I haven't written a post in quite a long time. Probably cause I have been busy but mostly cause I'm just a lazy human being. Christmas here was probably one of the best Christmases I have had. Definitely one of the top 5. It was so nice to be surrounded by my host family and all their family. I tried new foods and new traditions. Christmas food here is quite weird to be honest, very different from what I have in the U.S. It is a lot of casseroles (carrot, turnip, potato), ham, and salmon. They also eat fish eggs which at first I was pretty disgusted by since fish eggs seem like a weird food to me. However, I eventually tried it with sour cream and onions and it wasn't too bad... but not something I would eat everyday or any other time. I ate so much salmon in a dill sour cream mix. It was probably one of the best things I have ever eaten and I ate at least 3 pounds of it. Lets just say if I went out in public after Christmas dinner, someone could have mistaken me as a couple months pregnant. My favorite part of this Christmas was when I got to dress up as Santa for a 6 year old boy Josh. The tradition here for Christmas is different than in the U.S. Instead of Santa coming down the chimney and waking up to presents under the tree on Christmas day, here Santa comes to your house, comes in and gives presents to you. People here open presents and celebrate on Christmas Eve.
To be Santa I had to wear a ridiculous beard and mustache that I could barely breath or see through and Ray Bans with the lenses popped out. I probably looked like the sketchiest Santa. When Josh asked where I was (as Cici) some people said I was getting milk and others said I was meeting a friend... I showed up with no milk sooooo.. He also explained Santa to me when I came back and he just said "Santa was here and he was SO funny... HAHA... He also had a really weird voice but he was nice." I have the worst Santa voice ever but it was so funny and really exciting to be this character for Josh. The one thing I really wanted for Christmas weirdly was socks. Their grandma makes the most comfortable and warm homemade wool socks and I really wanted a pair. I got a fabulous as well as everyone else in the family and they are amazing! All in all Christmas was a great time for me and a huge highlight of my first 5 months of my exchange. It'll be a memory I will keep forever.
New Years was not as exciting. My whole break I had really bad sleeping problems and couldn't sleep before 4 in the morning so I was really tired. I did go to Helsinki and spent time there with a friend and that was fun but came home before 12 and around 10:30. We actually missed the midnight mark by like a couple minutes and realized it is a new year after 12. I took some melatonin to get me to sleep and just kind of passed out after midnight.
It was a good and calm end to 2015 into 2016 and the past 5 months have been a great few leading up to 2016. I feel as though already 5 months in I have learned a lot about myself and have matured in a lot of ways.
I have got to the point in my exchange where things feel normal. I feel like this is everyday life now. This family feels like my family, this house feels like my house, I am used to this life. I am half way through my exchange now and have about 5-6 months until I leave Finland and come home. I have also gotten to the point that when I think about leaving it kind of crushes me inside. I have become so close to my host sisters, this family, and some of my friends. I am so used to having sisters around now and having this family that it will be weird to go back to my home in the U.S where I am an only child.
Don't get me wrong, the past months have had its ups and downs but everything is so worth it and is helping me grow. This exchange is going pretty well even with the way below freezing weather. I will try my hardest to post more on my blog so people can read what I have been up too. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a great start to their New Year!
- Cici
