WANHAT :D

The past week has been absolutely crazy. It involved being pelted with candy, wearing a ball gown for 8 hours, and being awake for 24 hours straight. Not to worry, all of this was done with good reason :)

Thursday was Penkkarit, or the 3rd graders last day before their break. All of the third years get the spring off from school so they can focus on studying for their matriculation exams. On their last day before break, they dress up in costumes,

Make fun of teachers,

trash the school,

and ride around the city in giant trucks while throwing candy (hint: when I got hit).

It was a really fun day that I wish we had in the United States!!

On Friday it was my and all of the second year's turn. Wanhat is comparable to prom in the United States, but it's actually a lot different. For the past six weeks I took dance classes along with my classmates at school to learn different kinds of waltzes and traditional dances. Then on Friday morning we performed the dances for our school and our parents. The dance is to celebrate the 2nd years becoming the oldest in the school. (Wanhat or vanhat translates to olds.)

I woke up at 5:00am to get my hair done.

There was 40 bobby pins in my hair!!

It was a day of many selfies.

We looked pretty funny sitting around in our formal wear.

The next several picture are just different parts of the dance. I hope to eventually find a video of the whole thing, but until then these pictures will have to do:)

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The night after the dance was the after party! It was nice to just hang out with all of the people I had worked so hard with. The after party went until 4am, so I was pretty tired the rest of the weekend! I am so glad I got to participate in this Finnish tradition. 

Last thing is for those of you who live in Bloomington and are currently on your 4th snow day. This is the road outside my house. As you can see its covered in about an inch of snow and ice, and it's been that way since December. SO stop complaining about the roads not being cleared fast enough and learn to drive safely in the winter. AND GO TO SCHOOL.

Happy 200 days in Finland to me :)