The Very End

I have finally returned home safe and sound. It took about 21 hours to get from Lappeenranta, Finland to Bloomington, Indiana, but for the most part everything went smoothly. As much as I miss Finland, it is nice to be back home. I don't have much else to say. It was an absolutely amazing year. I know that I have grown so much as an adult and as a person. I want to thank everyone-- especially my host families-- for all the work put into this year. The year would not have been possible without you and I am forever grateful. For now, I'll leave you with this video which is a little recap of my exchange. I hope you have all enjoyed following my journey this year. It has been an unforgettable one.

Mommy Adventures Part 2

The second part of my mother's stay went even faster than the first. I was so glad I got to spend time with her and show her around the country I love. On Tuesday, we continued our adventure by visiting the Kiasma Art mueseum and doing a bit more sight seeing. 

The Kiasma had wonderful exhibits.

I was glad we got to go!

The mandatory white church photo

On Wednesday, we decided to take the quick boat trip to Estonia. It is so close to Helsinki that I thought it would be a nice little adventure.

The boat trip was only 2 short hours. 

We had a lot of fun exploring the old town. 

The old town reminds me so much of a fairy tale.

I loved getting to see it all with my mom. 

It was a little windy on the ride back!

Thursday morning took us to Helsinki's botanical gardens. It was so nice to visit a little tropical oasis in the middle of cold Finland. Here is some of my favorite plants.

The water lily room was our favorite place!

Together in the water lily room!

After the botanical gardens, we headed to Suomenlinna island. I have always wanted to go, but had never been able to. I was glad I got to enjoy it with my mom!

Another smaller ferry ride!

On the way! 

Suomenlinna from a distance

Suomenlinna was a fortress during some of Finland's wars

but now some parts are residential,

And others are historic sites.

It was so cool to walk around the island!

It almost looked like something from a Hobbit movie.

In front of  "The King's Gate"

As we left the island, we came across these two swans <3.

My mom headed back to Indiana on Friday morning. I was so happy to spend time with her. Although leaving her again was hard, I was glad that I immediately headed to a Rotary Conference. The conference seemed quite boring and pointless as most are, but getting to be with the other exchange students really helped!

District 1430 (The best district)

Mommy Adventures Part 1

The past few days have been absolutely wonderful! My weekend started off with my fellow North American Emily coming to Lappeenranta for a visit. We had a wonderful time baking cookies, eating, gossiping, and wandering around the city, Also, our feet were made incredibly soft by some fish!

Teeter-Totter Extreme. The most dangerous playground equipment

Also dangerous- photos on a real train track.

Fish Spa to soften our feet!

Lake Saimaa behind us

The real exciment this week is that yesterday my mom arrived! Before my exchange, I had always said that I didn't want my parents to visit, but nine months is a long time! I was thrilled that my mother and I were able to schedule a week to spend together in Helsinki. So far we have been having so much fun relaxing and exploring the city. Yesterday, we had a spa day and visited the Kämp Spa. It was such a beutiful place. My mom even got to try out a Finnish sauna.

The reunion!

Today we visited the Jean Sibelius moument. I had never been, so I was glad to go see it with my mom. 

Jean Sibelius is Finland's national composer. 

From Below

Cafe Regatta, a cute cafe near the monument.

The cafe had all kinds of cute knickknacks on the wall

This is a boat. 

My beautiful Mom <3

I know the rest of this week is going to be just as much fun! Check back in a few days for more mother-daughter adventures!

The Finnish Language

The most common question I get asked is "Why Finland?!" I guess for a lot of people, especially people who live here, coming to Finland seems a bit strange. To be honest, I didn't pick Finland, it picked me. My Rotary district has you rank every county you are applicable for-- sometimes over 40. When I filled out my application, this list was pretty overwhelming. I wanted to come to Europe so I just put all the European countries first. I had no particular order. It was pure fate I ended up in Finland. And I'm pretty happy I did.

I am telling you this because last Saturday, I had my Finnish test. This test was sort of everything I had been working up to in my exchange. Honestly, I don't think I did that well. Finnish is really different which makes it hard to learn. It was been a slow, grueling struggle to try and learn Finnish. I am not confident in my test results (which I will get in a few weeks at all), but I proud of myself for trying.

To give you a taste of the Finnish language, here's a few funny memes that have circulated around the Internet.

Nevertheless, I really do love the Finnish language. I'm no where near fluent, but learning Finnish has challenged me in new ways. I am proud of everything I have learned. 

Thank You, St. Petersburg

The past few days have given me a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have visited St. Petersburg, Russia, which is something few Americans are able to ever say. This four day rotary organized trip opened my eyes to a whole new culture. It's no secret that our two countries aren't getting along right now, and to be honest, I was quite worried about that going in to the trip. This trip has once again proved that you can't judge 144 million people on the actions of a few people who happen to run their government.

As getting a Russian visa can be difficult and expensive, it was a rather small group of exchange students. There was about 60 of us, which was quite nice. Sixty is much easier to handle than 160. Here's some photo's to walk you through my trip.

The Hermitage, a huge art museum started by Katherine the Great

Central States Exchange Girls <3

I believe this is the General Staff building of the Hermitage

A Monument that sits in front of the Hermitage

Hermitage from a distance. Its huge and more buildings are included in the museum!

Inside the hermitage, it felt like everything was embellished with gold.

A throne room in the Hermitage

A painting by Leonardo Da Vinci 

The Great Gottorp Globe 

Chamber of Curiosity- Peter the Great's collection of weird things. It's a real baby.

We saw so much, I honestly don't remember what most things are called. This is a really beautiful building though. 

I don't remember what this was either, but its a great picture.

St. Nicolas's Cathedral

Touching the phoenix's forehead is suppose to make your wishes come true. 

Church of the Savior on Blood

The detail is amazing.

The Gang

A Cathedral inspired by Roman Architecture. 

We were shown all of this by a wonderful tour guide. I learned so much about Russian history. Most of these buildings are older than the United States which never stops amazing me.

It wasn't all educational. Of course we fit some shopping in.

Nesting dolls make great souvenirs.

 One really unexpected thing, Russia has more American things than Finland does... or at least it seemed that way. For example, Burger kings and Starbucks were everywhere. Both of which you hardly ever see in Finland.

Our names in Russian. 

The crazy thing about Russian is that most things sounds similar to the English words. They just aren't written anywhere near close. 

Gotta Love the Hats

Spaghetti for Breakfast? 

Tha gang at the Ballet

We got to see The Nutcracker

Some other things:

Russian people ( at least the strangers we begged for directions) were so nice. People spoke more English and better English than I was expecting. They had no problem stopping to help us when we got lost.

As to be expected, I also experienced some odd things. I was told "Putin is god" by a 12 year old in an elevator. I saw a t-shirt with Putin punching Obama that said "Goodbye America." I ate spaghetti for breakfast. While strange, all of these things turned out to be quite funny. Lots of laughs were shared.

Bus 1 is the best. FYI

I love this group of people.

So thank you, Russia for a great adventure.