Meeting Johanna

Last Wednesday I took a train to Helsinki to meet my Swiss friend, Johanna Guendel! She went on Exchange to Canada last year and was hosted by the Rotary Club of Mitchell, Ontario. I spent time with her in Canada since outbounds and inbounds mix at conferences. I also knew almost all of her friends in Mitchell, so we have a lot to talk about! She's working near Helsinki at a radio station for a few weeks while she lives with her aunt. Her family is Finnish on her mother's side, so she comes up north here about once a year.

We had a great time, went for pizza and talked for hours. This picture was taken at Kammpi, a mall in the Helsinki city centre.



I will be updating my blog again soon with pictures from my cruise to Stockholm with my host family this past weekend!

Pictures from Lahti and The Penttilä's

Hello again!

I am settling in nicely here in my new host family: The Erkamo's. I have 2 sisters here, Vilja who is 12 and Meri, who is 14. We live in Mäkelä, a community of about 800 people situated 10 minutes north of the Lahti city center. The area is very natural, with plenty of trees, lakes and wildlife.

Here I am posting some older pictures. I took the first two on Sept. 27th when I went to a military showcase event in Lahti with my German exchange friend, Elli.

The sign above my head is the Lahti city emblem.



Here is my own picture of the renowned ski jumps visible from almost anywhere in Lahti. They are important symbols in Lahti and many international ski events are held here every year.



Now I have some pictures from my first host family's home to show you! Below is my bedroom. It wasn't very big, and I took this picture standing in the doorway. The beds in Finland seem to be much smaller than at home... the one in my new family is the same size as this one. Luckily they are long enough for me!



Here is a shot of the main room in the house, functioning as kitchen, dining room and living room. It's very open concept, with a high ceiling and loft. You can also see their dog, Iris, who is quite small! The kids in the pictures are the 5 Penttilä children. From left: Marjo, Sari, Outi, Anni and Simo.



A shot of my host mom, Riitta in the kitchen from the opposite side of the room.



I took this one standing on the stairs leading up to the loft. Here you can see the keyboard in the corner I have practiced on during my stay here.



This one is taken from the loft, looking down to kitchen where Riitta, Anni (16) and Iris are!



Simo is always playing something on the computer located below Hannu and Riitta's loft bedroom, which is above my head in this picture. This room is a newer addition to the house, and is located at the opposite end from my bedroom.



Well that's all for now! I will take some pictures here in my new host family and post them soon. I'm doing fine, still unpacking and getting organized here. Luckily I have no school all week! On Friday we head out for a weekend in Stockholm. It's about a 14 hour boat ride overnight both ways, Friday night and Sunday morning. :P Expect some pictures from that trip as well!

New Family

Hello everyone! Sorry for the absence of a new post lately but I've been busy moving in with my new family: The Erkamo's. I will take some pictures soon as well as post some pictures from the Penttilä's I took before I left.

Overall the move went smoothly and now I'm adapting to a whole new experience with new people, new places and new routines. This week is syysloma (fall vacation) in Finland so I don't have any school. On Friday, my family is taking me to Stockholm, Sweden for the weekend! :D

Check in a couple days for a new post,

Dante

Finland vs. Azerbaijan

Yesterday, I attended a football (soccer!) game in Helsinki with some friends. The game was between Finland and Azerbaijan, a tiny country bordering Russia, Georgia, Armenia and Iran. The game is part of the qualifying round for the World Championships and was held in the Olympic Stadium used in the 1952 Summer Olympics games in Helsinki.

Below is the logo of the 1952 Olympic games.



Now here is my picture of the stadium and the tower.



It was tough to get a good picture in the crowd so this is the best I have! The two guys on my right are my friends who brought me, along with the girl who took this picture! The guy standing up is Matti Siiteri who went on Exchange to America a couple years ago and is now the president of Rotex in Finland. Oh, and they handed out free "Suomi" scarves at the entrance.



The game is underway! Finland was wearing white.



A better shot of the game.



Finland wins!

The Finns are very passionate when it comes to football. It was great participating in the cheers when Finland had the advantage... and the curses when things weren't looking as good :) Same goes for ice hockey: I attended a game in Lahti last week and Finns are always on the edge of their seats, contesting every bad call and supporting the home team as much as I've ever seen!

And as a general update: this is my last week here in my first host family! I switch to my next family, the Erkamo's, on Saturday morning. They live 12 kms outside of Lahti so I will need to take a bus. It doesn't change much though, since I already take a bus home everyday while I live with my family now.

I am going to post pictures of my host family's house soon! Stay tuned this week for that. Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment about the blog's new look! Do you like it? Anything I should change to make it easier to read? Does the page take too long to load on your computer? And do you like the centered images and text in this post? Your input is appreciated!

Rotary Meetings

Here I have posted pictures from the 2 Rotary meetings I have attended at my host club: The Lahti-Vesijärvi Club. There are 10 Rotary clubs in Lahti and my host club is the newest one. Club meetings are at 7:00 AM on Friday mornings. Nice and early :)

As you can see, Rotary meetings are a somewhat intimate affair. Some members were missing from this meeting, however, since it was held in August when many Finns are still living at their summer cottages.



On my left is my current host mother: Riitta and on her left is my YEO Virpi Mäkelä.

Below I am making my first presentation to the club. This wasn't my slideshow, just a few words to say about myself and my Exchange. The man in the foreground is Markku Moisala, the principal or "rehtori" of my school and also an active Rotarian.



Rotary Exchange students are usually given a banner representing their sponsor club to bring to the host club in exchange for one of their banners. Here I have exchanged banners with the president of my host club. The slideshow in the background was the presentation given that day by Tiina Lehti about her recent exchange to Brazil. The Lahti-Vesijärvi club sponsored her for her exchange last year.



The second meeting I attended in September was held on a boat! How cool is that?! Very Finnish too. The former navy ship is owned by a member of my host club. (The man in the blue jacket).



Inside the boat we had breakfast and a presentation about the boat's history as part of the Finnish navy. The boat has a comfortable living area and serves as a small tourist attraction in the harbour area, right beside Sibeliustalo.



I plan to attend another Rotary meeting either this Friday or next Friday. Credit for all the above photos goes to Niko Niemi of the Lahti-Vesijärvi Rotary club. Thanks Niko!