ICE HOCKEY!

October is wrapping up here in Finland, and winter is definitely on its way. It seems to be completely dark by 6:00 every night, and we have had quite a few days below freezing. My new hobby of knitting has really come in handy. I need a whole lot of scarves, hats, and gloves!

Yesterday, I went to my first EVER hockey game. I had seen games on TV before, but never in person. I love watching hockey more than any other sport. Things are always happening in hockey. The action never stops. I get bored with American sports like football and baseball because there is a lot of down time, but hockey is totally different.

Lappeenranta has a huge rink compared to Bloomington's

Go SaiPA!

There is 3 Americans on the team.

They even have cheerleaders!

The player who has scored the most goals gets to wear a golden helmet!

The Fan Section 

During the break, fans can buy a puck and throw it on to the ice. Whoever's puck is closest to the center wins a prize. (I wasn't close at ALL.)

SaiPa won in a shootout!

Estonia and More!

This past week was my school's fall break. I was lucky enough to get to go to Tallinn, Estonia on Friday. We took a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. The ferry took about 2 hours and was quite enjoyable (I slept most the way). For those who didn't sleep, the ferry had all kinds of things to do. There was restaurants, shops, and even a supermarket.

The view out the Ferry window featuring my feet as I sleep

The Gulf of Finland

The Ferry really did have a Supermarket

Everything on the ferry was SUPER nice

The outside of the Ferry, it was huge.

Although we were only in the city for 4 hours, I completely fell in love with the old part of Tallinn. I saw a post card that said "the medieval Disneyland" and I can't think of a better way to describe it. I felt like I was walking around in a fairy tale. Here is some pictures from around the old town.

Estonia produces a lot of wool, so everywhere was little shops where you could buy wool crafts. The crafts were so cute!!

On the way back, I braved the cold and ventured on to the deck of the boat. It was freezing and windy, but i got some nice photos :D

Tallinn in the Distance

Tallinn and the Estonian Flag

I hope that I will be able to go back to Tallinn soon and see even more of the city!

Some other things I have been up to-

This week I purchased my Vanhat dress. Vanhat is basically Finnish prom. All the 2nd years learn choreographed dances and then perform them for friends and family. Its a pretty big deal and I can't wait experience it!

I also got to meet up with an old friend in Helsinki. I met her at camp in Oxford, England last year. It was so cool to talk with her again after more than a year! I hope I will be able to meet up with her again. 

My birthday was last Monday and it was filled with wonderful things and people.

You could say it has been a really good couple of weeks. :)

Two Months Down, Ten to Go

Two months have come and gone here in Finland, and I can hardly believe it. Everything is happening so quickly. I have just started the new period at school, so I will share my new class schedule. It once again isn't too busy. I hope that by next period I will know enough Finnish to really have a full schedule.

GE=Geography, SU=Suomi, Teks=Textile, ENA= English

Geography on Wednesdays is replaced with a Finnish cooking class. I take it with the other exchange student and a bunch of younger kids. I really love learning how to cook and spending time with younger kids!

For my textiles class, I'm going to learn to knit. I always thought that knitting was pretty much the same everywhere you go, but nope! The way they knit here is way different from how people in the United States knit. It's way faster too! Hopefully in a few weeks I will be sending all of you handmade scarfs and socks!!

As you can see, I have very few classes. This leaves me with A LOT of free time. I'm hoping to start practicing yoga. I have practiced in the United States for several years and really miss it. So far, I haven't had a lot of luck finding classes that work well with my schedule, but I'm hopeful that I will find one soon. NOTE TO THOSE WHO LIVE IN LAPPEENRANTA: If you know of a yoga place or really anything that will occupy my time, let me know!!!

Enough about the future, I am sure all of you are wondering what I have done the past two weeks. I've gone to Helsinki, Lahti, and my host grandparents, I've taken two huge tests, and I've had a lot of fun.

Both the Helsinki and Lahti trips were mainly for shopping and eating. Nothing too eventful, but both trips were a lot of fun.

The past weekend I visited my host grandparents for the second time. I ate the best apple pie I have ever had. It may not look like much, but it was absolutely amazing.

Heaven

In a previous post, I visited the wetlands near my host grandparents house. We once again visited the wetlands. This time we picked cranberries.

We got about a bucket-full by the end of the morning. Not a ton, but it was nice to be outside moving.

In the wetlands, there is a huge rock. Of course, we had to climb to the top of it. The view was gorgeous!

 Then, Lätty decided to join us. I'm not entirely sure how she managed to get up the rock. We were all so worried she wouldn't be able to get done. After much worry, Lätty got down faster and easier than everyone else.

Everyone on the rock :D

My school finals went really well. I only had two: English and Finnish. My English final was easy and a lot of fun. It was a speaking final, so I just got to sit and talk for half an hour!! My Finnish final was pretty difficult, but I think I did pretty well. I will find out tomorrow, so fingers crossed!!!

Its been an amazing two months, and I can't wait for more adventures to come! :D