Kesäkuu/ June

Kesäkuu: literally the summer month. (Kesä is "summer" in Finnish). And it might seem reasonable to hope that summer has finally arrived. Although temperatures at times can still be on the cool side, there have been many days of the sun shining brightly and a cool breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees. The sky has been such a bright, vibrant blue that now I know why that particular colour was chosen for Finland’s flag.

A picnic in the park with some amazing friends! ^_^

The first major thing that happened in June for me was Juhannus (Finnish midsummer) in Värtsila. Värtsila is a small town very near the Russian border in eastern Finland. My Finnish rotary counsellor Kristiina organised for me to spend a week there over the Finnish midsummer holiday. Six hours away by train, Värtsila proved that even though Vantaa and Helsinki still feel like countryside, they are actually cities compared to such tiny villages. The days leading up to my departure to Värtsila were wrought with anxiety and gloom, as I was also saying farewell to my first wonderful host family. The Mesiäs have been my family since I arrived in Finland, and there is really no way for me to properly put into words how grateful I am to them and how much impact they have had upon not just my exchange, but my person and life in general. My host mum Susanna, host dad Heikki, brother Olli and sister-in-absentia Emma have all been so amazing and supportive for me, and I really feel like part of their family.

However, all good things eventually come to an end, and with my heart in my mouth I stepped onto the train to Värtsila. Five hours is a very long time to be on the train, but with WiFi in the carriage and the Finnish scenery flying by outside, the journey was actually quite enjoyable. When I got to Värtsila, I was met by my next host family, the Kivivuoris. Konsta was working so he couldn’t come and meet me, but Päivi and Hannu gave me a warm welcome with open arms.

With my second family, the Kivivuoris.

While we explored the countryside, including the ironworks at Ilomansti and old Russian buildings, my favourite parts of the week were Finnish and Australian baking, and Juhannus. I think Kristiina let slip that I was desperate to bake pulla (Finnish buns) and Karelian pastries. Päivi’s friend Mirja visited and taught me how to bake the latter, which were utterly scrumptious, and the next day Päivi and I baked the pulla. They were delectable, and I really couldn’t be happier at being able to take part in such a Finnish affair! In return for this, I baked damper and lamingtons for them. I think the sheer amount of baked goods available made Konsta and Hannu very happy!

Baking adventures: lamingtons, Karelian pastries, pulla and damper. 

Juhannus is the Finnish midsummer celebration. It’s a long weekend, similar to something like the Queen’s birthday, but with more traditional ideas. It’s customary to have a large bonfire on the night of Juhannus and is the only night of the year the Finnish flag can stay up. We had a great meal of fish and salad followed by delicious pancakes with jam and cream. We also went to a smoke sauna, which was an experience. I think I prefer the normal wood saunas over the smoke one, as the smoke sauna was a bit too hot for me.

Konsta tending our Juhannus bonfire.

Once I was back from Värtsila, I had a few days of relaxing in Espoo before leaving for England. I had quite a strange experience at the airport when somebody started talking to me while we were waiting by the baggage carousel. There was a moment of confusion where I was thinking “Um… why are you talking to me? We don’t know each other?” because, in Finland, it’s normal to just keep to yourself. I’m a bit more used to everyone being open and talking a lot to each other now, though.

My first weekend was a journey to London to see the Book of Mormon musical with a friend’s host family. I also got to enjoy lots of cups of tea and a plate of good traditional English fish and chips! (Oh, how I've missed them.) The musical was excellent, such a great performance and absolutely hilarious.

The Book of Mormon wins best musical performance I've watched.

I also had the honour of listening to and meeting the last living member of the Dambusters raid, Jonny Johnson. He was such a gentleman and very well spoken, and also amazingly mobile and independent considering he is 93 this year! He talked a lot about how things were in the air force and also what happened in preparation for the dambuster raid. He was part of the only crew to land a direct hit on the Sorpe dam, which is truly amazing.

I had the honour of meeting Jonny Johnson, the last Dambuster!

Hopefully my visit continues to be as interesting as the beginning, and I manage to have fun with the rest of my family.

Toukokuu/ May

May began with Vappu Part 2, which consisted of a nationwide picnic. There are a few technical traditions, like the Swedish-speaking Finns and Finnish-speaking Finns have their picnics in different places, but the general consensus is that everybody goes out with their family and drinks and eats a lot. It was a great occasion to spend with my host family.

A week later, Rotary took everyone in our district to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. It makes me very grateful that I am in 1420, as it is only this district that got to visit Estonia. Although Finland is a wonderful country, and rapidly becoming my favourite place, conflicts in history are responsible for a lot of the traditional medieval buildings having been burned down (on several occasions), so Estonia was a great opportunity to see the traditional architecture and characteristics of a medieval town.

Tallinn did not disappoint. From the cobbled stone roads to the grand Russian Orthodox Church in Old Town, Tallinn was really a beautiful city. Even the little side alleys had a sort of Romantic charm to them. After exploring most of the city with Gabi, our Estonian oldie, as our tour guide, we did some shopping and went to a medieval style pub in Old Town Square. The pub’s meal of the day was a vegetable soup, which all of us purchased a bowl of, and ox meat sausages with lingun berry juice to drink. The soup was served in an old style bowl that you had to drink out of, to add to the medieval atmosphere. The sausages also came on sticks, and there was no cutlery to be seen. Candles lighted everything.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Tallinn.

Dinner marked the end of our time in Tallinn. The ferry ride back was very emotional, and I managed to take possibly my favourite photo of this year so far. There was a live band playing in the lounge we were sitting in, but nobody dancing, and suddenly almost all of the exchange students and rotex got up and began to dance together in the light of the setting sun. It was truly a magical moment.

1420 has a dance party in the sunbeams.

After the Tallinn trip, there were several special occasions. The first of which was Hanami, the Japanese festival celebrating the cherry blossom or sakura trees and springtime. Me and some of the exchange students had planned to have a picnic, but things went awry when half of us couldn’t get on the packed bus, and then had trouble finding the group once we got to the cherry blossom park. It then began to rain quite heavily, causing us to pack up shop and head for home.

Lilian and I got caught in the rain at Hanami...

The next took place on the 19^th of May, with my good friend and fellow 1420 newbie Kirsten. I didn’t have school because of the exam week, so I decided to surprise Kirsten with some cake. Finding the cake was an adventure and a half, as Finland doesn’t actually have cake shops and bakeries in the same way many other countries to. I had to venture into the nightmarish Stockmanns department store and track down a somewhat pricey chocolate cake from the patisserie section.  Once the sweet was acquired, I had to get directions from Juan, who goes to the same school as Kirsten, because I had no idea where the place was. It was worth the struggle though, as Kirsten was very happy to receive her cake!

Kirsten and her cake! :)

The third event was Finland’s pop up restaurant day. Essentially this is a holiday where anyone who wants to can open a restaurant and serve homemade foods to friends or passers by. It’s a great idea, and Susanna and I visited one of her friends who made extremely healthy, gluten free food. I had muesli cracker bread with nettle pesto and sun-dried tomatoes to begin with, as well as mint tea, raspberry cheesecake, fruit and nut yogurt and the richest hedgehog slice I’ve ever tasted.

Very healthy food at our chosen Pop Up Restaurant.

Almost at the end of the month was a competition day between Ressun and Norssin lukios. My school, Ressu, battled their rival school Norssi in a variety of sports and activities, with those of us not competing passionately cheering them on from the side-lines. The day’s events began with the opening ceremony, and continued on to tug-o-war, floorball, football, volleyball, ultimate (frisbee game), basketball and the rowing championships. Each sport had a middle and high school team for both girls and boys.

Though the competition was fierce to begin with, Ressu ended up winning with a score of 12-7! It was a great day for all of us, and I was very happy to be part of the Ressu family. Norssi were good sports, but it was wonderful to win because Ressu had lost the last two years. Our principal Ari was very proud to carry the trophy home.

Ressu Victorious! (photo credit to Mickey, I think)