The first two weeks in May were relatively uneventful in terms of what was going on at school. I had classes as usual and we finished up with the children's concerts so we even went back to have regular music classes during the school days as well. My last day of classes was in the third week covered by this post. I had a shorter week than anticipated as I went to visit out of town on Wednesday to visit extended family and missed the Thursday which was the official last day of classes. I had only two exams the last period and chose to take them on the same day, the Monday of the exam week.
The first weekend that this blog is about, my third-to-last weekend in Finland, I had a very eventful two days. On Saturday I met up with some friends in a small city closer to where we lived than Helsinki. Though it was slightly awkward at first as my one exchange student friend didn't know that well my two school friends, we had a great time together going shopping and had lunch. On Sunday I met for the last time with my area rep. We went with the two other exchange students she was in charge of to Porvoo, a historic town on the Southern coast about 50 km from Helsinki. It was a really nice day. The weather was pleasant, at times nice enough even to not wear any jacket. The city was really pretty. There was the old historic part to one side and a very modern area along the river front in the opposite direction. That day was difficult because it was when I had to say some of my first goodbyes to one of my exchange student friends and to our area rep.
The following weekend I went on a slightly longer trip than I had ever before to visit extended family. On Thursday I went and visited my host aunt's school once again. This time I spoke to two sixth grade classes and a fifth grade class. They had been studying English for a little longer than the classes I spoke with on my last visit so they could understand what I was talking about better. On Friday I visited the school where my host granny worked as a teaching assistant. One of the little kids in the first grade couldn't quite pronounce my name and called me "äidinkieli" instead which means "mother tongue". One of the little girls gave me a bouquet of dandelions which I of course turned into a flower crown. In the afternoon on Friday we went to an amusement park nearby. It was really fun and I think I rode most of the rides that I could. Some had height limits and that I was too tall for.
On Saturday there was a big party to celebrate my host grandfather's 50th birthday. I met a lot of people including someone who had visited my home town more recently than I had. It was sort of odd to be sitting half way around the world and talking to someone I had just met about my favorite coffee shop and the restaurants in the town I grew up in. There was live music and people danced. Afterwards we went back so the little ones could get to sleep at an hour that wasn't entirely too late. Sunday the weather was really nice. We spent a lot of time outside and enjoyed time with our extended family and some neighbors that were invited over.
Monday was a very busy day for me. In the morning I took both my math and English exams which is not typical, taking two exams in one day. After taking my exams I took the train into Helsinki to go and sell my text books back to the store as I would probably never need them again and didn't think I needed to carry all of that extra weight back in my suite cases. I knew very basically where the store was, but I had never been to it before. I had a map and some basic directions on my phone. I easily found the street it was on but accidentally turned the wrong way at first and ended up walking four or five blocks in the wrong direction before realizing it. After getting the books settled, I went to pick up something for lunch and to get a snack in case my mom would be hungry when I picked her up from the airport.
I had never used public transportation to get to the Helsinki airport before but I did all of my research beforehand and got there without much trouble. I waited by the doors for a rather long time but her flight ended up getting in slightly later than I had thought it would. Once I found her we took the bus to the train and took the train home. Once we got there, my host family and my mom met each other and we had a nice dinner of salad and grilled chicken and sausages.
Tuesday my mom and I went to Helsinki for the day. I showed her around to the places I often visited with my friends and also to some of the places I figured she would want to see. We went to the harbour and saw the outdoor market there. We went to the Cathedral which I had always meant to go and visit but hadn't gotten around to until then. It was really beautiful inside and the acoustics must have been awesome. We were recommended a place to go for lunch, but when we found it it was closed, only open for dinner on weekdays. We found another restaurant along one of the main streets that was pretty reasonably priced and had really good food. Later in the day we met one of my exchange student friends who lived in Helsinki for coffee. It was a nice day and I think my mom got an authentic "Abigail" day in Helsinki.
After our very busy Tuesday, we didn't do much on Wednesday. We had a very restful day at home and spent time with my host family. Pretty much every day of the last week we stayed up talking entirely too late with my host family and my mom getting to know one another in the short time they had together. Thursday we went to Lahti, a smaller city in Southern Finland. We walked around a lot and went to the Sibelius Hall. We walked around down by the harbour. It was really pretty and there were a lot of boats on the water. Last time I was down at the harbour in Lahti it was very cold and possibly a bit snowy. That time we were pretty much the only people we saw when we were walking. There is a nice park near the harbour that we walked around for a little while and sat on a park bench and watched eight little ducklings wander about.
For lunch on Friday we went to one of the restaurants in town where I had chicken with this really really great sauce made of the Finnish blue cheese. After lunch, though, we had to hurry and get to school because I had rehearsal for the last day of school activities the following day. We got there just in time and the rehearsal went smoothly. After we got home I did a lot of packing and wrote a few letters**.
Saturday was once again a busy day. First we went to my little brother's school for their end of year ceremony. There were performances and singing. Unfortunately I had to leave before their's was finished to get to my school in time for ours. Because I was performing I had to get there an hour before to get ready and do some final rehearsals. For the school ceremony my friend and I were singing a duet and in rehearsal it went really well. During the actual performance though we were both crying and so the singing wasn't as great. Apparently both of my moms who were in the audience were crying too while we were singing. My two best friends sang a duet as well which they dedicated to the exchange students which made me cry a lot. It was really sweet and immediately following it I had to go up and sing another song which I'm sure sounded so great because of how much I cried.
We had a party on Saturday afternoon as a sort of graduation/going away party for me. A lot of family friends came and my school friends and extended family. It was really fun and we had lots of yummy food and cakes. The weather was really nice that day so I spent a lot of time outside. I really enjoyed having time to spend with my family and friends and just be in one another's company but towards the end of the party it wasn't as enjoyable because I had to say a lot of goodbyes. Sunday was very relaxed in the morning, no one getting up until rather late after the previous day's activities. We went out to dinner in the afternoon with my mom and host family and after dinner we drove around to a couple of lakes near where we lived to show my mom because she hadn't really seen much of the area other than what was walkable from the house. My little brothers, despite how cold it was, got in the water, one of them more than half way in.
My flight left really early in the morning so we were planning to leave for the airport around 3:00am. Sunday night I said goodbye to my little brothers. The older one understood more what me leaving meant I'm pretty sure. He was crying and hugging me a lot whereas the littler one was just kind of looking confusedly at everyone who was crying. It was really emotional and hard to say goodbye. After they went to bed, the rest of us stayed up talking for a while longer. Going to bed a little after midnight, I got probably less than two hours of sleep before waking up around two to get ready for the airport. After packing all of our stuff into the car, my host dad said goodbye to to me and my mom. Though it was very very early in the morning, the first of the sun's rays could be seen as we made our way to the airport. At the airport, after getting our bags checked in and finding which part our gate was in, it was time to say goodbye to my host mom. It was very emotional and we all cried a lot but eventually we had to part ways.
To my host family: Kiitos paljon. Minulla oli tosi hyvää vuosi teidän kanssa. Rakastan teitä <3
On Saturday there was a big party to celebrate my host grandfather's 50th birthday. I met a lot of people including someone who had visited my home town more recently than I had. It was sort of odd to be sitting half way around the world and talking to someone I had just met about my favorite coffee shop and the restaurants in the town I grew up in. There was live music and people danced. Afterwards we went back so the little ones could get to sleep at an hour that wasn't entirely too late. Sunday the weather was really nice. We spent a lot of time outside and enjoyed time with our extended family and some neighbors that were invited over.
Monday was a very busy day for me. In the morning I took both my math and English exams which is not typical, taking two exams in one day. After taking my exams I took the train into Helsinki to go and sell my text books back to the store as I would probably never need them again and didn't think I needed to carry all of that extra weight back in my suite cases. I knew very basically where the store was, but I had never been to it before. I had a map and some basic directions on my phone. I easily found the street it was on but accidentally turned the wrong way at first and ended up walking four or five blocks in the wrong direction before realizing it. After getting the books settled, I went to pick up something for lunch and to get a snack in case my mom would be hungry when I picked her up from the airport.
I had never used public transportation to get to the Helsinki airport before but I did all of my research beforehand and got there without much trouble. I waited by the doors for a rather long time but her flight ended up getting in slightly later than I had thought it would. Once I found her we took the bus to the train and took the train home. Once we got there, my host family and my mom met each other and we had a nice dinner of salad and grilled chicken and sausages.
Tuesday my mom and I went to Helsinki for the day. I showed her around to the places I often visited with my friends and also to some of the places I figured she would want to see. We went to the harbour and saw the outdoor market there. We went to the Cathedral which I had always meant to go and visit but hadn't gotten around to until then. It was really beautiful inside and the acoustics must have been awesome. We were recommended a place to go for lunch, but when we found it it was closed, only open for dinner on weekdays. We found another restaurant along one of the main streets that was pretty reasonably priced and had really good food. Later in the day we met one of my exchange student friends who lived in Helsinki for coffee. It was a nice day and I think my mom got an authentic "Abigail" day in Helsinki.
After our very busy Tuesday, we didn't do much on Wednesday. We had a very restful day at home and spent time with my host family. Pretty much every day of the last week we stayed up talking entirely too late with my host family and my mom getting to know one another in the short time they had together. Thursday we went to Lahti, a smaller city in Southern Finland. We walked around a lot and went to the Sibelius Hall. We walked around down by the harbour. It was really pretty and there were a lot of boats on the water. Last time I was down at the harbour in Lahti it was very cold and possibly a bit snowy. That time we were pretty much the only people we saw when we were walking. There is a nice park near the harbour that we walked around for a little while and sat on a park bench and watched eight little ducklings wander about.
For lunch on Friday we went to one of the restaurants in town where I had chicken with this really really great sauce made of the Finnish blue cheese. After lunch, though, we had to hurry and get to school because I had rehearsal for the last day of school activities the following day. We got there just in time and the rehearsal went smoothly. After we got home I did a lot of packing and wrote a few letters**.
Saturday was once again a busy day. First we went to my little brother's school for their end of year ceremony. There were performances and singing. Unfortunately I had to leave before their's was finished to get to my school in time for ours. Because I was performing I had to get there an hour before to get ready and do some final rehearsals. For the school ceremony my friend and I were singing a duet and in rehearsal it went really well. During the actual performance though we were both crying and so the singing wasn't as great. Apparently both of my moms who were in the audience were crying too while we were singing. My two best friends sang a duet as well which they dedicated to the exchange students which made me cry a lot. It was really sweet and immediately following it I had to go up and sing another song which I'm sure sounded so great because of how much I cried.
We had a party on Saturday afternoon as a sort of graduation/going away party for me. A lot of family friends came and my school friends and extended family. It was really fun and we had lots of yummy food and cakes. The weather was really nice that day so I spent a lot of time outside. I really enjoyed having time to spend with my family and friends and just be in one another's company but towards the end of the party it wasn't as enjoyable because I had to say a lot of goodbyes. Sunday was very relaxed in the morning, no one getting up until rather late after the previous day's activities. We went out to dinner in the afternoon with my mom and host family and after dinner we drove around to a couple of lakes near where we lived to show my mom because she hadn't really seen much of the area other than what was walkable from the house. My little brothers, despite how cold it was, got in the water, one of them more than half way in.
My flight left really early in the morning so we were planning to leave for the airport around 3:00am. Sunday night I said goodbye to my little brothers. The older one understood more what me leaving meant I'm pretty sure. He was crying and hugging me a lot whereas the littler one was just kind of looking confusedly at everyone who was crying. It was really emotional and hard to say goodbye. After they went to bed, the rest of us stayed up talking for a while longer. Going to bed a little after midnight, I got probably less than two hours of sleep before waking up around two to get ready for the airport. After packing all of our stuff into the car, my host dad said goodbye to to me and my mom. Though it was very very early in the morning, the first of the sun's rays could be seen as we made our way to the airport. At the airport, after getting our bags checked in and finding which part our gate was in, it was time to say goodbye to my host mom. It was very emotional and we all cried a lot but eventually we had to part ways.
To my host family: Kiitos paljon. Minulla oli tosi hyvää vuosi teidän kanssa. Rakastan teitä <3
*There's a slight chance when I go back and visit Finland I will come back to this blog and write about my adventures then, but I am not sure. Or maybe for some other reason.
**That was the first day of emotions. I may or may not have cried because of leaving when I was writing my letters.
**That was the first day of emotions. I may or may not have cried because of leaving when I was writing my letters.
