Hell is for Heroes.



This is a screenshot from the film.

I recently watched the Finnish movie 'Matti - Hell is for Heroes' about the famous ski jumper. It's apparently quite fictional - though when you watch it, it's hard to believe anyone's life could possibly be like that. But, Matti Nykänen himself helped in directing it... Anyway, I recommend watching it if you want to learn about Finland, as this man is very well known - for all the wrong reasons! Basically, his life just goes downhill, and more downhill, and when you think he has hit rock bottom, he tunnels through that rock heading for the Earth's core. One of the sad parts is that the drama continues in real life through the newspapers. Voi voi.


Here are some quotes translated into English from Mr Nykänen:
"What is not done cannot be undone."
"Every chance is an opportunity!"
"Tomorrow is always in the future."
"The odds are fifty-sixty."
"Every time I jump and get to the ledge, I get that 'bon voyage' feeling. I mean it's like I've been through this before." (he meant to say 'déjà vu' but he said 'bon voyage' instead!!)
"Love is like a ball of string – it starts and it ends."
"I will not fall for the error of starting to hoard some sort of personal property."
"The question sounds like a question."
"I nearly died in the freezing cold, but I still had enough strength left to call a taxi."
"Germany-Austria is my other homeland."
"The movie was completely fiction, but it had some facts too."
"I'm prepared for each day. Even tomorrow."
"The truth is indeed reality."
"Let's just agree that you're a bouncer, and I am a world champion."
"I am still the world's best ski jumper, in the modern style I could jump 300 meters with a bound woodpile of metre long logs on my back."

Indeed.

I had the sports camp in the morning, there's like 24 kids there this week, way more than before. I went to the post office after and the lady there recognised me and spoke to me in English automatically which saved some embarrassment. I guess I'm going there too often! Came home, tried my scales on the cello again XD  -because I'm just sooo dedicated~ however, I do have my first lesson on Monday. *dance dance dance*
Went on a super long bike ride around Raisio and Turku with my host mother in the evening. It took us nearly 2 hours but then I got to go in the sauna after and it was all worth it :)
Oh how I love the sauna.
Love love love.

That, is all.

Guess Who.

If you guessed 'that girl in Finland' then you'd be correct :)
Well, I'm still in Finland.

Me being a fail.

Today I did nothing really. I managed to figure out how to play C major scale for two octaves on the cello - which did rather excite me, and then played 'hot cross buns' a few times. I desperately want to be able to play the cello background part in the song 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' by Ryuichi Sakamoto, but I can't see that happening any time soon... I had a couple of attempts at it anyway - pretty much a Hayley-Fail, but I'm getting there. Hopefully I'll get some lessons soon and then I can learn vibrato, descriptions of that on the internet are doing my head in.

The Summer Cottage by the ocean. I stode on the jetty to take this photo

Yesterday, after some sale shopping in Mylly, we spontaneously decided to go to my host mother's parent's summer cottage in Masku. It's right on the ocean and has a really calm peaceful atmosphere. It was raining the whole evening, but it sort of added to the atmospheric effect. The ocean was actually 20 degrees whilst outside was about 16! My host grandfather had drunk a little bit and got chatting to me about the war. It was actually very interesting, though everyone else was trying to shut him up! XD
I was watching TV and Crocodile Dundee was on one channel, but because of the rainy weather the signal was terrible. So I watched another channel instead which coincidentally had the Australian television series of 'Rush' on! I thought the accents sounded hilarious, so so very Australian. Everyone was wondering why I don't have that type of accent. I explained that it was because I was from Victoria and that we generally don't have stronger accents. Then I realised that 'Rush' was FROM Victoria! They were filming in an area called Springvale which is very very close to where I live! It was so exciting seeing suburb names I know! Blew my mind :P

The Sunsetting at 10.32pm

After watching that, I went in the sauna. Oh. my. good. ness. It. is. so. good. I think it was only about 70 degrees, but I stayed there for maybe half an hour then jumped in the ocean and swam around a buoy. Back to sauna again (mind you this is at about 11pm) for another 20 minutes, ocean again, sauna again. This process leaves you feeling amazing. I felt amazing :)

The ocean at 12.34am

Then we had a barbecue (at midnight) but it doesn't feel so much like midnight due to the light everywhere. We stayed up talking of things I now can't remember, and then I tried to call home at like 2am but my mum was out grocery shopping. So I called at 2.30am or something but she was now out picking up something she bought off eBay. Hehe, I found this situation hilarious XD
So I went to bed because I couldn't keep my eyes open and left the adults chatting.

View from my window where I sit now, there's a strange mist I've never seen before :P

I think I've said enough!
That, is all.

I knew this would happen...

I totally lost my momentum.
Voi voi.
Well, I'm too lazy to write what happened over the last month.
I'll just start with today :)
I started helping out at a children's sports camp this week, 10-2 mon -thurs, and it goes for another two weeks.
Hahahaha, thinking back, my first day I went to the wrong camp...
Me being, well me, I rocked up and asked the nearest stranger if they spoke English and where the camp leader was. They asked me if it was some extremely long finnish name, and I just agreed and they took me up to an office in the ice hockey rink. That confused me a little because I was meant to be at an athletic camp. I told them I was there to volunteer and that my host mother had talked to them, they didn't remember anything about that but they said that I could help out with the girls group when they came back from lunch. I helped in the kitchen then went with the girl group. That was pretty awkward. They didn't know why I was there at an ICE HOCKEY AND RINGETTE camp. Hahaha. I didn't even know what ringette was. Gosh.
After about an hour some of the girls tried talking to me, their ages ranged from about 6 to 12. The older ones were willing to try out their English, and I was interrogated thoroughly with questions like 'How old are you?''What are your hobbies?''What do they speak in Australia?'"Do you have a boyfriend?''What sport do you play?' Etcetcetc
It was actually pretty fun trying to communicate with them XD
They were so lovely, I was so sad when I realised I was at the wrong camp because I had made such good friends with them.
Tuesday Wednesday and today I've been at the correct camp and met some really lovely people too. We've been in the sun all day and everyday has been around 26-29 degrees which is seriously hot. I got so badly burnt on my back and legs, but they've gone this magical tan colour that I haven't seen in forever.
I biked with directions from my host mother with my friend to a lovely series of lakes in a place called Masku. It was so beautiful. They had little beaches everywhere and we went to a place I learned today was called the lagoon. Me and Kiwi spent hours just sitting on a rock in the water contemplating life and it's issues and joys. the scenery was so strikingly peaceful and serene. Because it was such a hot day the water was unbelievably refreshing. Little fish came up and kissed our feet - which was fairly daunting considering we didn't know what type of fish they were XD

So anyway, today after the sport camp, my finnish friend invited me to the same place in Masku, and we went there again! It seemed hotter today, and there were at least 100 people on one tiny beach at one lake. There must have been sooo many people all together at those lakes, but it would be hard to tell due to all the trees and hills around them. We went swimming in the lake, which became really really deep in the middle and stood on a really big rock underwater in the middle. Kind of like a resting place coz it was pretty far from the shore, then me and her other friend swam to a nearby bridge, jumped off it and then swam back. It was so lovely.
Now I'm living at my second host family and I think that everything is going so well. Being an exchange student puts you in quite a few awkward situations where you're not sure how to behave or what is expected of you.
Tomorrow I might be going to my host family's summer cottage for the weekend. Super excited :)

That, is all. (actually, not really, but my fingers are tired :P )
Hayley

Goodbye for a bit. (12th of May)

Two major things are about to impact my life.
1. My laptop is being sent back to HP tomorrow to fix it's stupid freezing problem.
2. Tomorrow I'm going to a spa hotel for the weekend in Tampere!

All this means is that my all inspiring effort at writing this blog will fall to pieces.  Not having my laptop for potentially two weeks... I'm probably going to go crazy...
Brace yourselves.

Today was lovely. I gotta stop saying that, but pretty much, right now everything is so great.
On my bike ride to school I nearly ran over a little red squirrel that decided to run across the footpath. I then saw another two jumping around in the trees. Squirrels are still such a novelty.
Art was fun, not entirely sure what we were meant to do, but the teacher gave us a picture and I just photoshopped it until I liked it.
It's annoying because at school we use photoshop elements, and that is really just a fail version of the photoshop I use at home... It's quite frustrating when you can't find the tools you're familiar with...

Image we were told to photoshop

Hayley version

In my other art class (where we make the tiny rooms) I painted the sofa, the bed and the bookshelf. I also painted a small christmas decoration as a little globe, so now my model bedroom has a globe in it :D
After school, me and Kiwi went to my friend's house for dinner and then got driven in another friend's audi TT to a lake. It barely fit us all in there XD I was literally sitting facing the side window as there was no room for my legs to go straight!
Such a beautiful lake... It was about 5km if you took the track around it. It kind of reminded me of Lysterfield lake back in Melbourne but without the beach on it. And with a lot more rocks.
The water wasn't even that cold! My friend went SWIMMING. There was a bunch of girls in bikinis not far from us. Gosh the Finns can be so optimistic sometimes XD

I know I wrote some more, but this website was having issues and it's taken me this long to post this...
I don't have my laptop anymore... and I feel lost without it...
When i get it back, I'll write more!

That, is all.

RHETT!!

Finished 'Gone with the Wind' just now. I had put off the last 5 pages because I learned what the ending was like by accident. I wish he didn't leave! ARGG. I actually cried.

Three cheers for an amazing day! School, well, I don't even remember what happened... I think I was working on my bedroom model (for art we are making these little tiny rooms) and then in Physics, I do believe I fell asleep.
Lunch was porridge, with that fruit sauce they use often here. I quite like that porridge, but it's just a bit strange to be eating it for lunch.They had salad to go with it, and apple juice - which is rare.
We had Finnish class in Turku, so Kiwi and I rode our bikes there and saw that there was a really rather lovely market going on in the town centre. It was so hot! The ice-cream stand thermometer said it was 27 degrees but the thermometer above the buildings said 23 degrees, so I don't know which was correct. But who cares! It was HOT. I actually tanned today.
Turns out it was Kiwi's last Finnish lesson as next week we have a school trip into Helsinki and then after that it's cancelled due to the school being renovated. Then after that, it's the Summer holidays and Kiwi's leaving in the holidays. Nearly all the other exchange students are leaving this Summer holiday. Sept me.
Us exchanges congregated by the river on a random wooden dock thingy. I think we were all just lying there chatting for at least three hours. Soo damn good. There were so many people out there, sitting on the river bank, talking, sun bathing, drinking, smoking. It was the nicest atmosphere. So relaxed and content.
Random drunk guy was talking to all the people on the river bank. We were on this floating dock thing however, and were out of his reach. He poked my American friend in the belly button, and tried to hug him - that was fairly awkward. Got some photos ^^

View from the dock thingey

Drunk guy attempting to poke bellybuttons.

Rode our bikes to IKEA on the way home, took wayyy to many of the free sample chocolate and got an IKEA ice cream. I'm liking this tradition we're developing.
Got home, walked the dog, played extremely loud music to drown out the silent house as I cleaned it. Jumped on the trampoline with my host brother for a bit, finished my book.

That, is all.

You must set yourself on fire

I'm having lots of good days, with not too much bad things to say...
Tuesdays mean sleep in, which means nothing to me as I can't stop myself from waking up at 6.15 EVERY morning. School starts at 9.25, which means I could literally leave the house at 9.15 and pedal my bike like a deranged exercise addict and get there bang on time. Which is what I did this morning.
It's annoying because I charge into class red faced and panting... but whatever. I'm the exchange student :P
It got to 23 degrees today. I can't describe how blissful it is... I really don't have the words, and I don't intend to get all corny in describing it's blissfulness. Well, anyway, after school I went to the gym to run, but abnormally there was someone using the treadmill. So, I waited... and waited...and then she swapped with a girl on the exercise bike and she took forever. I never saw it free. I gave up waiting and left with Kiwi (she had been swimming) promising myself I would attempt to run the now snow-free cross-country ski-path. Kinda didn't happen XD Kinda knew it wouldn't...
BUT I WILL!
Soon.

Ended up rocking up at a friends house and visiting Ruissalo, which is a nature protected island, and it's beautiful. We were going to throw frisbees on the beach, but, ended up just sitting on the rocks by the water discussing Australian weather - a topic of much interest to the Finns I have met so far.
Then, we drove back and had a couple of games of Tennis. I'm not good at Tennis. I think I managed to return the ball like 4 times :S
Pathetic.
But seriously fun :)
I wish I brought my camera with me today, but it seems that the days I don't bring it, the days I don't expect anything special to happen on have the most amazing spontaneous events!
I really ought to remember that and just bring it with me EVERYWHERE.

It's been a long day again, only getting home at quarter to ten, just like yesterday! There is daylight up until that point, and on that note, there's still light outside now -(11.03) Hey wait, I'll take a photo.
I totally took that photo at 11.04 and then it took till 11.21 to upload. XS

Not dark at all. Not really for 11.03 :)

That, is all.

Well I didn't expect to tan here!

I had an extremely strange dream in which my dog knew German. Don't know WHERE that came from.
Mother's day yesterday was really nice, saw both of my host parents parents, spend the morning in Naantali which is one of the most beautiful little towns by the ocean.
Kinda forgot to write for yesterday, so sorry for that fail!

Today is certainly worth mentioning though, school was like a rush, I don't remember anything that happened there, after school, me and Kiwi decided to see if we could ride to IKEA, which we managed very well without a map. That was really fun, and the 50c Ice creams <3
Then we rode into Turku and sat by the river for a couple of hours. That's when I think I got sunburnt. But it was soo good. Then we rode back to Raisio, and I ate dinner at Kiwi's house :) And cake :P Whilst we watched 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' which was actually really rather funny.
Seriously nice day! Temperature was around 20 degrees! I remember Finland in -20 degrees... XS
I've been discussing plans to visit Stockholm in Sweden, and I'm get quite excited about that! Probably around the end of July... Really cannot wait!!

That, is all.

Mynämäki

Today was so beautiful. SUN.
We had a long slow morning, and BBQ for lunch, and then took a drive to the town of Mynämäki, which is a country town a short while out of Raisio.
We went to a farm of my host mother's relative, and it was so picture perfect there. All the buildings were like out of a fairy tale and it was so green and warm, and there were fields for the crops they were planting.
So, I sat there and read more of "Gone With The Wind". I'm so glad it's taking me so long to read, I love this book XD I'm up to the part when Scarlett has been found crying on Ashley, and poor poor Rhett. Simply scandalous! I'm worried what Melonie will say!!
ANYWAY
We were driving around these country roads, and my host fathers knows them very well. He use to do Rally races on them... It was perhaps quite a bit frightening for me to be in that car in the front seat as we traveled at ~100km/h through these tiny winding roads, deep in the forest in the middle of nowhere. The roads even had jumps and that really stopped my heart! Yes it was... fun, maybe, but still, I prayed a whole lot in that car XD
After...that, we borrowed some movies from the movie store, and watched "The Switch" with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. I was expecting some fail American romance comedy, but it wasn't actually so bad, I thought it very cute. Perhaps there's something wrong with me.
All in all, a fairly lovely day ^^

That, is all.

Rhett Butler, You Scoundrel!

I'm up to the part where Rhett proposes to Scarlett. Was totally unexpected, but then, it had to happen someeetimee. I really like this book. I don't want it to end!

It was a sunny day, but really cold in the morning. I think the sunshine makes so much difference. Everyone is definitely so much happier.
Today in Physics the guy next to me had his own stomach trying to be heard. He was moving around trying to make noise to disguise it, but I heard. It made me smile XD
Randomly though Physics, the whole school went out into the car park and nature strips to pick up rubbish. That was actually kind of nice, as the sun was nice and warm, and I could talk with my friends. There wasn't very much rubbish, but plenty of cigarette butts everywhere. That was kind of gross, but so normal at this school.
People don't even try to hide smoking here, they just go and stand in big huddles smoking, even though everyone can see them, and they're pretty much all underage.
On another note, my English class was half cancelled, so we got to leave halfway though the class. I rode home and walked the dog through on the Ski track which now looks so lovely as a trekking track!
Then I made my sister's favourite meal dubbed 'Erin's Favourite' for that very reason for dinner at 3.30 pm (they eat dinner so very early). My host father decided to grill the chicken on the barbecue and that tasted really really good. It was only about 10 degrees outside, but he was in a summery mood XD

Then I went to IKEA.
Hehe.
I do rather like IKEA.
It's funny, because in Australia we pronounce IKEA kind of like EYE-KEY-A. Here it's said ICK-EAR (but without so much of that R sound). It's kind of like how they say IPOD as E-Pod-E (with the E's being said just as the letter E).

I ran around the store getting pictures in some of the awesome beds, and also got IKEA icecream ^^
My day was complete after that.
Here's some random pics.

It's called being COOL

IKEA Ice cream ^^

My new bed :D

Bloody Pointless Post.

Yeah, I can't remember anything great that happened today.
Lunch was good...
I think I'm just going to try forget it instead.

That, is all.

A Rather Cold Day

Today it rained. Quite a bit actually, thank God for my rain jacket my host family made me buy! XD

During class today, my stomach decided it wanted some attention, unfortunately my physics class was a fairly silent bunch and my stomach's performance resounded around the room. You could hear the clock ticking in it's intermissions.
I am certainly fitting the "Strange Exchange Student" stereotype.

I have a theory that all Physics teachers are a little bit strange, but cool at the same time. Just thinking back to my physics teachers in high school, every single one of them was classified as cool, but were always a little different. Turns out my possible theory is present here too! My physics teacher is very cool, but, just a little bit weird.
During his explaining of something in class, he randomly flicks to English and says to the class "Are you understand?" Now, he speaks perfect English, so he was faking being fob, and then he continued with "Solly, but my Engrish is not so vely bad".  Well, it made me laugh. :)

Here's something random that we were doing in art. Nothing amazing, but from what I can tell, the teacher only wanted us to superimpose the man (who happens to be some famous Finnish poet/writer) into the classroom.

We had Finnish class in Turku today, so me and Kiwi rode our bikes. In the rain. But it wasn't that bad when I consider the price of a one way bus ticket. To take the bus into Turku, perhaps a 15minute ride, is 3 euros 30. That's about $4.55 for ONE way, from school to Turku. You also have to pay the same to go back, but because I can get the bus to go by my house it's actually ~$5 to go the extra 3 minutes to my house from Turku. A DAILY ticket for ALL Melbourne public transport in the suburbs and the city for the WHOLE day is like, $5.80 for a concession. That's about 4 Euros 20. And here, that's nearly what you pay for for ONE 'one way' trip.
Sorry for my little money rant.

Class was actually educational, and then we sat in a place called 'Arnolds' which sold bagels. We sat there for a very long time with some other exchanges and discussed life, and other fascinating topics. That was a really nice conversation. :D
Then to the Library, where either an extremely drunk or quite severely mentally retarded man sat near us chatting to his invisible friend. Loudly. And then he started singing, loudly. It was all very distracting, but kind of entertaining.
Then I rode home and ate chocolate.
:)

That, is all.

Skip a Class

I'm not in a fabulous mood, but I guess I can blame the chilly wet weather for that. It was soo warm last week, and now it's just miserable. And so am I.
But oh well!
My day started off with an English test in English. All the questions were in English, and so were all the answers. I should've been able to do this blindfolded with both hands tied behind my back. Underwater. The FINNISH guy at the desk next to me got a higher score. Granted it was by one point, but still!!
He was pretty chuffed XD
Art was funny, as I get so sidetracked as I cannot follow the teacher's instructions. I end up doing some pretty weird photoshopping... I have no idea how the teacher is going to grade it!
I spent all of Physics doodling in my diary, so I have no idea what we were doing today.
After school I had the first day of my Uni Finnish Course. This was a bit of a fail.
I was not the one who signed me up for this, my host mother did. And then she told me which book to get and off I went.
This course was for people who have been studying Finnish for at least a year and a half, or for people who's spouses were Finnish. It was Finnish NUMBER FREAKING 2, not NUMBER 1 BASICS, or NUMBER ONE GENERAL, nor NUMBER ONE CONTINUED.
I have been here nearly 4 months, and I am struggling with the basics. The whole class was in Finnish, and all the students were talking to the teacher in Finnish and most of them were adults. There was no one else under that age of 26.
Ahhhh, it was baaaadd.
The teacher said I shouldn't really be there, but I was kind of understanding tiny bits of conversation and I could get the gist of what the book was talking about, so she said I could stay... but it was incredibly embarassing. There were lots of lovely people there though, so I guess that made it 'nicer'.
Anyway, I fell asleep last night writing this, so I am posting it this morning and I really ought to go get ready for school!!

That, is all.

Hyvää Syntymäpäivää Sisko!

This was the image I was referring to before! XD

Original

Hayley Version

Art Class Photo manipulation
I worked a LONG time on this :P I didn't change the strange ears though...
If you look like the original in real life, I might be able to save you... on the internet. Mind you, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that jazz, so this was just me making her look nice in my opinion!
By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA! Today is her birthday :)

Ok, onto some tangents.
I hopelessly underestimated the weather this morning, and as I rode to school I could feel my fingers slowly freezing for I did not bring gloves nor a jacket. It was also windy, which sucks on a massive scale.
I called my house in Aussieland between classes to wish my sister a happy birthday, and it was hilarious because I couldn't tell which sister was which on the phone! The youngest sounded like a toddler, the birthday girl sounded like the youngest, and the second oldest sounded like my oldest sister! It was all very muddly, but lovely none the less.

b²-4ac=0

Hayley fail #1
As I had some letters to send, I went hunting for an envelope in around the offices, and then eventually found the secretary's office.
"Envelope?" I asked, drawing a square with my hands like an ignorant tourist.
*Blank look*
"....Ahhh.... envelope?" I drew the square in the air again a couple more times pathetically.
*long pause followed by polite laughter*

ignorant tourist

"This?" I pointed at the little drawing of an envelope I drew on my hand as a reminder for me to find one.
*continued polite laughter accompanied with a blank look* My drawing must have been pretty fail.
"Please wait a minute." She said, and started to leave the room.
"Oh! This!" I said, pointing at an envelope on her desk.
"O. K. You. want. this." She found some and gave me one.
I left that office with a major sense of failure, despite holding the prized envelope.

It was all very awkward. Well, for me anyway.

In Physics//Fysiikka class we are studying the electromagnetic//sähkömagnetismi theory//teoria. I am soo very grateful that we covered that back in Australia because I would have no idea what on Earth the teacher was telling me. The whole class is in Finnish so, the only part I understand is the equations. Even if I did understand Finnish, I would not be able to read what the teacher writes on the blackboard, his handwriting is atrocious! I tried copying it down into my book, but really didn't work out well. I have no idea how the other students figure it out.We were looking at the Cyclotron//Syklotroni and I found that was really interesting. Very basically it's a machine that accelerates particles using a magnetic field.

That, is all.

How Temperamental.

Well, I survived yesterday, and today. I'm fairly positive about that.

I was meant to go into the town to meet my friend, but she had been out all night and had become sick so she couldn't come! Today was a freezing day too. ~7 degrees. Hahaha, I remember when anything over 0 degrees was warm, but after having a week of +15 degrees 7 is shocking XD
The strange part of today was the fact that one minute the sun was shining strongly, and you could get a bit of warmth from it, and then 15 minutes later, it's pouring with rain, and the wind is very strong. It even snowed a couple of times today, much to my surprise. Probably the last time I'll see falling snow for a very long time! The other strange thing is the light.
The sun rises so early and sets so very late. When I went to bed last night, (at around 3pm) I could see the light at the horizon. It wasn't very strong at this point mind you, but it was THERE. The sun takes forever to set here these days. When I was at the neighbours house for the evening this week, we sat outside warming the spa with firewood for hours, and there was still light! It must've been around 10.00 when I went went inside, and I could see everything clearly. It's only the beginning of May! I don't know what it's going to be like in July ^^

Here's a photo I took of two swans going down the river one day.

I helped my host father switch offices today, and got to see the production rooms of his welding company. It was amazing. The machinery was gigantic, and so were the things that they were welding. The rooms went on forever, and it all looked very confusing. But it was still very interesting to see where and how giant things are welded. The company makes things like parts for cruise liners which are often built in Turku. I saw pieces of a propeller for a cruise liner.
It.
Was.
Big.

When we drove home today from the house we stayed the night at, we borrowed their car, and therefore brought it back to them this afternoon (after we washed it and vacuumed it). But then we still had to get home somehow, so my host father called one of our other neighbours to come pick us up. So he picked us up in his Peugeot 307 CC. Hehe ^^ I like that car. As we were driving back home, I was startled to see some sailors from the navy waiting at a bus stop, in full sailor uniform with their hats and everything, and therefore had this entertaining conversation with our neighbour Sami.

Me: "Oh my gosh, Sailors! Did you see them?"
Sami: "... Sailors. They get all the girls."
Me: "Oh? How do you know that?"
Sami: "...Because I was one."
Me: O.o

Well, we came home, ate some Finnish style pie and I stayed in the sauna for agggeesss. I'm still so warm from it, and it's making me sleepy! I should have an early night... I haven't slept much this weekend.
Oh oh, Happy Birthday Sara! It's my little sister's birthday tomorrow (but it's already started in Melbourne due to time zones). I LOVE HER.


That, is all.

Vappu

Right now everyone is celebrating Vappu. It's a bit full on!!
We got drunk people every which way you look, and I've been switching between parties all evening. Half the time I've been at the neighbours house, and the other half I've been here at home. Both places are full of drunk adults, and sleeping children. It's kind of nice actually, so many happy Finns! I put a little girl I found asleep on the couch in my bed, and she didn't even wake up as I moved her. It was so sweet :D

OK, I'm going to visit the neighbours dog.

-The next morning-

Well! That was an interesting chain of events! I went round to walk one of the neighbours dog, and then when we got back, I was told (at about 1am) that we were going to our family friend's house, on the other side of town, by taxi, and I needed to get anything I might need for the night.
Taxi came, and I went to take a photo, but in my rush I realised I had left my SD card in this laptop.
I have never felt so lost!!!
We got there, and everyone was drinking there too XD I just got to drink Sima, which is an interesting drink that is confusing to explain. Whilst the adults enjoyed themselves, I continued reading 'Gone with the Wind', a book which has taken me much longer to read than I first assumed. The Grammy awards were on the television, but with the children asleep upstairs, it was pretty much muted and only had Finnish subtitles, which, I have a little trouble with. However, 'Gone with the Wind' is getting interesting, so I didn't mind. I'm up to the part where Ashley has moved to Atlanta and everyone loves Melanie for being so traditional. Don't know what to expect now, this book is mind boggling.

In the town centre, celebrating Vappu.

Students all waving their caps during the speech.

So now I'm home, and reflecting on the bizzare events of yesterday. I got to go into the town centre with the neighbours when the students all waves their caps. That was a lovely atmosphere, so many happy people in one place. I saw so many exchange students in the crowd that I knew and that was exciting.






There was a blue roan cocker spaniel standing just near me when we watched the speech at the town centre, he looked just like my darling! Me and that little dog shared a moment, whether it realised it or not!

In the town centre during the market.

I also go to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant which was really nice. There was a market in the evening and we wandered around it for a while, then took the bus back home. It was funny because the neighbours hadn't ever used that bus and little old Australian exchange student me had to help them out with the timetables and the stops. I felt needed!

Me vs. Sami in Ice Hockey (kinda like foosball)

I'm planning on biking into the town to see the morning market and meet up with some friends, and maybe the exercise will be good for all the junk I ate last night.

Yesterday morning was also Tuukka's Birthday party. I don't remember much about it, because I was up so late and woke so early to get there, but from what I remember it was nice. We had hired a building called 'Pomppis' that was an old swimming pool that had been turned into a play gym. Kids ran around like crazy, so I just read 'Gone with the Wind' and took a few photos. When we got home, all of my host mother's family came around for tea. There was like, at least 20 extra people there, and they all seems fairly nice. My host mother had been baking all week for this event and it was totally worth it.

White Chocolate and Blueberry Cheesecake

Finnish biscuits topped with crushed mint chocolate

\

Some Special cake I forgot the story of.

Fazer chocolate <3

Some tasty cookies

 3.14159265

Some soda of some kind

Tuukka's birthday cake ^^

There's probably a ton of other things I wanted to add, but have completely forgotten.
That, is all.

Royal Donuts

So today is the day of the marriage of William and Kate. Congrates.

Today has been nice, anytime the temperature is over 15 degrees the days are nice. It was 16, so that clearly classifies as a nice day. Considering Vappu celebrations start tomorrow, lunch was special today. We got donuts! And pretty damn nice donuts to be honest. They're called 'Munkki' and they have jam inside. Most people got a donut, but I went and got another one when there was no one left. Yeah, I know. I'm a fatty. ^^
In art, me and Kiwi aren't entirely sure what we're meant to be doing, so we've just continued to photoshop a 'artwork' of an extremely hideous lady for the past couple of weeks. I must say though, looking back at the original after staring at our photoshop masterpieces is quite shocking. This chick was hideous. I'll post it up when I bring my 4GIG USB to school :P

Right now I'm searing the internet in search of the best meatball recipe... I never made the typical Italian meatballs and spaghetti when I was back home in Melbourne, I only ever made danish ones, but how hard can it be? I can do anything!
I also have the issue of lack of ingredients. I don't have any tomatoes.

Couple hours later.
Ok, well that was a fail. But they tasted good. I added onions and my host father reckoned that they were Swedish style, though we were eating them with pasta... and fried cabbage stewed in golden syrup and some really bad soy sauce. XD Oh how I love fried cabbage!
I want to go for a walk before the sun sets, it's nearly 8pm, and the sun sets at like, 9?
Well I'm going to go work off that extra donut ^^
That, is all.

Hayley

Super Pro Bike Riding

So today, after school, me and Kiwi decided to attempt the bike ride from school to Turku, just to see if it was possible.
It was possible.
It took less than 35 minutes, and was actually a really nice track to ride on. And now, now I feel silly to have wasted money on the bus! It's just under 7 euros to go there and back ($9.50AU), and we have to go into Turku for class at least once a week, but now we've got the freedom to just go there as much as we like! This was like opening a door in my mind! It was exhilarating and surreal, and put me in a majorly good mood. A good holiday mood.
Me and Kiwi locked our bikes in the centre then bought a 37cent 'Mars-Bar Easter Egg' each and sat by the river, in the sun eating the bananas we took from the cafeteria.
Pure, cheap, bliss.
Well, it was fairly pure, despite the random drunk dude that walked over to us and started gesturing and yelling back to his friends, and the other random potentially drunk guy that walked over to us and just stopped and stared blankly at us for at least 10 full seconds. That was so odd.
But the joyfulness continued after those short interludes, and we rode back to school contemplating visiting IKEA for their 50cent ice creams, but we saved that journey for another time~~
I picked up my prize from the library! Ahahaha. It was a shirt and a 4gig usb. Hey! A free 4gig usb? Yes please! The shirt apparently says 'not for overnight borrowing' in Finnish, but I'm going to double check that with someone other than my host father just in case... and no, Google doesn't manage to translate it.
All in all a fairly good day!
It's my host brother's 8th birthday tomorrow, so I gotta make a super awesome card for him. Because I'm super awesome.
That, is all.

Hayley

A Bit Overdue

Yes it IS the 27th of April. Yes I did say I was going to make a video blog. Yes that isn't as realistic as I originally thought. And yes, this is exceedingly overdue... bout' three months overdue actually, BUT you know what? I'm gonna have a go at this blog thing.
I suck at writing.
This is going to be potentially boring and lame.
You do not need to read this.

Ok. We cool?

I'm not going to start at the beginning, because the beginning was such a long time ago. I'm just going to start with today. :)
Today.
Today was potentially up on the list of 'Best Days of Hayley's Life'.
 The sleep in was glorious.
The extemporary breakfast of bread with feta cheese and olives was glorious.
The bike ride was glorious.
School lunch was fairly disappointing to be honest, pea soup with a banana and bread and cheese, but Ohio and Kiwi made it fun.
The international festival at the library was quite lovely, free food from different countries. Count me in!
The bus ride to from Raisio to Turku was glorious, and I actually learnt something in Finnish class, but topping all that perpetual gloriousness, sitting in the sunshine on the grassy bank of the river was on another scale.
I have just realised that I actually got sunburnt on my cheeks. Sunburn in Finland. Such an ironic statement. All the fuss that Finnish people make about their Summer and Spring make so much sense now. The shocking thing is that just three weeks ago, everything was covered in snow. There are still a few minor patches of icy and dirty snow here and there if you look hard, but really, with the days reaching over +15 degrees Winter is long gone. Life is coming back to not only the plants and animals, but also to the people. People are out and about, happy and far friendlier than they where when I arrived here in January. But it is only Spring, there's more to come. Everyone here is thinking of Kesä. Kesä and Vappu.

Easter was just last weekend, but now the celebration of Vappu, 'May Day' is approaching. Actually, it's celebrated on the eve of May first, this Saturday, and continues on to Sunday. According to most of my Finnish sources, the purpose of Vappu is to get drunk. To be honest, that's a fairly common objective in Finnish celebrations though. You can read about this festival here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night apparently it's a common festival here in Europe, so yeah.
Something to look forward to this weekend ;D

Well Vappu was an unintentional detour. ANYWAY. Back to my marvelous day. The beautiful weather, and peaceful conversations on the riverside were heavenly. But then people started disappearing off to their own affairs, so me and Kiwi did some shopping and I finally bought some sunglasses. They make Summer seems so near! They're also really good because now I can stare at the interesting fashions of Finland without being so obvious :P And that is another topic for another day.
Whilst we dawdled in H&M I got a phone call. From the Library. First thought that entered my mind was "Shit. I have an overdue book." but it turns out I won something. Yes. I WON something. Something like a T-Shirt and a USB. I never win anything! Hayley Whitehead NEVER wins anything. I was grinning from ear to ear and that's a strange thing to see in a Finnish H&M. When we were at the international festival early that morning I had filled out a simple form whilst waiting in line to try some Indian food. At that point I had literally no idea what the form was for, but the girls in front of me had filled one out so I copied them... Haha. I'm so cool. Gotta pick my prize up tomorrow, I hope the t-shirt is nice :D

I don't know what I'm writing.
In conclusion, I had a good day. I'm a happy girl.
I think I need to work on my writing skills XD

Hayley