Nokia-trip and Migri-office

Moi kaikille!

I know there is again much time between the post. I have done quite much in the last weeks, that I hadn't the time to post something.

In the first of the last three weeks nothing really special. Just in School had we some Erasmus exchange students for this week. The rest was normal.

In the second week had we again Erasmus exchange students, but thus week I have done more with them. On Tuesday were we together in Helsinki. There we visited the Fazer-factory and the EU-House in Helsinki (where we learned something about, how the European parliament and council works). We also had a lot of free time to do some side seeing, which also was really funny. On Wednesday and Thursday we had a simulation-game, where we all were acting, like we were agriculture ministers from every country in the European Union. I was the minister of agriculture from Latvia. The simulation was really funny and I learned there a lot. On Thursday was also Halloween party in my school, so I went dressed up as a skeleton to school 😅😂

 

 This is my Turkish friend and me on Halloween 😂

On Friday we just had a just an easy lesson. I also went on Friday with my hostfamily and the godmother from Vilho with her son to Nokia in a Spa. It was really cool and we were swimming there a lot. Even if we were there just for one night. 

 The view from the Hotel.

The Sunday then was just a normal day, where we haven't done something special.

In the last of the three weeks were three days just normal. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On Tuesday I had to go to the Migri-office, the Finnish immigration office. Now I'm officially registered in Finland😊 

On Thursday my host mom had Birthday and the whole family were there. This was a nice day.

On Saturday I watched with my hostdad and some other exchangestudents an ice hockey match in the Hartwall arena in Helsinki. It was the match Russia against Sweden and it was an interesting game 

 

 In the end Russia won 4-1.

Today (Sunday) is fathers day. So we all were going up and eating cake in the bed before breakfast and giving selfmade cards to my hostdad. Later we will go to the Grandparents and have there lunch and dinner 😊

I think the next post will also come first in three or four week, because in 19 days I'm flying with my hostfamily to Egypt😍

Tallinn trip and syysloma

Moi kaikille,

Sorry for the long break between the post but it happened so much that I hadn't the time to write something. Now I will try to replay the last four weeks for you 😅

The first of the three weeks happened nothing really special. It was just my alldaylife. I had on Monday and Wednesday my finnishcourse and on Thursday my ridinglesson. On the Weekend I was one day with my host mom and my "older" host brother on a riding show.

The start if the second week was also just my alldaylife. But the Weekend was special. I was with many other YFU exchangestudents on a trip to Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia). We had really much fun there, even when it was raining all the time 😅 On the first day in Tallinn we meet the other exchangestudents they are at the moment in Estonia and had a some exercises to find places and do special things there or answer question, which was really funny. In the evening we were together in a expensive restaurant. On the second day we just had a lot of time to do what we want. We did some sideseeing and shopping 😅 In the evening of the second day we all arrived at our homes, with a cool story and many pictures. I only can say Tallinn has a really beautiful old town and is worth for a trip.

 

 

 This picture was taken at our arrival back in Helsinki.

 

The next week was again nothing special. Just the alldaylife and on the Weekend some work in the Garden. Just a bit family time.

This week now is again special, because I've got syysloma. Syysloma are the fallholidays in Finland. One day no school and no finnishcourse.

On Monday I was just the whole time with my "older" host brother alone at him and have done some work in the Garden.

On Tuesday my hostdad drive my "older" host brother and me to the grandparents where we stayed the half day and in the afternoon my both host brothers and me had a suklaa koulu. A so called chocolate school, where we have created our own chocolate.

On Wednesday I went in the morning to my support person. We had a funny day together with her children. We were in a Museum in Helsinki on a light exibition, which was really cool.

 I also stayed over night at her house. I went in the morning with he to he work a then form there to Helsinki, where I spended the day with some shopping and sideseeing. In the afternoon my hostdad picked me up and we had nice evening alone at home.

Today (Friday) was again nothing special. I was just at home and cleaned a bit.

Tomorrow is then a birthdyparty where we probably all together go to and stay over night in a hotel. Next week will then again the normal alldaylife with school.

I hope that from now I can again post something every second week.

Finnish&Fun, nature and koeviikko

The last two weeks were again cool and interesting. I had again many things to do.

At first I had in both weeks again on Monday and Wednesday evening my finnishcourse. That was really interesting and I like this course really. On both Thursday I had riding lessons in a bigger stable in Vihti. This is really cool too. This ridinglessons are grouplessons which is new for me. 

On the first Weekend was a meeting with some other exchangestudents called Finnish&Fun. It was a lot of fun to see some of the exchangestudents you don't see everyday. We had some small, funny exercises to do. One was that we should act like the monument behind us and take a photo of this. An other was we should ask random people what they did on the first of May. This Finnish&Fun was sadly only one half day but it was still cool. The night after this and half if the next day I was with Ben (an other exchangestudent) at the house of our YFU Supportperson. We had a lot of fun too. We were together in the Cinema and watched hotel Transylvania 3 (completely in Finnish but it was still funny).

 This is the picture I told about.

The other Weekend I was more at our house. On Saturday my host dad, my host brother and I did a short trip with the boat from my host dad. The rest of the Weekend I was at home and did something outside or was cleaning a little bit.

 One photo from the boat trip.

On Friday the 21. the koeviikko, the examweek started. For me it was only an artexam were we had to finish our last project. I was done with it after 2 of 4 hours so I could go earlier. After this exam I meet friends and spend some time with them. 

 This was my last art project. 

 I tried to draw this picture.

All other days I spend the time at home with my hostfamily especially with my hostbrothers. Also I took some photos of the nature around here.

 

 

 

 This all pictures are how the area around where I live look like.

Finnishcourses and School-dress-up-days

Moi everyone.

The next two weeks are over and now I'm one month here in Finland (On this day a full month!). And the last two weeks were again very interesting. 

In the first of this weeks I got an 4 day intensive finnishcourse in Lohja. Lohja is a city next to us (But next means that I had to drive about 1 hour 20 minutes by bus there). This course was really funny and cool. The weekend after the finnishcourse was the first weekend I were the full time at home with my hostfamily. 

The next week was really interesting too. From this week to the end of November I have another finnishcourse on Monday and Wednesday evening. This course in really cool too. But the funniest this week was the Dress-up-days in School. I sadly only made one of this, because the other day I were sick at home (only headache, nothing really bad). But I got some photos of how we should dress up and how a friend and me looked on this day in School.

 this was the first one. The one I did too. We should wear our swimming suit over our clothes, have a plastic bag on our head, wear rainboots or crocs, have a drawen beard, have a cookingspoon in the hand, wear swimmglasses and got an bucket for our books.

 This is Mikael, a friend of us exchangestudents.

 And this is how I looked.

If you haven't done it you became a trashbag to wear.

 This is how we (the first grader) should look on the day when I was sick.(As information here in Finland I'm an first grader, that would be the tenth grade in Germany.)

This weekend wasn't many stuff. On Saturday I were still a little bit sick so I stayed at home and on Sunday (today) is the Birthday party from my host brother with his friends. 

I think the post about what's to do for YFU doesn't come anymore, because of the time. I only have a little bit time to write every second week a short update. 

My Hostfamily

I know that I weren't active for the last two or three weeks, but in this time happened so much that I didn't found time to write something. But yet about my hostfamily.

On Saturday the 11.08. my hostfamily picked me up in Anjala from the arrival camp.  The whole family came. But who is the whole family ? At first my host mom Mari and my host dad Juha. They are trying to do as much as possible for and with me. And then there are my two little host brothers, Juho (10 y/o) and Vilho (8 y/o). They are wanting to play the most of the time with me. But i love them after this short time as my real family. 

I live with my hostfamily on the countriyside of Vihti in there own house. It's not that big, but big enough for 5 people. I have my own room and mostly own bathroom (what is really cool).

What I did the last weeks? I were on a weekend trip with my host mom and some Finnish scouts, on a dressage tournament, had the birthday party from one of my host brothers, were on a little festival in Vihti, had my first, second, etc. School days and play the most evenings with my hostfamily. 

 

This is a picture of the project from us exchangestudents in my school (we are 6 exchangestudents).

The big day

Moi everyone

Yesterday was the big day. My adventure has started. It wad the first time to fly for me and i was really exited. 

My first planed step was to fly from Bremen to Frankfurt (at 9.15 am the airplane should start). After that was planed to fly from Frankfurt to Helsinki (this airplane should start at 1.25 pm). But nothing came how it was planed. The first plane was canceld, befor we could go into the plane we should take for the canceld one, the whole terminal was evacuated. So we missed the plane from Frankfurt and had to look for another way to come to Helsinki on this day. We had to book a fly from Bremen to Munich and then to Helsinki. With this both flights i came to Finland. While the time of the fly from Munich to Helsinki we saw a beautiful sunset, that makes us accept the waitingtime. At 10.30 pm of German time we came out of the airport in Helsinki. We were at 1.30 am of finnish time in Anjala, were we stay for the first 3 days. On Saturday my hostfamily take me from here to my new home for the next 11 month.

 In the next days i want to right something about, what i've done with and for yfu until yet and something about my hostfamily.

About YFU

The organization i make my exchange with is YFU. YFU is not only one big organization, there are many organizations worldwide they're working together as one big organization.

The beginning of YFU was in 1951. Rachel Anderson (the builder of YFU) were in Amsterdam while the first time after war the lights was going on. She thought: "If someone have a friend/family in another country, this person would never begin a war to this country." "So let the lights shell never go out again."

 this is Rachel Anderson

At first YFU only made exchangeyears to the USA. Today you can go with YFU in more than 40 countrys all over the wourld.

 

The moste of the staff from YFU are voluteers. May be 100 from 2000 people from YFU are payed. 

About me and finland

Moi everyone,

this is my new blog about my exchangeyear in finland. At first: Who am I ?

I'm Manja, 16 years old and from Bremerhaven, Germany. 

I'm doing my exchange with the organization YFU (Youth For Understanding). A big student exchange organization with mostly volunteer staff.

The second: Why finland ?

I can't really say why. I saw many picures of the beautiful natur and of some touristpoints in Helsinki and i hear something were finnish was spoken (and loved it). After that i started to learn finnish at the "Volkshochschule" (a place for mostly adults to learn). There i learned at first a little bit language and the second i learned was a little bit of the culture. So i startet to love this language and country. While that we heard in my school from YFU and i knowed directly that i wanted to do a exchange.

About Finland: 

 The Flag

Capital: Helsinki

Population: 5.503.000 (31.12.2016)

Area: 338.448 km^2

 the lokation of finland