A Finnish Thanksgiving

My Finnish Friends at school surprised me with the idea to throw a thanksgiving. It was decided we would. On Sunday we all met up at Miksu's house and started cooking together. The thing which was so special was it all Finnish food- Reindeer, karjalanpiirakka, and rye bread. I added some mac and cheese and chocolate chip cookies to the mix.

karjalanpiirakka and note my customary  measuring cup

oh look at that yankieness

Riita brought me a cookie

rudoph

my plate

famly

So Misku does not like people but she is one of the best people I have met. And after we ate our selves twice over i found her in her bed. She deserves a hug. 

The thing is. Yeah this wasnt the most normal of Thanksgivings. But is was one of the best. We went around the table talking about what we are thankful for and I could talk for ages of being thankful. But in this moment I am so thankful for the people around that table. They went out of their way to give me some bits of home. Thanksgiving is about being with family and friends. being thankful. and being happy. It was truly the best thanksgiving so far. Even if I ate reindeer (its tasty.)

Ice skating and Family time

I AM LEARNING HOW TO ICE SKATE AND FALL GRACEFULLY

Sunday between the hours of 11 and 12 the Kerava Winter Sport Hall offers free ice skating. And since I just got a pair of ice skates (so thankful) it was time to learn how to skate. And fall.

the last photo I was on the ground right after it was taken

we came home and made gingerbread
the house smelled so flavor filled

she is the sweetest

Christmas Cooking Class!

I got out of exams today and now I have about four hours till I have my prep class. This is why there will be so many posts. Bear with me loves.

Saturday! I woke up to Saturday breakfast. We have a sit down breakfast every day here but what makes the weekends special is the fact that the coffee is not Instant coffee. Its heck's. 

We all just sit and read the news. Drink Coffee. Eat Porridge.

cooking class here we go

minun paras ystäväni 

Our baking turned out half way decent.. except for the Truffles. But in all respect the Hungarian and Me were doing those by our selves. And we had to translate the recipe and I am pretty sure we translated it wrong due to the fact they were horrible. We told everyone in the class that they were an American/Hungarian take on the finnish Truffles. They laughed... still unsure if they found it funny or if there was pity... 

mhhh so much finnish 

Camilla and me! 

During the evening, well at four in the afternoon. Its pitch black by then. I went exploring. I wanted some time alone but I wanted a hug too.  My äiti gave me one when I got home.

The evening ended in tea and a skype date with my best friend. Each day there are struggles but each day you have to push your self to find something beautiful. It's there. You just sometime need to look in a different way.

Rotary + Art = Filming

I feel like the video at the end of this post sums up the trip. So in short: Our Rotary Club took us to a museum Wednesday and told us to go look at art. We enjoyed it a lot.

the lighting though

The adventures which lead to an underground circus

Thursday rolled around and in the evenign was a Rotary Concert which I was to attend. It was for my club(woo they are the best.) I was picked up from the Train Station and we drove the the cutest little church in the world. It was a quaint, old, stone church in the middle of this hospital area. It was so precious. When we walked in there was 8 boys playing the chello. You could feel the music in the floor boards.

 Friday I didnt have school. Or at least I am pretty sure I didn't have school... it's exam week. So I met up with Daniel and we went to have coffee and see the new Sibelius Exhibition. It was a lovely afternoon.

Funny story about going home. I didn't really go home on the right bus. I mean of course I thought it was the right bus. But after a few turns in a direction which isn't home and the bus just stopping and no one else on it- It started to be a little bit fishy. I called my äiti and explained how lost I was again. Then! Emma (american lady from Finnish night classes) turned around and smiled. At that moment I knew I was saved. She assisted me in finding the right bus and making it home.

my savior

Right when I made it home it was off to another adventure. I feel asleep in the car so I was hella disorientaed when we stopped in parking gragae and everyone just started walking. Somehting whcih I learned this year, is if you dont know what is going on- stick close to the people which look like they do.

This led to the underground "circus"
Hannali and Lionell gave us these tickets
It was the best peformace I have ever in my life been to
Better than circus Olay
Talvisirkus

the fam

 It had this dream theme and it was so well put together. I wish I could explain better. It was a small condense theater- but tall. And they used all the space.When you walked in it smelled like pulla and glögi. Both which I had. Also I had coffee. But what's new.

On the way back to the car, Sade and me had a hudge snowball war. This night has made the list for some of the best nights here. 

It was an actual dream that peformace. It made you feel like you were in a dream.