28 days Until I Leave!

    Only 28 days until I board the plane for Helsinki however I won't get there for 29 days. I think I'll either be flying through Iceland or Newark/Coppenhagen. Either way it's a red eye flight that I'm not looking forward to that much. I can't wait to meet everybody but I don't think I'll be able to get much sleep.

    I heard back from my host family! I called Jarno (host father) two weeks ago and man was that call awkward! The language barrier wasn't a problem for me because we were speaking English. Finns are very comfortable with breaks in the conversation, something I am not used to yet. That will take some getting used to! A few days ago I received an email from my host sister Sanni (13).  She is into Badminton so I'm sure we'll play a lot of that this summer. I'm so excited to meet my host parents and three sisters!

  So far it looks like all the other YFU students are in the eastern part of Finland closer to Helsinki. I will be living almost two hours away from them so I don't think I'll be able to see them that much. It's ok though, I'll be able to make friends in my little area!

Whoops and Kuusisto

I was just about to write about where I'll be living this summer when I realized that I spelled Finland wrong in the title of my blog. I'm trying to fix it but can't figure out how.


Anyways...

    This summer I will be staying on the island Kuusisto (also known as Kaarina when I type it intp google maps). It is located in the South West part of Finland. My post-arrival orientation is in Turku which is about 45 minutes away from my new home. Kuusisto is 2 hours west of Helsinki

Facts about Kuusisto

• I have no idea how to pronounce it.
• Timezone - Europe/Helsinki time zone. 8 hours ahead of us in Minnesota. 
• There is a castle on the Island, although in ruins.
• This area is known for boating.

   Now you know the same amount about Kuusisto as I do!

View of Kuusisto

 

 

From far away it looks like it's just part of the mainland.

I'm pretty south. Most of the Finnish people live in the south.

Pre-Departure Orientation

    So today (5/5/13) was my pre-departure orientation for my study abroad trip to Finland this summer. The orientation was about 7 hours long. There were about 25 future exchange students and 7 students currently having their exchange in the US. Talking to the girls from Tunisia and Palestine was really cool because I don't think I've ever met someone from that area of the world.

    I was able to talk to a girl from Finland named Alisa(sp). She was able to answer many questions,

• What is the weather like during the summer in Finland? Like Minnesota without the tornadoes. 
• Is tennis played there? Somewhat, but courts may be hard to find.
• What do teenagers do for fun in Finland? Drink. No lie. 

    Today was really informational. I'm so excited to go to Finland next month!