Today was the first and last day of school this week... sorta (I had a test wednesday, but that's nothing) But it was my first time using my new and totally awesome bus card! It is sooo cool, unfortuantly I had no clue how to use it, so when the bus came, Roosa got on (she has a different type of card, where you just show the bus driver) Then I got on and I thought I knew how to use it, there's this circle thing that I thought was a dictector decives that you just tap the card on it, and it reads it. So after 5 seconds (or more) of me smacking my card on what turned out to be something that opens the door to the bus. I handed my card over to the bus driver defeatedly, and she took it out of it's case... and stuck it into the machine, and gave it back... Okay i felt dumb but just got over it and found Roosa in the back of the bus and sat down. The bus was pretty full. I was surprised! After school was a similar story with the bus card. Except I did take it out of it's case this time, and found the right machine to put it in. But I just put it in and right back out like the hotel doors and keys... it turns out that's not right either. I started walking to the back of the bus and the bus driver yelled 'wait' than took my card and put it in the machine, then waited, the card poped itself out and he gave it back to me. So same as last time, I just took it and went to find Roosa.
tiistai:
Woke up late today, cause (no school) the whole day I worked on my Rotary presentation. (Markku had asked me at the last Rotary meeting to work on a presentations of the differences between America and Finland) So I left it to the day of to work on it (of course) and yeah... So I actually really liked how it turned out! It was long enough (10-15mins) and they said they could understand everything that I said SCORE. Some of the things that they thought were the weirdest were:
- When you are learning to drive in America, anyone over 21 that has a license can be teaching you, and you aren't required to have a second brake in the passenger seat. (Here if even your own parent wants to teach you how to drive they have to go take a really hard test on all the rules of the road, then install a second brake in the passenger seat) That's why most people go to car school to learn how to drive.
- I calculated the price of gas here and there and they thought that was crazy! here it is 1.43€ a liter, and we pay 80 cents for the liter (and I didn't even calculate in the exchange rate) So they just laughed at that.
- And they don't really have caffine free coffee here, actually they might, it's just allusive, cause I haven't seen it yet.
keskiviikko:
Today was an extremly WINDY day!!! I can't remember the last time I heard wind so loud! But I had to get up early for the bus, for my English test. (I concored the bus card, if you were wondering) Then the English test. She asked me if I wanted the test everyone else was taking with finnish to english putting verbs in the right form, or the english to english test... yum give me the hard one, I've got nothing to lose!!! And really, english to english, what would I gain from that? Well I think I did well, I knew all the words, and only left maybe one or two of the questions blank, she told me I could use the dictionary, but I wanted to prove to myself I didn't need one. Then we waited for the bus. Sanni, Laura, Henriikka, and I, well Piia and Jonna were there too, but they left after lunch cause Jonna has a mopoauto and Piia lives like a kilometer from the school. FREE LUNCH WOOO!!! Then we chill, went on the computer, took crazy pictures... yah know. Laura is on the same bus as me now! Coolio! Puhallica today, the conductor wasn't in the best mood, but whatever. Juha and Suesanna picked me up after, but I'm still gettin used to the new cars so I thought it was them, opened the door and said 'is this the right car?' It was, luckily or else the people would have been so confused cause I said that in English as well as a random foreign chick climbing in their car : P.
torstai:
Hyvää Kiitos päivää!!! Yeah it's thanks giving, I decorated a little bit, then got ready for a rehersal for this thing I'm playing at the church on Sunday. That went well, I'm excited and nervous. After that we came home for our Thanksgiving meal and dessert! Yummy icecream and fudge cake!!! I realize now that everybody cuts their icecream weird. Ice cream comes in a rectangle carton right, so then they opent that compleatly open so its a rectangel piece of ice cream on the flat carton cardboard. Then they cut it into squares or rectangles and put those pieces in a bowl and you scoop out the icecream from the bowl piece by piece. Then after dinner and dessert I waited on skype for my family to call. It was awsome to see everyone! And all my animals! The baby kittys got sooo big, and Charliee looks goregous as always! They said that Charliee could hear me and knew it was me. Good cause I'd hate for her to forget who I was! It was cool introducing everyone to my host family, and vise-versa! Then we hung up and sauna tonight! yeah!!!
perjantai:
Today I got up earlish cause Markku was picking me up at 9 to show me what he dose at his job. He works for a timber, paper manufacture and is in charge of finding trees to cut down and buy. We first checked a place that trees were already cut down and we had to mark which trees were for the owner of the land to keep. I got to spray paint, MO (stands for forest owner) on a bunch of stacks of logs! Then we went to another place were a big machine was piling the trees up into bunches. Then we oreinteared. Markku had just worked a plan with a forest owner to cut those trees down, so we got to use maps and ribbon to mark the area so the machines would know where to cut, and where to say away from. It was very important to mark in the right places cause in some spots we were on the property line so if we went over and the neighbors tree was cut down, bad things could/probably would happen! But we did it right! So then we stopped for lunch (makkara) and then we watched another big machine cut down trees! It was soooo cool and super fast, Markku said that this operater just started on this new piece of equipment or it would go even faster, but I cant imagine how fast it would go cause it was so fast! This claw-like thing gripped the tree at the bottom, then cut it, then it fell down with the claw still attached. Then the tree slipped through the claw thing like corn on the cob kinda, getting rid of all the branches and cutting the log into similar sizes, maybe 20-25 ish (not quite sure we weren't that close) or more foot long pieces. They wer thinning the forest, taking 1 out of every 3 trees, mostly the sick and/or curvy trees so the healthy, straight trees can get even bigger. Markku talked about when they do clear cut, they leave a couple treas for the sceanary, and then some really tall stumps (over 5 meters) for the wood peckers. Then they have to re-plant it with-in a year with 2000 trees in every square... kilometer I think... I think that's what it is... or else you go to jail! Then we found another big machine (smaller than the last but still big) Markku told him we were just watching, and he was just showing me the job. This machine picked out the small trees (sometimes 5 at a time) and cut them up. They were going for fire wood/pellets I think after they dryed. The as we were leaving the guy asked if I wanted to try to drive it, Markku said no, probably for the best, I probably would have cut the entire forest down my accident and then I'd have to find 2000 new trees to plant there or I'd be put in Finnish prison, which is the toughest prison ever (I'm not so sure about that but...) Still not the best thing to have on my rap sheet. I got back home around 2:00, soooo tired. Then I had a concert to go to at the Tampereen Talo (Tampere's music house) we had signed up for it a while ago with Puhalica, and that place was sooo beautiful!!! And the music was awsome too, my horn teacher was playing in it too! He's awsome. So that was a long day, a good day, but long!
lauantai:
Today we headed out around 10 for shopping, there was a craft place in Ikkalinen that we looked through, so many awesome home made things! Wow! Then we went to Elo, Roosa and I shopped for jewlrey and clothes, I found an amazing sales rack in one store. I found these great (green) flats on sale for 5€ and really cool bottoms to a bathing suite for 50 cents! So heck yes! I go to pay for them (no tax I'll be paying 5.50€) And the lady says 1.65€... what? Okay, not gonna argue, turns out that sales rack was also all 70% off! SCORE!!! When we finally got home Roosa and I went to Roosa's friends house, it was her brother's birthday so the family was over, they all had so many questions to ask. Then Roosa, Johanna, and I played Cluedo (Clue) Johanna won, I was close though! It was the Yellow guy (me) in the biljardi huone with the revolveri. Then there was awsome cake, finnish pitza, and lots of candy. And we played in the snow and then Juha and Suesanna picked us up.
sunnuntai:
I had to wake up way too early! Had to be at the church 8:45 for warm up. Church started at 10:00, The playing thing went really well, and I really like singing hyms in finnish! Then after we went to the other church in Kyröskoski and had riisi purro (rice pudding) and then we played a bit more. So then I was done, It was a little after one o'clock. And they said I could stay for coffee and some more people talking, but I'm a busy girl, and texted for a ride home. haha. Then we went ice skating!!! YEAH I love ice skating!!! My skates were a bit tight, but I just ignored that. And I've never skated on such a big lake before! At one point the ice cracked (like a half mile long) and it made the coolest sound! And I was right by the shore so I didn't get freaked out. Cause ice settles... Then after hot cocoa and getting warm again we baked cookies! First ginger bread cookies, then I did chocolate chip cookies... yummy!!! Then very long skyping with Shelby, then the family. Karah's gonna come soon! Then I said I have to go to bed, and we hung up. I missed who won Big Brother, but they recoreded it for me and I'll watch it tomorow, Eetu is my favorite but I don't think he'll win cause I think the Finns like the other people better...
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