'It's a Process"

Moi :)
We are almost at the 1 month point! Can you believe that so much time has passed? I remember when I was counting down from 200 days! Each day here is a new adventure and challenge.
Last post was about Karkku, so now I think it is time to write about how I have been settling in, and what Espoo is all about!

My normal day consists of waking up to go to school, sitting in class trying to understand pieces of the finnish words being thrown out across that classroom, catching enough to understand where the conversation is going, but not enough to actually engage in the discussion. After class, I shuffle into the massive fray of students milling around an over crowed hallway, trying push my way towards either my next class, or more often the front door. My schedule is very loose, and not many of my classes are back to back, so I sometimes have enough time to slip out of school and get some fresh air. My classes are English 1.1, English 1.2, English 10.1, "Free-Form" Gym, and lastly Music. In each of my English classes I either help teach or sit by myself and work through my Finnish Language Lesson Books. Its a slow going task, but its helped me with the language a little bit. "Free-Form" Gym class is given such a title because the students choose what will happen in each class. An example can be found in this Fridays class, we partnered up and gave each other back massages. My good friend Sara (on exchange from Belgium) is in my class, so it may actually be an enjoyable class. Lastly there is Music. I can't understand a thing in that class, but weirdly enough the actual music that they play is usually Pop, and half the time its in English, so I can sing along with out the aid of a book, which is one small victory for the clueless girl from Alaska.
Now, a word about the people in my school before I go on. They are all clones of one another. People may tell me there name, but half the time none of them have enough variation between each other for me to keep track of who is who. So I gave up, and if on the rare occasion someone says hi (which so far has been once) I grin and use every tactic I know to avoid saying their name.
Once school is out, myself and the other two exchange students in my school, Sara from Belgium and Alex from New Zealand, usually go back to either mine or Sara's house to hang out. Making friends that are Finnish at out school has turned out to be a very difficult task indeed, so its a miracle that we have each other to spend time with. Sometimes we go to meet other exchangers in Helsinki or Tapiola, other times we turn on MTV's music station (they actually have an MTV station here that only plays music!) and dance around the kitchen as a way to shake off the school day. As Sara put it, we are the Haukilahti Exchange Trio. Maybe school won't be so bad now that they are here to brighten my day!

Living in a big city, with a new language, with new people, has shocked me into the realization that I am not in Fairbanks anymore. Ive heard some of the first day stories form my school back home, and seen how people are slowly moving on and forward into another monotonous year at West Valley High School. Some days I wish I was back there, not having to fear that I won't make friends here, or that I won't learn the language, or that when I get on a bus that I will get off at the wrong stop and I won't be able to read the signs that point the way home. But the moment that thought pops into my mind I realize that the safety of Fairbanks, Alaska is exactly what I was trying to escape. I need to see the rest of the world, and learn about the different pieces that make up one massive world community that I hope to join through going on this exchange. I am so thankful that I have been given this experience, and I wouldn't change any part of it for the world.


"If you are brave enough to leave behind everything that is comforting, which could be anything; your house to bitter old resentments, and set out on a truth seeking journey, either externally, or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be with held from you. I can't help but believe it, given my experience." -- Eat Pray Love

Timezones and Umlauts

Hei!
I'll get back to my epic journey, but first I will tell you about today! Dylan (another exchange student in Finland, from Canada) and I went for another one of our long explorations through Helsinki today. We walked around the massive Cathedral near the heart of the city, went to an open market by the Baltic Sea and ate cheap Thai food, got lost on side streets and back roads until we found a park where I ate ice cream and he had a strange Finnish soda, and then we made it back to the regal looking train station and parted ways. I am honestly in love with the life this country has provided for me.
SO, last time we spoke I got to Karkku! I won't go into much detail here, because most days were the same, so here are the basics: On a normal day we would all wake up around 7:30 and have a breakfast of either bread, cucumber, tomato, and butter, or porridge with jam (I chose the bread option). We would proceed to the morning briefing, the head to Finnish lessons. Finnish lessons would last about 5 hours (we would have lunch in there somewhere) then we would go to a lecture about various Finnish things (school, food, lifestyle) then enjoy about an hour of free time before dinner. After dinner was the time for going to the sauna, then swimming in the lake. I LOVED this part of the day! On the only not typical day of the week we went to Tampere and went on a bus tour, then had time to shop and see the city a bit. The bus tour took us through the historical parts of the city, and to an amazingly beautiful church. I went shopping with a friend named Lauren after, and we had lunch in a cute little café and listened to people speak Finnish while dreaming of a time when we would understand them.
Now, all of this sounds great, but there was one part of this week that almost wrecked everything... Jet Lag. Finland is 11 hours different than Alaska, and I felt every single one of those hours each and every minute I was awake. I looked like a zombie, even with the makeup I put on to try and liven up my miserable pallor. Somehow I fought through it, and after a week and a half I fully converted to Finnish time!
This was my time at Karkku, and I enjoyed every second of it! It was the perfect way to begin my life here in Suomi.

Getting There

Moi!
First, I tan better in Finland that I do in Alaska. That really isn't relevant to anything else I plan to write in this entry, but I've been going on 5 kilometer runs each day by the Baltic Sea, and Im darker than I have ever been!
Alright, I left my story when I was getting on the plane. Well that plane ride was miserable. First, I was crying my eyes out, I mean like heaving sobs that freaked out everyone near me, but at the time I didn't care. Second, I was at the very back of the plane, and the lady sitting near me had a crying baby that was intent on not letting anyone sleep. Third, I was so extremely tired that all I could focus on was the fact that I just walked away from the life I had built up for 16 years! So naturally, I put my head against the window and passed out.
I woke up When the plane touched down, and even though I was still homesick, my mentality was much better. When I was off the plane, I had to figure out how to kill six hours, so naturally I rode the train thing that takes you from the N Gates to the rest of the airport back and forth until it got boring (which took a while, the train is entertaining). When it came near the time to get on the next plane to Denver, I finally met up with other Rotary Exchange students (Johannes from Seattle and Tianna from B.C. Canada) and together we got on the plane.
Denver was an easy stop, we met up with more exchangers, the flight to Frankfurt was less than comfortable, but obviously I made it alive. I slept through most of my 8 hour layover in Frankfurt... But I do remember that its a very dark airport, and I don't like it very much. Look at me, acting like a snobby world traveler! I love it.
A large group of us arrived in Helsinki at around 23:30, and from there we went to the Karkku Language Camp. And I think that is where I will leave you today!

Leaving Behind Normal

Hey guys,
Wow, I really have forgotten to write haven't I? Well I will catch this blog up to the current time. Presently I'm on a light pink couch in Finland, my wonderful host mother is making herself tea in the kitchen, and downstairs there is probably a bunny terrorizing my new room. But how did I get here? That really is a story.
On August 4th, 2012, I zipped my life into a suitcase and said goodbye to normal. Dad and Sean (brother) took me to the airport at 11 o'clock at night. When I got there, I was met by some of the best people in the world who came to see me off. Claire, Kelly, Torie, Spencer, Deenaalee, and Harry all came with smiles and tears to wish me well on during the best year of my life. I am terrible at saying goodbye, so seeing them all leave one by one made the reality of my departure extremely clear. After tearful hugs and final good wishes they did leave, which left me alone with the two best people in my life. Sean and Dad sat with me while I cried and they just talked with me. It came to the point while we were sitting there that I did not want to leave Fairbanks. I was so scared that I felt sick, and I finally realized that I was going away for an entire year. Never before in my life had I even been that terrified to do anything. But, while this was my weakest moment, it was also my strongest. I got up off the bench and hugged my brother and father one last time, then got on the escalator and didn't look back.

More later,
Katie

The L.A. Ordeal

Hello again!
     So, some of you may know, but I recently had to take a trip to L.A. to submit my application to gain a Finnish Residence Permit. That sounds exciting right? I thought so too when I first got on the plane to go, but the whole thing kinda went downhill from there. First, Im not very good with flying (good thing I get too spend like 2 days getting on and off airplanes to get to Finland huh?), so I was already feeling slightly sick when I got in at 6 am. Luckily, my Aunt from San Marcos was there so I spent a few hours with her and my younger cousin catching up and doing some shopping. This seemed to dull down my nausea, so my excitement for the trip was back for the time being. After saying goodbye to my Aunt and cousin I met up with a group of seven other Exchangers going to Finland as well, and we were shuttled to the Finnish Consulate (or a small room in a big ol' bank). Once we arrived, we went through the process of having our paperwork checked and having our fingerprints scanned for our permits. We all had a good time getting to know one another and discussing our future exchanges.
     When the "interviews" were complete we got back on the shuttle bus and headed back to the airport. This is where things get ugly. Remember how I wasn't feeling well before? Well that feeling came back ten fold in the form of car sickness. So when we reached the airport, the airlines caught wind that I wasn't feeling well, and before they knew that it was only car sickness, they put me on a no-fly list. Yep, I got kicked off my flight. So there I was, stranded, freaked out, and kinda pissed off that I had no way of getting home and no where to stay over night. My travel agent Mele stayed with me, and we eventually came up with the plan that I would call my Aunt and ask her if she would drive back to L.A. (a two hour trip on the freeway) and pick me up so I could stay with her. Aunt Jane being the Saint she is instantly got in her car and came to get me.
     While she was driving I set it up with the airline that I would stay in California until the following Thursday (7 days) and then fly back home to Fairbanks. So this dramatic event ended up becoming a fantastic California vacation with my family that I haven't seen for two or three years! And on top of it all I got my Finnish Residence Permit, which was the last document I needed to get me into Finland. In the end it all worked out for the best!

 “Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect.” 

                                                                                                            ― Margaret Mitchell

Welcome! Tervetuloa!

     Hey guys! Welcome to my blog about the year I will spend in Finland. At this point I am still in Alaska, so I will start this thing off by introducing myself. My name is Katie Cadigan, Im sixteen years old and live in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks is a land locked town in the interior of Alaska. It boasts around 35,000 people, and is the second largest city in the state. Life in the 'Banks is simple, go to school, participate in sports or school activities, spend time outdoors, hang out with your friends. Its a slow and predictable routine that I have been following for six or seven years now, dreaming of the day I would get the chance to break out and see the rest of the world. Little did I know, that day was much closer than I thought.
     Just about eight months ago, while sitting in my second year Spanish class at West Valley High School, I listened to a presentation about Rotary's Youth Exchange Program. The presentation was given by some friends of mine named Kate and Robin, and I had heard about their experiences abroad, but never really gave the idea of leaving home for a year any thought. That is, until that day, on a whim I took a flier home to my dad and asked him if we could go to an informational meeting just of the heck of it. I'm not actually sure where I would be today if he had said no, and we hadn't gone to that very first meeting... All I know is that it life would not be the same if we hadn't gone. After filling out the paper work and going through the interview, I got the much anticipated phone call that said I was accepted as a Rotary Exchange Student, and thus began my journey. 
     It felt like years waiting to find out which country I would be going to. Luckily, I had three great friends in Fairbanks that were in the same boat as me; Cigne Torres, Annie Ruth, and Andrew Maxwell. We were scheduled to find out our country assignments at Winter Orientation down in Girdwood, Alaska at the Alyeska Ski Resort. As we boarded the plane, each of us knew anything could happen, and anything that did happen would be amazing. The first part of the weekend was spent getting to know the other Outbounds (people like me who are going on exchange this coming year), Inbounds (the people from around the world on exchange in Alaska), and Rebounds (the people from Alaska that just got back from their exchange). We also got the chance to learn about the different countries that we could possibly be placed in, and other general information about Youth Exchange itself. All of this led up to the main event though, the Country Assignment Banquet. 
     The night of the Banquet, I got all dressed up and made my way down to the large room where it was being held. Everyone present at Winter Orientation was there, you could feel the anticipation coming off the other Outbounds, I myself couldn't sit still! We listened to different speakers, and had dinner, but to be truthful I didn't hear most of it, I was too preoccupied imagining being placed in each of the different countries. I did check back into the proceedings when the Inbounds and Rebounds came walking into the room with the flags of their different countries, and envelopes containing the names of the new Outbound going to each of the countries walking through that door. As I listened to my new friends names being called out, and saw pictures being taken of them, I counted down the number of countries left for me to be placed in. Finally, two boys walked up on the stage, one named Kaden and the other named Ilkka, with them they carried a Finnish flag and an envelope. Kaden opened up the envelope and gave a quick introduction in Finnish, but what he said after that was the beginning of something wonderful. In unison, Ilkka and Kaden read off, "Welcome to Finland, Katie Cadigan." 

     Today I find myself at the two month mark. I am in contact with my first host family, and have three others lined up for me. My town is called Espoo, it is 15 minutes by bus outside of Helsinki (the capital), and my school is named Haukilahden Lukio. My Visa paperwork is all taken care of, and I took my trip to L.A. for my Residence Permit (a story for a different post). Now begins the game of hurry up and wait, and I have a feeling these two months will go by very slowly. But hey, every day is one step closer to my new life in Finland.