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Stipendiaatin
silmin
To
Finland and beyond
by Stephanie Young,
exchange student in Pellon lukio
”If
you want people to listen whisper”
Mark Twain
If
finding yourself means doing stupid things then I am full of them. If
finding yourself means meeting new and different and diverse people then
why not have more and new friends. If finding yourself means doing
scary things then its time to be scared. If finding yourself means a
change in your like then welcome it with open arms. But if finding
yourself is not exploring what is out in the world and seeing the
opportunities placed in front of you then being an exchange student is
not for you.
“Never
speak to a group only to individuals”
Mark Twain
In the weeks before I
was an official exchange student it was a very hard time. It took me a
long time to decide if I really wanted to be an exchange student. I am
extremely glad that I did decide to do it though. I would consider it
to be the hardest decision that I ever had to make.
When I got my
acceptance letter by mail back I was so excited but scared and worried
all at the same time. I was very excited because I had made it out of
40 other applicants but only 33 were being chosen for countries. Scared
and worried because I didn’t realize what a head of me was fully. There
were still lots of surprises and set backs that I dealt with. But I
ended up getting though all of them. Now here I am today in Finland as
an exchange student trying to make a difference.
When I arrived in
Finland on August 3rd 2003,
it was a horrible first day. Anything that could go wrong did go
wrong. After getting off the plane in Helsinki-Vantaa airport I as well
as several others had to wait 5½ hours for all the other students to
arrive from their country’s. While on the plane I got sick and just
wanted to crawl into a corner and not get out. I had never been on an
airplane before and didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t hear after
every time I got off a plane to get onto another and it just kept
getting worse and worse and the days went on. I had not slept in about
60 hours. When I tried to use my phone card from a pay phone it
wouldn’t work so I had to ask a man in rotary to use his credit card.
He was nice enough to let me use it. I was very thankful of him for
it.
Finally when leaving
the airport we had to drive about 2 hours to where we were going to be
staying for the next week. The camp was for the exchange students to
get used to Finnish foods, get to know the culture, and the language.
When it came time to get our luggage to take to our rooms mine had been
lost. After finding them I could not open them because of how much
stuff I had packed into them. Well after the first day things have
gotten a lot better and I am glad that I stayed to have a lot of
memories and to do lots of stupid things.
The first day of my new life
When at camp it was a
lot of fun talking to everyone and listening to the different languages
spoken. Along with the different ways that English was spoken. Right
from the start I realized that it didn’t matter who you were, what your
skin colour is, what country you are from, it didn’t matter what your
hair and eye colour is. You were accepted for who you were as a
person. You were accepted under any circumstances. You could just be
yourself no matter how stupid or different you acted it was totally OK.
Who you were didn’t matter because we were there for one reason only to
be exchange students in the country of Finland. We came here to learn
about Finland as a country, Finnish as a language, also to learn about
the people, food, and the Finnish as a culture. Not to stereotype
people for what their religion is or from what country they came from.
A stereotype
such as us Americans heard was
“Americans think that they are the best in the world”
and
“Americans are snobs”
and
“Americans only care about two things themselves and money”.
Those statements may be true
but you can’t judge a person by their country. They are just one person
that helps make up the population. However, despite all of the comments
made being an American I can see how the questions and comments arose
but still that all didn’t matter. We all got over what ever our
countries had between them and as people get along great and are all
good friends. Despite all the stereotypes of Americans, Canadians,
Brazilians, Mexicans, Japanese, South Africans, Australians, New
Zealanders, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swiss, Russian, Indian or
whichever country you are from it was all put aside and got past it and
learned about one another’s countries and told about your own.
Meeting my first family
After camp we met our
host families and left to which ever part of Finland the family lived.
I went to my family’s summer cottage for about three days. It was a
huge shocker when I got there because they didn’t tell me a head of time
that there was no running water and only an outhouse as the bathroom. I
had to shower in the lake which I was not to happy about. But things
worked out pretty good after I got used to the idea.
I think that if they
had told me a head of time before we got there then I would have been
able to handle it better. But it was a fun kind of living without the
regular things that people take for granted now a days. But I have a
lot of memories from being there in the cabin and that’s all that
matters.
We left there and
headed up to where they lived in Pello. It’s a small city to the people
that live here but it was at first huge to me. Everything was so close
and cute. The whole trip up here took us about 10 hours to get here.
But we made it. When I walked into the house I thought to myself that I
live here for the next three months. I loved it, it was beautiful and
it was not that little.
As soon as I was
showed my room I made my bed and crashed and didn’t move until the next
morning. I got up according to my host parents extremely early. But I
finally got to meet my host mom and she was very sweet and liked to talk
a lot which help make me feel right at home. We did a lot of things
together like walking the dogs and riding bikes and eating and talking.
It was very nice to live with them and the memories that I have I will
keep with me for the rest of my life. They treated me as if I were
their own daughter right from the beginning. I thank them for having me
and everything that we did together.
The trials and tribulations of living with little
kids
When I moved to my
second host family it was a very, very big shock. I really, really
didn’t want to move out of my first to begin with but I had to. Life
with this family has been totally a different experience than in the
first. Now I have three younger siblings as to the first one where I
had all older than me siblings. But it was OK I could handle it. There
were several times where I just wanted out but I knew that I couldn't
get out until the end of the three months. Although sometimes it seamed
longer than it was it was worth it.
The three kids taught
me some more Finnish than I knew before I got there. The only way to
communicate with them was to speek to them in a language that they
understand. It was never quiet there unless the kids were not home but
if they were there was not a quiet room in the house. I learned how to
have more patience with them but it didn't work all of the time. In
this family we had 1 dog that was outside the whole time. She was a
puppy and very cute.
I spent Christmas with
them and New Years also. Christmas was different than mine in New York
but it was fun except for being sick. Santa Claus actually came to my
house and handed out the presents to everyone. On New Years I was in
Moinalahti at a Christian cabin meeting new people and hanging out and
singing songs and playing really wierd games that I have never heard of
nor played before but it was fun. When the clock struck midnight we all
were outside freezing and some people set off fire works which is
different also for me because in New York they are illegal. So that was
cool also.
It was also nice to
spend it with friends and new people that I had never met before. Now
that I have left this family also and am on to my third I really don't
want to move again. But again I thank this family for all of the things
that they did for me.
Living in the middle of nowhere
Now that I have moved
I don't live right in the city of Pello I live about 30 kilometers north
of it in a little place but its nice. Its in the country and out of the
way. The one thing that is going to be hard to get used to is not being
able to walk to see my friends because they now live a half hour away.
Now it just like it is at my home in New York. It`s a small community
and not many people just lots of animals. It`s nice though.
My third family is
again very, very different than my first two. But that`s a good thing.
Now I have two host sisters. One is 15 and the other is 14. They are
very afraid to speak in English with me but its cool. They are just shy
just as every Finn is at first. We have two dogs, two horses and 1 pony
and lots and lots and lots of reindeer. I have only been there a few
days so I am still trying to get used to everything but so far
everything has been good.
On the second day that
I was at their house they took me to where all of the reindeer are. It
was fun because I got to see all of the reindeer and got to help the men
with the catching of them. I have to say though that my 14 year old
sister here was right in there with all of the men catching and
separating them as good as the rest of them. I asked my host mom is I
could go in there and at first I don't think that she really wanted me
in there but after a while she let me in the pen with them.
It was a little wierd
at first because I could feel all of them running past me and the
antlers and their bodies. I was so excited to be in there. And unlike
anything that I have ever done before. I took so many pictures that day
of the reindeer and of things that were going on. Like we got to sit
around a fire and some people roasted sausages and there was hot
chocolate and of course a Finns´ favorite drink other than alcohol,
coffee. It was a very long but exciting day. So far the family is
great and fun. So far I am happy to be living here. So we will see what
happens in the future and with my forth family.
TAKAISIN
Life by
The River and
across The Ocean
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