It's only been getting better. School is great, friends are awesome, and my new family is wonderful. I moved off of that farm about a week and a half ago and am now living about 5 minutes away from the city. This new family speaks english, and I have a DOOR on my room! (In case you're wondering, I didn't have a door on my room in the last house) They also have a satelite and I can watch all the MTV Europe I want! :o)

I've learned a little more Finnish. I would say that I am actually quite good in Finnish, compared to others I have heard. :o) But I am terrified of speaking it. But I'm trying, and it seems to be working so far. In the process of learning Finnish, I haven't really forgotten much English, though I do often spell things wrong and don't make any sense. I have, however, almost COMPLETELY forgotten SPANISH. People have asked me what a certain thing is in Spanish on several occasions, and without even thinking about it twice I blurt out the Finnish words for it. heh. It's pretty funny. I'm still waiting for a dream completely in Finnish. I've dreampt of people saying a few things to me in Finnish, but either my response or theirs is in English.

Aside from all the language issues, I have been having a whole lot of fun!! for instance, last weekend a girl friend and I were wondering what we were going to do that night and we decided just to hop on a train and go 2 hours away to a bigger city for the evening. It was great. Of course, we only went after I had permission from all the appropriate people. :o) But It is very common to just hop on a train here and travel.

The weather, of course, is cold. I wake up every morning and HOPE it is ATLEAST 0 degrees C (And yes, Joy, I'm FREEZING). Most of the days now it's about -3 or -4 C. I've gotten a little used to it though. I no longer wear long underwear or 5 shirts. Just a normal shirt and my jacket. Unless it's -10. :o) It should get to about -25 or -30 C before the winter is over. 

The Rotary is taking all the exchange students on a skiing trip to Lapland.. starting tonight. Our bus picks us up at 12:55 AM and then it's no sleep till next Tuesday! I can't wait... but I hope I don't break a leg. When I get back on Tuesday I have my Finnish final exams!! Time to study, don't you think? After this course I'm going to try to convince my Rotary to enroll me in Finnish 2, so that I can learn as much as I can. :o) The only real hectic thing I've come across is college and scholarship applications. I've had to call so many people with a thousand questions that I probably never would have had if I was still in Miami. Ahh.... the perks of being an exchange student. :o)

And the many things others miss out on. Though sometimes it's not all a piece of cake. I heard all those speaches about home-sickness and never thought that I would really ever be home-sick. Well... I can honestly say that for one whole day I moped around the house and didn't feel like seeing anyone or doing anything. The next day I got myself together and all was well. Sometimes I'll be reminded of someone or thing back home and I'll pause for a moment and miss it.. but I know I'll see whatever it is again someday and there is no point on dwelling. Four other exchange students have already gone home. I've only been here 3 months and couldn't bring myself to leave this place for a couple of things I missed too much.  In so many ways Finland is completely different from Miami. But sometimes... it feels like I'm walking down Brickell Ave.

The other day a bum came up asking me for money and I told him that I didn't speak Finnish. He started laughing and said that I spoke Finnish very well and that I was lying to him (In Finnish, of course). When I kept insisting that I didn't speak it, getting a little creeped out in the meantime, he hit me in the face with a big grin on HIS face. I realized by this point that he was drunk, and that it was time for me to walk away... only, he followed me and kept bothering me. I laugh about it now, because it reminds me of seeing bums in the windows during my middle school years, but at the time it was a very scary situation. Heh. But that's a small piece of Finland for ya! 

I hope everyone else is surviving and doing well. Remember to make the best of it!


Sarah