I MET MY HOST FAMILY!

The last few days have been so busy it has been hard to find the time to record everything I have done.

This was my class for the week

Friday was last day of classes at Karkku. We learned the types of weather, animals, and food. At the end of our afternoon lesson, our teacher Heljä presented each of us with a certificate and the photo of all of the exchange students. Our afternoon lecture was a very dry, stern presentation by the 1390 District Chair for Exchange on behalf of the multidistrict exchange program that was meant to reinforce the rules and why Rotary had brought us to Finland. In the evening there was a talent show, or “Cozy Night”. Sarah from Burlington, Ontario, and I had prepared to read a condensed version of “Oh the Places you’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss however the MCs forgot to schedule us in…so we didn’t present. After the show all of the students just hung out with each other, knowing that this was our last night together for a few months.

Saturday was a very exciting day! First we had presentations by Rotary for both everyone from their home region (North America for me) and for their district (1380 for me). I think my home region meeting was the largest but my district meeting was the smallest. Then we all packed our bags as the host families came to check in. I didn’t see mine arrive but they were checked in on the list. The host families had an orientation meeting and then….. I MET MY HOST FAMILY!!!! My host parents Jarmo and Jaana along with my younger host brother Iiro had come to Karkku. There was a closing ceremony (mostly in Finnish, so I could only understand a few words here and there). After that, we ate lunch in the cafeteria, brought my bags to the car and headed out on the road. It was a three hour drive to Kauhava. Iiro didn’t stop talking for the entire duration of the drive. He and Jaana are both basically fluent in English however they would both deny that. Along the way we stopped at a pet store to pick up crickets for Iiro’s lizard. We arrived at the house, which is on ___berry alley (I can’t remember what type of berry). I met my older host brother Ilari and his girlfriend Tania as well as the family dog Siiri. After a bit of settling in, for instance I unpacked both of my bags, Jaana drove me around the town. Kauhava has approximately 17,000 people which is about the same size as Salmon Arm. It is forested with some agriculture fields, but very very flat: as flat as the prairies. For dinner we

This is my brand new, very comfortable pair of homemade socks

had pork patties and makkara. After dinner I went on a walk with Jaana and Siiri around the neighbour hood. My school is only a five minute walk from the house. We then sat as a family on the back deck wearing our “cozy socks”. Jaana knit me, and apparently everyone in the family, a bright coloured pair of wool socks. We watched TV, which was all English with Finnish subtitles except for the commercials and newscast.

Today, Sunday, I slept in until 9:30: the latest since I have been here. I watched some TV with Iiro. But then… I watched Leijonakuningas! (a.k.a. The Lion King). It was a VHS which was all in Finnish with absolutely no subtitles. I did what I have been doing the past couple days and watched it with my dictionary in hand to look up a word that I though I could spell to see what it meant.

My family here has been very welcoming. I don’t understand almost all of the conversation, except when Iiro and Jaana make an effort to translate it all for me. Tomorrow I am going to school. I have meetings with the principal and counsellor first thing in the morning. And Iiro says he has gotten permission to be my personal tour guide around the school. I am definitely looking forward to going to my lukio (high school).