Cookies, Crabs, and Coursework



The Chefs (Kalle and Me) & Cookies

On Friday during English class we played board game (I won in our group!)…however don’t judge me just yet because I started trying to answer some of the questions in Finnish. But they were very difficult because the game was meant for students who have been studying English for over ten years, and I haven’t studied Finnish for even 8 weeks. During Spanish class I understood almost the whole class again. I am glad I am taking it because it is the first Spanish class these students (and I) have taken, and because it is a new language they are learning basic things, so when the teacher says them in Finnish, I know exactly what he is saying because he says basic things. Spanish, for anyone unaware, is very much like French in the fact that even if there is only one guy in a group of girls, the group is masculine. The teacher and I are the only guys in the classroom, so he always references it like: “And what would it be if Peter and I left the room?” After lunch there was no art class because teacher was away, but because of that we had to get an idea for our project…I think I am going to take one of the pictures I took in Ecuador last summer and modify it to fit my personality. Later that afternoon I made some cheesecake at the request and with the translation of my host mother. (She was already going to make it, but she asked me if I would like to.) In the evening I went to the pappila which is where youth go on Friday nights to play pool, or videogames, or just hang out. After a couple of hours there we walked to Rolls (the fast food restaurant) and back.

On Saturday morning, I had to wake up early because I had Finnish for Foreigners class. I think the teacher is starting to understand that I am more advanced then the beginners, but I don’t understand as much speech as the advanced group. We talked about weather: it has rained almost every day in my town for the last 2 weeks! In the afternoon I made cookies! And not just any cookies: Grandma’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! I had mentioned it the night before, and Kalle asked if he could come over to help, so he did. “Cups”, “teaspoons”, and “tablespoons” are not common measurements here, so I needed to convert everything into decilitres and millilitres, just to find out that butter is measured in grams! (I think we put way too much butter into the cookies). But the cookies were delicious as they always are. Even those in the house who don’t like peanut butter (or chocolate chips for that matter) liked them. And I was able to experience a long awaited scent from back home.



The crab party.



That evening some friends from Seinäjoki (the same one who came to the kesämöki) came to our house for a “Crab” Party. The starter was mushroom soup; with the mushrooms that I picked! The main course was, contrary to my presumptions, lobster. They were sort of mini-lobsters but definitely not crab. We played some cards, had a sauna, and spoke with Ilkka (my brother in Alaska) via Skype. At about 10:30 I was invited to a get together of friends at someone’s house so I accepted (with parental consent of course) and I stayed the night at the house of Kimmo (the red head).
 On Sunday I came home just before lunch. All of the guests were still there and were just about to start playing a game of Alias. It is similar to “Taboo”, however the only word that you can’t say is the word your partner is trying to guess. I was partnered with Ilari (my older host brother) and his girlfriend Tanja helped out. I had my laptop on my lap to be able to search definitions on the internet. We didn’t get last! Afterwards, I went back to the house where our get together was the night before for a brief stay to eat some apple pie. I went back home and had a two hour nap. I blogged. I did my homework. I went to bed.

Monday, I had Pitka Matematikka as my first class, during which I realized that we learn different topics in different orders. For example: . For anyone who knows what I am talking about….: students here always write out and solve the quadratic equation when factoring a polynomial. Even when it is really easy to see that x²-2x-3 = (x-3)(x+1) they aren’t taught to recognize that the “b” term is the sum and the “c” term is the product of the 2 roots. In Spanish I have my first word test next class! I have to study the Finnish words more than the Spanish words (thanks, sis!) During English class I marked my listening activity from last class: I got 1.5 wrong out of 30! (which is still the best in the class). I think it is because I get bored when I am listening so I zone out. Watch some TV and learned Finnish card games. I was victorious at one new game, but I very rusty at a “slaps” type game (which includes slapping doubles, tens, sandwiched doubles, the top 2 cards add up to 10, and the 1^st and 3^rd cards add up to ten)  

My books.



On Tuesday in art class I am working with a picture I took in Equator making it capture the essence of my personality and interests. In Pitka Matikka 7, as soon as I finish the questions assigned, I whip out my Finnish books because this class is (although more advanced than the one I took last jakso) still pretty easy. At lunch I re-established my firm belief that I really don’t like porridge. During my second math class of the day, there was an announcement that came on that I didn’t understand. I was informed immediately after by a classmate that the police had come to the school to check mo-ped and motorcycle drivers’ licences and registrations. I am pretty sure quite a few people got tickets and warnings. Still during math, I had a personal victory when I correctly assumed the meaning of the word jatkuva (continuous) and taught the teacher how to spell both continuous and differentiable in English. After school I went to a café and bought a “birthday cupcake” to celebrate my sister Roslyn’s 21^st birthday. At Finnish for Foreigners I thought we had a pretty good class. I am partnering with a girl from Estonia who moved to Ylihärmä (technically still in Kauhava) with her mom. She speaks English quite well and wants to learn Finnish so she can get a job here. When I got home I suffered a little bit of Glee withdrawal, so I found a site on the internet that allows me to watch the latest episodes the day after they air on TV in North America.

Thanks for reading. Remember to leave a comment, question or concern.