host parents have to send me some bars at each christmas, haha. Then my host parents showed me my school which was also located in the same town. It is a quite nice building, definitely more beautiful than mine in Germany.
But then we drove to a little peaceful village in the middle of the woods. It was the place where I was going to stay 6 months of my life. I really loved this place and I still do. The house was very comfortable and warm and I was glad to live there because I imagined that I could also live in a mess-house. However it doesn't matter. I found my second home. That's the point!
After lunch, we drove to the place where my host brother Sami was working and brought him something to eat. From my first impressions, he seemed to be be quite humorous and nice and it turned out to be true later.
This day went by so fast. It happened so much but it was a very important day. I found a second family and a second home. I hate saying "host family" because actually, they are like another part of my whole family.
I think, that should be enough for today ;)
Sorry for being forced to wait...
Nevertheless I hope, you like it.
Feedback would be nice (volunteers me to write more).
So until next time: Stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno
Sunday, January 5, 2014
A small step for humanity - A big step for me
It was the 24th of August, 2012. A day that was the beginning of the actual experience. Maybe the best experience of my entire life but I'm bad in judging and nobody knows what will come next. I won't ever forget this day really. It is like I can still see it directly in front of my eyes.
I had to wake up very early, my suitcase already packed almost bursting yesterday. Breakfast went fast, then we jumped into our car and headed to the big Frankfurt International Airport. There we found the other Freshees/Awayees who supposed to fly to Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. My destination was of course the capital of Finland. So I gave my suitcase to the counter and prepared for the hardest part ever in my life. It was time to say good-bye to my parents. The fact that they already had tears in their eyes didn't help me to survive this really. After long and firm hugs I had to let them go and made my heavy steps to the gate while waving my hand for a last time. Then they were gone and I stretched my throat trying to see them again but it was not granted for me anymore. I took a deep breath and turned my face towards the gate.
A new chapter of life.
A big step for me.
I can tell you, it was not easy as it may seem.
Luckily I was not alone. The other Awayees felt the same and many of us were crying but nevertheless, we didn't go back. After maybe half an hour, it turned out that there were also Italian Awayees who had the same flight like us. That was my first touch with intercultural exchange and I was very happy about it because that was the thing what I dreamed of. A smile showed up on my face and the sadness was almost gone.
This picture was taken after we took off from Frankfurt. It was the first picture of my journey and if you want I will also add more, one by one. After two hours flying, we landed at 1:08pm safely in Vantaa/Helsinki Airport. When I stepped out of the plane and set my feet on the ground, I was pretty sure: I WAS IN FINLAND!
That's all for now. I hope you still enjoy my entries. Furthermore I hope you had a wonderful christmas time and a good start into new year 2014. By the way I spent my new year at one of the Italian Returnees who I got to know in Frankfurt! ;)
You see, an exchange year helps a lot, haha!
So until next time: Stay tuned!
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
I had to wake up very early, my suitcase already packed almost bursting yesterday. Breakfast went fast, then we jumped into our car and headed to the big Frankfurt International Airport. There we found the other Freshees/Awayees who supposed to fly to Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. My destination was of course the capital of Finland. So I gave my suitcase to the counter and prepared for the hardest part ever in my life. It was time to say good-bye to my parents. The fact that they already had tears in their eyes didn't help me to survive this really. After long and firm hugs I had to let them go and made my heavy steps to the gate while waving my hand for a last time. Then they were gone and I stretched my throat trying to see them again but it was not granted for me anymore. I took a deep breath and turned my face towards the gate.
A new chapter of life.
A big step for me.
I can tell you, it was not easy as it may seem.
Luckily I was not alone. The other Awayees felt the same and many of us were crying but nevertheless, we didn't go back. After maybe half an hour, it turned out that there were also Italian Awayees who had the same flight like us. That was my first touch with intercultural exchange and I was very happy about it because that was the thing what I dreamed of. A smile showed up on my face and the sadness was almost gone.
This picture was taken after we took off from Frankfurt. It was the first picture of my journey and if you want I will also add more, one by one. After two hours flying, we landed at 1:08pm safely in Vantaa/Helsinki Airport. When I stepped out of the plane and set my feet on the ground, I was pretty sure: I WAS IN FINLAND!
That's all for now. I hope you still enjoy my entries. Furthermore I hope you had a wonderful christmas time and a good start into new year 2014. By the way I spent my new year at one of the Italian Returnees who I got to know in Frankfurt! ;)
You see, an exchange year helps a lot, haha!
So until next time: Stay tuned!
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
Friday, December 20, 2013
Last Preparation Camp before Finland
At first sorry that I had no time to continue writing blog entries. I was busy with learning for my last exams this year. Now I've got my christmas holidays finally. Today's topic will be the third and last preparation camp.
One day I got a mail with the information that my last camp will be in Vlotho in mid-west Germany.
At first I thought the place was in Finland because I didn't know this city really and it even doesn't sound German. After searching the place in Google Maps I found out where Vlotho is really located.
The camp was something special. The destination of all the participants was Scandinavia. There were guys who went to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and also Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Finding the place where we had to go wasn't that easy as we thought even if there were arrows drawn down on the floor with chalk.
The teamers began with an introduction with the language of the nation where they have been to. We were very confused because we didn't understand anything...
At least I already learned a little bit Finnish with a computer program so that I could introduce myself with little Finnish skills.
I especially liked the evenings we had together in a meeting room. We talked a lot and laughed about stories the others told us. While talking to each other we lost the time out of sight. As a consequence we went to bed at about 5am in the morning. The time plan of the following day began at 7am with breakfast by the way... No, I wasn't tired. :D
There's one more thing to mention: We made groups with 5 or 6 Freshees per group and every group was named after a Scandinavian city (I was in group "Reykjavik", I guess but I actually forgot it). Our task was to work through several stations and win as many points as possible. The group with the most points won the game. We happened to be on rank two. That was quite awesome. Our games had something to do with international cultures. The task of one station was to recognize famous persons on pictures and name them. Another task was to put drawings to the right artist and so on. After about 5 minutes a bell rang and we had to go to the next station. I really liked the game, it was very interesting and we all had fun.
We also talked about typical things that will happen in our host country like getting homesick or failing with making friends. The teamers told us how it will be like in those countries and showed pictures to us. Finland was explained as a place full of nature and silence. The people there are shy and sometimes pessimistic but nevertheless curious and they have a sense of humor.
I noticed that but I didn't really count on that because I wanted to experience the country on my own.
Next time (in the new year) I will start writing about the actual topic of this blog. The big journey to Finland.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May you get plenty of presents and keep healthy.
So until then: Hyvää joulua ja hyvää uutta vuotta. :)
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
One day I got a mail with the information that my last camp will be in Vlotho in mid-west Germany.
At first I thought the place was in Finland because I didn't know this city really and it even doesn't sound German. After searching the place in Google Maps I found out where Vlotho is really located.
The camp was something special. The destination of all the participants was Scandinavia. There were guys who went to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and also Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Finding the place where we had to go wasn't that easy as we thought even if there were arrows drawn down on the floor with chalk.
The teamers began with an introduction with the language of the nation where they have been to. We were very confused because we didn't understand anything...
At least I already learned a little bit Finnish with a computer program so that I could introduce myself with little Finnish skills.
I especially liked the evenings we had together in a meeting room. We talked a lot and laughed about stories the others told us. While talking to each other we lost the time out of sight. As a consequence we went to bed at about 5am in the morning. The time plan of the following day began at 7am with breakfast by the way... No, I wasn't tired. :D
There's one more thing to mention: We made groups with 5 or 6 Freshees per group and every group was named after a Scandinavian city (I was in group "Reykjavik", I guess but I actually forgot it). Our task was to work through several stations and win as many points as possible. The group with the most points won the game. We happened to be on rank two. That was quite awesome. Our games had something to do with international cultures. The task of one station was to recognize famous persons on pictures and name them. Another task was to put drawings to the right artist and so on. After about 5 minutes a bell rang and we had to go to the next station. I really liked the game, it was very interesting and we all had fun.
We also talked about typical things that will happen in our host country like getting homesick or failing with making friends. The teamers told us how it will be like in those countries and showed pictures to us. Finland was explained as a place full of nature and silence. The people there are shy and sometimes pessimistic but nevertheless curious and they have a sense of humor.
I noticed that but I didn't really count on that because I wanted to experience the country on my own.
Next time (in the new year) I will start writing about the actual topic of this blog. The big journey to Finland.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May you get plenty of presents and keep healthy.
So until then: Hyvää joulua ja hyvää uutta vuotta. :)
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
Monday, December 9, 2013
Second Preparation Camp
Today the entry will be about the second AFS meeting on a monestary hill in the middle of nowhere.
It was not that easy to find this place. My dad and me had to drive a little bit around the building until we found a place where we were able to go inside.
Actually I was supposed to meet the same persons like in the first meeting but I wasn't able to attend there, so I took part in another region. But those people were quite nice, too. One special thing happened. There were two Awayees from Sweden and somewhere from South America (I unfortunately forgot it). They told us stories about their life as an exchange student and of course we were very curious. We asked them quite a lot. I thought they were getting tired of this but no, they were really patient. One side-effect of an exchange year.
Patience should be required when you want to go abroad because you have to listen several times until you understand your host family. Sometimes they can't speak English that good. If speaking doesn't help, you can try to communicate with your hands and feet. Then it should be pretty clear, what your host family wants from you (hoover for example has got a typical move, everybody will recognize it).
The South American girl also showed us how to dance Samba. I have to say that it's not as easy as I thought.
We had some tasks again (act like a native inhabitant of a country and react to new people and to talk to your 'neighbours' in your own language for example).
The most memorable thing was a strange ceremony in the late evening. We had to wait outside again, while our teamers prepared something in the big room. By the way, we had to put off our shoes and socks...
Then we were brought in one after another. The room was dark and there was only candlelight. This time we had to wait for the others before something happened. It has to be mentioned that we sat in a semicircle like: Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl and so on.
Our teamers went off for a while. Then they came in and looked really strange. The only man and the other two women had something like monk habits on. They sat down in front of us and brought a cup and two trays with them.
Suddenly the man wanted the women to sit down on the floor and put their chairs aways (without saying anything). Our Freshee Girls had to do the same. As the women sat down again beside him, the man put his hands on their heads and forced them to bend like in the church. He did the same still sitting in his chair.
Of course we had to do the same. One of us couldn't help it and had to snort for laughter. There came a very sharp "Pssst." and the ceremony went on. The women gave everyone of us something to eat and drink from the cup and the trays. It smelled horrible and the laughter came back. Now more than one. Again that "Pssst." After the last one has eaten everything we had to bend again. The monks left the room.
The light was switched on and we had to laugh so hard, we got tears. It was so funny and we weren't allowed to laugh. I still remember the stomach-ache after laughing.
The food we got was made of bananas, basil and ketchup. Of course it had to taste bad, said the teamers.
The drink was made of apple juice, cocoa and vinegar... Stop laughing. Taste it! :D
The idea behind this was that we should be faced with a foreign culture. (No, the ceremony we had doesn't exist). A nice experience, even if it was veeeery strange.
That's all for now ;)
Until next time: Stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
It was not that easy to find this place. My dad and me had to drive a little bit around the building until we found a place where we were able to go inside.
Actually I was supposed to meet the same persons like in the first meeting but I wasn't able to attend there, so I took part in another region. But those people were quite nice, too. One special thing happened. There were two Awayees from Sweden and somewhere from South America (I unfortunately forgot it). They told us stories about their life as an exchange student and of course we were very curious. We asked them quite a lot. I thought they were getting tired of this but no, they were really patient. One side-effect of an exchange year.
Patience should be required when you want to go abroad because you have to listen several times until you understand your host family. Sometimes they can't speak English that good. If speaking doesn't help, you can try to communicate with your hands and feet. Then it should be pretty clear, what your host family wants from you (hoover for example has got a typical move, everybody will recognize it).
The South American girl also showed us how to dance Samba. I have to say that it's not as easy as I thought.
We had some tasks again (act like a native inhabitant of a country and react to new people and to talk to your 'neighbours' in your own language for example).
The most memorable thing was a strange ceremony in the late evening. We had to wait outside again, while our teamers prepared something in the big room. By the way, we had to put off our shoes and socks...
Then we were brought in one after another. The room was dark and there was only candlelight. This time we had to wait for the others before something happened. It has to be mentioned that we sat in a semicircle like: Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl and so on.
Our teamers went off for a while. Then they came in and looked really strange. The only man and the other two women had something like monk habits on. They sat down in front of us and brought a cup and two trays with them.
Suddenly the man wanted the women to sit down on the floor and put their chairs aways (without saying anything). Our Freshee Girls had to do the same. As the women sat down again beside him, the man put his hands on their heads and forced them to bend like in the church. He did the same still sitting in his chair.
Of course we had to do the same. One of us couldn't help it and had to snort for laughter. There came a very sharp "Pssst." and the ceremony went on. The women gave everyone of us something to eat and drink from the cup and the trays. It smelled horrible and the laughter came back. Now more than one. Again that "Pssst." After the last one has eaten everything we had to bend again. The monks left the room.
The light was switched on and we had to laugh so hard, we got tears. It was so funny and we weren't allowed to laugh. I still remember the stomach-ache after laughing.
The food we got was made of bananas, basil and ketchup. Of course it had to taste bad, said the teamers.
The drink was made of apple juice, cocoa and vinegar... Stop laughing. Taste it! :D
The idea behind this was that we should be faced with a foreign culture. (No, the ceremony we had doesn't exist). A nice experience, even if it was veeeery strange.
That's all for now ;)
Until next time: Stay tuned.
Terveisin, Finno Sheep
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