Where it Starts

You could say that my first day wasn't the most pleasant experience. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful it was just very confusing to say in the least. 

First off I know the minimal amount of Finnish. I really only know how to ask questions and say hello, goodbye, thank you, and so on. Entering the school and trying to figure out where I was supposed to go was definitely the most confusing thing ever. The whole foyer was filled with first year students that were practically in the same boat as me. I would awkwardly walk up to some people and ask if they knew anything and most of them just shook their head and had no idea. 

I ended up finding myself sitting in an auditorium like area with a bunch of first year students happily introducing themselves in Finnish to one another. I didn't talk to anyone much for the first half of the day. 

My day from 9:00-12:30 was filled with sitting in one place for extended periods of time listening to information that would in general bore me but was even more boring because it was in a different language. I really didn't understand anything... At all.

I honestly was not prepared for school. Like I thought: oh school is school... But it isn't here. It is way harder because I am being talked at for 4 hours a day in a totally different language. It may seem easy and that is what I expected as well, but in reality it's really difficult. I'm constantly trying to understand what is happening and trying to figure out if I am supposed to do something, or if I have homework. For example the other day my host sister started talking to me about the homework in art class... I didn't even know we had homework! The teacher just didn't feel it was necessary to tell the English speaking students important information that had to do with the class we were taking. 

However, not all hope is lost for my first few days. Waiting in a quite long que to get my schedule I met an Aussie guy that is a exchange student as well. This guy is kind of like my savior to be honest. He introduced me to so many new people and he is overall a great friend to have and to teach me the way of the Finns. 

Socially I am very happy with the people I have met and the "friends" I have so far, they are all so great. When it comes to the school part, Hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon enough!

-       - The American