HELLO THERE!!!! [skursh]  COME IN ROTARY 6990 [skursh] -- You’re breaking up!! [skursh] I’ve been trying to get through for weeks now.  Who am I fooling?  You know I had to be “Fashionably Late” with my report. I never liked doing homework anyway.  I was always such a slacker!  I’m sorry.  And with out further a due:

 

                 Okay people! I’m either just weird, which is a likely possibility, or it isn’t true; Most of the rebounds said their first 3 months were the hardest??  What’s so hard about this?  I’ve had no teary breakdowns which is commendable considering the predicaments my host mother has put me in (But I’ll explain that in the next sequel) This isn’t as hard as they painted it out to be…or maybe Finland is an exception. 

 

The Plane Ride To Helsinki

                 I boarded the plane with no tears in my eyes, and no looking back, just a weird feeling inside of me.  As the 5^th hour passed and the 3^rd movie began, I decided to walk about and on my way back to my seat, I noticed a group of – LOUD – American looking and sounding teenagers.  They were, obviously, the other exchange students, and one was wearing a blazer.  I had my Rotary District 6990 T-shirt on so they noticed me as well.  All 7 of us hung out by, actually crowded around, the emergency exit door and talked for the remaining 3 hours of the trip.  As I stepped outside, I noticed that it wasn’t freezing; it was actually quite hot.  The first thing I said when we walked off the plane was, “What am I doing in Finland? Of all the places…Finland.”  When we arrived in Helsinki Airport, it was silent.  You’d think the place was empty.  Oh no!  It was full of people, and you could tell just who the foreigners were by the sound of their voice--and I mean the mere sound--We were all so loud (well compared to everybody else, that is). 

 

Language Camp

                 I slept during the 3-hour bus ride to the camp from the airport.  I awoke to the beautiful scent of Karaan’s stinky feet in my face.  She’s some crazy girl from New York who’s one of my good friends now (she has to be the Devil reincarnate) – even though we’re both complete opposites, yet so similar in mental disabilities we got along really well.  Language Camp has been the most enjoyable thing in Finland so far next to the Drag King & Queen Day I had at my school (I’ll inform you later WITH pictures to prove it).  I went to a Sauna for the first time at camp [which was invented by the Finns…if you thought it was Sweden] and the Sauna was g-r-e-a-t!  I love going to Sauna, and every Finnish home must have one.  It’s naturally apart of the house.  Next to the shower there’s the Sauna room!  I got sick one day at camp though…because I ate some of Karaan’s really bad steak one night.  I was sick for most of the day, but got better late that afternoon.  Karaan was sick for the entire day and didn’t wake up until about 3 am the next morning.  And on our last night at camp each country made a little performance or presentation.  They asked each country that didn’t do anything if they wanted to do something short and guess which country they forgot?  So you know I was vex and the devil mussy jump in me.  I stood up on top of my chair above everyone else and yelled, “Bui, what about to the BAHAMAS?  I tired a y’all always forgetting me!”  They kept forgetting about my country and I during the entire time at camp.  Even though I was only one person, they never forgot that ONE guy from France.  So I went up to the front and did my thang – you know the basic good stuff about us.  Showed them the flag and explained all the important aspects (I felt so proud to be Bahamian) and then I sang the National Anthem :/ I know!  Jesus mussy jump back in me and had me singing like Celine Dion.  Everyone kept apologizing and saying how nice I sounded and how they WON’T forget now that there’s a girl from the Bahamas here in Finland.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

 

My Host Family

                 My host family picked me up from the camp.  I only have a host mother (Eija) and a 14-year old host sister (Essi).  [The father has amnesia and is in a nursing home]  They live guess where? On an island in guess what? An archipelago. That’s odd?  I just came from one of those or should I say many of those, but the island is beautiful – I have a view of the Baltic Sea from my room.  Anyway, I’ll close with this very cute story about meeting the rest of the beasts that live in my house.  My host mother speaks English very well because she spent quite a few years in the U.S.  And during the long car ride to Parainen, my host mother told me about all the animals they have living with them.  She said, “Well, we have a very fat dog named Matius, a bunny rabbit named Liinus, and a gorilla named Oliver.”  My eyes bulged wide open and my smile fell to one of fear and regret.  So I stammered, “E-E-Excuse me?  You said a Gorilla?”  And she replied calmly, “Why he’s nothing to be afraid of – he’s really small and stays in his cage except for when Essi plays with him.”  She went on to say, “Why, haven’t you seen a gorilla before?”  At this point I’m ready to switch host families, trying to come to terms with having to live with a Zoo animal, and whether or not it’s even legal.  I told her I had not seen one before, only on television.  She then continued, “Oh he only runs about every now and then, but only upstairs.”

My face was stuck on fear.  We arrived in Parainen, and after cautiously getting out of the car, fearful, of not only the humungous dog charging at me, but of where the gorilla might be hiding.  After the dog got acquainted, I walked inside with my eyes wide open, nose and ears very alert.  She shows me the bunny, and I say, “How adorable…” momentarily forgetting about my main concern – when something taps me on the shoulder.  As I turn around slowly with wet eyes, my host mother says, “Oh, Essi’s got him out of the cage.  That’s the gorilla!”  When they asked what was wrong, I could barley breathe much less get the words out.  With tears streaming down my face because I was, in ALL my relief, laughing hysterically, I caught my breath and blurted out, “That’s not a gorilla!  That’s a gerbil!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry!  My mistake!  I meant to say gerbil.  And all this time you were thinking otherwise – How dreadful!”  Tune in next month… Same time.  Same place.

 

And if any of you want to call me (which I doubt you will) my cell phone number’s 1-358-40-053-7107.