So! First of all, we got the check from Ledo's, so now we know how much was raised at the fundraiser. We were going to go back for it as soon as they knew how much it was, but we kind of forgot about it and ended up going about a week later as part of dinner.
Thankfully, they brought the check to us as soon as we sat down, and it came in a plain little envelope (which I didn't get any pictures of, oh well). Now, originally, the manager had said usual fundraisers made around $100 to $150, which was actually a pretty good amount compared to the few little bits of selling baked goods I'd done at school. But, I opened the envelope, and the check was made out for $240! Woo!
We haven't done any other fundraiser-type things since then, but I'm hoping to be able to get a summer job at one of my local used bookstores. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how easy it'll be since I'm also taking my next English class this summer, too.
Anyways, the next thing is that I applied for my residency permit! I ended up having to take a day off of school, since I had to visit the Finnish Embassy in DC. My mum and I took the metro to the station we had to get off at, and we were going to catch the bus the rest of the way there, but the only one going that route switched to being "Not in Service," so we ended up taking a taxi. Which was weird, especially since I'd never been in one before.
The embassy itself was pretty nice, though! It was easy to tell it apart from the other buildings next to it, and it also had a bunch of ivy growing up it, so that was cool, too.
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| Look, you can see the ivy! |
We had to be let in, since the door had a lock-thing, but once we got through that, we didn't actually go anywhere past the little lobby-area place. It was kinda cool that we could do everything there, even the fingerprint stuff. The whole trip took a lot less time than we'd thought, which was really nice, and we just went back home afterwards. I also got a few little books on Finland while I was there too, so I ended up reading through some of those on the way back.
The last major recent thing that went on was that yesterday I went to one of the Pre-Departure Orientations! A lot of it was going over stuff that I already knew, but it's good to have it repeated so I don't forget. There was stuff about how communication works with your family and friends back home and how often it should be, and then also how much you should pack (since apparently everyone always overpacks), and what to do in certain situations.
There were a few little group activities, but I didn't really talk to anyone a whole lot past the "So, where are you going?" stuff. It was still fun, though, and I was the only person there going to Finland, and even just a Nordic country in general!
Anyways, a few of the smaller things that have been going on are just regular life stuff, I guess. This next week at school is gonna be finals, so I have a bunch of tests and stuff. I've been putting off my Finnish lessons for a while since school's been pretty busy, but I'm definitely gonna start those back up again once school's over! Oh, and like I said earlier, I'll be taking the first half of the english class I'd be taking next year, since I don't think it's offered in Finland.
I'll be setting up a smaller blog soon that'll be mostly for photos soon, but I'll still post some here. It'll just be where all of my photos will be. That said, it won't update for a couple months, since I'll only be preparing and packing and such.
Oh, and I still haven't found out who my host family's gonna be yet, but that's alright. Hopefully, I'll find out soon enough!
Oh, and I still haven't found out who my host family's gonna be yet, but that's alright. Hopefully, I'll find out soon enough!
So yeah, that's it for this time! Moi moi!
