5-26-13
Hyvää Houmenta,
It is a bright a sunny beautiful
Sunday morning in the northern country of Finland. I’ve been here for a little over a week. I am happy. The beginning of the trip was a
little nerve racking because I had to navigate airports, foreign (very large)
cities, and the train system completely by myself. My anxiety level was near its top levels at
some times. I made it though. I survived Helsinki, the airports, the city,
the hostel and the train. Once in
Jyväskylä I found people. Suvi, my
mentor was able to pick me up from the train station. She was one of the first people I had a long
conversation with in about three days. Sunday
brought in more people to interact with.
They were international students.
We have hardly had any interaction with Finnish people or students. Monday began class and it was marvelous. I learned a lot through the week about a
country that I never really gave much thought until now. I can say a few Finnish words and read some
signs and briefly understand the culture of Finland. My teacher was remarkable. Johanna was an incredible teacher and typical
Finnish teaching style. They are
informal and relaxed in their approach to learning. Through dinners, lunches, and other social
things I’ve made friends with the students from the Netherlands. I must say I really like the Dutch and I may
have the itch to go to Amsterdam now. The
weekend came and now its nearly gone too.
Friday night was absolutely lovely.
We went to Naissari, a little island in the middle of a beautiful lake. There we sauna-ed, swam in the lake, cooked
sausages on the grill and had a grand time.
It didn’t end there. After we got
back from the lake a group of us played football (with your feet) until
midnight. The light was still up so we
could play so late. I also got to play a
quick game of basketball with the boys.
And then, after that, we rendezvoused in Luuk’s room. Saturday night was more tame but
the entire day was more relaxed. I slept
in. Then at noon we left to go to
Laihssari (sp?), a beach a little outside of the city. The water was cold but the sun felt
amazing. I jumped off the highest diving
plank. We sun bathed and napped soaking
up those beautiful sun rays.
As I said, I mostly spend my time
with the Dutch students. Robia,
Sebastian and Merle invited me to eat with them in Sebastian’s room. Charlie, another American who is a very interesting
smart man, also joined us for dinner.
Sebastian and I cooked the chicken and spinach, Robia cooked the rice in
her room and Merle split her time in both places. It was really nice talking to Sebastian, he
is a good guy. European, athletic, he
rows for a club in Amsterdam and he also mentioned that he is in a frat. I’m interested to learn more about how frats
work in other places. The meal wasn’t
anything to brag about, I thought it was rather tasteless but the company was
excellent. Charlie got us talking about philosophy
so our brains had to work. Luuk joined
us as we were finished our yogurt dessert.
After cleaning up we went to Sebastian’s the bar to watch the last bit
of the championship football game. I don’t understand how it works, but I got
that it was a big deal. I wasn’t ready
to turn in or say goodnight so I went along with them. It was nice to continue to share the evening
with them. I occasionally feel left out because they all speak Dutch but they
are kind and include me.
This morning I met Robia and
Charlie outside our building at ten to go Church. Amazing how you can find Catholics all over
the world. I mentioned it last night and
Sebastian heard so he joined us as well.
He is not Catholic but wanted to see what it is like. We went to the Finnish mass so I did not understand
any of the words. I had taken a Benadryl
before going because the hazelnut spread I had on my toast I think is getting
to me. During the homily I dozed off a
little for that reason. The bike ride
there and back was so lovely. The trees
make for such a relaxing environment.
Back in my apartment/dorm I made
some lunch, wrote and then the need for sleep overcame me so I took a nap. Suvi woke me when she rang my doorbell to
introduce a new student and plan a walk to school together in the morning. Becca rang my doorbell shortly after that and
we planned to meet up to go Atilia (sp?) birthday party. He is from Hungary and has been here longer,
his birthday is tomorrow so he wanted to celebrate today since school is
Monday. He’s throwing a beach party I
think. Becca and I are going to go
around 6pm.
And now it is now a beautiful lazy
Sunday afternoon. The sun is shinning,
the breeze is just tickling the leaves ever so gently. I’m writing and will soon start reading the
material for my emotions in sport performance class tomorrow.
Finland is great. I never really imagined being here and
occasionally I still find myself surprised that I am actually here. This isn’t just something I talk about, it is
real. I did this, I am doing this.
With that, good afternoon,
Hyvää Iltapäiva,
McCall
No comments:
Post a Comment