I arrived in Helsinki on the morning of the 7th, and I didn't sleep the entire plane ride.
After 3 more hours of sleepless travel, I arrived at camp Karkku where I spent the next week.
I met so many people from around the world, and it was so much fun.
I've been with my host family for a week now and it's been great. It already feels like home here.
I've also been to a week of school, so I guess I'll highlight the differences I've noticed so far.
They don't use normal lined paper in notebooks, it's always graph paper. Many people (including myself) are using notebooks about half the size of a normal notebook as well. Textbooks are always bought by the students, and they're much smaller than American ones (but that's not very surprising considering the size of some of our textbooks...)
The schedule is different every day, and some classes last two hours on certain days. I also have a "free period" where I can basically do whatever I want until my next class. Unlike study halls in American school, you can leave and come back, or just chill in the commons area.
There are also no bells. The teacher tells you when class is over, and there's 15 minutes between classes.
People here are a lot more quiet, especially strangers. I've introduced myself to a few people and they didn't seem too interested in smalltalk. The hallways aren't half as loud as the ones at NHS. This is one thing I'll have to get used to, I've stood with a group of people in complete silence, it was pretty awkward. I would start conversation but it's almost worse talking in English with people because they don't want to say much. Everyone tells me they're bad at English. Most people are actually very good at English, or at least I can understand them (I'm not sure what that says anymore because it feels like it's been years since I've had a conversation with a native English speaker.)
There is no set fashion in Finland. I've seen more different hairstyles here than what probably exists in all of Minnesota, and the mullet seems to be a fairly popular one. Most styles are modernized versions of various past decades, I can guess what people listen to just from what they are wearing.
... which brings us to the subject of music. I have been proved wrong again that not everything dies with the decade. Just last night I was at a rock festival in my town and one of the bands that played... well, I think it's best if they speak for themselves.
Fulfilling my duty as an exchange student, I went with some friends to get their autographs after they played.
Heavy Metal is also quite popular here, and rock in general. I have heard some American music as well, although it was popular about a month ago in the states.
... and there's Finnish rap. We don't talk about Finnish rap.
I think I should definitely get back to doing homework then studying Finnish. I'll update again soon with pictures of my bedroom and perhaps a report of the food.
Moikka!
