Kaksi Kuukautta Suomessa (Two Months in Finland)

So, it has been a while, about 2 weeks, since I updated my blog, so I am going to do it somewhat in short form.. In general, I am having a great time. It is definitely autumn here. It is rainy. The days are getting noticeably shorter. I need to wear my toque, mitts and jacket whenever I ride my bike... and I ride my bicycle a lot. I think I might have "legs of steel" by the time I leave Finland.

These are some key events

Thursday the 29^th: At Partio I taught the “key game” for lack of a better name. You put a set of keys underneath a chair in the center of the circle. Someone who is blindfolded sits on the chair and tries to point at any culprit who tries to steal the keys.For our Rotary meeting, we went on a tour of the Unico factory; Unico is a mattress company. I took pictures throughout the tour, but at the end was told that it is all “top secret” and no photos were supposed to have been taken. I want to put a picture up, but I don't think I should.



My "bed", the hammock was occupied when I wanted
to go to sleep.



Friday the 30^th of September: I went camping with Partio at their cabin (Partiomöki). Even though there was a cabin, which would have been warm if we slept inside it, we slept outside on the ground. We hung a tarp, but there wasn’t enough room for Juha (the leader) and me in addition to the scouts, so we just slept on our little foam mattresses outside on a chilly night. I liked when we went on a little walk at night and looked at the stars and after Juha pointed out a constellation, I would be able to say what it was in English.

Saturday the 1^st of October: I went to an awesome concert in Seinäjoki with my host mom, her friend (Kimmo’s mom) and her significant other. When we got to the concert hall, I met up with some of my friends from school. The group was called Semmarit (which is short for Seminaarinmäen Mieslaulajat) and they are a Finnish a cappella men’s choir. I really enjoyed the concert even though I didn’t understand most of the lyrics. But they are a very entertaining group with physical comedy and stellar harmonies which cross languages. Even thought they didn’t sing it at the concert, check out this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK_JZJGmnPk&feature=related.

The super awesome choir!

Tuesday the 4^th of October: After school we went to a café and I brought a deck of cards. I taught the group how to play Go Fish (menet kalaan)

Wednesday the 5^th of October: I brought my cribbage (crib) board to school with a deck of cards, just in case an opportunity pops up during which I could teach one of my favourite card games. After school my friends in second grade math had a calculator tutorial (side note: I brought my Ti-83+ here just in case I might need it. I think I have the most “ghetto” calculator in the class, everyone has super fancy graphing calculators) anyways, my friends who are in short math were just hanging out, so I whipped out the crib board and taught them how to play. I won, of course, but they were fast learners.

Still the 5^th: At the knife course, I shaped the handle of my knife using the belt sander and sandpaper. Now I need to decide how to finish it off. I also started making the sheath that my knife will go in when complete.

Thursday the 6^th of October: the scouts are working on their detective badge. They have already done fingerprinting and smell identifications. This week we used lemon juice as secret ink (the words appear when held to a candle). Unfortunately this meant that several pieces of paper caught flame, but they were quickly extinguished.

Friday the 7^th of October: TWO MONTH-iversary! I made a guest appearance via skype at my sponsor’s (Rotary Club of Kelowna Sunrise) weekly meeting. They meet at breakfast time so it was the early evening for me. The president and I had been emailing for a few days and he requested that I give a ten minute presentation on my time here so far. My host family spoke with them for a little bit too. Later that evening, I went to the papilla (sort of like a youth group hang out place with billiards, videogames, food, etc.) with some of my friends. Sect

Sunday the 9^th of October: I went to Church. Iiro, my younger host brother, is in the process of confirmation so he needs to attend church every so often. Jaana and I attended with him. The Kauhavan kirkko (Kauhavan Church) has a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination, which is what many Finns practise. I got goosebumps when I heard the chorus singing from upstairs and the beginning of the service. I really made me miss the choirs from my high school back in Kelowna. Anyways, I tried to sing the hymns in the books, but it was difficult to both sight read the music and try to correctly pronounce the words. I enjoyed the service though, and I understood some of the priest’s sermon which made it even better.

My host mom insisted on getting this shot.
The gun has absolutely no ammo, but we
both got a stern disapproval from Jarmo.

Still the 9^th: In the afternoon we went mushroom picking. Then we when to the shooting range where everyone practiced target shooting with a hand pistol. I was better than I expected on my first try. I got a score of 85 out of 100 (not quite an A, but still pretty good for the first try)

Monday the 10^th of October: Thanksgiving! The first “big” holiday I’ve missed since being in Finland. I might not have had turkey dinner, but I got my host family to recognize the date by going around the table and saying what each person was thankful for. I said that I am thankful for great family and friends on both sides of the world. That evening I talked with my family for what must have been two hours or more via skype. I had good conversations with my parents, both sets of grandparents, and my sister.

Tuesday the 11^th of October: I got a haircut! The barber was a family friend; Jaana and Ilari (host mom and brother) both got haircuts as well.

Remember, I always want to hear your questions, comments, concerns, news from home, really anything you want to share I would like to hear it!