Syksy – Autumn

Hei kaikki!

Long time no see. Sorry I haven’t been active lately but I’ve just been busy with school and life. A few things have happened in the last few months that I thought I would share with you all.

After the long summer holidays, we were able to return back to school in person which was really exciting! It was a bit of a struggle getting back into routine and adjusting my sleep schedule to normal, but it has been really good to be back and to be able to see people.

I have also moved to my third and final host family. I was really sad to leave my second host family, but luckily my new family are just as nice and I have settled in really well. My new host parents are Iiris and Teemu, I have an older host brother Sampsa who’s moved out, a 14 year host sister, Nelli, who is is middle school, and a dog, Laku (means licorice). Huge thanks to the Valtokari family for hosting me over the summer and making it as amazing as it was- one that I’ll never forget!

At the start of October, we were supposed to have a weekend camp with all the other exchange students that are still left in Finland. Sadly, that got cancelled due to corona but one of the Rotarians organised a similar weekend at her house for the four remaining exchange students in our district. We went on a hike in one of the national parks, ate some delicious Finnish food and also visited some sites around the Helsinki/Espoo area.

The weekend after that, I went with my host mum and sister to stay in their aunt and uncle’s summer cottage on Lake Saimaa. It was so beautiful and wonderful to be out in Finnish nature again and to see all the leaves changing their colours.

At the beginning of September, one of the other Rotary exchange students, Kasarni (being hosted in Rauma), came to stay with me. She hadn’t been to Helsinki, so I showed her the sights along with a few other exchange students. We hadn’t seen Kasarni since the orientation camp back in January, so it was great to all catch up again.

During October, we had a one week Autumn holiday. Because my host parents still had to work, we didn’t go away anywhere but I was able to go to Helsinki and visit a few museums and galleries. I also met with Khabonina (South African RYES hosted in Turku) and Gemma, which was really fun as I also hadn’t seen Khabonina since the orientation camp.

During autumn, the colours of the trees were so pretty that almost half my camera roll is now filled with pictures of leaves. One of the many things I love about Finland is how different all the seasons are from each other. Although, we have seasons in Australia, they’re not as amazing/beautiful as they are here in Finland (no offence Australia), and I’m definitely going to miss that when I get back home.

As we are moving into winter, the days are getting a lot shorter. The sun is rising at 8am and setting at around 4pm, and it’s only going to get darker from here on. I can definitely feel the difference getting up in the mornings. The weather is also getting quite cool but still isn’t too cold (yet). The average temperature lately has been 8-11 degrees which is “pretty warm for this time of the year” according to the Finns.

Corona is also slowly getting worse here. We are averaging over 100/day. Masks are strongly recommended to be worn in public places including school. I don’t actually find it too bad as it keeps your face warm if you’re outside and it’s also a lot better than online school. It’s quite worrying as the cases are increasing, and I’m really hoping the end of my exchange won’t be spent in lockdown.

I’ve only got two months left, so fingers-crossed that corona stays away and I can make the most of the time I have left.

Next month, Rotary has organised a trip to Lappi (Lapland) for all the remaining exchange students. It will just be the twelve of us, but I’m so excited to visit the Arctic Circle, pat reindeer, try out snowboarding and go on a husky sleigh ride. Hopefully corona will remain under control and not ruin the only big trip left of our exchange.

Nähdään ensi kuussa!

Tina