First Days!!

Yay! There's a lot that's gone on since the 19th, so I'll start from there.

I actually went up to New York on the 18th with my mum and dad since we didn't want time to be an issue, and we stayed with some family for the night. Then, the next day we went to the AFS orientation site, and mum and dad dropped me off (we had to say goodbye before I could join everyone), and I had to wait a bit in the lobby with a couple other AFS kids since I got there early.

Guess what series I'm finally reading!

Orientation lasted until 4 pm until noon the next day. Most of it was going over stuff, and a few things were new, but it was overall fun. I got to talk to the other kids going to Finland (there were seven of us, including me), and some who weren't, and that was nice too.

On the 20th, we were the second group to leave (you left at different times depending on what country you were going to), and all the regular airport business went fairly smoothly. The AFS chaperon couldn't come with us past security, so we had to find the gate and do everything else by ourselves, which was kind of weird for me since I've never done major travel without an adult-person there. We did manage, though! We got food and found the gate in plenty of time!

Here's the post on my photography blog, if you'd like!

Boarding went smoothly, and we all sat together (except for the two of us who were only doing semester stays). The plane was one of those big ones with a middle isle, which is where we sat, so sadly I have no cool window pictures. We did have the little screens on the back of the seats, though, and there was one little app thing that let you see outside of the plane! (one was from the front and the other was beneath).

The flight was pretty long (7 hours?) and we ended up taking off late since we were either 11th or 12th in line for the runway. I didn't get very much sleep, I mostly dozed on and off, but thankfully the flight was fairly uneventful.

It was very strange getting off, since it was around 9 in the morning when it was 2 am at home, but once we got through customs, we met our host families! Only my host sister, Belinda, was there at the airport, and we took several buses to Pori where my host mother picked us up, and we drove home where I met my host father! It was very exciting, and so far we all get along, so I'm very happy!

They then gave me a tour of the house and everything around, which was cool. After that, though I was pretty tired, so I slept for a while and woke up just in time for dinner, which was really good! (sort-of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and caramelized onions!)

The next day (yesterday), was my actual first whole day in Finland! I woke up pretty late and had fresh blueberries for breakfast, and then relaxed for a little bit, and then we went shopping! I found some of the next Harry Potter books at a thrift store for 2 euros each, but they're still the english versions, not the Finnish. 

This was the first picture I took with my new phone, haha.

Next we went to the electronics store nearby, and I looked at phones since my old one wouldn't work here. Unfortunately, the kind I was looking for was out of stock, so we ended up going to a mall that used to be a factory! I was actually really tired by the time I'd gotten my new phone and everything, so we stopped at the donut shop across from the phone store.

We looked around a little more after that since the donut gave me more energy, but we then went back home, where there was more relaxing and I had a little nap.

In the evening, though, I got to go to the sauna in the summer cottage that's out at the end of the backyard! It was reeaally nice, but I wasn't able to stay in it for long because it got too hot for me. Then Äiti (Finnish for mom) had a couple turns and then we watched TV in the cottage with Isä (dad) for a while before we all went to bed.

And now it's today! I actually was able to get up at my normal time today, and I read for a while before I had breakfast. That's pretty much it for now, though, I just had lunch, and I think some people are coming over later today, but yeah! I haven't done much photography or drawing yet, but that's alright. Oh, and school starts tomorrow! (for me, at least. apparently it actually started last week).

Aaaaa!!!

19 Days To Go!

I'm actually getting a little nervous now, but I've been gathering everything up and getting all the last little things done! I even have a list of all the different things I need to pack, but I'm also kind of torn between packing only what I need and as much as they'll let me take, haha. My Granny lent me a suitcase that's actually kind of big, so I think I won't have too much trouble fitting everything in.

My departure date is on the 20th, but I'm going up to New York on the 18th to visit with some family. From what I've heard, the flight will probably be close to 9 hours, and apparently I'll be getting there at around 9 am, but I'm not entirely sure since that would mean take off would be at midnight. The whole flying thing is mostly what's making me nervous, as I've never really done it in a big group without family before. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly!

In other news, if you're following my photography blog, you'll see that I got my residency permit early-mid-June! It's a little ID-like card, but it came in two envelopes! There was the big one that we filled out beforehand so they could mail it back to us, and inside that was a Moomins envelope, it was really cute!

Also pictured is some of my gemstone collection.

Oh, and I've been writing back and forth with my host family a lot, too! I'm going to be living in Pomarkku, which is about three hours north-west of Helsinki. It's a fairly rural area, which I think I'll like because it's quieter and there's more space. (Also I really like nature photography, so I'll get to do plenty of that). Aside from my host parents, I also have a host sister who's a year older than me and a host brother, but he lives in Thailand with his wife. I'm fairly optimistic that I'll get along with everyone, but especially my host sister since we both like the same kinds of things.

But yeah, 19 days! Wow!