One Week In...

I have been busy this week and are normally gone all day from 8am-10pm. On Thursday we had orientation, went to dinner then to the bar. Over here, the bars close at 10pm and it is so expensive, we normally just drink water or pop. Friday was our last day of orientation and we went shopping in the city center after. That night, my roommate and I played scrabble with 2 of the British students (one who is 50 years old), it was difficult though because they use so many different words than us and spell a lot of words differently. Even my roommate cannot understand me when I talk sometimes because it is so different, and she is from Canada. Saturday, we went back to the city center for a few hours then the British students made us soup and scones for dinner. Today we went to the center for lunch and coffee with some exchange students from Austria. After, we had to to go the bar to watch a very important soccer game (which was only important to the european kids).

I am learning more of the culture here, but it is the small things that are harder to learn. For example, Finland is VERY environmentally friendly and everything is recylced but we never know what to throw away where. Cars never stop for pedestrians and bikers will run you over if you do not move out of the way. This is getting easier to learn because we walk everywhere, usually 2-4 miles a day. Walking isn't too bad in the cold especially because there is no wind here, ever, and I have yet to see it snow (but there is a lot of snow on the ground already). On Thursday night, I went to dinner with some Dutch students and went to use the bathroom. Although, the doors say "men" and "women" in finnish, which I couldn't read, there are no pictures like in the US. Since no one was around to ask, I peeked into both and they looked exactally the same so I just picked one, and of course I picked the wrong one. So the three Finnish people waiting outside when I was done were not hesitant to tell me...oopes. My roommate and I went into a sub shop for lunch on saturday, we actually had to leave because almost everyone in the place kept starring at us and wouldn't stop. However, the starring has gotten a lot better. I have actually had a number of Finns come up to me and start speaking in finnish because apparently I look really finnish and aside from the way I dress, I look like I have lived here my whole life.

I have been spending a lot of time with exchange students from Canada, the Netherlands, Austria, England and Hungary. The Finnish students are just getting back to school after their break, however, it is hard to talk to the ones who are here now because Finns are very shy. We were told that most Finns won't smile at you and the prefer silence to talking.

The top picture is of a bridge that connects 2 of the 3 campuses at the university. Notice the position of the sun, this picture was taken at 12:30pm. The second is a street heading into the city center. Hopefully, I will have time to post more pictures tomorrow! I also start my classes tomorrow!!