Daphne In Finland

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Hello Everyone!

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

Hi, I’m Daphne, and I will be an exchange student from the USA to Finland. I wanted to start this blog as a way to keep track of my journey, but I also created to share with others that might want to go on exchange.

This will be my first blog, so I apologize if it isn’t any good. Bare with me as I get used to it.

I’m open to any suggestions on what you guys would like to hear about my exchange if you have any. I think for my first post I’ll just introduce myself to you for you to get to know me.

I am 16 years old, and I was born in northeastern United States. The organization I am going through is Rotary Youth Exchange. Finland was my fourth choice, but I’m really happy I got it. I will spend my whole junior year of high school in Finland. I leave in two weeks. This will be my first time out of the country and on a plane. I am currently a lifeguard in my community, and I sometimes babysit kids. Although I used to enjoy sports when I was younger, I no longer play any. My favorite sport I did was swim team. I love helping people because I feel that we all need to help each other in order to progress the world. Some of my hobbies include: writing, reading, drawing (I’m bad at it though), and playing video games sometimes.

I can’t think of anything else that I could tell you, but if you have any questions feel free to ask! Please follow me on my journey in Finland too!

First Week of School/in Finland for Real

Intro

I’ve just completed my first week at a high school in Finland, and let’s just say that it was interesting. Not only was this my first week in a school in a foreign country, it was also my first time in a new school. In The States, I had always attended the same school since kindergarten, so I basically knew everyone in my grade and the grade above and below me. This was a whole new experience for me.

School

Everything was different. The kids, the teachers, the food, the classes, and especially the language were something I never experienced before. I was nervous because although I knew most teens in Finland knew English, I also knew that they didn’t like to speak it and that they needed time to warm up to new people before deciding to be friends with them. I did make some friends though. All my teachers were so nice and understanding that I didn’t, and still don’t, understand Finnish yet. The school lunches were free, and all the lunches I had were good. I was given Math, two Englishes, and a Music class. I enjoyed the classes even though I couldn’t understand what was happening at first. I was put in the first math class they take in High School. It seemed to be pre-algebra which I took in seventh grade, but I did have the extra challenge of not understanding what the word problems asked of me. I would come home from school with headaches and would be exhausted from the school day, but as the week continued, the headaches happened less and less. I would still come home exhausted though.

Night of the Arts in Helsinki

A rotex planned a truly wonderful night for us exchange students on Thursday. We spent time in Helsinki and visited an art exhibition in central Helsinki. It was a beautiful blow up art piece that was colorful inside. You had to be quiet once you entered, and the atmosphere was incredible. There were all types of little pod-like spaces that you could sit in and just listen to the peace and tranquil music. I enjoyed it. We had a couple hours of free time before we went back to our homes in Finland. I spent my time just hanging out with some people who don’t live close to me. All in all, it was a fun night.

Homesickness

I never thought I would get homesick, especially this soon into my exchange. I think my mistake was looking at social media and seeing what I was missing out on back in The States. I even missed my job. My friends were still enjoying summer, and I was in school. Everyone even started getting their schedules for the up coming school year. That’s when it hit me; I’m actually going to be gone for the whole year. When I was at school yesterday, there were so many moments when I thought I was going to cry, but I am doing better today. One of my best friends back home gave me a pep-talk. I miss them, but I know I will see them again.

Conclusion

There were hard times and great times for me this week. I’m very excited to see what the future and Finland holds for me, and I’m going to try my best to make this one of my best years ever. Thank you for your time reading this, and I’m sorry that I posted late. I’m going to try and be on time from here on out.

Karkku Camp

All About the Camp

Being in an unfamiliar place can be hard, but at least I wasn’t alone. This camp that Rotary has for us exchange students is really great. You meet everyone that is going to Finland for the year there, learn Finnish or Swedish, and make some of the nicest people in the world.

The Rotary picked us up from the Helsinki airport, and we took a bus to Karkku. There is where we met the other exchange students that had arrived earlier. All together, there was about 102 exchange students in one place.

Throughout the week, we strengthened our friendships, learned about the Finnish way of life, made memories to last a lifetime, and had lots of fun.

Fellow Exchange Students

I met people from all around the world. People from right up north Canada all the way to Japan, and everyone was so interesting to talk to although I admit I spent most of my time talking to the Canadians. If you are going on exchange to Finland with rotary, I would recommend talking to EVERYONE, at least once. Everyone is going through the same things, so don’t be afraid to talk to anyone.

Language

The Finnish language will be hard to learn, but I can’t wait until I can understand sentences without having to ask people to repeat themselves or asking them to slow down. My favorite thing about the language is that mostly everything is phonetic, so I won’t have to worry as much about trying to pronounce new words. I already know some basic vocabulary, but in order to understand the language, I will have to learn more grammar. I’m so excited to learn more!!

Tampere

During the camp, all the exchange student went to Tampere to tour the city and also explore it on our own. It was super fun, and I’d recommend everyone to visit the city and explore it with friends.

Meeting My Host Family

At first I was really nervous my host family wasn’t going to like me, I believe this is a common fear among exchange students, but once we got in the car-ride home and started talking, I could tell that I was going to like living with them.

We talked the whole two-hour ride home and got to known each other. I have my own room and will start to attend school on Monday the twelfth. Even though I cannot understand or speak Finnish well yet, I’m very excited to see what the future holds for me.

Blog Info Update

I known in a previous post I said I would post every Thursday, but I’m changing that now.

I’ll post every Friday OR Saturaday
It will be around 8:30 PM Finland time (7 Hours ahead of EST)
Please understand that I’m kinda forgetful, so I might forget about this blog.
Also keep in mind that not only am I attending normal school, but that I also have Finnish lessons in the evening so posts wont always be on time.
Please give me suggestions on what to write about also. (I don’t really know what I’m doing.)

9 Days to Go

I have nine days until I leave my home and start my adventure. For my flight I’ll have a layover in Iceland for FIVE HOURS. What am I supposed to even do there? I mean I looked at what the airport has, and it has a spa/salon. Maybe I’ll get my nails done?

I’m very nervous about going, but the closer my departure date get, the more I feel like everything is coming together. Like I finally have my American flag, got the rest of my pins, figured out my itinerary, packed my bags, and entered my last week of my job before I have to leave.

I really can’t believe that this weekend will be my last one here in the USA for a whole year. I’ll wake up in a bed that isn’t mine. I’ll be surrounded by a ton of new people that I never met. I’ll hear tons and tons of languages that I never thought I would! My friends will no longer be just a couple of minutes away. My family won’t be just down stairs. But no matter how nervous/scared I am to go, I am even more excited and happy to have this opportunity to go. I just want to be there right now. I truly can’t wait.

I think I will write a blog post once a week on Wednesday, so I guess I will speak to whoever bothers to read this then.

Have a good one,

Daphne ❤