Some things I miss about Oklahoma

Hello guys!

I've been five months in Finland. I'm so happy to have my rye bread and chocolate again but there are also some thing I miss about the States. Actually a lot. 

My Church

I miss my church family a lot. We were so close to each other. I got to talk with people at different ages. And I loved to sing and worship God with the band! And I miss Sunday lunch after church with the church family. That was so much fun!

Track

I miss running and I miss my team. I was gonna continue doing track here in Finland but I didn't have time for both track and school so I had to quit :( I miss our team bondings!

Choir

I miss choir as well. I miss singing. I loved the way we ended every concert by singing "The Lord Bless You And Keep You". It's such a great song. I'm thinking about starting to take voice lessons here in Finland next year.

English

I miss speaking English! I've already started to forget some words. It's horrible!! 

Christian radio channel

We don't have this one in Finland! It was great to sing and worship God in the car.

Watching TWD with my hostfamily

Every Sunday night we used to watch TWD (except for Jill). I can't watch it anymore, since it's not on TV here in Finland...I have no idea what has happened!!

My hostdad picking on me

Okay, I thought I'd never admit this one, but now I really have to do it. Scott, I really miss your stupid comments and jokes. The only thing I don't miss about you is you singing. No offense :D

Family full of singers

There was always someone who was singing at home. Usually it was either my hostsister or mom.

Braum's 

I miss the burgers and the ice cream (especially mint chocolate chip) even more! Could I just bring the chain in Finland?  

Biscuits and gravy -breakfast

Oh, Mimi's breakfasts are the best way to start Saturday morning. I just simply love the biscuits and the gravy and the pancakes! Mimi you're awesome!!

Bennett&Buzz

I miss my pets!! They are the cutest on earth (even though Buzz stinks...)!! I don't have pets in Finland because my mom is allergic to them. I'd like to have a cat once I move out but my boyfriend is allergic to cats. This is my typical luck...

Jilly's funny and silly ideas

No offense sissy,you are my favorite!! But I loved to hear your weird ideas and all the random stuff you were talking about :D And the way you laugh, omgsh, you're such a silly girl!! 

My hostmom's homemade food

She's such a great cook. I love her food, no matter what it is!! Can you just send me some? Maybe chicken pot pie? In Finland I have to make my own dinner at least three times a week and I do not like that. Isn't that what the moms are for...?

School with no homework

Dude...I'm nort even sure if this is possible. Last year it apparently was. This years, though, I have so much homework. Right now I have homework from Biology, Physics, German and Chemistry. Haven't done any of them :D

Real Texmex food

It's my favorite! Seriously, I'm craving it!

Cheap clothes and stores such as Ross

I wish I had bought more clothes from the States... Clothes in Finland are so expensive!! Why don't we have stores like Ross?

Football/Basketball games

I loved to go to our games!! The school spirit was pretty awesome even though we lost every single football game last season lol. And I loved to hear the band playing in the half time!

Sunsets/sunrises

It was great to go to school and see how the sun rises. So beautiful.

All the people

I miss you guys so much. I wish I could come back right now! You'll always be in my heart!

Have a wonderful Christmas time!

Anette

Hallo Berlin!

I visited my sister on my fall break three weeks ago. She lives in Berlin. It wasn't my first time in Berlin. Last time I visited Berlin and my sister was about two and a half years ago. She's been living there with her boyfriend for three years.

My first day in Berlin, Sunday was soo beautiful! I had brunch with my sister and her friend who is American. We spoke English, and I was relieved because I really can't speak German :D

After the brunch (which was stinking good) I went to explore the city. I went to a museum, even though I really don't like museums. But this one was super interesting. It was a museum of the history of medicine. Okay, I may be a little freak but whatever :D

I walked by the East side gallery. It is the place where the original Berlin wall still stands. The graffiti art is amazing.

For those who don't know or remember, Berlin was divided in four sections. Each one of them was owned by a different country (The U.S., France the UK and The Soviet Union). The Berlin Wall separated The Soviet Union section from the three other ones for 30 years. 

The House of Representatives

Brandenburg gate

The Berlin Wall

It is necessary to break down many walls

On the second day I had planned to see my friend from Finland who was also visiting Berlin. We walked around this lovely neighbourhood called Kreuzberg (meaning cross mountain/hill). It's full of nice restaurants and cafés and the architecture is so beautiful! We also tried to go to this viewpoint where you can see the entire city but unfortunately it was closed so we ended up taking photos of the city from a parking hall that was located on the 5th floor. 

 In the evening we went to a free concert of Berlin's philharmony. After that we walked through downtown Berlin and watched the amazing light show the city had set up for the light festival. 

The last two days I was really dissatisfied with the weather because it was raining all the time. I decided to go shopping and found some nice clothes such as new shoes and jeans. 

Hope I see you again as soon as possible, Berlin!

Love,

Anette

TYK - MY SCHOOL

As I was in America, I got so any questions about my school and Finnish school system. Well, I wanna show you what my school is like.

My school is something we call a secondary school in Finland. I could say it's a high school, but the thing is, it's nothing like American high school. I mean the whole system is so different.

My school is called TYK. It's an arts-oriented school, which means my school offers so much more than just the regular classes.

Every secondary school in Finland lasts for three years (classes 10-12). After that, we can graduate. In order to graduate, students have to take the matriculation examination in their senior year. Well, yeah, it's too complicated to explain. But I can tell people study months for those tests.

This picture was taken in my freshman year when we had a dress up day.

My returnée friend Iida

Returnée squad

My best friends in school

Currently I'm redoing my junior year (yay!!). I like my school more than I did in my freshman year. I don't know many people there, though, since I now have classes with students that are a year younger than me. But there's about 20 returneés (students who went on exchange last year) and I have made friends with them:)

So...what's my regular school day like?

I usually wake up at 6:15 and then ride the bus at 7:30. My school is in another town, 9 miles away and it takes about 35 minutes to ride the bus. And yeah, we unfortunately don't have school buses. We use public transportation.

My school starts at 8:05. Every day I have different classes. In this semester I'm taking two Physics classes, Math, Dancing, Photographing and Swedish.

One semester lasts for 6 weeks and then I change my schedule. Every semester ends with an exam week.

This week was my first week with this new schedule. I hate taking 2 physics classes and I really don't like physics. But in order to apply for the college of Medicine I have to take Physics.

I'm gonna use my Friday schedule as an example of my regular school day.

School starts at 8:05 and first I have Physics. The classes last for 75 minutes. In Physics, we talk about velocity, acceleration, gravitation and all that "fun" stuff.

My second hour is (unfortunately) Physics, too. This class is easier though. We just cover Physics as a science. It's pretty easy. And the teacher is my favorite one!! I feel super old in this class, because most of the students are two years younger than me.

My third hour is dancing. It's an elective class. We are mostly dancing jazz, which is easy to me because I have danced jazz for two years.

After the dancing class I have lunch. My lunch hour lasts only for half an hour. In Finland, we get free school food. It's actually pretty good:)

This day we had chili con vege for lunch

My fourth hour is Photographing. It's an elective class, too. And once again, most of the students are two years younger than me so I'm feeling super old.

My last hour is Math. In this class we talk about statistics. It's pretty easy and I like Math:)

 My school days ends at 3:15p.m. I get home about an hour later because I have to ride the bus. And I still have all the homework to do. Depending on the classes I'm taking it takes up to two hours to do all my homework.

If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask! There's a comment box right below this post. 

Love,

Anette

Mommy-daughter time

My mom and I got a chance to spend some time together since my dad was at my winter house in the far North. Friday, after school and my hairdresser's appointment, we headed to our summer house. It is on an island in the same town I live in. 

This is my summer house. The building in the back is the actual house and the one in the front is only a sauna.

My mom and I had salmon and potatoes with salad for dinner. It was so delicious!! Then we went to sauna and swam in the lake. The water was only 62F...It was so cold! Couldn't swim there for very long lol :D 

The sun went dowm around 8 p.m. but the picture was taken at least an hour later. Watching as the sun goes down is one of my favorite things in the world. 

Saturday morning we had a brunch. We had omelettes, bacon, croissants, salad and coffee.

I just wanted to show you my summer house. I like spending time there, but this summer I only visited it twice. 

And now the summer is almost gone. I've noticed how the leaves are already turning yellow and red. This fall has been super warm here in Finland. I definitely am not excited for winter. This sweater weather is perfect to me:)

Y'all guys have a nice week!

xoxo,

Anette