American Exchange Student Goes Undercover as a Finnish Student and Visits the US Embassy

That's a long title but that's basically what happened.

I can actually be a spy.

They had no clue except for my passport at security that I was an American. Only then... but afterwards! No idea!

So now I better explain what all went on.

Monday, my US history class (my favorite class) took a field trip to the US Embassy in Finland. And when you take a field trip here in Finland you don't go together, you're told a place to meet up and you have to get there by yourself. High school here is more like college, actually is is just like college. Anyways back on topic.

I am constantly confused and I am so thankful there are kind people out there which won't take advantage of my cluelessness. This lead to three girls meeting up with me at the school and going with me to the Embassy.

Before I left though I had to go to only one class... Finnish for Foreigners. But sadly this is for kids which moved here when they were three or so, this makes them all fluent in Finnish and makes Luis and me confused and bored at times. The result is shown above. 

Here we go!

Once we arrived, since we were early, we sat on the shore which over looked my beloved Baltic.

above is the only two photos I was able to get of the Embassy. It was interesting to see such high security on the US Embassy but you could honestly just walk into Brazil's. We had to have a photo ID and go through a security check. We were not able to have our phones on us.

The building is beautiful though. It was recently renovated and is the "greenest" out of all the US Embassies.

When we sat in the Q+A session, the worker man sat right next to me. The class all laughed because he was still clueless I was the American. I just listened the whole time though, I didn't want to stand out in this case. He actually thought the girl across the room was. I even asked a question about the USA foreign policy dealing with the Ukraine and he didn't hear my accent! Yeah! I have an accent!

I smiled when I saw the flag waving. It was a bit of home up there waving.
 I was asked why I was proud of it. I was surprised at how hard that was to answer but at the same time so obvious. It stands for more than the government. I may not agree with the system but the people and the ideas which are grown here- which are watered and fed by the rest of the world- is what I am proud of. The system and the culture are two different things. I am proud of where I come from. I am not Croatian or Irish. It would be dishonest to say I am like them. I am not. I learned that I am American. I am bits and pieces from around the world, this makes me. I will constantly be changing just like my country. I am not proud of everything but I am proud of my home.

The United States of America

Art, History, and more Coffee

Today after school (noon), Sari met me at the platform and we went to helsinki for a day of my favorite hobby- museums.

I am going to post some photos because me rambling on about history is what you guys heard all the time. Butttttt, it was amazing to see the roots of the Finnish culture and helped me understand there current ways. History I think really helps you understand the present.

This was called the Open Air Museum which was a full island of buildings from around finland

There was a long walking bridge that connected the island to the mainland

Fact: I am actually a professional stilt walker #OHC

Restraunt overlooking the Baltic

This reminds me of the pictures Liz shows me for some reason 

Famous Finnish Poet's Summer house
Sari qoutes: "He is like, what you say, a drunk"

Phone booth... I knew what it said when I saw it so I was excited

Thinking about starting a selfie + mirror blog?

CHURCHES HAVE THE BEST ART

also best light fixtures

this was there, again making me think hard about everything 

more wonderful coffee and apple pie(orrrr thats what they call it)

After this, we took the train to the National Art Museum, to see the Tove Jansson exhibit. She is the most beloved artist in all of Finland. She designed the Mumi character.

more coffee and a lovely aiti

It was a full day, well worth every moment. I love the city even if I can see my breath in the middle of August.

United States History

So I walked into class today and I realized that I was an American in a US history class in Finland and if that wasn't the weirdest experience that I don't know what is...

It started off in an interesting way- a quiz. It went well I knew all the answers( draw the map, draw the flag, lable ten things you think of when you think of the US, the president, the number of states, and the US national Animal)

When all the papers were passed up to the front we viewed them under the projector. Let's see if you can spot a theme.

one of the best.. very descriptive

this is mine, he made me draw the Finnish seal...

So if you spotted the trend you noticed the guns, and the fatness, and the burgers. At first it was funny right, but then by the 20th one it was old. Now I understand they are stereotypes but they are the stereotypes we help create for ourselves. It also got me evaluating a lot that we do with our educational system, welfare, government- all of that- since they were asking me questions. So far, US history is my favorite class because I get to be in the place to see how we are viewed. I feel as though this will be the toughest class too because I will see the flaws. I will have to explain them to the class and I already feel responsibility for them. This also got me thinking if all they see is New York and Hollywood, what are we missing from the rest of the world and from ours as well?