Bradly came to town

I got a message on Monday night saying he needed a place to crash. Him, as in Bradly! He is from New York and we became good friends when we arrived here in Finland. He now lives in a seaside town called Pori,

When he arrive I hurried after school to greet him and we spent the time till he had to go to his jazz concert doing the most crazy things. First thing is first. Coffee. We have all started to appreciate the Finnish culture especially when it comes to coffee. And of course I have my favorite coffee house! It is about three stories up, a few roads from the White Church in the historic area.

We sat and since it gets dark here at four (as in pitch black) the old attic coffee house was lit by christmas lights and candles. Awesome Awesome Awesome atmosphere. (no romance at all. clearing that up.) There was an old organ in the correner and we were able to play it and then we asked to go into the old theater to play the piano!!! They allowed us and they sat and listened to us play!!!! We had coffee and a small audience.

After we wandered to an old book store and convinced the man to let us in to look. It was closed but I pulled the exchange student/ hi i speak cute Finnish card. And we were able to go in to this sweet book store.

After we climbed the old brown church and looked at the view of the city. After I took bradley to his theater and went and bought boots. I bought them in Finnish! This is a big deal. I am able to talk and act like I know what I am doing. I am thinking that I may actually know what I am doing.  I enjoyed a cup of tea and skyped a friend I met at otterbine. It is great to have friends when returning home which have stories like you do too.

We caught the night time train home and had a small dinner of everything we could find in my house. In the morning we had coffee and talked about books. Man friendship and adventures are everywhere!

peanut butter and carrots

koti

I am hiking and hiking.

Sunday, I woke to a lovely drizzle and the grey sky of Finland. It was time to hike. The family took me for a morning hike (intense hike) in the nearby national park in Sipoo. It was gorgeous and cold. But what caught me off guard was how when you went into the forest it became somewhat warm. There wasn't a great amount of light in account of the weather but the rain didn't make it a bad experience. If anything it added to it.

The beauty of Finland is indescribable. Its untouched. Its harmless. It is pure.
The trees are so thick but are pine so the floor of the forest is clean looking. And sometimes the ground is rocks. It is never flat.

We just walked into this place with a map and my woodsy father.

having your jeans coated in mud and your braid torn to shreds is a good sign that the hike was pretty awesome

the trees were hella tall 

we climbed this really tall hill thingy and there was this beautiful rock place which overlooked a lake. We sat and talked for awhile. 

running into old farms (really really really old farms) is normal here

we stopped for a quick lunch of tea and sandwiches.

 That evening since it was my host father's birthday, we had a small get-together of the family. It was nice the table was all fancy and there was yummy cake and stuff. Also my house has a tree in it. Fun fact- nature is everywhere here and I love it.

pö- finnish for tree... i think

I ate my weight in Karjalanpiirakat: An Autobiography

Today consisted of

-8 different types of flour (they don't have corn syrup but they have so much flour- personal problems)

- Finnish cooking course

- how I met your mother

-the metric system 

- mutual sass between and old man and me

A few weeks ago (being the ever eager exchange student I am) wanted to learn how to cook Finnish food. And now I do!! Or at least I know what salt is in Finnish. (it's suolaa just in case you are in need of the Finnish word for salt. I was.) I will now be prepared to make Finnish food.

When we arrived the door was closed and I want to explain how sometimes its easier to trust and just not ask what is going on. We walked around this  building to find another door and my äiti just talked Finnish to this other lady. I can't express how often I am actually clueless. It is going to be very weird going to the states and being able to understand everything again. 

my äiti packed me a cute apron which she said matched my dress. oh yeah.

another note on the amount of coffee: There was a coffee break even in the course.
I am starting to drink half cups because I may have a problem with how much I drink

what you see above is the definition of a struggle. I had to make these pullataikina and you have to make them into perfect little balls which look like a god chiseled them. I learned the technique eventually. and then had to redo them all. 

 This lady is seriously the best lady ever. She is always so awesome and we have inside jokes and man she is wonderful. I can never fully express how amazing family is and even more how amazing this lady is. She hates to cook and she agreed to join me on this adventure. We were maybe not the best chefs in the class but it was the most amusing time.

selfie with the cutie

meet struggle two- the blueberry filling from hell. IT WENT EVERY WHERE.Praise the lord for my apron.

this is mr. ystävä (mr. friend), I can't pronounce his real name

 mhhh food. all of the food. all of the Finnish food.

he doesn't even realize how great of friends we are. 

so cold. so cold. there is snow.

I came home and I rolled into my bed and slept/watched how I met your mother.  I woke up and ate an apple with the family as they watched and understood this Finnish sitcom... I just was confused and made a plot line in my head hahahah

Life is good. Karjalanpiirakat is great. 

Hitting up the national parks tomorrow! Hiking!