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

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