Hey Adrian,

Sorry I haven't sent you an email yet, I've just been so busy and having so much fun. I thought I would send you this email as a bit of an update on what I've been doing. I arrived on the fifteenth in Helsinki, then spent two hours driving to Karkku. When we arrived we all had dinner and fell asleep because practically none of us had any sleep on the plane over here.

Over the course of the week we did lots of stuff. We were busy from seven thirty in the morning, until ten o'clock at night. We would have Finnish lessons for around five hours each day, with a lunch break in between, then activities afterwards. The activities were obviously the best part. We went to the sauna and then swimming( for ten seconds) in the icy lake, ice fishing, eating smoked trout on an open fire, drinking traditional Finnish coffee in a teepee, exploring Tampere (Finland's second largest city), night walks to an old church, tobogganing, massive snow fights and lots of eating. By the end of the Karkku camp I had made a bunch of amazing friends and memories.

 

On Sunday my host family came and picked me up from Karkku, and we had a three hour long journey back to Kouvola. When we finally arrived in Kouvola it was dark, so we went straight home. The home is very small for seven people but we all fit well. My host family is great and have made me feel very comfortable.

 

 I started school yesterday and realised that some of these Finnish school 'facts' are actually a lie. For example, I have heard that Finnish schools last only four to five hours. This is false. I leave the house at seven forty am, and school finishes at four o'clock pm. Apart from the long days and not understanding what anyone says, school has been quite tolerable. 

I start Finnish lessons tonight and look forward to understanding what is going on around me.

Again I would like to thank you and the Rotary club for giving me this opportunity. I am having the best time over here and have enjoyed every minute of it.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

-Maddy